A suburban New York police official, accused of being the getaway driver for her son’s purported gang-related shooting, is said to have secured her leadership position through connections with the mayor’s office.

Jennifer Lackard, 49, and her 20-year-old son, Chase, were arrested by the New York Police Department on Tuesday. This arrest comes in relation to a drive-by shooting that targeted rival gang members near the Bronx Criminal Court on June 29, according to court documents.

Before her arrest, Lackard served as the deputy commissioner of wellness for the Mount Vernon Police Department.

Mount Vernon is located just north of New York City, bordering the Bronx.

Lackard and Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard are Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters, according to the New York Post.

In her former position, Lackard was tasked with police reform, civilian complaint review board implementation and officer wellness.

When she was hired the city said, “Lackard brings a wealth of knowledge and resources to the City of Mount Vernon has worked on the community level as President of the Station of Hope prison re-entry ministry at Grace Baptist Church and organizer of the Re-Entry Meetup for Westchester County since 2015.”

In a 2020 interview with Gothamist, she “acknowledged the leap of faith it took for the department to give her the position,” and she had “never worked for a police department,” prior to landing the position.

She previously held advisory roles on the Westchester County Probation Advisory Board and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Implementation Task Force.

In a statement posted on social media, the City of Mount Vernon said in part, “Effective immediately, the City of Mount Vernon has terminated Jennifer Lackard’s employment. The allegations are unrelated to her duties with the Mount Vernon Police Department and do not stem from any conduct associated with the Department or the performance of her official responsibilities.”

News Media has reached out to Patterson-Howard and Delta Sigma Theta for comment.

Attorneys for Jennifer and Chase Lackard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The trial for the accused murderer of 10-year-old Lily Peters, whose body was discovered in the woods of Wisconsin, has been called off. Her alleged killer, her cousin, will not face a court trial for the heinous crime.

Carson Peters-Berger, now 18, was slated for a jury trial in November, facing charges of homicide and sexual assault for the brutal killing of Lily Peters in April 2022. This case has drawn significant attention due to the shocking nature of the alleged crime.

On Wednesday, Chippewa County District Attorney Wade Newell revealed a resolution hearing set for August 26, as reported by WEAU. This hearing is intended to conclude the case against Peters-Berger, more than four years after the tragic events unfolded.

Details regarding the proceedings of the hearing remain unclear, as Judge Steven Gibbs from Chippewa County has ordered the court records to be sealed, limiting public access to information.

Peters-Berger was just 14 years old at the time he allegedly committed the murder, leaving Lily Peters’ violated body abandoned in a wooded area, an act that has haunted the community ever since.

Peters’ father reported his daughter missing after she failed to return home from her aunt’s Chippewa Falls residence at 9 a.m. on April 24, according to Fox9.

Two hours after her expected arrival home, Peters’ father found her abandoned bike near the woods in Chippewa Falls.

A search party of volunteers discovered her partially naked, abused corpse the next morning in the wooded area off a walking trail.

Her death was ruled a homicide by blunt force trauma and strangulation.

Peters-Berger allegedly told police he had been walking the trail with his younger cousin when he asked her to explore off the path before he allegedly launched into the deadly sexual attack, according to a criminal complaint viewed by the outlet.

The older cousin was carrying his hoverboard while Peters carried her bike.

The teen admitted to police that “when they left the house it was already his intention to rape and kill [Lily],” the complaint stated.

When they were off the trail, Peters-Berger said he punched his cousin in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, hit her three times with a large stick before strangling her to the point of death.

He sexually assaulted his cousin after believing she was dead, he told police.

The teen then allegedly got scared, ran home, changed his clothes and showered.

He returned to Peters’ body the same night after hearing she was reported missing, and dragged her body a few feet further before covering her in leaves.

Peters-Berger was arrested days later and charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The teen has been held in jail on a $1 million cash bond since his arrest.

During his time behind bars, prosecutors successfully sought to try Peters-Berger as an adult and the teen’s identity was made public after it was initially not released because he was a juvenile.

Attorneys for Peters-Berger had requested a change in venue and certain jury selection requirements, arguing they would get an unfair trial in Chippewa County because of the extensive media coverage of Peters’ death.

Judge Gibbs granted the changes, and jury selection was set to be held between October 21 and 22, with the 10-day trial kicking off on Nov. 2.

Peters-Berger faced life in prison if he was found guilty in the trial.

Amidst a contentious legal saga with ex-husband Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie was recently spotted in Beverly Hills, her demeanor notably somber. The ongoing dispute centers around the ownership and management of Chateau Miraval, their shared French winery.

On Friday, the 51-year-old star, whose brother James Haven revealed his sexual orientation as gay, was seen in the city, tending to some private errands while maintaining a low profile.

