New disease threats follow Trump administration's health program cuts

As beachgoers flock to water during the busy July Fourth weekend, danger could be lurking in some areas. Researchers this spring discovered flesh-eating bacteria in water in several coastal locations across New York's Long Island, and town officials in the Hamptons vacation destination posted an alert about the findings. Eight people in Florida have been infected this year, and Mississippi health officials in June urged people to take precautions. About 1 in 5 people infected by the bacteria die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet . The bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus , can enter open wounds and cause tissue death and systemic sepsis. "Many people with Vibrio vulnificus infection can get seriously ill and need intensive care or limb amputation," the CDC says. The risk of such public threats is mounting because climate change is expanding the territory of certain pathogens, but researchers say there's another concern. The Trump administration has cut investments in programs and agencies that prevent, track, and respond to health hazards the federal government is now confronting. Consider the reemergence of screwworm , which can infest and kill livestock, in the U.S. in June . The U.S. …