New virus identified in China: A potential new health crisis has been identified in China, where at least 35 people have been infected by Langya heni-pa-virus (LayV). While the Chinese government has been silent on the virus, the New England Journal of Medicine published a report on LayV that described symptoms similar with the flu, including fever, cough, headache, muscle soreness and fatigue. Heni-pa-viruses can infect humans and cause fatal diseases, and these viruses are typically found in bats, rodents and shrews. All of the patients identified with LayV had a recent history of animal exposure in eastern China. To date, there hasn”™t been human-to-human transmission of LayV.
Poliovirus discovered in London”™s wastewater: Children living in London are being offered a booster shot of the polio vaccine following the discovery of the poliovirus in the city”™s wastewater. The U.K. Health Security Agency has identified 116 virus isolates in 19 sewage samples collected in London between February and July. The last case of polio in the U.K. was recorded in 1984. Closer to home, poliovirus was recently identified in the Rockland County and Orange County wastewaters and a Rockland County man was hospitalized with polio, the first U.S. case in nearly a decade.
Gas drops below the $4 a gallon mark: Earlier this morning, AAA announced the national average price of a gallon of regular gas was $3.99. This marks the first time since March that gas dipped below the $4 a gallon level. The decline in gas prices helped to lower the July consumer price index to 8.5%, down from 9.1% in June. This marked the first time in 25 months that the consumer price index was flat. However, the Biden administration”™s claim that the U.S. experienced 0% inflation during July was criticized by economists as being disingenuous.
IRS chief seeks to clarify goals of expanded enforcement: The head of the Internal Revenue Service has insisted that the hiring of 87,000 new agents will not result in a wave of auditing aimed at low- and middle-income Americans. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig noted that the hiring of the new agents, which is part of the Inflation Reduction Act, will be aimed at large corporate and global high-net-worth taxpayers. Rettig added, “These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans.” However, the nonpartisan watchdog Joint Committee on Taxation recently predicted between 78% and 90% of the estimated $200 billion that the IRS will collect from its increased enforcement workforce will come from small businesses.
Texas church in hot water for unauthorized “Hamilton” production: A small Texas church has found itself in the center of a show business controversy for staging an unauthorized production of the award-winning Broadway musical “Hamilton” and rewriting parts of the show to emphasize key points within its ministry. Last weekend, The Door Christian Fellowship Ministries in McAllen, Texas, produced and livestreamed a rendition of “Hamilton” that included new faith-based messaging throughout the show and ended with a sermon by a church pastor that compared homosexuality to drug and alcohol addiction. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of “Hamilton,” condemned the presentation as an “illegal, unauthorized production,” adding that matter has been handed over to his lawyers.
Photo: Steve Juvertson / Wikimedia Commons
