Science
Mexican child infected with H5N1 bird flu dies from respiratory complications

A 3-year-old girl in Mexico died this month after getting infected with H5N1 bird flu, according to a report issued by the World Health Organization this week.
Authorities say the strain of bird flu is one that has been circulating in wild birds throughout North America, known as D1.1. It is the same strain implicated in the death of a person in Louisiana earlier this year, and in the case of a 13-year-old Canadian who was placed on life-support for several weeks before recovering.
Two others, a person in Wyoming and a poultry worker in Ohio, were also reported to have severe disease after exposure to this strain of the virus.
The strain has been detected in dairy herds from Nevada and Arizona.
“The case in Mexico is another great reminder of how dangerous H5 viruses can be,” said Richard Webby, an infectious disease expert at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
The D1.1 strain is widespread in the U.S. and Canada, but until this week’s WHO report it was unclear how far south the strain had traveled, he said.
“It has been a very active virus to date,” he said, and “further spread will undoubtedly lead to more infections, both in birds and humans. “
He said researchers are now awaiting publication of the genetic sequence, which will provide more information about whether there have been further changes that could make it more severe and/or transmissible.
According to the WHO, the young girl’s symptoms, which included fever, malaise and vomiting, began on March 7. She was admitted to a hospital in the state of Durango on March 13 due to respiratory failure. She was treated with oseltamivir, an antiviral drug, the following day. On March 16, she transferred to another hospital in the city of Torreón.
She died on April 8 from “respiratory complications.”
The girl did not have any underlying medical conditions, had not received a seasonal influenza vaccination, and had no history of travel, according to the WHO report.
The source of the child’s infection remains under investigation.
According to the report, 91 people were identified as contacts of the toddler, including 21 household contacts, 60 healthcare workers and 10 people from a childcare center. Each of these people was tested and all have tested negative for the virus.
Between 2022 and August 2024, there have been 75 reported H5N1 poultry outbreaks across Mexico, although none in Durango. At the end of January 2025, a sick vulture at the Sahuatoba Zoo, in Durango, was diagnosed with the virus. In addition, dozens of wild birds in the state were also reported, including a Canada goose.
The virus is still circulating in U.S. dairy herds, poultry, wild birds and wild mammals. Since April 1, there have been five new reports of infected dairy herds from California, 15 in Idaho and one from Arizona, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
There have also been dozens of domestic cats infected with the virus, including three recent reports from California’s Orange and Alameda counties: two in Orange and one in Alameda.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 70 reported cases of H5N1 bird flu in the U.S. since March 2024, when the virus was first reported in dairy herds. There has been one death, a person older than 65 from Louisiana.
Health officials say the risk of H5N1 bird flu to the general public remains low and there has been no indication of person-to-person spread. Most cases have been associated with contact with infected livestock and poultry.

Science
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades

National Science Foundation grant funding through May 21
10-year average
$2 billion
The National Science Foundation, which funds much of the fundamental scientific research at American universities, is awarding new grants at the slowest pace in at least 35 years.
The funding decreases touch virtually every area of science — extending far beyond the diversity programs and other “woke” targets that the Trump administration says it wants to cut.
Grants funded by the National Science Foundation through May 21 ↓ 51%
Math, physics and chemistry
$432m
That means less support for early-stage research that underpins future technological advancements — and American competitiveness — in areas like computer science and engineering; physics and chemistry; climate science and weather forecasting; and materials and manufacturing innovations.
It also means less money for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and early-career professors — potentially disrupting the nation’s future scientific work force.
Economists have warned that cutting federal funding for scientific research could, in the long run, damage the U.S. economy by an amount equivalent to a major recession.
“These cuts are the height of self-inflicted harm,” said Robert Atkinson, the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan science and technology policy research institute. The foundation has argued that China probably already conducts more research and development than the United States.
“If they succeed in these cuts, the result will be slower economic growth, less innovation and new tech startups, and even more diminished competitiveness vis-à-vis China,” he added.
