Uncommon Knowledge
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Multiple mosquitoes gathered by authorities in Florida’s Sarasota County have tested positive for malaria at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab, as the response has ramped up to stamp out further spread of the illness. Four locally-acquired cases of malaria were recently reported in Florida, along with one in Texas — the first known instances of the mosquito-borne illness being transmitted within the U.S. since 2003.
Three mosquitoes carrying the parasite that causes malaria were collected from the same woodlot, Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services told CBS News in a statement. They were among more than a hundred samples that have been shipped to the CDC for testing.
Local authorities have targeted their eradication efforts in that area to wipe out Anopheles mosquitoes, the insect that spreads malaria, through spraying efforts from trucks, aircraft and on foot.
“Efforts continue to test more Anopheles from all areas of concern as well as treatments,” the county said.
News of the mosquitoes testing positive was previously reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
A spokesperson for the CDC confirmed it has received mosquito specimens from both Florida and Texas in support of their investigations into the cases, which prompted a nationwide health advisory issued by the agency last week.
In Texas, so far all mosquitoes have tested negative for the parasite, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services told CBS News.
Texas reported a single case this month, in a resident who had not traveled outside the state. Officials in Cameron County said the case was a resident of another county, but an investigation had determined the patient contracted the parasite while in the county.
Spokespeople for both Texas and Florida’s health departments did not confirm whether additional suspected cases are being investigated in their states.
It can take weeks for people to first start feeling sick after being infected with the parasite. Early symptoms of malaria infections can look similar to the flu, with signs like fever, headache, and fatigue.
However, untreated cases can quickly become dangerous. An estimated 619,000 people died from malaria around the world in 2021, the World Health Organization estimates. It is most common in tropical climates.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel, the CDC had tracked hundreds of malaria cases reported to the agency in the U.S. each year.
Most cases were typically reported in the summer and fall, nearly all stemming from being bitten during recent international travel. So-called “airport” malaria cases are also possible, with mosquitoes themselves traveling inside airplanes, or very rarely it may spread through contaminated blood transfusions.
Humans cannot spread malaria to others like a cold or the flu.
Mosquitoes spread malaria between people by feeding on the blood of infected humans. The parasite then replicates for weeks inside the mosquito, before being transmitted into new humans the mosquito feeds on.
While the CDC believes risk of further local spread of malaria “remains extremely low” nationwide, it acknowledged that the Anopheles mosquitoes that can spread malaria are found in much of the country.
“Consider the diagnosis of malaria in any person with a fever of unknown origin, regardless of international travel history, particularly if they have been to the areas with recent locally acquired malaria,” the CDC urged in its advisory.
Authorities raced to trap and test Anopheles mosquitoes during the country’s last local outbreak of malaria in 2003, among residents of Florida’s Palm Beach County, while ramping up efforts to curb mosquito populations.
At the time, that had been the first “outbreak of malaria with extended transmission” reported anywhere in the country since 1986. But none of the mosquitoes collected showed evidence of the parasite in CDC testing.
“This outbreak demonstrates the potential for reintroduction of malaria into the United States despite intensive surveillance, vector-control activities, and local public health response to educate clinicians and the community,” CDC officials wrote at the time.
The Supreme Court on Monday kept a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users.
The justices returned the cases to lower courts in challenges from trade associations for the companies.
While the details vary, both laws aimed to address conservative complaints that the social media companies were liberal-leaning and censored users based on their viewpoints, especially on the political right. The cases are among several this term in which the justices are wrestling with standards for free speech in the digital age.
The Florida and Texas laws were signed by Republican governors in the months following decisions by Facebook and Twitter, now X, to cut then-President Donald Trump off over his posts related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Trade associations representing the companies sued in federal court, claiming that the laws violated the platforms’ speech rights. One federal appeals court struck down Florida’s statute, while another upheld the Texas law. But both were on hold pending the outcome at the Supreme Court.
In a statement when he signed the Florida measure into law, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it would be “protection against the Silicon Valley elites.”
When Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas law, he said it was needed to protect free speech in what he termed the new public square. Social media platforms “are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely — but there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas,” Abbott said. “That is wrong, and we will not allow it in Texas.”
