By JONEL ALECCIA

Federal health officials have dramatically scaled back a program that has tracked food poisoning infections in the U.S. for three decades.

Related Articles

Postal services that suspended US shipments need time to prepare for new tariffs, UN agency says

Indiana legislative leaders met privately with Trump to discuss redistricting

A deadly truck crash in Florida has fueled an immigration fight. Here’s what to know

Trump administration is investing in US rare earths in a push to break China’s grip

Trump’s push to oust Fed’s Lisa Cook unites anti-DEI effort, bid to control independent institutions

The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet, has cut required monitoring to just two pathogens that cause infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s down from eight.

Under the change, which began in July, health departments in 10 states that participate in the joint state and federal program will be required to monitor only foodborne infections caused by salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria. Those are among the top contributors to foodborne illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S., the CDC said.

Previously, the FoodNet system required surveillance of infections confirmed to be caused by six other germs as well: campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibrio and Yersinia. That is now optional.

Narrowing the reporting requirements “will allow FoodNet staff to prioritize core activities,” CDC spokesman Paul Prince said in a statement. The move lets the agency “steward resources effectively,” he added. It’s not clear whether the action is connected to recent funding cuts enacted by the Trump Administration.

But food safety officials, including those in states that participate in the program, said the change could slow detection of foodborne illness outbreaks and obscure the full picture of food-related infections.

“Long term, it will affect our ability to use surveillance data to better understand risks in the food supply,” said Carlota Medus, who supervises the Minnesota Department of Health’s foodborne diseases unit.

Foodborne infections caused by specific germs are required to be reported to the CDC or to state health departments. But relying on passive reports of infections rather than actively seeking out laboratory data, hospital details and other information can mean that some cases are missed, Medus said.

“FoodNet doesn’t just count cases. The FoodNet sites collect robust data that contribute to the understanding of certain infections,” she said.

In addition to Minnesota, FoodNet sites include health departments in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, certain counties in California and New York.

The FoodNet reduction was first reported by NBC News.

FoodNet was created in 1995 as a partnership between the CDC, the U.S. Agriculture Department, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and several states. It has tracked infections in a surveillance system that captures about 16% of the U.S. population.

It allowed the U.S. to estimate the number of cases of illness per 100,000 population caused by certain foodborne germs, said Frank Yiannas, a food safety expert and former FDA official.

“We won’t know as accurately as possible if we’re getting better or worse in respect to certain pathogens,” Yiannas said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The United Nations agency that coordinates international mail deliveries says it is working to get small parcels dispatched to the United States again by resolving confusion over the pending elimination of a U.S. tariff exemption for low-cost imports.

Related Articles

CDC dramatically scales back program that tracks food poisoning infections

Indiana legislative leaders met privately with Trump to discuss redistricting

A deadly truck crash in Florida has fueled an immigration fight. Here’s what to know

Trump administration is investing in US rare earths in a push to break China’s grip

Trump’s push to oust Fed’s Lisa Cook unites anti-DEI effort, bid to control independent institutions

The Universal Postal Union said it sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday to express concerns the agency’s member countries have about the end of the “de minimis exemption,” including requirements for collecting and transmitting new customs duties.

The postal service operators of more than 30 countries, including almost all of the ones in Europe, have limited or stopped shipping all or most U.S.-bound parcels valued at $800 or less, which has been the cutoff for imported goods to escape customs charges.

That is set to change Friday, when the Trump administration is ending the de minimis exemption that has existed in some form since 1938. The administration says the exemption has become a loophole that foreign businesses exploit to evade tariffs and criminals use to get drugs into the U.S.

Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will require vetting and be subject to their origin country’s applicable tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%. For the next six months, carriers handling orders sent through the global mail network also can choose a flat duty of $80 to $200 per package instead of the value-based rate.

While the change applies to the products of every country, U.S. residents will not have to pay duties on gifts sent from outside the country valued at up to $100, or on up to $200 worth of personal souvenirs from trips abroad, according to the White House.

The Universal Postal Union said its 192 members had not been given enough time or guidance to comply with the procedures outlined in the executive order President Donald Trump signed on July 30 to eliminate duty-free eligibility of low-value goods.

FILE – Parcels slide down a ramp after being scanned at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection overseas mail inspection facility at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Feb. 23, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

“Recognizing that the short implementation timeline poses a significant challenge for the international postal network, particularly for the delivery of e-commerce items, the UPU is working with the relevant U.S. authorities to ensure that information on the operational requirements of the measures is communicated effectively,” the agency said in a statement.

