Data provided by Chicago health officials to WTTW News show fewer than 10 outbreaks at Chicago day care facilities between Jan. 2 and March 20, but officials acknowledged there were likely more outbreaks.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources issued the recommendation Thursday. Their advice is to halt use of bird baths and bird feeders through the end of May.

Bird flu cases have been identified in commercial chicken and turkey farms or in backyard flocks in 29 states, according to the USDA. Spread of the disease is largely blamed on the droppings of infected migrating wild birds.

Chicago has been creeping up the list for a few years. In 2019, the city ranked number 18. Three years later, the levels of pollution landed the Windy City in the 16th spot.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday announced it has learned about three suspected cases of severe hepatitis in children under 10 that are potentially linked to a strain of the adenovirus. 

From 2019 to 2020, life expectancy in Chicago dropped almost two years – one of the sharpest single-year decreases on record, according to city officials. Latino and Black Chicagoans experienced the steepest declines, with life expectancy for the latter falling below 70 years for the first time in decades.

COVID-19 vaccinations are at a critical juncture as companies test whether new approaches like combination shots or nasal drops can keep up with a mutating coronavirus — even though it’s not clear if changes are needed.

Autism affects about one in 44 children, and while therapists say early intervention is key to treating it effectively, Black children are five times more likely to be misdiagnosed or diagnosed later in life.

Chicago’s environmental justice advocates are working to address the systematic structures that created these inequities. They say a greener future is possible as long as the city and industry are willing to do the work.   

When it comes to industrial pollution, it’s often Chicago’s Latino and Black communities who bear the brunt. In those communities, past industrial abuses still cast a shadow with the air, water, and soil pollution resulting in higher rates of asthma, cancer, lead poisoning and other health issues.

Pennsylvania on Saturday becomes the first major fossil fuel-producing state in the U.S. to adopt a carbon pricing policy to address climate change. It joins 11 states where coal, oil and natural gas power plants must buy credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

Budding plants and blooming trees signal the return of spring, triggering congestion, coughing and sneezing for the millions of seasonal allergy sufferers. With COVID-19 still circulating, how can you tell if your stuffy nose is just a case of hay fever and not something more? Here’s what you need to know.

Construction of the Obama Presidential Center is underway in Jackson Park, and residents on the South Side are bracing for what it will mean for their communities — benefits or displacement. 

Department of Water Management Commissioner Andrea Cheng said federal funding will “jump-start” Chicago’s efforts to remove the lead service. Cheng acknowledged logistical challenges have meant the program has failed to achieve what Lightfoot promised in September 2020, when she vowed that the city would remove 650 pipes by the end of 2021.

Rates were close to 94% for measles, whooping cough and chickenpox vaccinations for the 2020-21 school year. That was down 1% from a year earlier and means 35,000 U.S. children entered kindergarten without evidence that they were vaccinated for extremely contagious diseases, the CDC said in a report.

State and local officials offered some mixed messaging Monday on whether or not public transit riders would be required to wear mask after a federal court ruling. The day ended with Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifting his executive order.