But much has changed since then. Elon Musk purchased Twitter and, besides changing its name, eliminated teams focused on content moderation, welcomed back many users previously banned for hate speech and used the site to spread conspiracy theories.
Thirteen out of the 15 housing markets at the highest risk of a home price correction in the coming months, according to a recent Parcl Labs study, are in Florida, where new inventory has been flooding in.
The Parcl Labs’ team, which delivers real-time housing market data, analytics and research, analyzed around 1,000 U.S. housing markets to identify early signs of market stress that could lead to price drops. It found that there’s “trouble” ahead for the Sunshine State, which it described as “the epicenter” of a mismatch between supply and demand.
The top five list of markets with the biggest supply and demand divergence—one of the factors considered in Parcl Labs’ analysis, are in Florida—namely, Pensacola (+52 percent supply increase, -28 percent demand decrease); North Port, FL (+50 percent, -18 percent); Naples (+44 percent, -14 percent); Port St. Lucie (+40 percent, -22 percent); and Palm Bay (+39 percent, -18 percent).
Four of the top five markets expected to see the biggest price drops in the months ahead—though any decline isn’t guaranteed—are also in the state. These include some of the same metropolitan areas which are seeing demand drop, such as North Port (52 percent of listings with price cuts); Tampa (49 percent); Naples (46 percent); and Palm Bay (44 percent). Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was also in the top five with an expected 46 percent with price cuts.
Several markets in Florida have already seen dramatic price cuts since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, which saw the U.S. housing market boom as low mortgage rates, high demand and a lack of supply led aspiring home buyers to cutthroat bidding wars.
In Florida, the widespread possibility of remote work led to an influx of people moving from out of state chasing warm weather, sunny skies and cheaper taxes. The end of the health emergency and businesses’ eagerness to get their workers back in the office meant a sudden slowdown in arrivals, as well as the departure of some of those who had already migrated to the Sunshine State.
In Lakeland, according to Parcl Labs’ data, prices are now -4.63 percent from their peak in 2020. They increased by 51.36 percent in 2020. In Sebastian, they’re down -4.14 percent from their peak of +61.43 ; in Gainesville, by 2.28% from +50.21 percent. Deltona, Homosassa Springs, Tampa, Ocala, Port St. Lucie, Miami and Orlando have also seen prices cool down from their pandemic peaks.
Inventory has been growing at a faster pace in the state than in the rest of the country. Florida, together with Texas, is among the states that has been building the most new homes in the past few years, trying to fill the gap between demand and inventory which marked the pandemic. But now, as mortgage rates remain high and home insurance premiums in the Sunshine State inflate, buyers are a little more reluctant.
Newsweek contacted Parcl Labs for comment by email early on Monday.
The 15 metropolitan areas which are most likely to see home price drops, according to Parcl Labs, are:
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Florida State has landed another verbal commitment for #Tribe25, and this one is from a true Seminole in every sense of the word.
Gregory “Zae” Thomas is a 6’2”, 190 pound defensive back who plays for American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is currently ranked as the 292nd best player in the nation by 247Sports Composite (25th best safety, 42nd best player in FL).
Thomas chose the Seminoles over 30 other offers from the likes of the Clemson Tigers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Oklahoma Sooners, Penn State Nittany Lions, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M Aggies, UCF Golden Knights, and Wisconsin Badgers.
Back in the names to know and visitor preview articles that mentioned him, I wrote that I believe Zae Thomas is simply destined to play for Florida State. He checks some amazing boxes. Thomas has Seminole Tribe heritage. He plays for the high school where DBs coach Pat Surtain held his first head coaching position, overlapping with Surtain for a year. He is the rare defensive back who loves to tackle and he has the positional flexibility and size that Surtain and defensive coordinator Adam Fuller love.
In an otherwise middling DB cycle, Thomas is a bright spot with a very high ceiling- I’d easily have him ranked as a top 150 player nationally. He does an excellent job mirroring receivers in coverage and has no issues jamming at the line. I would expect him to be a regular on special teams and as he learns the playbook, I think he’ll enter the mix in either the corner or safety rotation sooner than later.
Check out Tomahawk Nation’s most recent Official Recruiting and Transfer Portal Thread to interact with the Three Stars and for more information about FSU recruiting.
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