The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting a growing number of cases of dengue fever infections in Georgia.

The agency says the disease is the most common mosquito-borne infection worldwide.

There have been almost 2,900 cases of the viral infection in the United States so far in 2024 – nearly as many as were reported in all of 2023. The CDC says there has also been a record number of cases worldwide.

In Georgia, there have been 20 reported cases – up from 16 earlier in July.

What is dengue?

Spread by mosquitoes, most cases of dengue in the United States are associated with travel to areas like the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, or other areas with high risk for tourists.

The CDC says most people never know if they have dengue because of a lack of symptoms.

For the 1 in 4 people who do feel sick after becoming infected, symptoms include fever, headache, skin itching and rash, vomiting, and muscle and joint pains.

In rare cases, people may get severe dengue, a medical emergency that can quickly get worse. Symptoms of this include belly pain, persistent vomiting, a bleeding nose or gums, and vomiting blood.

If you have any symptoms, talk to your doctor and share your recent travel history.  

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia sun scorched the slab of concrete beneath Juan Carlos Ramirez Bibiano’s body when nurses found him in a puddle of his own excrement, vomiting, according to a complaint.

Officers left Ramirez in an outdoor cell at Telfair State Prison on July 20, 2023, for five hours without water, shade or ice, even as the outside temperature climbed to 96 degrees by the afternoon, according to a lawsuit brought by his family. That evening, the complaint says, Ramirez died of heart and lung failure caused by heat exposure. He was 27.

Ramirez’s family, including his mother, Norma Bibiano, announced a lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Corrections on Thursday, alleging that officers’ negligent performance of their duties caused his death. The warden directed officers to check on inmates, bring them water and ice and limit their time outside, the complaint says.

The Department of Corrections reported that Ramirez died of natural causes, Jeff Filipovits, one of Norma Bibiano’s attorneys, said at a news conference in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta.

Georgia’s prisons are under nationwide scrutiny. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation, which is ongoing, into the state’s prisons following concerns about violence, understaffing and sexual abuse.

Outside of Georgia, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has faced complaints of widespread dysfunction. The Associated Press found rampant sexual abuse, criminal misconduct from staff, understaffing, inmate escapes, COVID outbreaks and crumbling infrastructure inside prisons across the country.

The findings led U.S. Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia to introduce bipartisan legislation in 2022 that would overhaul oversight of the agency and improve transparency. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on July 10.

At an 8 a.m. daily meeting on the day of Ramirez’s death, Telfair State Prison Warden Andrew McFarlane ordered department heads to keep inmates hydrated, bring them ice and avoid leaving them outside for too long in the heat, according to the lawsuit.

A prison staff member brought Ramirez to an outdoor “rec cell” around 10 a.m., after his meeting with a mental health provider, the lawsuit says. The temperature had reached 86 degrees by then.

About 3 p.m., five on-site nurses rushed into the yard in response to an alert from security staff, according to the lawsuit. That is when the nurses found him lying naked on the concrete near his vomit and excrete, the lawsuit says.

Ramirez’s breathing was strained, and his heartbeat was irregular, the lawsuit says. A nurse said that Ramirez was blue and “hot to the touch,” according to the complaint. Nurses pressed cold water bottles onto his groin and under his arms.

Nurses then put an automated external defibrillator on Ramirez’s chest, but it did not deliver a shock. After some time passed, a doctor arrived to help the nurses administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the complaint says. He tried to insert tubes into Ramirez, who still had trouble breathing, seemingly because of his yellow stomach bile, according to the complaint.

Later, his internal body temperature was recorded at 107 degrees Fahrenheit (41.7 Celsius), the complaint says.

Around 3:35 p.m., Emergency Medical Services arrived and took Ramirez to a local hospital. He died at 8:25 p.m. from cardiopulmonary arrest brought by heat exposure, according to the complaint.

“The number of deaths that are occurring in custody is galling, and the absolute lawlessness inside of prisons is a humanitarian crisis,” Filipovits said at the news conference of Georgia’s prisons. “I don’t use those words lightly.”

Homicides inside Georgia’s prisons are rising, and the number is higher than in other states, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. But the Journal-Constitution also reported that starting in March, the Department of Corrections stopped immediately reporting the causes of inmate deaths

The attorneys said they have minimal information about the events leading up to Ramirez’s death. For example, they aren’t sure whether officers brought Ramirez to an outdoor cell for routine or punitive purposes. They say they remain in the dark about which officers were directly in charge of taking care of Ramirez.

“A piece of my heart is gone,” Norma Bibiano said in Spanish at the news conference. Ramirez’s brother sat by her side. Ramirez also left behind a son, and he was a father figure to his partner’s son, the family said.

Bibiano recalled her son as loving, kind and intelligent. She said she always hoped her son would return home, and she misses hearing him say, “I love you, mama” over the phone.

——-

Charlotte Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on the social platform X: @charlottekramon

In one of the fastest reversals in Georgia’s educational history, the state’s Superintendent, Richard Woods, decided Wednesday (July 24) to walk back his original decision preventing state-wide funding for Advanced Placement African American Studies Programs (AP Af-Am).

This decision comes following multiple protests after Woods told Georgia school districts just the day before that if they wanted to keep AP Af-Am in schools, they would need to find a way to fund it themselves.

In his original statement, Woods said the state would only provide funding to schools if they use a course code from 2020 — a course that did not qualify for AP credit. Many advocates of the AP Af-Am course said Woods’ refusal to fund the AP course would suppress teaching about Black history.

Backlash from community leaders and school districts quickly followed Woods’ Wednesday announcement. The original decision to pull funding came only days before Georgia schools are set to open for the school year. Outraged educators called Woods’ move a waste of time and money, according to 11 Alive.

Multiple districts fought back in protest. Atlanta Public Schools (APS) immediately announced they would pay for the course without state help, but for lesser funded districts like Gwinnett County, things were still up in the air.

In a statement by an APS spokesperson, the district said it “will provide the course to students with local funds. AP African-American Studies will continue to count for credit toward graduation. This district is committed to providing rigorous instruction that helps our students become globally-minded citizens.”

The Georgia Association of Educators said the state’s choice to pull funding was disappointing, especially when measured “against the backdrop of the approval of the AP European History class,” reported WSB-TV.

Even the state’s Gov. Brian Kemp sent a letter to Woods questioning his decision to pull funding. The letter, obtained by Fox News, emphasized his office held no real stake in the Department of Education’s decision, but Kemp listed several questions for Woods to answer.

States like Florida and South Carolina have banned AP Af-Am from being taught in public schools, but fortunately, Georgia has not joined that short list.

In reaction to Woods’ reversal, Georgia Rep. Dr. Jasmine Clark said in a statement, “This shows the power of the voices of the people!” She continued saying the “reversal, on principle, is great, and honors the fact that this course should have never been on the chopping block in the first place.”

Going forward, school districts will receive funding from the state to use the new AP Af-Am Studies course rather than paying for it out of pocket. This is a win for Black students hoping to study their history on a deeper level.