An outbreak of H5 avian influenza was confirmed by United States health agencies in mid-2024. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the public health risk is currently low - but states are still monitoring the progression.

As of 8 a.m. Monday morning, abortions are once again available in Columbia. The procedure has been inaccessible to those living in mid-Missouri since the last abortion was performed at the Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic in 2018.

Seclusion is a protocol used in hospital settings when a patient is displaying unsafe behaviors. Many organizations, including US healthcare accrediting body The Joint Commission, say that it should be used as a “last resort” - but at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, rates of patient seclusion are among the highest in the nation.

Agricultural officials across the state are urging people who keep domestic poultry to practice proper biosecurity measures amid an outbreak of bird flu. A strain of bird flu called Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, has impacted flocks in 29 Missouri counties since 2022 and led to millions of birds being euthanized.

The Moberly School District recently opened the Little Spartans Clubhouse," an embedded, in-school daycare option for district teachers. Vicky Snodgrass is the director of the Little Spartan Clubhouse and spoke about how this new resource benefits students, teachers – and the community as a whole.

In 2022, the Missouri State legislature passed a law calling for the Missouri Department of Corrections to open a nursery - allowing moms to stay with their infants for up to 18 months within prisons. KBIA’s Rebecca Smith recently attended the opening of the facility and has more on how they aim to benefit mothers, infants and other inmates.

Boone Health will offer free skin cancer screenings Saturday, Feb. 22 at The Crossing church, as well as free A1C and blood pressure screenings at the ARC.

Mid-Missouri’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has partnered with the St. Louis and Kansas City chapters to help Midwesterners pay off their medical debts.

Moberly and Randolph County have a pretty high rate of families being involved in the foster system. Amy Martel and her husband Daniel are trying to change that with Rooted 242 – a café and community space in downtown Moberly where kids aging out of the foster system are given opportunity to learn job and life skills – in a safe and supportive space.

For the first time in many years, Mid-Missourians will soon be able to access abortion care at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, even though no procedures are scheduled for this week.