The lag in this year’s funding, more than $1 billion below the 10-year average, is for new research grants, but the Trump administration has gone further. It has also terminated more than 1,600 active grants for existing research projects, together worth roughly $1.5 billion (of which at least 40 percent has already been spent).
And it wants to eliminate nearly $5 billion of the agency’s $9 billion budget for next year, cutting spending on “climate; clean energy; woke social, behavioral and economic sciences,” and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Among the in-progress grants that have been terminated, those focused on education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, accounted for the vast majority of the canceled funding. Many of these grants focused on broadening participation in science and engineering among underrepresented student groups.
Canceled funding from in-progress grants
STEM education | -$656 mil. |
Math, physics, chem. | -$61 mil. |
Geosciences | -$53 mil. |
Computer science | -$47 mil. |
Social sciences | -$46 mil. |
Technology | -$38 mil. |
Engineering | -$36 mil. |
Biology | -$28 mil. |
But in contrast with the canceled grants, the slowdown in issuing new grants is broader, representing an across-the-board hit to American science.
Decline in new grant funding in 2025
Math, physics, chem. | -$289 mil. |
STEM education | -$223 mil. |
Biology | -$156 mil. |
Engineering | -$127 mil. |
Geosciences | -$101 mil. |
Computer science | -$85 mil. |
Technology | -$18 mil. |
Social sciences | -$16 mil. |
The N.S.F. said in a statement that while it will focus on the Trump administration’s priorities — like artificial intelligence, quantum information science, biotechnology and nuclear energy — it remains “committed to awarding grants and funding all areas of science and engineering.”
Yet the data shows the agency’s funding of new grants at its lowest level since at least 1990, around when the N.S.F. expanded into its modern structure. The funding has slowed even further since April 30, when agency employees were told to stop awarding funds entirely, according to an email reviewed by The New York Times.
Cumulative grant funding by the National Science Foundation, 1990-2025
Representative Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House science committee, said the Trump administration was denying funding that had already been approved by Congress.
“What they’re doing is not only illegal, but it’s also very damaging to the science enterprise and, ultimately, to the economy of the United States,” she said.
The N.S.F. has said it is canceling awards that are not in line with its priorities, including those focused on D.E.I., environmental justice, misinformation and disinformation. The cancellations have been cheered by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who in February published a list identifying more than a third of the grants that have been terminated.
“My Commerce Committee investigation exposed how the Biden administration corrupted the N.S.F. grantmaking process with a divisive fixation on identity politics,” Mr. Cruz said in a statement. “This kind of politicization erodes public trust in science. The N.S.F. must spend taxpayer dollars responsibly and prioritize objectivity and scientific rigor.”
House Democrats on the science committee have said the cancellations themselves are “based on hard-right political ideology and not scientific or research expertise,” and have noted flaws in Mr. Cruz’s report, like associating the term “biodiversity” with D.E.I.
N.S.F. officials interviewed for this article said many grants that have already gone through the agency’s rigorous review process and were recommended for funding have been in limbo for months. After the April 30 email freezing new awards, which was first reported by Nature, another email on May 13 allowed for some new funding but kept a freeze in place for higher education institutions.
A spokesman for the N.S.F. said it was still “making awards to higher education institutions.”
Either way, the N.S.F.’s directorate for STEM education has had one of the steepest shortfalls in new grants. Its award funding has declined by around 80 percent this year.
Funding through May 21 for …
STEM education ↓ 80%
Undergrad. education
$135m
Equity for excellence in STEM
$46m
Research on learning
$77m
The N.S.F. says that it directly supported over 350,000 researchers, teachers and students last year alone. It supports over 20,000 graduate students, more than any other federal agency except the National Institutes of Health, which funds medical research and has also awarded far fewer grants this year.
Within its education branch, the N.S.F. has moved to eliminate the division of equity for excellence in STEM, which promotes D.E.I. and supports students who are underrepresented in science and engineering. The closure has been put on hold by a court order.
The N.S.F.’s division of graduate education, which funds graduate student research, typically approves $21 million in grants by this point of the year, but has awarded none so far. It announced 1,000 graduate research fellowships this year, down from over 2,000 in prior years, as reported last month by Nature.
