Massachusetts

First West Nile Virus cases of the year identified in Massachusetts

Published

1 year ago

August 30, 2023

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First West Nile Virus cases of the year identified in Massachusetts

Health

Many parts of Massachusetts, including the Boston area, are currently at moderate risk for West Nile Virus exposure from mosquitos.

The first West Nile Virus cases in Massachusetts this year have been identified in Middlesex County. AP Photo

The first two human cases of West Nile Virus in Massachusetts this year have been identified in Middlesex County, the state Department of Public Health announced Tuesday.

The first case is a woman in her 70s who was exposed to the mosquito-borne illness in a different part of the country, the department said in a press release. The second case is a man in his 40s who was exposed in Middlesex County.

Right now, all of Suffolk County, the southeastern half of Middlesex County, and most of Plymouth County is at moderate risk for West Nile Virus infections, according to the department’s risk map. Parts of Norfolk, Bristol, Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, and Berkshire Counties are also at moderate risk.

Officials regularly test mosquitos in every municipality to determine the current risk level there.

Officials test mosquitos caught in every municipality in Massachusetts for West Nile Virus. – Department of Public Health

“Populations of mosquitoes that can carry and spread this virus are fairly large this year, and we have seen recent increases in the number of WNV-positive mosquito samples from multiple parts of the Commonwealth,” Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein said in the release.

In Massachusetts, humans are most at risk of being exposed to West Nile Virus in August and September, but some level of risk will continue for several more months, officials said.

Officials began warning of an elevated risk of West Nile Virus exposure in Worcester and Boston in July. Last year, the state health department identified eight human cases of the virus.

Between 2011 and 2020, 148 people were reported as having been infected with West Nile Virus in Massachusetts, according to the state health department. Seven of those people, or 4.7%, died of the disease.

West Nile Virus symptoms and dangers

While West Nile Virus can infect people of all ages, people over 50 are more likely to become seriously ill, the health department said.

About 1 in 150 people infected with the virus will become seriously ill, according to the CDC, and around 10% of those people will die.

Only around 20% of people infected with the virus will show any symptoms, the CDC said. When present, West Nile Virus symptoms are flu-like.

The virus is spread through mosquito bites, so the best way to prevent infection is to avoid being bitten by mosquitos.

DPH tips for avoiding mosquito bites:

Use insect repellant when spending time outdoors
Don’t go outside from dusk to dawn, as these are peak hours when mosquitos bite
Wear long sleeves, pants, and socks to prevent mosquitos from being able to reach your skin
Drain still water from flower pots and other items around your home and change the water in birdbaths and water troughs frequently to prevent mosquitos from breeding near your home
Install and repair screens on all windows and doors in your home

For more information on West Nile virus in Massachusetts, visit the state’s website.

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Massachusetts

Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Published

3 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.

In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.

The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.

But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.

The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.

Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.

Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.

Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.

The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.

The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.

Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.

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Massachusetts

Mass. gives noncompliant towns more time to meet MBTA zoning regulations

Published

12 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Mass. gives noncompliant towns more time to meet MBTA zoning regulations

The Healey administration filed emergency regulations late Tuesday afternoon to implement the controversial law meant to spur greater housing production, after Massachusetts’ highest court struck down the last pass at drafting those rules.

The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the MBTA Communities Act as a constitutional law last week, but said it was “ineffective” until the governor’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities promulgated new guidelines. The court said EOHLC did not follow state law when creating the regulations the first time around, rendering them “presently unenforceable.”

The emergency regulations filed Tuesday are in effect for 90 days. Over the next three months, EOHLC intends to adopt permanent guidelines following a public comment period, before the expiration of the temporary procedures, a release from the office said.

“The emergency regulations do not substantively change the law’s zoning requirements and do not affect any determinations of compliance that have been already issued by EOHLC. The regulations do provide additional time for MBTA communities that failed to meet prior deadlines to come into compliance with the law,” the press release said.

Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state’s attorney general has the power to enforce the MBTA Communities Law, which requires communities near MBTA services to zone for more multifamily housing, but it also ruled that existing guidelines aren’t enforceable.

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The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 municipalities that host or are adjacent to MBTA service to zone for multifamily housing by right in at least one district.

Cities and towns are classified in one of four categories, and there were different compliance deadlines in the original regulations promulgated by EOHLC: host to rapid transit service (deadline of Dec. 31, 2023), host to commuter rail service (deadline of Dec. 31, 2024), adjacent community (deadline of Dec. 31, 2024) and adjacent small town (deadline of Dec. 31, 2025).

Under the emergency regulations, communities that did not meet prior deadlines must submit a new action plan to the state with a plan to comply with the law by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2025. These communities will then have until July 14, 2025, to submit a district compliance application to the state.

Communities designated as adjacent small towns still face the Dec. 31, 2025 deadline to adopt compliant zoning.

The town of Needham voted Tuesday on a special referendum over whether to re-zone the town for 3,000 more units of housing under Massachusetts’ MBTA Communities law.

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Like the old version of the guidelines, the new emergency regulations gives EOHLC the right to determine whether a city or town’s zoning provisions to allow for multi-family housing as of right are consistent with certain affordability requirements, and to determine what is a “reasonable size” for the multi-family zoning district.

The filing of emergency regulations comes six days after the SJC decision — though later than the governor’s office originally projected. Healey originally said her team would move to craft new regulations by the end of last week to plug the gap opened up by the ruling.

“These regulations will allow us to continue moving forward with implementation of the MBTA Communities Law, which will increase housing production and lower costs across the state,” Healey said in a statement Tuesday. “These regulations allow communities more time to come into compliance with the law, and we are committed to working with them to advance zoning plans that fit their unique needs.”

A total of 116 communities out of the 177 subject to the law have already adopted multi-family zoning districts to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, according to EOHLC.

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Massachusetts

Revere city councilor slams Massachusetts officials for being ‘woke’ after migrant shelter bust

Published

20 hours ago

January 14, 2025

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Revere city councilor slams Massachusetts officials for being ‘woke’ after migrant shelter bust

A Revere city councilor says the state’s right-to-shelter law is a “perfect example” of how “woke” ideologies are harmful, as he addressed the arrest of a migrant who allegedly had an AR-15 and 10 pounds of fentanyl at a local hotel.

Originally Published: January 14, 2025 at 6:24 PM EST

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