Tagged: Brunswick County

The group’s name is FOCUS.  It may be short and easy-to-remember, but it encompasses a huge mission for the future of the Cape Fear Region. 

North Carolina House bill 438 opened a new door for county commissioners. It gives them more control over public health and social services departments. Brunswick County’s already switched over. New Hanover and Pender counties are now considering adopting the legislation.

Local county boards of health cover a lot of territory beyond funding birth control and offering flu shots.

Tourism in North Carolina is up all over the state – to the tune of 18-billion dollars in spending last year. 

The good news:  it’s rare.  The bad news:  there’s no vaccine, no cure, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis can be fatal.  People catch it from mosquitoes – and with the recent rains, mosquitoes are plentiful.  WHQR’s Rachel Lewis Hilburn reports that authorities in New Hanover and Brunswick Counties are urging residents to take simple steps to protect themselves. 

Mosquitoes pass encephalitis to humans – usually after biting an infected wild bird – which make great hosts for the disease. 

While obesity rates are not increasing nationwide, they’re not decreasing either.  The picture is even bleaker on the local level.