Alabama may have four more cases of the mosquito-borne virus Chikungunya. Dr. Thomas Miller of the Alabama Department of Public Health says the Centers for Disease Control has sent back preliminary positive findings on four Alabama residents. Final results are not complete. Two are from Colbert County and the others are from Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties. Preliminary results are being awaited on several others. Miller says samples on 10 Alabamians were sent for testing. Six of the 10 had been involved in two different church mission trips to the Caribbean. The department was unsure about why the other four were in the Caribbean.
Hot Car Deaths
The Alabama Department of Public Health has issued a released on the dangers of leaving children alone in vehicles. Young children are at special risk because their bodies heat up much faster than adults. If you see a child in a hot vehicle, call 911. The child should be removed from the car as quickly as possible and placed in a cool environment. So far this year there have been 13 heatstroke deaths of children in vehicles in the U.S., according to the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences at San Francisco State University.
Roby Seeks VA Records
An Alabama congresswoman is seeking extensive records from Veterans Administration about the health care of veterans in central Alabama. Republican Rep. Martha Roby of Montgomery said that she wrote the acting secretary of veterans affairs seeking records of the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System. Roby says she wants the records because of complaints she has received and because of government investigations that have revealed problems with long waits and medical records altered.
1964 Civil Rights Act
Alabama State University's National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture commemorated the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Wednesday. ASU Archivist, Dr. Howard Robinson said a roundtable discussion was held about the impact of the law in America. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act 50 years ago.