A turkey breeding operation in Wayne County has tested positive for High Path Avian Influenza. The positive sample was first identified by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Raleigh.

 This is the first case of high path avian influenza in commercial poultry in North Carolina since January 2025.

The last year has brought an unusual pattern in COVID surges. 

Typically, the virus is worst during the winter with an additional summer surge beginning around June. Last winter, there were fewer infections, hospitalizations and deaths, and while this year’s summer surge has been delayed, it’s now being felt across the region.

Cross-contamination is the term used when pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites) that may result in food borne illnesses (food poisoning) are transferred from:

1. a surface to another surface - e.g. using the same cutting board to prepare raw meat and cooked meat 

Sure, mosquitos are an important link in the food chain for amphibians, birds and other insects, but they’re annoying, they’re persistent and they can actually kill you. Two researchers at Western Carolina University are working on a faster, cheaper, more reliable method to identify which ones will. 

Researchers are concerned that the Appalachian cottontail’s population may be impacted by a fast-spreading virus, RHDV2. 

For the first time since 2022, High Path Avian Influenza has been found in North Carolina. 

Haywood County hadn’t logged a coronavirus-related death in the better part of a year. But since Dec. 19, 2023, it has seen five.  

Citing recent news stories about mosquitoes transmitting the Zika virus, Haywood County Director of Health and Human Services Patrick H. Johnson presented information to the Haywood County Board on Haywood County’s mosquito populations, the risks the insects pose, prevention measures, and available assistance.

An outbreak of the highly contagious intestinal bug known as norovirus has been raging through North Canton Elementary School over the past two weeks, but illness now seems to be on the downswing — to the relief of parents and teachers alike.