Alert Urging People To Monitor Themselves for Coughs Spreads to 3 States [Video]

Air quality alerts advising people to monitor themselves for symptoms such as coughing are in place for three states, with other warnings about poor air quality extending further as Canadian wildfire smoke descends into the U.S.

In addition to respiratory symptoms such as coughing, exposure to wildfire smoke could cause an uptick in heart attacks and strokes, Dr. Scott Budinger, the chief of pulmonary and critical care in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University, told Newsweek.

Why It Matters

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires has degraded air quality in the Upper Midwest for the past week. In some instances, smoke has impacted sunsets as far south as the Gulf Coast, with people warned of physical impact as far south as the Plains states.

As of Friday, air quality alerts advising people to move indoors if they begin to cough are in place for Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin. Other air quality alerts are in place in Nebraska, the Great Lakes and parts …