Department of Public Health

By the time Arthur Harris Jr. turned 17, he had already endured a childhood of grinding poverty in Hartford’s North End, the death of his mother, and the rejection of a community that viewed homosexuality as a sin. It should have come as no surprise to anyone, then, that he went searching for love and acceptance wherever he could find it — a search that landed him in the arms of a man nearly twice his age and, later, in the kinds of risky situations he’d been warned about in his high school health class.

The recent heat wave is set to come to an end, but temperatures are expected to stay in the low 90’s until the end of the week. Officials warned people to stay inside and keep cool in order to avoid heat related illness.

Connecticut is one of seven states where cases of E. coli poisoning have been reported. The Centers for Disease Control is reporting 17 cases, including two in Connecticut.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service are investigating, but so far haven’t linked a specific food, grocery store, or restaurant chain as the source.

Figures on overdose deaths grab headlines, but treatment data could save lives. In response, health officials have released new information on emergency room visits for drug overdoses, numbers that paint a fuller picture of the state's opioid crisis.

As one of the worst flu seasons in recent memory continues, Middlesex Hospital has changed its visitor policies to combat spread of the virus.

Nearly 1,400 new cases of lead-poisoned children under age 6 were reported in Connecticut in 2015, a slight drop from the year before, but more children showed higher levels of poisoning.

State public health officials have released a list of 14 farms in Connecticut that got tainted beef from a Massachusetts slaughterhouse that is the source of an E. coli outbreak.