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Sometimes Fatal Disease Reported In Deer From 18 W.Va. Counties

Bow hunting season is already underway for deer in West Virginia, and rifle season is fast approaching. But state wildlife management officials say hunters venturing into the woods this fall should keep an eye out for visibly ill deer.

That is because the Mountain State has seen an increase in reports of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD. EHD is transmitted to white-tailed deer through insects like gnats and midges, and can be fatal.

Deer tissue samples taken from eighteen West Virginia counties have tested positive for EHD, according to Ethan Barton, state wildlife disease specialist for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR).

This year’s outbreak

Barton said that positive cases of EHD were reported in tissue samples from Barbour, Boone, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Ohio, Pleasants, Putnam, Ritchie, Taylor, Tyler and Upshur counties.

The WVDNR is also awaiting results on tissue samples from deer from several other counties. EHD prevalence varies widely between the counties, from just a single positive sample to positive reports county wide, Barton said.

EHD is a recurring problem for the state. The disease “has been detected with increasing frequency in West Virginia since the 1990s,” according to the WVDNR website.

“This outbreak was relatively widespread in the state, although we’ve certainly had more widespread outbreaks before that affected the majority of the state’s counties,” Barton said. “This isn’t necessarily anything new. This just happened to be a little bit more active an EHD year than a typical year.”

EHD is not transmissible to humans. While the WVDNR advises against the consumption of meat from visibly ill deer, Barton said deer that have survived and recovered from EHD “are going to be absolutely fine” to hunt and eat.

From the WVDNR’s perspective, EHD cases are “not necessarily anything to be alarmed about,” Barton said, adding that the biggest concern for hunters tends to be the disease’s impact on game populations.

Wintertime frost kills off gnats and midges, which removes the means of transmission for the disease. While EHD infections can still take a toll on local deer populations, that means there is an endpoint within sight.

“Even in areas where local scale deer mortality may be substantial, populations bounce back within relatively short order,” Barton said. “Within two or three years, densities come right back up to where they were before an outbreak. In a typical year with a typical outbreak, most hunters aren’t going to notice an actual difference in the number of deer they see.”

Detecting and reporting disease

EHD typically causes fever, so deer with the disease often seek to cool off in bodies of water, Barton said. Deer tissue samples are primarily collected near local watersheds, because infectious insects and diseased deer alike spend more time in these areas.

Beyond fever, other EHD symptoms include difficulty breathing and swelling of the head, neck and tongue, according to the National Park Service.

Deer that are recovering from EHD or have survived the disease may also exhibit signs of a “depleted immune system,” Barton said. Deer affected by the disease may have hoof lesions, and can struggle to combat later infections of other diseases.

According to Barton, EHD spreads from late July to mid October, but typically reaches its peak in September.

Barton said there is no significant “intervention method” the WVDNR takes once EHD is reported, beyond tracking where the disease occurs and to what scale. There is currently no vaccine or treatment available for the disease.

Meanwhile, fall is deer hunting season in West Virginia. Bow hunting began Sept. 28 and runs until Dec. 31. Buck firearm season runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 8, and muzzleloader season runs from Dec. 16 to Dec. 22.

Barton said reports of EHD can concern hunters, especially when sick or deceased deer are highly visible in a certain area.

But he said the WVDNR encourages hunters to operate within their typical hunting area. Barton added that local deer population declines are typically not severe enough to warrant hunters traveling to other areas instead.

EHD is not the only disease to spread through West Virginia’s deer population this year.

In April, cases of chronic wasting disease among deer were reported in Jefferson County and nearby areas of Maryland for the first time. The disease is different from EHD, but also transmissible and fatal among deer.

Hunters who see deer exhibiting symptoms of EHD or other diseases can also report the sightings to their local WVDNR office. Barton said this helps the organization track the spread of the disease.

“We can kind of walk through it with them, triage out what might be going on, and investigate if need be, to determine if there's a pathogen system or communicable disease involved,” he said.

Barton said that WVDNR might not respond to every sighting because the organization is “limited in numbers.” But he said calling the WVDNR is “generally a good idea” when disease is suspected.

