Los Angeles County just matched its all-time record for rabid bats detected in a single year — 69 and counting — while a lab-made opioid ten times stronger than fentanyl is killing Americans in at least ten states. The public health apparatus that's supposed to protect working people from exactly these threats is busy with everything except its core mission.
KABC-TV reported that the 69 rabid bats confirmed so far this year ties last year's record, with peak bat season still underway. Twenty-four rabid bats were confirmed in August alone, and 32% of bats submitted by residents that month tested positive. The trend has been climbing for more than a decade, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Sixty-eight percent of the infected bats were found in the Santa Clarita Valley, most of them Canyon Bats — suggesting rabies is circulating intensively in that local population.
County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis urged residents not to touch bats or wild animals and to report any bat found indoors or acting strangely. About one-third of bat encounters happen inside homes, where exposure risk is highest. Bat bites can feel like a pinprick and go unnoticed, meaning anyone who wakes up with a bat in the room should assume possible exposure.
Meanwhile, a synthetic opioid called cychlorphine — up to ten times stronger than fentanyl, according to the DEA — is cutting a path across the country. Hawaii News Now reported that the drug has already been detected in California, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Nevada, with deaths hitting double digits in some areas. Earlier this month, San Francisco police arrested four suspected dealers after a 16-year-old overdosed on counterfeit pills laced with the substance.
Gary Yabuta of the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program said the drug was first identified on the East Coast two years ago and has been moving west. Hawaii typically lags two years behind drug trends, he said:
