Mosquitoes collected at Lake Los Carneros in Goleta on April 2 tested positive for West Nile virus, according to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. April’s positive result marks the earliest detection of West Nile in Santa Barbara County.... (Continue reading)
Santa Barbara health officials have closed a medical clinic while they try to determine if its staff infected patients with Hepatitis C and other blood-borne illnesses. In February, a patient at the unnamed clinic was diagnosed with an acute case... (Continue reading)
By KAREN VELIE San Luis Obispo County public health officials are asking medical professionals to look out for cases of ocular syphilis – a sexually transmitted disease that can cause blindness – after several clusters of the disease have been... (Continue reading)
Doctors are testing and monitoring a traveler who recently returned from one or more countries that experienced an Ebola epidemic. [KSBY] Santa Barbara County health officials say the case is a low risk situation and highly unlikely to be Ebola.... (Continue reading)
A Lawsuit filed Thursday against more than two-dozen wineries claims they are producing low-cost wines that contain dangerously, high levels of arsenic, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angele Superior Court. The suit claims dozens of wineries are violating... (Continue reading)
By KAREN VELIE The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties totaling $8,100 against a San Luis Obispo dentist the state agency said failed to protect its workers and patients from blood borne pathogens and to properly... (Continue reading)
A coalition of health groups and California lawmakers is proposing an initiative to raise the state tobacco tax by $2 a pack. [LA Times] Democratic Senator Richard Pan has introduced a bill that would send the initiative to California voters.... (Continue reading)
San Luis Obispo staffers are asking the city council to place a ban on the use of electronic cigarettes. At its meeting Tuesday, the council will consider a proposed ordinance that would extend the city’s existing smoking ban to the... (Continue reading)
Cal Poly officials notified students and staff Wednesday that an employee has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Campus health sent the following notification to the Cal Poly campus community: University medical staff learned today that one of our employees has... (Continue reading)
California health officials have announced plans to wage an ideological war on the use of e-cigarettes. [Sacramento Bee] The California Department of Public Health released a report Wednesday stating that electronic cigarettes, also known as vaporizers and vape pens, contain... (Continue reading)