Tagged: public health

The City of Hammond has won a grant that will buy 25 defibrillators for the city and another 25 for Tangiaphoa Parish.

Mayor Mayson Foster tells The Daily Star that the city began pursuing the $100,000 grant after someone collapsed in City Hall and needed resuscitation.

He says rescue crews were able to save the person, but the city decided it would be good to have a defibrillator in the City Council Chambers.

After Hurricane Isaac left a lot of water behind, south Louisiana residents may be dealing with swarms of mosquitoes.

And with Louisiana experiencing the highest rate of West Nile virus infections in several years, state officials are warning residents to take precautions against mosquitoes.

The Courier reports that at least 145 West Nile cases and nine deaths reported in Louisiana from the disease.

Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a statewide public health emergency to let government workers enter private property to assess and remove nuisance debris from Hurricane Isaac that poses a health hazard.

His statement Monday notes that widespread flooding continues in some areas, the state has issued more than 200 water boil advisories and has lost more than 40 percent of the electrical power statewide for an extended period.

A Lake Charles veterinarian says he has seen more than a dozen cases of Eastern equine encephalitis in the past three weeks — and the only horses that are still alive are the two that were vaccinated.

Ted Shope of South Bayou Animal Hospital tells the American Press that horses have died of the disease in Creole, Grand Cheiner, Reeves, south Lake Charles and eastern Jefferson Davis Parish.

He says horse owners should make sure their animals are vaccinated for mosquito-borne diseases, including West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis.