内容摘要：Nemo of Switzerland, who performed the song “The Code,” celebrates after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Nemo of Switzerland, who performed the song “The Code,” celebrates after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

The CDC eliminated its program on lead poisoning in children, which helped local health departments — through funding and expertise — investigate lead poisoning clusters and find where risk is greatest.Lead poisoning in kids typically stems from exposure to bits of old paint, contaminated dust or drinking water that passes through lead pipes. But the program’s staff also played an important role in the investigation of

that affected 500 kids.Last year, Milwaukee health officials became aware that peeling paint in aging local elementary schools was endangering kids. The city health department began working with CDC to test tens of thousands of students. That assistance stopped last month when the CDC’s lead program staff was terminated.City officials are particularly concerned about losing expertise to help them track the long-term effects.

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” said Mike Totoraitis, the city’s health commissioner.Also gone is the staff for the 23-year-old

, which had information on concerns including possible cancer clusters and weather-related illnesses.

“The loss of that program is going to greatly diminish the ability to make linkages between what might be in the environment and what health might be affected by that,” Breysse said.Doctors and medical staff attend to a sick and injured pet cat inside Kashmir veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Doctors and medical staff attend to a sick and injured pet cat inside Kashmir veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)But the statement did little to calm pet owners in Kashmir, where cats have been long revered in Islamic folklore for their cleanliness and considered noble and intelligent creatures.

Mir Mubashir, a local businessman who lives on the outskirts of Srinagar, the region’s main city, said the posts and reports made him worried. His heart heavy, he took Liger, his Persian kitty, to her vet to make sure she was fine.“I felt really scared,” he said. Only after the vet’s assurances that all was well did he calm down.