It’s in the air, and now in the water. Samples from Southern Nevada’s wastewater have shown an increase of the COVID-19 virus in areas of the valley, indicating a possible summer surge of the illness that has spread across the country.

Richard Oxborough plucked a vial of human blood from the rack on his lab bench. The UNLV researcher warmed the blood and fed it to a colony of mosquitoes. The critters won’t be quite as voracious as normal because Oxborough didn’t have the chance to starve them, he quipped.

The Southern Nevada Health District is encouraging the community to “fight the bite” this summer, as the Southern Nevada Health District announced in May the detection of the first West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes in Clark County of the 2024 season.

Rats in New York City are becoming more than a nuisance. The New York City Department of Health has released a health advisory after recording six cases of human leptospirosis, an infection with Leptospira bacteria that can be spread through rat urine. In 2023, the city recorded 24 cases, the highest number in a single year.

Earlier this month, an assortment of Planters peanuts and mixed nuts were recalled over concerns they contained Listeria. Similarly, a variety of chocolate-covered pretzels and cookies were recalled due to fears the snacks were riddled with Salmonella. Recently, over 16,000 pounds of raw ground beef sold at Walmart were pulled from the shelves due potentially being contaminated with E. coli.

Many follow home remedies that are not effective. We Verify three of them.

Get ready for a noisy summer: Double the normal amount of cicadas are predicted to emerge this year. Melodramatically dubbed by some as a "cicada apocalypse," there is a reason why we're going to see so many of them in 2024. Find out everything to know about why there will be so many cicadas in 2024 (AKA a double-brood!), how many cicadas to expect and which states they'll hit the hardest.

Get ready for a noisy summer: Double the normal amount of cicadas are predicted to emerge this year. Melodramatically dubbed by some as a "cicada apocalypse," there is a reason why we're going to see so many of them in 2024. Find out everything to know about why there will be so many cicadas in 2024 (AKA a double-brood!), how many cicadas to expect and which states they'll hit the hardest.

The infectious diseases defining Nevada’s public health landscape, and the simple solution that eludes officials

We’re in the heart of the holiday season, people are going on vacation. They’re gathering with friends in homes, bars, restaurants; maybe seeing shows in crowded Strip venues. It really is a time for fun and relaxation. And, unfortunately, it’s also a time for something we don’t want to think about after three years of COVID-19: disease. But the reality is, Nevada does seem to be something of a hotbed for communicable disease and infections.

The virus is most prevalent in semi-tropical and tropical areas, such as Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Tropical diseases could spread more widely in the U.S. as the climate changes.

Those dealing with cold and flu season are not alone this time of year. Experts describe the fall season as the prime time to see several respiratory illnesses going around.