The dispute over the vineyard has escalated into a legal affair set to hit the courts with a trial scheduled for February 2027, pitting the former power couple against each other once again.

Jolie opted for a laid-back yet sophisticated look, sporting black trousers paired seamlessly with a matching sweater during her outing.

Complementing her ensemble, she wore simple black flats and elegantly carried a black leather purse, draped over her arm, epitomizing understated style.

The actress’s long locks flowed down in light waves past her shoulders and she also opted for a pair of stylish shades. 

Jolie was spotted climbing out of a sleek vehicle inside what appeared to be a parking garage before heading to her next destination.  

Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Jolie for comment, but has yet to hear back. 

Jolie and Pitt’s legal showdown took a dramatic turn this week when the F1 actor asked the court to order the Maleficent star to turn over financial records. 

He asked the court to order the actress to produce records showing her income from 2017 to 2019, after she claimed to have ‘largely put her career on hold’ and forewent ‘years of compensation’ following their 2016 separation. 

Jolie allegedly agreed to produce financial records from the years 2017 to 2021, but has apparently only produced documents for the years 2020 and 2021.

In court documents obtained by The Daily Mail, Pitt’s lawyers allege Jolie has been withholding specific financial documents despite agreeing to produce said records. 

Jolie’s Cross-Complaint alleges that, after the parties’ 2016 separation, she put her career on hold, “forgoing years of compensation”; that Pitt possessed “substantial leverage and control” over her due in part to her financial condition at that time.

‘And that by 2019 she concluded she needed to sell her interest in Miraval to obtain “financial independence” from him,’ Pitt’s filing reads. 

‘On February 23, 2026, Jolie withdrew both her agreement to provide declarations responsive to Request Nos. 81 and 82 for the full 2017-2021 period and her agreement to produce participation statements from that same period.’

They allege she instead provided ‘supplemental responses limiting her production to 2020 and 2021, and later produced profit participation statements and tax returns for those two years only as well.’

They are now seeking to produce documents showing her annual income and profit participation statements from 2017 to 2019.

‘Prior to the IDC [Informal Discovery Conference], Plaintiffs proposed that Jolie stipulate that she was not under economic pressure before January 1, 2020, and that Pitt did not exert economic coercion on her from 2017 to 2019. Jolie declined.

‘At the IDC, the Court then separately proposed limiting the scope of Jolie’s testimony concerning her earnings and compensation. 

‘Again, Jolie declined the proposal. Instead, Jolie confirmed at the IDC that she may argue at trial that Pitt used Miraval as leverage to control her and that her decision to put her career on hold bears on why the proposed NDA was allegedly abusive. The parties therefore did not resolve the dispute.

‘The Requests seek information directly bearing on financial assertions Jolie pleaded: that she forwent “years of compensation,” that Miraval was her “most important asset.”

‘And that Pitt’s control over Miraval distributions gave him “substantial leverage and control” over her during the period leading to her 2019 decision to sell her stake in Chateau Miraval.’

One of the requests ‘seeks documents sufficient to show Jolie’s earned income during the period between her separation from Pitt through 2019 – the year Jolie allegedly decided she needed to sell Miraval.’

And the other request ‘seeks documents sufficient to show Jolie’s earnings from the profit-sharing bonuses she received during that period from her earlier acting and directing roles.’ 

Yet, in a previous legal filing, Jolie hit back at Pitt’s characterization of her remarks for ‘financial independence’, claiming she was misquoted.

She also noted she has already provided financial records despite having ‘no obligation to do so.’

‘Pitt claims that Jolie has put her entire financial condition at issue going back to 2017 because of her allegation that she was seeking “financial independence.” (IDC Statement at 3:2-6.),’ a documented filed in June stated.

‘But Pitt’s selective quote misleadingly fails to include the entirety of her allegation. Jolie does not allege that she was seeking financial independence in the abstract; she alleges that she was seeking “financial independence from her ex-husband [Pitt].”‘

The document also stated that the actress ‘never alleged that she was in financial distress – her allegations are clear that she sought to untangle her financial life from the ex-spouse she was divorcing. That distinction is dispositive.’

It further notes: ‘Pitt also inaccurately ties his demand for a coercive NDA to Jolie’s financial condition, but here too his summaries are not accurate.’

It was later added that, ‘The issue is not whether Jolie needed the money – the issue is that she was trying to untangle her life and her finances from her controlling and abusive ex husband. That distinction makes all the difference.’ 

They also allege digging into Jolie’s finances from 2017-2019 pose a ‘serious invasion’ of her ‘privacy rights.’ 

The F1 actor first sued Jolie in February 2022, alleging she had secretly sold her half of their French winery, where the former couple married in 2014, without his consent.

