OBJECTIVES: On July 28, 2022, eastern Kentucky experienced the state's deadliest flood in recorded history. In response to ongoing mental health concerns from community members who survived the flood, local health department directors in affected communities requested technical assistance from the Kentucky Department for Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. METHODS: Two simultaneous Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPERs) were conducted 6 weeks after the flood. Four counties were assessed in each CASPER. EpiInfo7 was used to calculate the unweighted and weighted frequencies and percentages to estimate the number and percentage of households with a particular response in each CASPER. RESULTS: Approximately a third (30.5%) of households in CASPER 1 and approximately 40% of households in CASPER 2 reported experiencing ≥1 mental health problems. Individual-level mental health questions from a modified 3-stage CASPER found approximately 15% of persons in both CASPERs reported a Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) score ≥3 and approximately 20% of persons in both CASPERs reported Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) score ≥3. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated households experienced mental health problems after the flood. Depression and anxiety were prevalent among persons living in flood-affected areas. If ever needed, households preferred to receive mental health services in-person and locally.

BACKGROUND: On July 28, 2022, floods in eastern Kentucky displaced over 600 individuals. With the goal of understanding mental health needs of affected families, we surveyed households living in flood evacuation shelters after the 2022 Kentucky floods. METHODS: Families experiencing displacement from the 2022 Kentucky floods currently living in three different temporary shelter locations were surveyed via convenience sampling. A rapid community needs assessment involving in-person interviews using modified two stage cluster methodology (CASPER) was conducted between September 6-9, 2022. RESULTS: Teams conducted 61 household interviews. Since the flood, 27.7% reported that their household received services from behavioral health and 19.6% received grief counseling. Experiencing agitation (36.7%), difficulty concentrating (47.5%), nightmares (62.3%), or suicidal thoughts/self-harm (6.6%) were reported by households surveyed. Over one-fourth (27.0%) of individuals surveyed reported being depressed nearly every day. Over 20% reported anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure) nearly every day. Over 75% of individuals surveyed reported being anxious several days or more over the last two weeks. Over one-third of individuals (34.0%) reported being unable to stop worrying nearly every day. Of those individuals surveyed, 36.1% reported barriers to mental health services. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms of depressed mood, anhedonia, anxiety, and nightmares were prevalent in displaced families six weeks after the 2022 Kentucky floods. Providing and encouraging access to mental health services are important priorities during disaster recovery.

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a re-emerging zoonotic poxvirus responsible for producing skin lesions in humans. Endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, the 2022 outbreak with a clade IIb strain has resulted in ongoing sustained transmission of the virus worldwide. MPXV has a relatively wide host range, with infections reported in rodent and non-human primate species. However, the susceptibility of many domestic livestock species remains unknown. Here, we report on a susceptibility/transmission study in domestic pigs that were experimentally inoculated with a 2022 MPXV clade IIb isolate or served as sentinel contact control animals. Several principal-infected and sentinel contact control pigs developed minor lesions near the lips and nose starting at day 12 through 18 days post-challenge (DPC). No virus was isolated or viral DNA was detected from the lesions; however, MPXV antigen was detected by IHC in tissue from a pustule of a principal infected pig. Viral DNA and infectious virus were detected in nasal and oral swabs up to 14 DPC, with peak titers observed at 7 DPC. Viral DNA was also detected in nasal tissues or skin collected from two principal-infected animals at 7 DPC post-mortem. Furthermore, all principal-infected and sentinel control animals enrolled in the study seroconverted. In conclusion, we provide the first evidence that domestic pigs are susceptible to experimental MPXV infection and can transmit the virus to contact animals.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has underscored the need to prevent chronic disease and promote health.1 , 2 More than a million American lives have been lost to COVID-19, and life expectancy decreased between 2018 and 2020.3 , 4 Chronic diseases are major risk factors for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.5 In addition, COVID-19 morbidity and mortality have been higher among persons from racial and ethnic groups such as those who are African American, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native as well as those living at lower SES.6 This has magnified pre-existing health inequities in chronic disease.1 , 2 , 7

Equine herpesvirus-2 (EHV-2) infection has been implicated as a cause of a variety of clinical disorders in young horses, including upper respiratory tract disease, generalized malaise, fever, pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia, and lymphadenopathy. Considerable sequence heterogeneity has been demonstrated previously among EHV-2 strains, and individual horses can be concurrently infected with more than one virus strain. In this study, the temporal variation of the viral load and genomic diversity of the glycoprotein B (gB) gene of EHV-2 in the nasal secretions of a cohort of foals was characterized during the first 5 months of life. The viral load in nasal secretions of foals peaked when the foals were approximately 3 months old, and there was notable genetic heterogeneity of the gB gene, both among foals and within individuals. Furthermore, there was evidence of positive selection of EHV-2 variants with unique amino acid sequences at specific sites of gB.