(The Epoch Times)—U.S. health officials have warned that respiratory virus activity is on the rise, with overall activity trending at moderate levels across the United States.
Influenza has risen about 5.1 percent week-over-week, according to the most recent update issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Dec. 20.
In a notice issued on Dec. 20, the CDC said that “emergency department visits with diagnosed RSV are high,” while hospital emergency room visits for influenza and COVID-19 are low nationally. However, officials have said that influenza cases are currently ticking upward in about a dozen states.
A data-based map published by the CDC also shows that the majority of states are at moderate levels for respiratory infections. Three states—Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Tennessee—are seeing high levels of infections, according to the map.
Around the United States, test positivity for influenza increased to 9 percent, COVID-19 “increased slightly” to 5.6 percent, and RSV positivity increased to 9.5 percent, the CDC said.
The agency separately said that seasonal flu activity is continuing to increase, while saying that COVID-19 is “predicted to increase” in the coming days.
For the flu, the virus has “been increasing at a pretty steady pace now for the past several weeks,” said CDC researcher Alicia Budd on Dec. 20. “We are certainly in flu season now,” she added.
Thirteen states reported high or very high levels of flu-like illness last week, about double from the week before. One is Tennessee, where a sickness spike is hitting the Nashville area, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University.
“Flu has been increasing but just this last week has exploded,” Schaffner said. He noted that in a local clinic that serves as an indicator of illness trends, as many as a quarter of the patients have flu symptoms.
Overall, RSV activity is moderate nationally “and continues to increase in most areas of the United States, particularly in young children,” the agency said.
The CDC called the start of flu season based on several indicators, including lab results for patients in hospitals and doctor’s offices, and the percentage of emergency department visits that had a discharge diagnosis of flu.
No flu strain seems to be dominant, and it’s too early in the season to know how good of a match the flu vaccine will be, Budd said.
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