The WVDNR headquarters in South Charleston can be contacted over the phone at (304) 558-6200. For information on how to contact your local WVDNR office, visit the organization’s website.

CAMC’s 8th Annual Health Care Career Showcase To Give Students Insight Into Hospital Careers

Charleston Area Medical Center, or CAMC, will host a showcase Wednesday for high school students to explore health care career options.

There are a myriad of professions in the health care industry and Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) wants West Virginia high school students to consider each of them when choosing a career path.

CAMC invited more than 35 high schools to its eighth annual Annual Healthcare Career Showcase on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Representatives from more than 55 CAMC departments will talk to students about career opportunities in a hospital setting.

While most think of doctors and nurses when they consider a profession in health care, many people work in other healthcare settings like IT, human resources, supply chain, finance, law and more.

Several West Virginia colleges and universities that offer academic programs for many of those jobs will also have displays and information at the showcase.

According to a press release, students will receive a “road map” book that will guide them through the showcase, explaining the education, minimum requirements, licensure, and certification required to work in a particular field.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Cases Of Whooping Cough On The Rise Nationally

The CDC announced cases of Whooping Cough have more than quadrupled nationally in the last year. Emily Rice reports that state health officials are urging parents to check their child’s vaccination status.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced cases of whooping cough have more than quadrupled nationally in the last year.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection caused by a bacteria called Bordetella pertussis.

According to health experts like Dr. Steven Eshenaur, executive director and health officer at the Kanawha Charleston Health Department, the five-shot series of the Pertussis vaccine is the best way to prevent illness.

“It is very important to prevent whooping cough that you get your child immunizations by making an appointment as quickly as possible with your pediatrician or local health department,” Eshenaur said.

Experts attribute the 2024 surge in cases to a dip in vaccination rates that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The whooping cough series is a total of five shots given over the first four to six years of life,” Eshenaur explained. “During COVID-19, many parents missed routine follow-up appointments with their pediatrician and may not have received the routine childhood immunizations for their children. So many children are behind in the series and thus susceptible because they are under-immunized to prevent the disease.”

Before the pandemic, the U.S. saw more than 10,000 cases of whooping cough annually. In this year’s provisional CDC data, that number has risen to 14,599 cases.

The CDC reports West Virginia’s cumulative year-to-date count for 2024 is 21 cases of whooping cough, up from 17 cases in 2023.

It takes about 10 days from the time of infection for symptoms of whooping cough to appear. Symptoms are usually mild at first and commonly mistaken for the common cold.

Initial symptoms include runny nose, nasal congestion, red, watery eyes, fever and cough. Unlike the common cold, after a week or two, symptoms become more severe because thick mucus accumulates in the airways, causing uncontrollable coughing that may end with a high-pitched “whoop” sound, giving the illness its name.

However, some people do not develop the “whoop” but suffer from a persistent hacking cough that might be the only indication an adolescent or adult has whooping cough.

According to the Mayo Clinic, infants who contract whooping cough may not cough at all but struggle to breathe or even temporarily stop breathing.

Deaths associated with whooping cough are rare but most common for infants who contract the illness.

“Pertussis is highly contagious and can cause hospitalization in some children, those children that have respiratory disease are at particular risk of a potential admission due to the severity of the disease,” Eshenaur said. “This is not a mild illness, and we strongly recommend that parents get immunized as quickly as possible, or get their children immunized as quickly as possible to prevent the disease.”

Health experts now recommend pregnant people receive the pertussis vaccine between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation. This may also give some protection to the infant during the first few months of life.

Side effects of the vaccine are usually mild and may include fever, crankiness, headache, fatigue or soreness at the site of the injection.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

‘Help Us Care For Ourselves’: Nurses Picket For Scheduling Flexibility At Martinsburg VA

Nurses working overnight at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center (VAMC) crossed paths with their morning-shift colleagues Friday at the crack of dawn. Sporting red shirts and handmade signs, they exited the facility’s front gates and joined their peers across the street on the picket line.

Just outside hospital grounds, staff members affiliated with the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) gathered to call attention to scheduling practices they say are unsustainable. As they chanted on the roadside, passing drivers blared their horns in support.