Ms. Lofgren said these education programs are required by law and were adopted with bipartisan support.
“You can’t have science without scientists,” she said.
Here’s how the shortfall in grant awards this year has affected other areas of science:
Math, physics and chemistry ↓ 67%
N.S.F. grant funding for core scientific disciplines like math, physics, chemistry and material sciences has dropped by two-thirds this year.
The N.S.F. funds “basic” research in these areas: fundamental or unexpected discoveries that may be decades away from practical applications. That includes research on ultrafast lasers in the 1990s that eventually resulted in bladeless LASIK eye surgery, or radar technology in the 1960s that revolutionized weather prediction three decades later.
Curiosity-driven research lays the foundation for private sector investments and leads to breakthroughs that can be commercialized, said Deborah Wince-Smith, the president of the Council on Competitiveness, a nonpartisan organization composed of chief executives, university presidents and heads of national laboratories.
The N.S.F. has also funded major astronomical observatories that have made groundbreaking discoveries such as capturing the first images of black holes or detecting gravitational waves.
In 2023, the N.S.F. funded half of all federally supported basic research in math and statistics in American colleges. So far this year, math and statistics grant funding is lagging behind previous years by 72 percent.
Funding for physics grants this year has fallen by 85 percent, and funding for materials research grants has dropped by 63 percent.
Engineering ↓ 57%
N.S.F. grant funding for core engineering disciplines has dropped by 57 percent this year. These divisions fund areas like robotics, manufacturing innovations and semiconductor research.
Funding for grants related to chemical, bioengineering, environmental and transport systems has fallen by 71 percent this year, while funding for grants related to civil and mechanical engineering and manufacturing innovation has fallen by 48 percent.
Biology ↓ 52%
Biological infrastructure
$99m
Most federal funding for biology research comes from the National Institutes of Health, but the N.S.F. also supports the field. Its grant funding for biology is at half of its previous 10-year average. There were fewer funds awarded for research in biotechnology and environmental biology, and less money for the tools, facilities and people that support biological research.
Computer science ↓ 31%
Information & intelligent systems
$68m
Advanced cyberinfrastructure
$39m
Computing foundations
$74m
Computer science divisions that have supported research in topics like artificial intelligence, data science, computer security and emerging computing technologies have awarded fewer funds this year.
But the office of advanced cyberinfrastructure has awarded twice the funding that is typical by this time of year, including a $26 million grant for generative A.I. tools and a $20 million grant to “advance American leadership in artificial intelligence.”
In 2023, the N.S.F. provided 72 percent of federal funds for foundational computer science research at colleges and universities.
The agency provided early funding that led to recent developments in artificial intelligence. For example, the researchers who received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in artificial neural networks — technologies that underlie tools like ChatGPT — received N.S.F. funding in the 1980s, long before their work had widespread applications.
The funds also support the careers of graduate students, a large share of whom eventually work in the technology industry, said Greg Hager, the former head of the N.S.F.’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, who resigned from the agency this month.
“It’s going to impact progress today, but it’s going to have profound impacts for years to come,” he said of the reductions in funding for computer science.
Geosciences ↓ 33%
In 2023, the N.S.F. supported over half of all federally funded basic geosciences research in American universities.
This year, the agency has fired workers at the Office of Polar Programs, which coordinates research in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The polar office has awarded 88 percent less money in grants this year.
But the ocean sciences division has awarded more funding than typical this year, including a $39 million grant to establish an office that will manage a deep-sea drilling program and an $18 million grant to Columbia University to support a research vessel.
Social and behavioral sciences ↓ 20%
Social science & economics
$31m
Behavioral & cognitive sciences
$32m
There has been a 96 percent decrease in grant funding for multidisciplinary research, which spans biology, physics and engineering. Previously funded projects have included using cells as sensors to monitor pollutants and diseases in wastewater, creating biodegradable robots, and engineering fungi to recover valuable metals from e-waste.
