Water advisory issued for July 4 weekend at Mashes Sand Beach in Wakulla
It's just south of Panacea, and roughly a 45-minute to hour-long drive from downtown Tallahassee.
Tests completed July 3 found the bacteria in the water. The state now is advising against any water-related activities there due to the increased risk of illness to swimmers.
The advisory will remain in effect until bacteria levels are below acceptable levels.
Test results are available at FloridaHealth.gov/HealthyBeaches. For more information call 850-926-0400 or visit Wakulla.FloridaHealth.gov.
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida health officials warn of bacteria at Mashes Sand Beach
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
This Popular Summer Fruit Is Being Recalled For a Life-Threatening Reason—Here's What to Know
This Popular Summer Fruit Is Being Recalled For a Life-Threatening Reason—Here's What to Know originally appeared on Parade. Just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, the FDA issued an update to a recall of a popular summer fruit that is likely to be served at backyard BBQs everywhere. On July 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made the urgent update, explaining the increased risk to customers who may have purchased blueberries that are believed to have been contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. According to the statement from the FDA, 400 boxes of 30 pound boxes of organic blueberries from Alma Pak International, LLC. have been recalled as a result of the bacteria. 😋😋SIGN UP to get delicious recipes, handy kitchen hacks & more in our daily Pop Kitchen newsletter🍳🍔 Alma Pak recalled the blueberries after routine testing uncovered a positive test result for Listeria. The company said that the recall involved lot numbers 13325 G1060 and 13325 appears that the blueberries were sent to a single distribution center in North Carolina before the recall was issued. Now, the FDA has updated the recall, giving it a Class I ranking, the highest classification the government agency issues. A Class I status is reserved for instances when the FDA believes that the public is at an increased risk of a negative health outcome, which makes sense in this case since Listeria is involved. Listeria is a bacteria that can cause significant health complications in the very young, very old, or those who are immunocompromised or pregnant. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of Listeria infection include flu-like symptoms, fever, confusion, headache, stiff neck, loss of balance, and seizures. For those who are pregnant, there is an added layer of risk, and the infection can cause premature birth, stillbirth, miscarriage, and more. If you have purchased the blueberries included in the recall, it is very important that you discontinue using them at once. Fortunately, there have been no reported illnesses as a result of this recall as of the time of Popular Summer Fruit Is Being Recalled For a Life-Threatening Reason—Here's What to Know first appeared on Parade on Jul 3, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Injured bald eagle, healed with fish skin, released back into the wild
Veterinarians saved the raptor from a devastating leg injury using a pioneering fish skin treatment. They released her back to freedom days before Independence Day. A badly injured bald eagle saved by a pioneering fish skin treatment is back in the wild, just in time for the Fourth of July. The bird, named Kere, was on the verge of death when volunteers brought her to the Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital in northern Wisconsin last August. Her leg was ripped open from knee to ankle, and maggots and bacteria had begun to fill the dried-out wound. 'It was horrendous,' said Veterinarian Kim Ammann. But the doctor saw a flicker of hope: the eagle was somehow standing on the bandaged-up leg, and its talons still worked. 'That's when I started to figure I was going to need something to close the wound,' said Ammann A few Google searches later, Ammann stumbled on the Icelandic company Kerecis, which transplants the skin of North Atlantic cod to help heal human wounds and support tissue regeneration. The treatment had never been used on a species of raptor before, but Ammann took a leap and sent them an email. Almost 'immediately,' she said the company reached back out and offered the descaled, medical fish skin free of charge to the all-volunteer veterinary hospital. Within weeks, Ammann gave Kere, who is named in honor of the company, the first of two successful surgical skin grafts. The rest of her recovery included about 10 months of grueling wound care, bandage changes, and a mini vacation in the hospital's Eagle flyway rehabilitation enclosure. 'There was something very special about the fact that she was an eagle and that she was allowing me to do this,' Ammann said of the bird. 'That tolerance was part of what made it possible.' By June 22, the wild bald eagle was ready to soar free again. The date was more about ensuring Kere had 'the majority of the summer months' to reacclimate with being wild again. But the symbolism of releasing a bald eagle so close to the Fourth of July wasn't lost on Ammann A group of about a hundred viewers gathered to watch Kere take flight above the forests and fields. Amann described the day as 'magical.' 'She could decide whether she wanted to go east or west. She could decide what lake she wanted to go to,' Ammann said. 'I was so happy for her to have her independence back.' A conservation success story Bald eagles, an iconic symbol of the United States, are among the most protected species in the country. But they haven't always been. The bird's population began plummeting in the late 1800s as American industrialization began changing the landscape, destroying their habitats and introducing lead into the environment. In 1940, the federal government enacted The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibiting people from hunting, selling or possessing an eagle ‒ in effort to prevent further population decline. But decades later, pesticides, including DDT, seeped into waterways and further endangered the species. The chemicals were believed to thin bald eagle eggs, decreasing the bird's reproductive success. The bald eagle population hit an all-time low in the 1960s, with just 417 nesting pairs in the continental U.S, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The United States banned DDT in 1972 and passed The Endangered Species Act in 1973, to protect quickly disappearing species like the bald eagle. The raptor was taken off the endangered species list in 2007 as conservation efforts led to a population surge. Today, there are an estimated 316,000 bald eagles in the lower 48 states. And in 2024, they became the country's national bird .
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
What happens to your stomach in a hot dog eating contest?
Competitive eating champ Joey Chestnut gulps down dozens of hot dogs each Fourth of July at the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest — and comes back do it again year after year. But no one really knows what long-term impacts it might have on his body or the bodies of other competitive eaters. Chestnut has eaten as many as 83 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, surpassing the world record he set in 2021 when he ate 76 hot dogs and buns. He downed 62 to win the Nathan's contest in 2023 but did not compete in 2024. Chestnut returned this year and ate 70.5 hot dogs and buns, taking the title once again. In the women's competition, defending champion Miki Sudo wolfed down 33 hot dogs and buns this year after eating a record 51 dogs in 2024. Contestants can eat upwards of 22,000 calories in a single meal while competing. Long-term consequences are not well known because competitive eating is a relatively new sport with a relatively small number of participants, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson Debbie Petitpain said. But health experts say the practice does raise some potential health concerns. The stomach, which normally contracts after people eat, could end up permanently stretched out, Dr. Rajeev Jain with Texas Digestive Disease Consultants said. It could also impact gastric emptying, the process by which food moves from the stomach into the duodenum. "Nobody is going to get funded for a randomized, controlled trial where you say, 'Hey, I'm going to quadruple your stomach size and see what happens to you,' because there's no reason to do that type of thing from a medical perspective," Jain said. Still, gastroenterologists have some idea of what happens when a trained competitor speed-eats dozens of hot dogs. A 2007 University of Pennsylvania study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology offers some clues. What happens to the stomach of competitive eaters? In the study, a control subject and a competitive speed eater — a 29-year-old man who was ranked in the top 10 worldwide — were asked to eat as many hot dogs as they could during a 12-minute period. While most contests call for including the buns, the study stuck to just hot dogs. Researchers studied the participants' stomachs beforehand and asked each man to ingest an effervescent agent and high-density barium before eating the hot dogs so they could watch the food as it moved through the participants' bodies. Based on fluoroscopy scans during the study, the researchers found the competitive eater's stomach was capable of expanding to accommodate significantly more food. The control subject ate seven hot dogs before he felt sick and needed to stop. At the 10-minute mark, the competitive speed eater had ingested 36 hot dogs; researchers asked him to stop because they were worried for him. "His stomach now appeared as a massively distended, food-filled sac occupying most of the upper abdomen, with little or no gastric peristalsis and emptying of a small amount of barium into the duodenum," the researchers wrote. At the end, they said his abdomen protruded "enough to create the distinct impression of a developing intrauterine pregnancy." Dr. David Metz, who was one of the authors of the study and has worked as a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, said speed eaters have the ability to relax their stomachs so they can ingest more food. The average, empty stomach is about the size of a fist or a fist and a half, he said. It's made of two parts: a receptacle on top and a grinder, of sorts, on the bottom. The stomach muscles will stretch to accommodate food as people eat, but every muscle "has its point at which there's no return." "You could potentially end up with a big bag that doesn't contract properly," Metz said. The study noted that competitive eaters have reported using "varying methods of training" to try to expand their stomach capacity, including ingesting "vast amounts of cabbage" or "water loading," which can be hazardous. In the immediate aftermath of eating contests, participants report feeling extremely bloated and tired. They also report gastrointestinal distress in the day or two after a competition. Other side effects of competitive eating Competitive eating impacts more than just the stomach. Participants can become sweaty, lightheaded and faint in the aftermath, experts said. Some speed eaters have noted pain in their face, jaw and neck afterwards because of the amount of chewing and swallowing involved. "Some athletes have reported arthritis in the jaw, excruciating pain in that area," Petitpain said. It's not just the large quantity of food that's a problem. It's also the type of food. Hot dogs are high in sodium. According to the nutritional information on Nathan's website, one of its Original Coney Island natural casing beef hot dogs contains 170 calories, 16 grams of fat (including 6 grams of saturated fat), and 480 milligrams of sodium. Other varieties are higher. The USDA's 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend that Americans consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. It would take fewer than five hot dogs to go over the daily limit. "If they're absorbing too much sodium, their thirst mechanism is going to kick in and they're going to drink a lot of water afterwards," Jain said. "My concern is, if your stomach is so full of food, how are you going to get the other compensatory liquids in?" High-sodium diets are associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, which is a major cause of both stroke and heart disease. Ingesting excessive sodium can impact kidney function. The spike in sodium can also cause blood pressure to soar, putting pressure on blood vessels in the body, Petitpain said. "If there's a weak spot in those blood vessels that gets stressed, that could cause a heart attack," Petitpain said. "Or if there is a bursting of the vessels in the brain, a stroke." The high level of fat ingested could cause nausea, diarrhea and gastrointestinal distress, Petitpain said. During the annual contest, the competitors also eat the buns, which means a lot of carbs. "This large load of protein, of carbohydrates, of starches, all these things, they're now going to be dumped into the small intestine. And while this is going on, your body has to crank up its insulin," Jain said. But all told, if the competitive eater goes back to a normal diet once a contest is over, their body should regulate back to normal. "Your body is a very adaptive organism," Metz said. "The kidneys flush out the excess sodium and other micronutrients." There are still dangers, though. Beyond the immediate stomach pains competitors might feel, there are much worse possibilities. Competitors who vomit risk aspirating or tearing the lining of their esophagus, Metz said. People have died during eating competitions. In 2017, a 20-year-old college student died after choking during a pancake-eating contest. That same year, a 42-year-old man asphyxiated during a donut-eating contest. "There's a lot of danger involved and many of us have been very concerned about this," Metz said. Major League Eating, the organization that oversees professional competitions, does have safety teams on hand at events, and says it "strongly opposes and discourages home training of any kind." In a 2023 statement to CBS News, Major League Eating said that it adheres to "strict safety protocols," including having an emergency medical technician present at events and ensuring participants are 18 years of age or older. What a new DOJ memo could mean for naturalized U.S. citizens July 4 holiday week expected to set record for travelers WWII veterans start new friendships during July 4th celebration