A typical nursing shift in the United States lasts 12 hours, according to the American Nurses Association. This can mean entering a hospital before the sun rises, and leaving after it has already set. Nurses generally work six of these shifts in a two-week period, for a total of 72 hours on the clock.

But a typical work week in the U.S. is 40 hours. Some hospitals, like the Martinsburg VAMC, require nurses to pick up an additional eight-hour shift to round out the pay period. Nurses on site say these shifts can even require overtime.

Beverly Simpson is an acute care infection prevention coordinator at the Martinsburg VAMC. She said working several day-long shifts in a single week is a tall order.

“We continually lose ourselves in the service of our vets,” Simpson said. “All that we’re asking is to help us care for ourselves.”

Nurses on the picket line are pushing for a form of scheduling flexibility known colloquially as “72/80.” It allows nurses to drop their additional eight-hour shift, maintaining full compensation and benefits for working 72 hours per pay period.

The policy is not without precedent. Title 38 of the United States Code outlines federal policies on veterans’ benefits. Under the title, health care facilities administered by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) are eligible to implement 72/80 with the department’s approval, although they are not required to do so.

United States Navy veteran and registered nurse Jack Tennant leads his colleagues in a chant alongside Charles Town Road on the outskirts of Martinsburg.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

The Martinsburg facility already practices the policy in its intensive care unit (ICU). But nurses across the hospital’s departments say they want it expanded.

U.S. Navy veteran Jack Tennant has served as a registered nurse at the Martinsburg hospital for 32 years, and helped organize Friday’s picket. He said eight more hours out of his scrubs each week would greatly improve his quality of life.

“Nurses work really grueling shifts,” Tennant said. “It’s really hard to take care of ourselves and take care of our families when we are working so many hours.”

The 72/80 policy is practiced more widely at some VA health care facilities, even in West Virginia.

At the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, three departments have implemented the policy, according to a statement from VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes emailed to West Virginia Public Broadcasting by a representative.

This includes the ICU, the medical surgical unit and the float pool — a department of nurses who alternate between different sections of the hospital each shift.

According to Hayes, VA health care facilities adopt the 72/80 model “wherever possible.” He said the policy “remains in effect” for the Martinsburg VAMC ICU, and “will continue to be considered should recruitment or retention issues for inpatient registered nurses arise.”

But Hayes said the VA has already taken significant steps toward improving recruitment and retention, with current staff in mind. Currently, the VA employs 122,000 nationally, “the largest nursing workforce in the country and in the history of [the] VA,” he said.

Hayes added that the VA’s nurse turnover rate outperforms the private sector.

Many drivers passing the Friday morning picket outside the Martinsburg VA Medical Center blared their sirens in support of the hospital’s nurses.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Still, on the ground at the Martinsburg VAMC, nurses like Simpson and Tennant say they feel overworked, and struggle with work-life balance. This can make it difficult to attend doctor’s appointments or fulfill family obligations, they said.

Plus, Tennant said nurses working overtime after long shifts can be a safety issue, making flexible scheduling more important.

“They’re already fatigued,” he said. “Fatigued nurses are at a much higher risk of making mistakes.”

Christle Young, an ICU nurse at the Martinsburg VAMC, has experienced the 72/80 scheduling model firsthand. She said the extra time helps her better serve local veterans.

“I work nights. That extra day coming in, it’s not a day off,” she said. “I sleep that day, and then I only really have one day off.”

Young said expanding the 72/80 policy across the Martinsburg VAMC would help other nurses better care for themselves and boost morale.

“We want to watch our kids grow up. We want to care for our elderly patients. We want to play bingo on Tuesday, whatever it is,” she said. “But the facility doesn’t allow us that flexibility.”

In his statement, Hayes agreed that evidence shows the 72/80 model “reduces burnout, improves satisfaction, improves retention of experienced nurses and also decreases turnover [and] the use of unscheduled leave and overtime.”

He said the VA plans to expand it to the Clarksburg hospital’s emergency department, but additional expansions will be considered on a case by case basis.

Nurses at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center typically work six 12-hour shifts and one eight-hour shift every two weeks.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Meanwhile, Martinsburg members of the NNOC say they have been pushing for change at their own facility for more than a year. They began surveying their fellow nurses in September 2023 and found widespread dissatisfaction over current scheduling practices, Tennant and Young said.

