New Mexico confirms first human West Nile virus case of the year - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Health officials confirmed New Mexico’s first human case of West Nile virus Thursday, saying the Valencia County adult who contracted the virus was briefly hospitalized, but has since returned home.
West Nile is a virus spread through mosquito bites between humans, birds and horses. While several species of mosquito can spread the disease, the Culex family of mosquito, which can be found across the state, is the biggest threat. No vaccines exist for people, nor do specific treatments for the infection.
The New Mexico Department of Health previously warned of future infections after mosquitos captured in Bernalillo County tested positive for the virus in early July.
“Our first infection of the year is always a good reminder that West Nile does circulate throughout the state,”New Mexico State Public Health Veterinarian Erin Phipps told Source New Mexico.
In a news release, NMDOH said West Nile virus infection has also been confirmed in three horses in New Mexico this year: two in Lea County and one in Eddy County.
Phipps encouraged measures to reduce mosquito bites: limiting activity at dusk and dawn; wearing loose-fitting long sleeves and pants; and using insect repellent can lower individual risks. The health department recommends using Environmental Protection Agency-approved repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon eucalyptus/para-menthane-diol.
Most infections are asymptomatic, with some people experiencing a headache or mild fever, Phipps said, but about 1% of cases can cause a very severe neurological disease.
“Late summer is the time we expect to see the most West Nile infections so we’re expecting to see more in August and into September,” Phipps said.
New Mexico health officials have reported about 500 cases of West Nile since 2005, with at least one death in all but two years. New Mexico’s most severe outbreak occurred in 2023, with 80 recorded cases and eight deaths.
Reducing mosquito breeding grounds on private property is another tack, saying that any outdoor water bowls or birdbaths should be refilled at least once a week to interrupt any mosquito larvae.
“Any standing water in debris, toys, saucers under potted plants can all catch water and provide locations for mosquitos to breed,” Phipps said. Conservation groups herald release of Asha the wolf, her mate and pups into New Mexico wilderness - Source New Mexico Staff
After receiving criticism of its delayed release of the Mexican gray wolf called Asha, along with her mate and pups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week released the Quartz pack — so-named by the service — into the New Mexico wilderness.
A consortium of conservation groups that had called for Asha’s release announced the decision on Thursday. USFWS confirmed the release to Source New Mexico and said the pack was released from Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge “to the wild” on Aug. 6.
Asha — given her name by school children — became famous in 2023 when she left her pack in search of new territory — an act known as dispersal — and began wandering. Far. She wandered out of a government-set boundary, the Mexican wolf experimental population area — for wild wolves that bars them from I-40 to the New Mexico-Colorado border.
The endangered wolf’s wanderings landed her on the pages of National Geographic. Her ongoing captivity — more than a month had passed since the U.S. FWS’ own deadline for her release — prompted 8,000 citizens and 36 conservation groups to write to the service and the U.S. Interior Department in July seeking the wolves’ release.
The conservation groups announced Asha, her captive-born mate Arcadia and their five pups were released onto the conservation-managed, 244-square-mile Ladder Ranch, which adjoins the Aldo Leopold Wilderness within the Gila National Forest.
“Asha’s story should have continued in northern New Mexico where her instincts led her to travel twice — that is historic and future wolf country,” Greater Gila New Mexico advocate for WildEarth Guardians Leia Barnett said in a statement. “But until wildlife management agencies recognize that highways shouldn’t dictate where wildlife lives, Asha and the Quartz pack being released back into the Gila is the next best thing. We celebrate her new family’s next wild chapter.”
The pack’s delayed release from June, the conservation groups said in a news release, means the captive-born pups “missed the best opportunity to become accustomed to their natural prey of elk, which Mexican wolves typically learn to hunt in June and early July when elk calves abound.”
Asha’s two captures sparked numerous debates about wolf recovery strategies, and an ongoing political battle about the wild animal from ranchers and other critics of efforts to re-wild wolves.
A statement provided to Source New Mexico by a FWS spokesperson confirming the pack’s release, said: “The pack will add to the genetic diversity in the wild population, helping meet recovery goals. The Service is aware and shares the increasing concerns in the community about negative impacts to ranching from the growing wolf population. We, with the Interagency Field Team, are committed to immediately addressing any conflicts if/when they arise in partnership with the local community.”
“We are filled with hope that Asha, her mate, Arcadia, and their pups, Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai, and Aala, will roam freely for years to come,” Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest, said in the statement. “They may not be able to read lines on a map, but these lobos can read the landscape and know where they belong. This young family will have an excellent teacher in their mom Asha, and the wild place they will call home will be better off with their presence.”
Stansbury: DOGE trying to shut down Social Security call centers in NM - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Ahead of Social Security’s 90th anniversary next week, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said during a news conference in Albuquerque on Thursday that actions taken against the social safety net program by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are laying the groundwork for its privatization.
“Part of what we’ve seen since DOGE has taken over Social Security is that they’ve dramatically cut back hours, they’re trying to shut down centers all over New Mexico, including in Rio Rancho,” she said.
There are 468,030 New Mexicans who receive monthly Social Security benefits, including retirees, disabled workers and children, according to a news release from Stansbury’s office.
Albuquerque has one of the largest Social Security call centers in the country, Stansbury said, which serves beneficiaries across the nation. The staff there told her office during a recent visit that the facility was built to house as many as 500 workers, and is now down to approximately 200, she said.
“DOGE has hacked into the computer systems and data of the Social Security system,” she said. “The system is crashing.”
John “JD” Doran, an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees retiree and second vice president of the NM Alliance for Retired Americans, said people using Social Security to survive are experiencing longer wait times, broken websites and delayed claims.
“You have no idea what retirement security means until you retire and find out you don’t have it,” Doran said. “We’re trying to prevent that from happening. Social Security contributes more than $3 million to New Mexico’s economy every month — that’s what keeps this state strong.”
Stansbury last month introduced the Hands Off Our Social Security Act, which would make it illegal for any federal administration to privatize Social Security; require Congressional consent to downsize the Social Security Administration’s workforce and offices; mandate that the program maintain public access via phone lines; and protect beneficiaries’ sensitive personal data.
Stansbury said the bill was prompted by the DOGE Subcommittee’s last hearing in which a panel of conservative analysts with the Heritage Foundation and associated organizations discussed privatizing the program. Stansbury is the committee’s ranking Democratic member.
When Stansbury introduced the legislation, she said on the floor of the House of Representatives that the Trump administration “is trying to systemically dismantle” Social Security.
More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security, co-sponsor U.S. Rep. John Larson told the House. He said it is the country’s “number one anti-poverty program” for seniors and children, and more veterans rely on it than the Veterans Administration.
Stansbury said on Thursday Larson told her the GOP and think tanks in favor of privatization’s end goal is to break the Social Security system now so that they can make the case for privatizing it later.
“They don’t want it to work,” she said. “Really big money is behind being able to take the principal that you paid into Social Security your entire life that you worked, and they want to take that money and gamble it on the stock market so that they can make money off of it.”
Stansbury said she doesn’t think it’s likely the current Congress will take up her bill because it is “trying to dismantle so many of these programs.”
“But we felt it was important to take a strong stand and say: ‘Do not privatize Social Security,’” she said. “We’re going to fight back with everything that we can.”