The behavioral and cognitive sciences division has awarded 30 percent more grant funding this year compared with the past decade’s average — despite the Trump administration’s targeting of “woke social, behavioral and economic sciences.” That included funding research on tracking changes in romantic relationships, how hand gestures can enhance learning and a database that lists the average rents in a neighborhood.
Technology, innovation and partnerships ↓ 17%
Translational impacts
$86m
The CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan law enacted during the Biden administration in 2022, created the N.S.F.’s Directorate of Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. Last year it funded projects for agricultural technology in North Dakota, climate resilience in Wyoming and semiconductor assembly in Central Florida.
This branch’s grant funding has decreased by 17 percent, a moderate reduction compared with the decreases in other areas.
Here are all the changes so far:
Changes in N.S.F. grant funding
Directorate | 2015-2024 avg. funding | 2025 funding | Change |
---|---|---|---|
Education | $280 mil. | $56 mil. | -80% |
Graduate education | $21 mil. | $0 | -100% |
Equity for excellence in STEM | $46 mil. | $1 mil. | -97% |
Research on learning in formal and informal settings | $77 mil. | $16 mil. | -79% |
Undergraduate education | $135 mil. | $39 mil. | -71% |
Math, physics and chemistry | $432 mil. | $143 mil. | -67% |
Strategic initiatives | $6k | $0 | -100% |
Physics | $72 mil. | $11 mil. | -85% |
Mathematical sciences | $113 mil. | $32 mil. | -72% |
Materials research | $118 mil. | $43 mil. | -63% |
Chemistry | $103 mil. | $44 mil. | -57% |
Astronomical sciences | $26 mil. | $12 mil. | -53% |
Engineering | $221 mil. | $94 mil. | -57% |
Emerging frontiers in research and innovation | $2 mil. | $42k | -98% |
Chemical, bioengineering, environmental and transport systems | $75 mil. | $22 mil. | -71% |
Engineering education and centers | $27 mil. | $12 mil. | -56% |
Civil, mechanical, and manufacturing innovation | $80 mil. | $42 mil. | -48% |
Electrical, communications and cyber systems | $36 mil. | $19 mil. | -48% |
Biology | $303 mil. | $147 mil. | -52% |
Biological infrastructure | $99 mil. | $32 mil. | -68% |
Integrative organismal systems | $88 mil. | $34 mil. | -61% |
Environmental biology | $75 mil. | $39 mil. | -49% |
Molecular and cellular biosciences | $40 mil. | $37 mil. | -9% |
Emerging frontiers | $801k | $5 mil. | +521% |
Geosciences | $305 mil. | $204 mil. | -33% |
Office of polar programs | $51 mil. | $6 mil. | -88% |
Earth sciences | $78 mil. | $16 mil. | -80% |
Research, innovation, synergies and education (RISE) | $11 mil. | $6 mil. | -47% |
Atmospheric and geospace sciences | $63 mil. | $40 mil. | -36% |
Ocean sciences | $103 mil. | $136 mil. | +33% |
Computer science | $277 mil. | $192 mil. | -31% |
Information & intelligent systems | $68 mil. | $27 mil. | -60% |
Computer and network systems | $96 mil. | $42 mil. | -57% |
Computing and communication foundations | $74 mil. | $43 mil. | -41% |
Office of advanced cyberinfrastructure | $39 mil. | $80 mil. | +102% |
Social sciences | $78 mil. | $62 mil. | -20% |
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics | $2 mil. | $0 | -100% |
Multidisciplinary activities | $11 mil. | $401k | -96% |
Social and economic sciences | $31 mil. | $20 mil. | -37% |
Behavioral and cognitive sciences | $32 mil. | $42 mil. | +30% |
Technology | $110 mil. | $92 mil. | -17% |
Technology frontiers | $9k | $0 | -100% |
Translational impacts | $86 mil. | $44 mil. | -48% |
Innovation and technology ecosystems | $24 mil. | $47 mil. | +95% |
Other | $65 mil. | $47 mil. | -29% |
Total | $2.1 bil. | $1 bil. | -50% |
‘Total confusion’
The National Science Foundation has usually awarded half of its funds for the fiscal year by early July. In theory, this year’s funding levels could still catch up to former levels if the agency accelerates its pace of making awards over the summer.
