Dengue fever cases in Hawaii increase

Dengue fever cases in Hawaii increase

HONOLULU

The dengue fever outbreak on Hawaii’s Big Island continues to grow.

The state Department of Health said Monday that the number of confirmed cases reached 139 people. That includes 122 Hawaii Island residents and 17 visitors.

A Department of Health map shows the area with the highest risk of potential infection is Captain Cook, just south of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.

There’s a moderate risk of infection in Kailua-Kona and on the island’s windward coast in Hilo, Mountain View and Pahoa. There’s also moderate risk in Naalehu near the southern tip of the Big Island.

Officials say it’s safe to travel to Hawaii Island. They say people can reduce their risk of infection by wearing mosquito repellant and covering up with long clothing.

Carson announces trip to Africa

Ben Carson’s campaign says the Republican presidential candidate will travel to Africa later this month.

A statement from the campaign says Carson will visit three African nations on a trip slated to begin Dec. 27. No word on which countries Carson will visit or how long the trip will last.

Carson is the only African-American among the major Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls. He has said previously that he traced his ancestry back to African slaves brought to the United States by force.

In the campaign, the retired neurosurgeon has tried to answer concerns about his lack of foreign policy experience.

The Africa trip would be Carson’s second foreign venture in recent months. In late November, he traveled to the Middle East, visiting Syrian refugee camps in Jordan.

LA sues gas company over leak

LOS ANGELES

The Los Angeles city attorney has sued Southern California Gas Co. over a leak that has sparked complaints of illness and temporarily forced about 700 families out of a San Fernando Valley neighborhood.

The Oct. 23 leak in an underground storage well has pumped natural gas into the air near Porter Ranch for six weeks. The utility says the gas is dispersing and poses no health problems, but hundreds of residents have complained of headaches, nausea and nosebleeds.

The public nuisance lawsuit, filed Monday, argues that the company should have been prepared to deal with and prevent leaks.

At a Monday news conference, Mayor Eric Garcetti called the leak an “environmental disaster.”

The utility says it’s drilling a relief well but repairs could take three or four months to complete.

Deputy: Gator killed man

PALM BAY, Fla.

Authorities say a man who may have hidden as officers investigated reports of two suspicious men in a Florida community targeted by recent burglaries was killed by an 11-foot alligator.

Brevard County Sheriff’s Maj. Tod Goodyear says 22-year-old Matthew Riggins told his girlfriend he would be in Barefoot Bay to commit burglaries with another suspect. Authorities received calls Nov. 13 about two suspicious men in black walking behind homes and investigated. Riggins was reported missing the next day.

Goodyear said sheriff’s divers recovered Riggins’ body 10 days later in a nearby lake and the injuries were consistent with an alligator attack. Authorities said Riggins had drowned and the alligator, which behaved aggressively toward divers, was trapped and euthanized.

Associated Press