The star claimed that he and Jolie had an implied agreement that neither would sell their share to a third party without the other’s approval, a deal Jolie’s side has denied ever existed.

Two years after their marriage, it came to an explosive end after the pair got into an alleged physical altercation while on a private flight with their six children and Jolie later filed for divorce.

The pair welcomed three children together during their romance: Shiloh in 2006 and twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.

They also adopted two more, Zahara and Pax, and Pitt legally adopted the son that Angelina had adopted before they got together, Maddox.

Since they split, the two stars have been embroiled in one of the most publicized legal battles in Hollywood history over custody of their children, as well as the winery that they once owned together.

In May 2021, after years of duking it out in court, Pitt and Jolie were officially granted joint custody of their six children, but one month later, the judge’s decision was thrown out.

And in late 2024, it was revealed that the former couple had reached a divorce settlement following a lengthy, eight-year battle. 

The fallout from their split has gotten progressively uglier.

Zahara, Vivienne, Maddox, Shiloh and Knox have all stopped using their father’s last name. It’s unclear where Pax stands.

Pitt has since moved on romantically and has been dating jewelry designer Ines de Ramon for the last few years.

CHICAGO (WLS) — Charges of attempted murder have been filed against a woman involved in a hit-and-run incident that occurred last month on Chicago’s North Side.

Police have taken Ivory Buchanan, a 41-year-old from Evanston, into custody as of Thursday.

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Buchanan is accused of driving the vehicle that struck and wounded 61-year-old Jamie Drozier in the 6100 block of North Ravenswood Avenue, situated in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, on July 26.

Drozier’s friends grew worried when he failed to respond to their calls and texts on his birthday, the same day the collision took place. This prompted them to report him missing and distribute flyers around his Edgewater neighborhood.

According to neighbor Ann Regan, Drozier was attempting to cross at the intersection of Ravenswood and Ridge when a vehicle hit him, resulting in head injuries.

Regan said Drozier lives alone and has no living relatives, but that a close friend was staying by his side at the hospital.

Police said Buchanan is charged with first-degree attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery.

Further information was not immediately available.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

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In a troubling incident on the streets of Charlotte, a North Carolina man has been apprehended following allegations of assault, with the encounter allegedly shared across social media platforms. Records indicate this individual has faced arrest on nine separate occasions since the beginning of 2023.

The arrest of 32-year-old Di-Quan Schafar Hunt by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police occurred on Thursday. Authorities were responding to a tip-off when they discovered a social media page featuring videos already under investigation by detectives.

Investigations revealed one particular video captured an assault reported on July 30 along East Boulevard’s 400 block, within the Providence Division. According to police, the suspect attacked a woman on the sidewalk before making a hasty exit.

Hunt was subsequently transported to a local healthcare facility for necessary treatment. Following his discharge, he is expected to be handed over to the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

The victim was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

News Media reviewed videos posted to the social media account. One appeared to show a woman being chased until she took cover behind a vehicle. A comment from the account read, “Ahhhh feels GOOD!!!”

Another video shows the person filming confronting a woman before the camera jolts and the sound of an apparent punch can be heard. The woman is then shown on the ground as the person behind the camera continues to taunt her and appears to strike her again.

It was not immediately clear whether either clip was the video police tied to the July 30 assault, whether the women in the footage had been identified or whether detectives are investigating the other videos as potential crimes.

CMPD said its investigation remains active and asked anyone with information about incidents connected to the social media account or its videos to contact Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

Mecklenburg County arrest records show Hunt was arrested at least nine times between October 2023 and December 2025.

Most recently, a December 2025 arrest record lists charges of assault with a deadly weapon, communicating threats, second-degree trespass and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon. The booking entry does not describe the underlying allegations or identify an alleged victim.

Records also list a September 2025 simple-assault charge and a March 2025 charge of assault on a female. In 2024, Hunt was arrested in cases involving alleged violations of a domestic-violence protective order, breaking or entering and injury to personal property.

Records show he is a felon with at least six additional misdemeanor convictions in Mecklenburg County.

The records also list a felony charge of malicious conduct by a prisoner and a resisting-a-public-officer charge. The available booking records do not state the outcomes of the cases, and charges are not convictions.

Picture this: your beloved pet is in need of urgent medical attention, and the veterinary bill comes to an alarming $6,000. Ask any pet owner how they would react, and the answer is often already determined.

A new survey by ValuePenguin reveals that about 76% of pet owners are willing to plunge into debt if it means safeguarding their furry friend’s life. This sentiment resonates even more strongly with Gen Z, where the number escalates to 82%. Paralleling these findings, a poll conducted by U.S. News shows that 76% of respondents have already taken this financial leap.

The dedication pet owners show towards their animals is undeniable. However, the question that looms large is whether these financial choices have ever truly made economic sense.