But officials described an agency that has been thrown into chaos as it tries to navigate a new political landscape under President Trump. The agency is in the midst of a major restructuring to eliminate its 37 divisions. It has also conducted layoffs and placed pressure on its workers to resign or retire. (The restructuring and termination of employees has been paused by a court order until Friday.)
Many N.S.F. divisions do not know how much they can spend this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and this uncertainty may also be contributing to this year’s funding lag.
“There’s total confusion,” said one employee who has worked at the N.S.F. for more than a decade and is involved in determining which grants are recommended for funding. The employee, who did not want to be named out of fear of retaliation for speaking to the news media, said that the N.S.F.’s rigorous review process had been disassembled, and that political mandates had taken precedence over scientific merits when assessing grant proposals.
“There’s confusion on how much money we can spend,” the employee said. “And then there’s confusion because the processes are basically paralyzed.”
About the data
Using the N.S.F.’s awards database, we tabulated the intended award amounts for all projects funded between Jan. 1 and May 21 of each year. The award date is determined by the initial amendment date, which typically precedes the start date of the project. Intended awards reflect the amount that the N.S.F. intends to fund over the entire life of a project, which may extend multiple years beyond the year the project was awarded. All award amounts are inflation-adjusted to March 2025 dollars by using the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index.
Science
You need more than Ozempic to fight food addiction. Here's how

Are cookies and chips the new cigarettes? And soda, breakfast cereals and ice cream the new opioids?
In his new book, “Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight” (Flatiron Books), former FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler argues that ultraprocessed foods — meaning “irresistible, highly processed, highly palatable, energy-dense, high-glycemic foods,” as he describes them — have been purposefully engineered by Big Food to be addictive. He calls them “ultraformulated” instead of “ultraprocessed” so as to highlight the deliberate intent on the part of food manufacturers. As a result, 41.9% of adults in the U.S. struggle with obesity, he says. And by 2030, he projects about half of us will.
It’s a “health catastrophe,” Kessler says, “that has reached its apex on every level.”

Shelf Help is a wellness column where we interview researchers, thinkers and writers about their latest books — all with the aim of learning how to live a more complete life.
Toxic or visceral fat — meaning fat around our internal organs — has led to a rise in diseases and conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, arthritis, blood clots, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke and certain cancers.
GLP-1 weight loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Zepbound, have helped millions of people shed weight and curb food cravings. But they create additional health problems, Kessler says, and there’s not enough scientific data accrued yet to speak to their efficacy or safety, long-term.
It’s a topic Kessler is intimately familiar with. He’s battled food addiction since childhood, growing up in New York, and his addiction ballooned in college and medical school when sub sandwiches and chicken wings were his rewards for studying hard. He’s since struggled with managing the side effects of GLP-1 drugs. To reverse the obesity crisis, says Kessler, we need to better understand addiction itself: how ultraprocessed foods take hold of our rational brain. We must also create a new paradigm for addiction, Kessler says, as the current one views addicts through the lens of weakness.
In his book, Kessler urges us to recognize that obesity is a chronic condition that needs to be treated as such.
The Times spoke with Kessler about healthy weight loss strategies for the long-term, guidelines for using GLP-1s safely, the body positivity movement and improving lifespan.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Dr. David A. Kessler.
(Joy Asico Smith)
In the book, you talk about “the elephant in the room” when it comes to struggles around weight loss today. What is it?
We’ve failed to recognize how difficult it is to escape the pull of food addiction and overcome our brain’s built-in reward response to these ultraformulated foods that flood our food supply. I’m not talking about cocaine or amphetamines that excessively hijack the dopamine circuits. But the addictive circuits are part of all of us. We are all wired to focus on the most salient stimuli in our environment. And for many of us, that stimuli are these ultraformulated foods. Food is very, very powerful in changing how we feel. It’s not a question of willpower. Our bodies have experienced an insidious decline over the past half a century. And that’s been caused by this never-ending consumption of foods that can trigger the addictive circuits.
