Category: Uncategorized

September is Suicide Prevention Month!

For 2025, San Mateo County and partners are promoting the statewide theme: “Support, Your Way.”

What if suicide prevention could feel human, honest, and self-assured, all while being inclusive of the different ways people can find support. Rather than centering fear, crisis, or clinical language, this theme is about agency, particularly at vulnerable moments when people feel like they have none. It reflects a cultural truth that people want help on their own terms, and flips the understanding of asking for help not as a loss of control—but as a regaining of it.

It’s not about prescribing what help should look like. It’s about validating the choice to reach out for help, understanding that support can look different for everyone, and reframing the act of asking for support as taking control—not losing it.

Support, Your Way- Tips and Reminders:

• Getting help means taking control. Asking for support isn’t a breakdown. It’s a breakthrough—and it can look like whatever you need it to.
• Support looks different for everyone. Some people talk to a peer. Some text 988. Some open up to a friend. Some start therapy. For some, it’s a mix of all of these options. There’s no one-size-fits-all. You get to choose what feels safe.
• You don’t need to wait for a crisis. Reaching out before things spiral is just as valid as reaching out in an emergency. It’s always the right time to check in or ask for help.
• There’s no wrong way to ask for help. Even if you don’t know what to say. Even if it’s messy.

Each year, San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services’ Office of Diversity & Equity (ODE) and Suicide Prevention Committee (SPC) promotes free events throughout the month of September to promote Suicide Prevention Month. All events are free and open to the public. This year’s events will be in-person and/or virtual.

All existing and new food facilities applying for a health permit may be required to comply with San Mateo County’s Disposable Food Service Ware Ordinance. For more information and free technical assistance, visit smcsustainability.org/waste-reduction/foodware.

As of January 2022, state law (SB 1383) requires large food generating entities to hold a contract or written agreement with a food recovery organization for the recovery of their surplus food for redistribution to those in need in the community. For more information, visit smcsustainability.org/ediblefoodrecovery.

Shown in food programs

San Mateo County’s Mussel Sampling Program

Approximately every two weeks Environmental Health Services staff collects mussel and plankton samples along San Mateo County’s coastline as part of the State’s Mussel Sampling Program.

The mussel samples are sent to the California Department of Public Health and tested for unsafe levels of naturally occurring toxic materials known as “biotoxins.” Results are published once a month to keep the public informed on when it’s unsafe to eat mussels and other shellfish.

Why are biotoxins in shellfish dangerous?

Certain species of algae (phytoplankton) produce naturally occurring biotoxins that can become too abundant in shellfish like mussels, clams, oysters, crabs, and lobsters. Shellfish consumed with unsafe levels of biotoxins can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, domoic acid poisoning, and other health issues that may pose a serious threat to humans and wildlife, including death.

When is it safe to eat recreationally harvested mussels in San Mateo County?

Never assume mussels are safe to eat. While a quarantine on mussels takes effect annually from May 1st – October 31st as a safety precaution, the quarantine may become extended or take effect at any time of the year. Please call the biotoxin hotline at 1-800-553-4133 before including mussels or any shellfish on your menu.

Quarantine Boundaries

The quarantine extends from the California-Oregon boundary south to the California-Mexico boundary and applies to all bays, inlets, and harbors.

Using Mussels as Bait

Mussels for use as bait shall be broken open at the time of taking, or prior to sale at the discretion of the enforcing agency. Mussels used as bait should be placed and sold in containers adequately labeled in large bold faced letters that are at least a half an inch in size.

Clams

Clams should be washed thoroughly and cooked. All dark parts of the clams and scallops must be discarded because biotoxin is concentrated in the dark parts if present. Only the white meat of clams and scallops should be prepared for human consumption.

For the latest quarantine and health advisory updates by the California Department of Public Health’s Marine Biotoxin Monitoring Program, please call 1-800-553-4133 or click here.

The incidence of Lyme Disease in San Mateo County is very low. The microorganism that causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is not common among ticks in San Mateo County. Young ticks, or nymphs, are more likely than adults to be infected. The nymphs often clear the infection by the time they reach adulthood.

The San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District conducts annual tick collection and testing at popular hiking trails throughout the County. SMCMVCD regularly finds that less than 5% of ticks collected in San Mateo County carry the Lyme disease bacteria.

Even if you are bitten by an infected tick, it’s difficult to get Lyme Disease. The tick must be feeding on you for 24 to 48 hours to effectively transfer the microorganism from its stomach to your body.

If you find a tick attached to you or your pet, don’t panic. Carefully remove and save the tick.

If you would like to have the tick tested, please contact the County of Santa Clara Public Health Laboratory at 408-885-4272 or visit Santa Clara Public Health Lab site for more information. San Mateo County’s Public Health Lab does not offer tick testing.

Risk to public remains very low

Redwood City – San Mateo County Health is working with state and federal partners in responding to a case of clade I mpox, the first known case in the United States. Confirmed through laboratory testing, the case is related to an ongoing outbreak of clade I mpox in Central and Eastern Africa and was acquired through travel. The risk of exposure for the public to clade I mpox remains very low, but there continue to be sporadic clade II mpox cases in the United States.

Since 2022, County Health has responded to the global outbreak of clade II mpox. Outbreaks from the different subclades, or genetic branches, can have different characteristics, including whom they affect and how they’re spread. Although clade II mpox has been circulating in the United States since 2022, clade I mpox has never been reported in the United States until now. Historically, clade I mpox has caused more severe illness and deaths than clade II mpox.

San Mateo County Health is assisting the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on tracing and notifying close contacts of potential exposure.

To date, 108 cases of clade II mpox have been reported in San Mateo County.

“While clade I may be new to the United States, we and other counties have been responding to mpox since 2022 with contact tracing, guidance and vaccine support,” said San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Kismet Baldwin-Santana. “Our work continues, with the support of our state and federal partners.”

With mild illness, the individual is isolating at home and recovering. There is no concern or evidence that mpox clade I is currently spreading among individuals in San Mateo County or elsewhere in the United States.

Transmission typically spreads from close (skin to skin), intimate and sexual contact. Casual contact, such as during travel, in an office or classroom or in a store, is unlikely to pose significant risks for transmission of mpox. Travelers to countries experiencing clade I outbreaks should consult with their primary care provider.

“Given the very low risk to the public of exposure to clade I,” said Dr. Baldwin-Santana, “the standing guidance for preventing mpox has not changed.”

Persons who have certain risk factors should consult with their primary health care provider about vaccination and take steps to reduce exposure, including avoiding close, skin to skin contact with people who have a rash that looks like mpox and avoid contact with objects and materials that a person with mpox has used.

More information about mpox is available from the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

H5N1, also known as bird flu, has been circulating in California since 2022 and is present in the Bay Area. While the risk of infection in people is low, those who are routinely in close contact with birds or dairy cows should take steps to protect themselves from exposure. 

Bird flu has been detected in a local backyard flock. While there are currently no human cases of H5N1 from this instance, San Mateo County’s Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures is advising backyard poultry owners to watch for signs of avian influenza in their flock and to take appropriate biosecurity measures such as washing hands before and after handling birds and disinfecting footwear to reduce the risk of spreading bird flu.

What can you do?

People who have job-related or recreational exposure to infected animals, such as wild birds, poultry and dairy cows or products from infected animals, are at greater risk of being exposed to H5N1. These people may include farmers or workers on poultry and dairy farms, slaughterhouse workers, workers handling milk or other animal products, backyard bird flock owners, veterinarians and veterinary staff. These people should:

• Follow all recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for worker protection to reduce the risk of infection, including wearing personal protective equipment when appropriate.
• Call your doctor if you feel sick. Symptoms of H5N1 bird flu can include cough, sore throat, fever and red or watery eyes.

Others who have close contact with these types of animals, animal products or the surrounding areas should also consider wearing PPE such as an N95 mask, gloves and eye protection. 

While the current risk to the general public from H5N1 bird flu is low, the CDC recommends:

• Do not drink unpasteurized (raw) milk or prepare or eat raw milk products like raw cheese. Raw milk and cheese have not been pasteurized to kill disease-causing germs.
• Avoid unprotected exposures to sick or dead animals, including wild birds, poultry and other domesticated birds. Handling sick or dead animals safely requires personal protective equipment and training.

San Mateo County Health continues to work with the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures to make sure the local agricultural industry has information and guidance.