It said it also was working to accelerate development of a system that would make it easier for post offices to charge applicable duties if a person or business shipping goods to the U.S. is responsible for paying them.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nvidia’s sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than analysts anticipated during the company’s latest quarter, a letdown likely to stoke worries that the AI craze has been fool’s gold.

Related Articles

Pro-DEI organizers fired up to maintain Target boycott as promises go unfulfilled

Ford recalls more than 355,000 pickup trucks over instrument display failure on the dashboard

Wall Street edges higher as the market awaits Nvidia’s quarterly report

Many Americans are stressed about money, 6 ways to cope

Trump’s Intel stake sparks cries of ‘socialism’ from his party, but he vows more deals are coming

The results announced Wednesday were hotly anticipated because Nvidia has emerged as a bellwether of a two-year-old AI boom that has been propelling the stock market to new heights while making the Silicon Valley chipmaker the first publicly traded company with a $4 trillion market value.

In recent weeks, though, recent research reports and comments by prominent tech executives have raised investor fears that the AI mania has been mostly overblown.

And now Nvidia’s latest numbers covering the May-July period may feed those perceptions because the sales of the company’s processors, which are indispensable components that power the technology in data centers scattered around the world, appear to be decelerating slightly faster than investors thought they would.

The AI chips are part of Nvidia’s data center division, which posted revenue of $41.1 billion, a 56% increase from the same time last year, but below the analyst forecast of $41.3 billion, according to FactSet Research.

Even so, Nvidia’s profit of $26.4 billion, or $1.08 per share, was higher than analysts predicted, as was its total revenue of $46.7 billion.

But Nvidia’s stock still slipped nearly 3% in extended trading after the fiscal second quarter report came out, indicating the performance wasn’t enough to allay investors’ fears.

A heavily armed assailant fired through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis where students were celebrating their first Mass of the new school year Wednesday, killing an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old in the pews and injuring 17 others, the police said.

Children and staff members ducked for cover under the pews just as Mass was beginning at about 8:30 a.m. Central time at the Annunciation Catholic Church, which has a school for children from prekindergarten through eighth grade. Monday was the first day of school, and the all-school Mass on Wednesday was an annual tradition.

Of the 17 people injured, 14 were children ranging in age from 6 to 15, the Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said at a news conference. Three were parishioners in their 80s, he said. All were expected to survive, he said.

The attacker, who was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, O’Hara said. He identified the assailant as Robin Westman, 23.

Investigators believe the attacker was a former student at the school, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. The suspect’s mother is a retired school employee, the official said.

O’Hara said investigators were examining the shooter’s YouTube account, which had been taken offline with the help of the FBI.

The suspect’s social media accounts contain videos of diary entries that describe the killing of children and a drawing of the Annunciation Church’s sanctuary. The videos also show weapons, bullets and what appear to be explosive devices scrawled with violent language.

“We don’t have a motive at this time,” O’Hara said Wednesday afternoon.

The guns used in the attack had been lawfully purchased, he said. At least two doors of the church had been barricaded from the outside, he said.

Ellie Mertens, 25, a youth minister at the church, said she was sitting with children in the pews when bullets started ripping through the windows. The shooting lasted for about 2 minutes, she said.

“I was just feet away from this window where it was,” Mertens said in an interview. “The pew saved my life.”

Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said at a news conference that “you cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of the situation.”

Frey, a vocal advocate for stricter gun laws, added: “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying.”

Inside the Hennepin County Medical Center emergency room, where multiple victims were taken, Za’khia Jones, 29, was with her fiancée when she saw children who appeared to be bloody being rushed in. “One kid came in and they had rushed her into a room and she was just screaming she didn’t want to die,” Jones said in an interview.

The attack was the fourth deadly shooting in the city in just over 24 hours. And the Twin Cities area was rattled in June when a gunman assassinated a state lawmaker and her husband and left another lawmaker and his wife hospitalized with gunshot wounds, setting off a two-day search.

Related Articles

Walz, Trump order flags half staff after Minneapolis Catholic school shooting

What to know about the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school

The Latest: A shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school kills 2 children, injures 17 people

A shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school kills 2 children, injures 17 people

One dead, 6 hurt after shooter opens fire with high-powered rifle in Minneapolis

Gov. Tim Walz expressed support for the school community in a statement.

“I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz said.

President Donald Trump spoke with Walz by phone, a White House official said. Trump also commented on the shooting on social media.

“I have been fully briefed on the tragic shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota,” Trump wrote. “The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene. The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved!”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.