Health and Science Highlights

East County News Service

(San Diego) – Top stories include the latest on food recalls and inspection lapses, VA healthcare delays, AI misinformation on vaccines, record-breaking heat, rogue AI alarms researchers, Musk sues Minnesota over banning fake nudes, FCC ends limit on TV station ownership, and more.

HEALTH

• Record cyclosporiasis outbreak tests agencies hit by Trump administration’s cuts (NPR)
• Jalapeños linked to a U.S. salmonella outbreak are tracked to a Mexican farm and a distributor (PBS)
• Farm linked to cyclosporiasis outbreak hadn’t been inspected in 7 years as FDA lags on foreign inspection targets (CBS News)
• The VA’s Race to Shrink Its Backlog Is Leading to ‘Egregious’ Mistakes (NOTUS)
• Poll: People Without a Trusted Health Care Provider Are More Likely to Endorse Vaccine Myths, As Are Those Who Often Use Social Media or AI for Health Information (KFF)
• Rand Paul’s Fauci Diary Dump Exposed Peoples’ Medical Histories (NOTUS)
• Kids keep getting hurt and killed on e-bikes. Should parents be held responsible? (AP)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says (AP)
• The Mediterranean’s warming waters are drawing hundreds of invasive species (AP)
• Rogue AI Agents Are Alarming Researchers More Than Ever (NOTUS)
• Elon Musk’s xAI sues Minnesota over its first-in-the-nation law banning ‘nudification’ technology (AP)
• Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership (NBC)
• Officials will not release cool water from a Colorado River reservoir to protect threatened fish (AP)

the humpback chub — a threatened fish native to the river — against ratepayer costs for electricity.

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Record cyclosporiasis outbreak tests agencies hit by Trump administration’s cuts (NPR)

Last year’s funding cuts to federal agencies that oversee foodborne illness outbreaks are being tested with the record cyclosporiasis outbreak in the U.S.

Jalapeños linked to a U.S. salmonella outbreak are tracked to a Mexican farm and a distributor (PBS)

Jalapeño peppers linked to a multistate salmonella outbreak have been traced back to a grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, federal officials say.

Farm linked to cyclosporiasis outbreak hadn’t been inspected in 7 years as FDA lags on foreign inspection targets (CBS News)

The Food and Drug Administration conducted just under 1,000 foreign food safety inspections in 2025, and the farm in Mexico believed to be at the center of the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak in the U.S. was not one of them.

The VA’s Race to Shrink Its Backlog Is Leading to ‘Egregious’ Mistakes (NOTUS)

A trail of denials, inaccurate decisions and prolonged appeals processes have left veterans without benefits.

Poll: People Without a Trusted Health Care Provider Are More Likely to Endorse Vaccine Myths, As Are Those Who Often Use Social Media or AI for Health Information (KFF)

While More People Identify Vaccine Myths as “Definitely False” than “Definitely True,” At Least Half Are Uncertain About What to Believe

Rand Paul’s Fauci Diary Dump Exposed Peoples’ Medical Histories (NOTUS)

The Republican senator’s office published over 20 individuals’ health information without redaction.

Kids keep getting hurt and killed on e-bikes. Should parents be held responsible? (AP)

As traumatic injuries and deaths surge among children involved in crashes on e-bikes and other electrified vehicles, one California prosecutor is cracking down by pursuing criminal charges against some of the young riders’ parents.   It is just one way officials across the country are trying to tackle the growing issue, while families navigate a patchwork of local laws and guidance on what kind of souped-up cycles and scooters are safe or even legal for their kids to ride.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says (AP)

The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…Records go back to 1895.

The Mediterranean’s warming waters are drawing hundreds of invasive species (AP)

The Mediterranean of our ancestors is no more. Scientists say climate change…[is] bringing hundreds of new and invasive fish species that decimate indigenous populations…. Scientists have designated the Mediterranean as a climate change “hot spot,” with its waters expected to warm by…3.6 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100….a key factor in the warming is that the sea is an enclosed basin and warmth can’t dissipate like in the vastness of the oceans.

Rogue AI Agents Are Alarming Researchers More Than Ever (NOTUS)

A string of hacks is fueling a new sense of urgency to regulate the technology. “I have never seen so much concern,” one former industry consultant said.  A public letter released last month, signed by 1,367 employees at the top AI companies, that urged the government to “deliberately pace” AI development.

Elon Musk’s xAI sues Minnesota over its first-in-the-nation law banning ‘nudification’ technology (AP)

… Musk’s company sued Monday in federal court, days before the law is set to take effect Saturday and make Minnesota the first state to try to outlaw the increasingly proliferating technology that lets people use AI to to create fake nude images of real people. The law was signed in May.

Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership (NBC)

The Federal Communications Commission, the government agency that regulates the broadcast airwaves, voted Thursday to eliminate a cap on the share of U.S. television households a single company can reach, a major move that could pave the way for more corporate consolidation in the media industry.  In a 2-1 vote, the FCC repealed a 22-year-old rule holding that a company cannot own stations that reach more than a combined 39% of the U.S. television audience. The ownership limit will be replaced by a case-by-case approach.

Officials will not release cool water from a Colorado River reservoir to protect threatened fish (AP)

In an email obtained by The Associated Press, the Bureau of Reclamation told various groups that water from Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona would not be released “due to significant hydropower generation concerns under already strained system conditions.”  As the Colorado River and its once massive reservoirs shrink from overuse and climate change, officials were faced with a decision that pits conservation of the humpback chub — a threatened fish native to the river — against ratepayer costs for electricity.

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