How can we “quiet the noise,” as you say, around food addiction?
It’s the interaction between the stimuli in our environment and our brains. Change our environment, and we can remarkably change what’s going on in our brains. [Environment] is everything outside our bodies that we interact with, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. What you put on your TV, what fast food restaurants you pass by on the way to work, we are constantly being cued. So you try to eliminate the cues. Or change your environment. Many of us don’t have the opportunity to leave our environment. And the food industry isn’t prone to change their behavior any time soon. But we now have pharmaceutical aids to help tamp that down. The effect of these GLP-1 [weight loss] drugs on food noise, that’s the big discovery.
GLP-1 drugs can lead to serious medical conditions that concern you. What are they, and what should doctors and drug companies be doing differently?
The fact is that the only way you’re going to lose weight — whether it’s drugs or diet or surgery — is to have an energy deficit. [GLP-1s] are very effective at getting you to consume less. But some people are eating less than 1,000 calories a day. There are people eating 600, 800 calories. You have to be under medical care or you run the risk of malnutrition. Food stays in your gut longer and that delay in gastric entering [called gastroparesis] can cause its own set of symptoms as well as metabolic consequences such as hypoglycemia, low blood sugar and other metabolic states. They all result from malnutrition.
Many doctors who are prescribing this are not well-trained in obesity medicine or in nutrition. And it’s very important, if possible, that a team of healthcare professionals, including a dietitian, be available. There’s no doubt that [drug companies] need to do a better job of studying the real world data. How to use these drugs, how to safely get off these drugs, is a key issue. There needs to be better labeling surrounding gastroparesis and the risks associated with these drugs.

(Flatiron Books / Joy Asico Smith)
Most people aren’t going to be on GLP-1s for life because they’re expensive and have adverse effects, you say. Yet going off the drugs, most people gain back the weight. So what’s the solution, long-term?
The question is about intermittent use — can I use these drugs to get my weight off? Then can I use them, intermittently, over a lifetime? But we don’t have data yet to know [if] that’s safe. But you can use these drugs to condition yourself to learn how to eat differently. I eat very differently now — I don’t want to put large amounts of food in my stomach. I’ve conditioned myself not to do that. How long that will last, we’ll see. So you need a range of tools. That can range from nutrition therapy to behavioral therapy to physical activity — and they’re going to vary for the individual. There’s no one tool that’s gonna work for the duration. The pharmacological tools are only one tool, it’s the entire tool box that has to be available. But the most important thing is to recognize that this is a chronic condition that needs continuous care, even after you’ve lost the weight.
Achieving a healthy body weight starts with understanding addiction, you say, not necessarily the old advice to “eat less and move more.” Why is this so important?
The ultimate answer is ‘eat less and move more.’ But we can’t do that because of the physiological and addictive circuits — they stand in the way. We have to understand that addiction is not just about the weak and the downtrodden. It’s part of all of us, those circuits. We can’t overestimate the amount of stigma and shame and distress that many feel because they’ve been unable to control their weight. They feel it’s their fault, they don’t like themselves for it and society has created all these biases attached to it. The simple recognition [that] our brains are not fully under our control when it comes to these energy dense foods is a very important step.
There’s a delicate balance between the body positivity movement, which encourages people to accept their bodies as they are, and the health crisis that is obesity, which you say is a root cause of many diseases. How do you suggest we navigate that?
That movement did a lot of good — it took the shame out of it, it took the stigma out. But it was at a time when we didn’t have effective tools to reduce visceral fat. You can love your body, but also do things for your health. Those things are not diametrically opposite. And I’m not comfortable with the amount of morbidity and mortality associated with visceral fat and saying we shouldn’t do something about that.

(Maggie Chiang / For The Times)
As former commissioner of the FDA, what keeps you up at night these days?
The recognition that visceral fat is causal in an array of cardiometabolic diseases that increase real disability in one’s senior years. I think we’re not prepared to handle that. We’ve only woken up to the fact of how toxic this visceral fat is.
TAKEAWAYS
From “Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine”
[Also], Trump’s greatest achievement, in the first term, was Operation Warp Speed. And I was part of it beginning January 2021. The reason we were able to do what we did, and get those vaccines safely developed and produced and distributed, was because there existed institutions within our federal government: the [National Institutes of Health], the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration], the [Center for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority], the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. Those institutions had enormous expertise and resources. And yes, we had to put it together; yes, we had to do things differently. But we were able to build on that infrastructure. Now they’re destroying that infrastructure. I don’t get it.
To end on a positive note: What amount of weight loss actually decreases future risk of disease?
What’s remarkable is that relatively small amounts can have significant effects. If you want to reverse certain conditions, that would require more weight loss. But almost any weight loss is going to add clinical benefits and be useful in reducing cardiometabolic risk.
Science
Mosquitoes are breeding in pools in the Eaton fire area. Officials may not be able to control them much longer

Cleanup efforts following the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires are underway, but an ongoing concern is swimming pools in the two burn zones, many of which contain stagnant water that has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes that can carry diseases.
In the region affected by the Eaton fire, officials responsible for mosquito control say they do not have the funds needed to provide sufficient treatment for all the pools that are now possible mosquito hothouses. That has sparked public health concerns in an area that has recently seen spikes in locally acquired cases of dengue fever, a potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease.
In mid-May, the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, which serves Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, identified some 1,475 pools in the burn zone as “nonfunctional” — meaning they contained stagnant water due to ash and debris, damaged equipment, or the homeowner’s inability to maintain the pool at the moment. Most of the pools are located in Altadena, and the district has so far been able to treat about half of them with pesticides.
The agency says it should be able to treat the other half with resources it will have available to it, but lacks the funding to provide the two follow-up applications experts say are needed to continue to stave off mosquito breeding throughout the year.
Indeed, officials found mosquitoes breeding in roughly 80% of the approximately 700 pools in the burn area that they treated with pesticides to date. A single swimming pool can become a breeding ground for as many as 3 million mosquitoes in one month.
“This is a public health concern. It will be a risk if it doesn’t get addressed,” said Anais Medina Diaz, spokesperson for the San Gabriel Valley vector control district, which spans 26 cities and unincorporated areas. Vector control districts are local agencies tasked with managing disease-spreading critters like mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs on or near stagnant water. When they hatch, the young develops in the water before emerging as a buzzing adult.
District officials have spent $307,000 to apply a pesticide treatment to about half of the 1,475 affected pools, mostly on the perimeter of the burn scar, Diaz said.
District officials had planned to use that money to respond to anticipated cases of dengue fever, a viral infection spread by invasive mosquitoes. Last year the district saw 11 locally acquired cases of dengue, more than anywhere else in the state.
The emergency reserves aren’t completely tapped, but the district needs to keep funds in its coffers in case disease does strike, Diaz said.
So district officials said they sent a request to the L.A. County Office of Emergency Management and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services for an additional $302,000 to cover the costs of an initial pesticide treatment for the more than 700 yet-untreated pools, and to pay for two follow-up treatments for all 1,475 pools throughout the coming year.
On Thursday, the state agency approved a portion of the request, said Pablo Cabrera, a spokesperson for the district. Details and dollar amounts were still being finalized, but district officials said it would be enough to apply pesticides to the pools that have yet to be treated. It would not cover the two subsequent treatments.
Jana Karibyna holds up a photo of her backyard pool before the Eaton fire.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Vector control officials began treating the first round of pools in mid-March. Each pesticide treatment controls mosquito larvae for up to 90 days — so the treatment on those initial pools will wear off around mid-June, often the height of mosquito season. The plan is to finish up the remaining pools by the end of June.
Current resources will allow for “full control” of mosquito breeding through August, according to Cabrera. What comes next will depend on what sort of financial support the district will get moving forward.
“We would love to have this kind of funding to be able to carry out these additional treatments. That is what we want to do,” Diaz said. “But we were not set up in a way where we can cover this area and then continue to do our vector control work throughout the San Gabriel Valley.”