Young said the nurses collected a petition with more than 200 signatures from coworkers in favor of implementing the 72/80 policy, and drafted a “mock schedule” with plans for how to implement it.

When the nurses brought these documents to hospital administrators, Young said no commitment to reconsidering current scheduling policies was made.

“It is still falling on deaf ears,” she said. “So we’re outside today to make some noise.”

Hayes did not directly address any previous scheduling policy discussions between the VA and the NNOC-represented nurses. But he said the VA continues to support staff members and their union representatives, including National Nurses United, the NNOC’s larger-scale affiliate.

“We greatly value our collaborative working relationship with our union partners and remain aligned in our goal to strengthen our nursing workforce,” he said. The VA “deeply appreciates our partnership with National Nurses United and will continue to work with them directly to resolve their concerns.”

Martinsburg nurses with the NNOC, however, say the hospital has not taken enough effort to reevaluate scheduling policies. Tennant said Friday’s picket marked the first union action taken at the Martinsburg VAMC since it was founded in 1944.

And, until changes are implemented, he said it is unlikely to be the last.

“We’re willing to do whatever we need to do,” he said.

First Foundation Receives Nearly 200 Applications During First Grant Cycle

Nearly 200 organizations applied for opioid settlement money from the first round of funding from the foundation responsible for its distribution.

The board of the foundation responsible for distributing West Virginia’s opioid settlement funds met Thursday to discuss its first grant cycle and hiring of staff.

Treasurer Jeff Sandy reported a balance of $225,683,388.71 as of September 30, 2024. The Foundation has earned $8,912,258.29 from investments of its initial settlement funds in the past year.

According to Sandy, the board’s September expenses were $80,942.55. The board approved the financial report and its publication on the West Virginia First Foundation’s (WVFF) website.

Governor-appointed board member representing Region 2 and Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Harvey serves as chair of the board.

He explained that the board will no longer be taking questions from the media and public during their monthly virtual meetings, citing privacy concerns.

“We’re going to again request that all questions for today’s meeting be submitted by email, and responses will be provided rapidly,” Harvey said. “We want to make sure that we’re fair and equitable to all the grant seekers in order to do that and out of an abundance of caution and to be thoughtful and thorough.”

Executive Director, Jonathan Board highlighted the completion of the Initial Opportunity Grants (IOG) application cycle, with 174 applications received, primarily in youth prevention and workforce development.

The target areas for the IOG were diversion programs, which help people arrested for drug use avoid conviction and incarceration by diverting them to treatment options instead, and interdiction programs, which work to prevent illicit drugs from reaching their destinations.

Target areas also included youth prevention and workforce development, child advocacy centers, neonatal abstinence programs and transitional and recovery housing expansion.

“It has been a lot of late nights and a lot of early mornings and a lot of just pulling 24 hours to get this out the door,” Board said. “As you know, we just closed the deadline there on those applications this past Saturday, and (we are) very excited, we were performing intake review on the applications to determine compliance of the requirements of the IOG application.”

Board reported the majority of applications came from Region 4 which includes county and local governments in Monongalia, Braxton, Lewis, Harrison, Marion, Preston, Taylor, Tucker, Barbour, Randolph, Gilmer, Doddridge and Upshur counties.

Applications were due on October 5, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. and Board said they were receiving applications until the last moment.

“We’re very excited to go through those,” Board said. “So the intake process is occurring right now, and that is an objective standard.”

Applications will be reviewed by the Interim Grant Committee and the Expert Panel. Final approval will be made by the Board of Directors.

“If those items were submitted in their complete application that goes into a specific folder, both by region and by target area,” Board explained. “Those will then be presented to those who are assigned to score, both from the IOG and, of course, all of our expert panelists that we use the scoring rubric that was established in the application that will then be taken by target area. Those highest scoring will go forward onto the board of directors, and again, we’ll apply that conflict policy throughout the process, and then it gets up to the board of directors to review and score.”

Awards will be announced on or before Dec. 31. Grantees will first receive 40 percent of their total allotment up front, then file financial statements with the foundation documenting the use of the funds to receive three more installments of 20 percent of the allotment to complete the award.

