A federal ‘surge team’ to help states across the nation deal with a rise in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, has arrived in Missouri. According to Lisa Cox, who is a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the first team member reached Springfield on Tuesday.

The CDC said that 44.9 percent of Missouri’s population is vaccinated. This is lower than the national average of 47.5 percent. Springfield is a part of Green County and the residents of the county have a low vaccination rate of 33.8 percent.

The Daily Mail analyzed data from Johns Hopkins and found that the seven-day average had increased by 20 percent. It had increased from 760 new cases per day to 915 new infections in the last two weeks. It also reported that hospitalizations had increased by 24 percent.

Last week President Joe Biden announced the formation of surge response teams. He said that they would help hot spots that have seen a surge with

• additional testing
• therapeutics
• staffing
• expertise

He said that these dedicated teams would work with communities that are at a higher risk or have already faced surges due to low vaccination rates and the spread of the Delta variant.

Data that was updated on Tuesday evening indicate that 51.7 percent of the new cases of COVID-19 nationwide were due to B.1.617.2 also called the Delta variant which was first isolated in India. It has been isolated in all the 50 states of the nation. More than 80 percent of the new cases in the Midwestern States – Iowa, Kansas and Missouri are due to the Delta variant.

Health experts believe that the number of cases will increase and there will be more localized infections in pockets of states unless more Americans get vaccinated as it spreads more easily among the unvaccinated.

Dr. Stuart Jones, a professor of medicine told the Daily Mail that vaccinations were keeping their (U.S.) rates lower but if the message about increasing the vaccination rate does not reach the people, the nation was “heading into trouble in the fall.”

Early May, Washington DC reported that songbirds were dying of an unknown infection that was causing crusting and swelling over their eyes. It was also causing neurological damages that made the birds exhibit wobbly movements according to a statement by Unites States Geological Survey (USGS).

Initially the illness was seen in few states, but it has now spread across the nation and songbirds have been affected in the following states:

• Washington DC
• Maryland
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Delaware
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Ohio
• Indiana
• Kentucky

Although the cause of the infection is still unclear avian experts have ruled out the following infections which generally affect these birds. These include

• Avian influenza
• West Nile virus
• Salmonella
• Chlamydia
• Newcastle disease
• Herpes
• Trichomonas parasite

Initially the USGS had reported that the infection was affecting fledglings grackles and blue jays which are commonly to the mid-Atlantic region. Later many more birds’ species were added and some of the species of birds have been infected with this mysterious disease include

1. fledgling grackles
2. blue jays
3. American robins
4. northern cardinals
5. brown-headed cowbirds
6. sparrows

There have been hundreds of songbirds that have been affected with illness or death in the following states

• Maryland – 325
• Virginia – 450
• Kentucky – 250
• Indiana– 300

Environmental agencies, the USGS and the National Park Services are investigating the disease. They believe that birds that gather at bird baths and feeds could transmit the infection to other birds. They have asked the public to remove these feeders until the infection passes over.

Allisyn Gillet, an ornithologist at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said that the reason why these feeders should be removed was to allow the birds to social distance naturally.

People have been asked to use disposable gloves, to put dead birds into sealable plastic bags in the trash and to inform the USGS or their local wildlife authorities.

Birds have been affected by climate change and forest fires. However, capping of pollution as a result of the Clean Air Act has also saved the lives of birds.