Browse Controlling and Preventing Disease Stories

Radon, an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas, is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., but it can be detected and mitigated with the help of local University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service offices across the state. Radon comes from the breakdown of uranium in granite and rocky soils, so Georgia’s wealth of granite bedrock increases the chance of household radon for its residents.

Type 2 diabetes increased by almost 20% between 2012 and 2022, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. The researchers found an increase in diabetes among all sociodemographic groups. But non-Hispanic Black people were particularly hard hit by the disease, with just under 16% of Black study participants reporting being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. More than 1 in 5 individuals aged 65 or older had the condition.

A new therapeutic for stroke based on University of Georgia research will soon enter clinical trials. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the new drug, known as AB126, to enter a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial, which is expected to begin in the first half of 2024 and will require significant funds to complete. This is the first stage of the trial and will test the safety and efficacy of the therapeutic in ischemic stroke patients.

When the coronavirus pandemic first began in 2020, there was much that officials did not know about the virus and how to combat it. One area of concern was how to disinfect surfaces that were contaminated with SARS-CoV-2. Institutions such as schools and daycares especially needed to know how to clean high-touch surfaces to reduce the risk of infection.

Kevin Vogel, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Georgia, has received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award from the National Science Foundation. Supported by the more than $1 million CAREER grant, Vogel and his team will spend the next five years building upon the still-limited body of research regarding the symbiotic relationship between kissing bugs and a highly specified bacterium that resides in their gut.

At the same time they were building clinical capacity, the University of Georgia's CARE team was developing a curriculum to educate communities and health care providers about Alzheimer’s and dementia prevention and the need for diagnosis. To help get that curriculum in front of rural communities and providers, they turned to experts at UGA Cooperative Extension.

More than 60 million Americans and 1.5 million Georgians live and work in rural communities and value being members of small communities, but access to health care and treatment is challenging in areas where doctors and hospitals can be far from home.

Vaccines are a proven benefit in the world of animal science. Producers have vaccinated livestock and pet owners have vaccinated dogs and cats for decades. Soon beekeepers may be able to protect their colonies through vaccination. The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Dalan Animal Health have teamed up to advance the world’s first honey bee vaccine.

A kiss has such romantic appeal, yet some kisses just end in heartbreak. A smooch from the Rhodnius prolixus, or the blood-sucking “kissing bug,” could be characterized more like the kiss of death — the insect is a primary vector for Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that kills more than 10,000 people annually around the globe. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, victims with chronic cases of Chagas can suffer from life-threatening heart or digestive malfunctions.

January is National Radon Action month, and each year University of Georgia Cooperative Extension sponsors a poster contest for students across the state to help bring awareness to the importance of radon testing.