The WVFF board approved $19.2 million in IOG during its meeting on Sept. 5. That is about 8.5 percent of the funds the foundation currently holds, according to its July financial statement. West Virginia is expected to receive about $1 billion after all its opioid settlement lawsuits are paid out.

Board highlighted the Foundation’s commitment to avoiding conflict of interest during the IOG or future grant cycles.

“Board members shall not be permitted to participate in the Iog application process,” Board said. “If there’s a direct or indirect conflict of interest, any member of the board whose organization is responding to an IOG application has to fully recuse themselves and be removed from the process and not participate in any review scoring or vote in the target area or areas in which they apply.”

Board also introduced the Foundation’s new employees.

Chief of Staff, Jessicah Cross has been with the Foundation for three weeks and previously worked for the U.S. Senate.

Director of Operations, Rachel Thaxton, is in her second week at the Foundation and previously worked as the interim and assistant director of the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy.

“As the foundation’s sole employee for the past three and a half, four months, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have some folks standing alongside and especially of this, this acumen and wisdom,” Board said.

Board said he expects all hiring to be complete by mid-November. The foundation meets the first Thursday of each month, subject to change. Updates are posted on the foundation’s website.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Watchdog Agency Announces Plan To Sue State Secretary Of Health Facilities

The agency federally mandated to protect and advocate for those with disabilities in West Virginia has announced plans to take the Secretary of the Department of Health Facilities to court.

Updated on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 at 12 p.m.

Disability Rights of West Virginia (DRWV) sent a notice of claim Monday to members of the media and state officials, alleging that Michael Caruso, secretary of the Department of Health Facilities (DHF) is failing to protect the rights of patients served by state health care facilities. It outlined particular concerns at William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital and Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospitals, the state’s two psychiatric facilities.

Michael Folio, the legal director of DRWV, alleged that the quality of care at these facilities is suffering because mandatory reporters are not sufficiently reporting instances of suspected abuse. Under state law, a mandatory reporter is a person legally required to report suspected abuse or neglect of vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

“They’re vetting or clearing these suspected violations with their bosses and supervisors and administrators before they’re filing,” Folio said. “What we’re seeing is an alarming number of cases where leadership is instructing them not to file.”

Folio said mandatory reporters who do not report suspected violations independently violate state law.

“They don’t need, nor should they consult their supervisor to get approval to do that, because they already have an independent duty to do it,” he said. “If they fail to report it, they actually can be guilty of a misdemeanor.”

Folio said staffing issues at health care facilities can disincentivize reports of suspected abuse, which can result in the suspension or termination of providers.

“It goes back to staffing, it goes back to training, it goes back to oversight, leadership,” Folio said. “This is why I think we’ve just pretty much decided as a protection advocacy agency, that enough is enough.”

DRWV will file to seek an Action for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief from the court.

“The declaratory relief is a declaratory judgment action. What that means is we are asking the court to declare this is what the legal obligations are, and then we would show that Sharpe and Bateman, to a lesser degree, are failing to comply with those legal obligations,” Folio said. “So that’s the declaratory part of it. The injunctive part is asking the court to enjoin or stop them from continuing to violate these policies, these provisions, these regulations.”

In an email response, Annie Moore, director of communications for the Office of Shared Administration, which oversees the Departments of Health, Human Services and Health Facilities, said DHF cannot comment on pending litigation and said that DHF takes any allegations of patient abuse very seriously.

“It is notable that the individual filing this suit has a history of making concerning allegations regarding the state hospitals that ultimately have proven to be baseless or mischaracterizations,” Moore said in an email. “Nonetheless, we are committed to investigating all potential claims of abuse or neglect thoroughly. The facilities routinely report allegations of abuse and neglect to Adult Protective Services (APS) and encourage staff to report any suspected incidents to APS for review. The facilities have policies and procedures regarding the reporting of potential abuse and neglect. Rather than threaten litigation, it would be more beneficial if specific allegations were brought to the facilities’ attention so that they might be addressed. Patients’ safety and well-being remains our top priority.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

**Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Oct. 11, 2024 at 12 p.m. to include a response from the Department of Health Facilities.