In a statement, Ed Chapuis, a spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said that the state is providing resources for urgent treatments and will continue to work with the district. State and/or federal disaster assistance funding could potentially be tapped, he said.
The agency “will continue supporting the district to ensure no delay in their efforts to address public safety,” he said.
Officials with the county Office of Emergency Management said their role was only to connect the state and local agencies.
San Gabriel Valley district officials have requested that $500,000 be set aside in the state budget for mosquito-control efforts in 2026 and beyond. They’re also seeking reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for expenses incurred while tackling the first batch of pools.
The district has enhanced surveillance of the burn area and will be as proactive in its approach as possible with the means it has, officials said.
Mosquitoes in the Palisades fire burn scar
Coastal communities that were in the path of January’s destructive Palisades fire are similarly contending with the issue of unmaintained pools.
A survey of the burn area revealed more than 1,700 parcels with a pool or spa where mosquitoes could breed, according to the Los Angeles County West Vector Control District. The district provides services to the western portion of the city of L.A., including Pacific Palisades, as well as the city of Malibu.
The pools need to be “drained and dry or clean and filtered” to prevent breeding, and some preliminary inspections have gone forward, said Aaron Arugay, executive director of the district, in an email. Some mosquito breeding was seen in the problem pools, and was treated, he said.
“Due to the number of parcels, this is going to be an ongoing project all season,” Arugay said.
It’s an unexpected task, but Arugay said he doesn’t anticipate issues with drawing from the district’s budget and reserves to cover the costs for the season. The plan is to bring on temporary seasonal staff to help out in the summer and fall.
What’s at stake
The region’s invasive mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, were behind what public health officials deemed “unprecedented” local spread of dengue last year in Los Angeles County.
There were 14 local dengue cases in the county last year, and 11 of them were within the footprint of the San Gabriel Valley vector control district. Just two years ago, the state’s first known case of locally acquired dengue — in a Pasadena resident — occurred in the district.
Symptoms of dengue can include joint and muscle pain, severe headaches and bleeding under the skin. Last year, more than a third of L.A. County residents infected with the disease needed to be hospitalized, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
Of particular concern right now are native Culex mosquitoes, which can transmit deadly West Nile virus, Diaz said. This species makes up the majority of the region’s mosquito population, and its season typically peaks earlier than Aedes mosquitoes.
West Nile can cause severe and potentially fatal brain inflammation, among other serious issues. There were 35 confirmed cases of West Nile virus in L.A. County in 2024, including 27 hospitalizations and two deaths, according to data from the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
Culex mosquitoes typically target birds rather than humans, and tend to be satisfied with one slurp of blood, making them comparatively less annoying than Aedes mosquitoes. The Aedes mosquito is known for biting ankles during the day, often striking multiple times in succession.
The Aedes aegypti species of mosquito arrived in California a little over a decade ago, and has since spread to more than a third of state’s counties. Vector control officials have sought to beat back the scourge, galvanized by the unhappy residents and fear of spiking disease that’s starting to be realized.
In recent years, a couple of local districts have rolled out pilot programs entailing the release of sterile male mosquitoes to drive the population down, a relatively new approach to tackling these mosquitoes.
Early data have shown promise, with a mosquito population reduction of nearly 82% in one study area in L.A County last year. (Males don’t bite, so they aren’t contributing to itchy welts or disease spread.)
The method appears to be catching on, and the San Gabriel Valley vector control district plans to launch a similar program next year, Diaz said.
The Greater L.A. County Vector Control District, which covers the largest portion of the county, is currently gauging whether its homeowners will pay up to $20 a year to expand its sterile male release program. Diaz said the San Gabriel Valley district will probably be seeking additional funding from its property owners in 2027.
Such efforts have taken on heightened urgency amid the rise in dengue. And as mosquito season has lengthened in recent years amid warming temperatures, some of the bloodsuckers now stick around until December in parts of the Southland.
On the plus side, recent lower temperatures have slowed the insects’ life cycle in the Eaton fire burn area, and mosquito abundance levels have been below average. But the mercury is poised to rise.
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