Key findings

How much can pet owners afford before going into debt?

Here’s the number that actually explains the pet debt problem: Pet owners say they can spend an average of about $2,818 on a pet’s emergency medical costs before taking on debt. Meanwhile, 53% say they couldn’t afford a $1,000 pet emergency without borrowing.

Now compare that to what an emergency actually costs.

^{Owner figures from ValuePenguin and U.S. News. Treatment costs per Dr. Zac Pilossoph and Dr. Mathieu Glassman.}

“Working in ER predominantly, I rarely create estimates for gold-standard services that fall below $500 for the most basic of care, with most initial estimates falling in the range of $1,200 to $2,500 for a basic workup and outpatient care,” said Dr. Zac Pilossoph, an emergency and integrative medicine veterinarian who consults for Healthy Paws. And that’s before treatment.

“For basic hospitalization 1 to 2 days, those numbers usually double easily,” Pilossoph said. “For surgeries or critically ill patients, almost never will you see an estimate less than $4,000 to $5,000, with most being somewhere in the range of $5,000 to $10,000-plus.”

Put those two figures side by side, and the picture is stark. The average owner’s ceiling is roughly $2,800. The floor for a real surgical emergency is $4,000. The debt isn’t a failure of planning so much as a structural gap, and it opens the moment something goes wrong.

Dr. Mathieu Glassman, a veterinary surgeon in Washington, D.C., and the creator of ReadyRESCUE, sees where that gap lands. A torn ACL, “the most common orthopedic disease in dogs,” runs “approximately $7,000 to $10,000 by the time the animal is healed,” he said.

Foreign body surgery, when a dog swallows something it shouldn’t, runs “approximately $8,000 to $15,000-plus depending on how sick the animal is or how much damage is done to the intestines.”

Why don’t vets offer payment plans for emergency bills?

There’s a mechanical reason vet debt shows up as consumer debt rather than a payment plan. Veterinary hospitals mostly can’t extend credit themselves.

“Vet hospitals no longer offer in-house payment plans, with rare exceptions, as there is too high of a risk of never receiving subsequent payments,” Pilossoph said. What’s left is third-party financing: CareCredit, ScratchPay, Cherry, Affirm.

Dr. Karen “Doc” Halligan, a practicing veterinarian and surgeon with more than 35 years of experience, points to the structural difference.

“Unlike human hospitals, veterinary hospitals generally cannot provide long-term payment plans because they don’t receive government reimbursement or insurance payments,” she said.

Those third-party options work, but they carry teeth.

“Pet owners should read all the fine print with these payment plans carefully,” said Thomas Dock, director of communications at Noah’s Animal Hospitals. “Some may charge high rates of interest if the payments go behind the specified time frame.”

Even insurance doesn’t fully solve the cash-flow problem in the moment. Most policies reimburse rather than pay directly. As Dock put it, “you still need to pay the veterinarian upfront.”

That’s the part owners rarely anticipate. U.S. News found that among owners who borrowed, average balances reached $3,167 when the pet had a chronic illness, compared with $2,269 for healthy pets — proof that the debt tends to compound over months of management, not just one bad night.

Which generation spends the most on pet care?

Younger owners are carrying more of this and responding to it differently.

Last year, 45% of Gen Z owners spent $2,000 or more on their pet, compared with just 15% of Baby Boomers, according to Healthy Paws research.

That pressure appears to be reshaping behavior: 28% of Gen Z say pet ownership has influenced their financial planning or savings goals, versus 10% of Boomers.

About half of Gen Z owners currently carry pet insurance, compared with roughly one in 10 Boomers.

The comparison is rather striking when set side-by-side.

^{Source: Healthy Paws}

The barrier for the uninsured among them isn’t price. Only 18% of uninsured Gen Z owners cite expensive premiums, compared with 41% of Boomers. Instead, 22% say they didn’t know pet insurance existed, and 28% simply haven’t gotten around to it. Nearly four in 10 say they’re likely to buy a policy within the next year.

What happens when a pet owner can’t afford treatment?

“There is nothing more heartbreaking and stressful for the veterinarian to know that you can help a pet, remove their pain and suffering, and help the owners, but be unable to because they are unable to pay,” Glassman said.

Halligan describes the same scene from the exam room. “I routinely see loving owners forced to make heartbreaking decisions because a $6,000 emergency surgery or a $3,000 hospitalization wasn’t in the family budget,” she said. “They aren’t bad pet owners, they just never expected veterinary medicine to resemble human medicine so closely.”

I’ve been on the owner’s side of that counter, uninsured, doing the math I never wanted to do. It is not a decision anyone makes well under pressure.

How can you avoid going into debt for vet bills?

The financing options that exist are real, but they’re built for people who set them up early.

“The painful part is that these options are much easier to use before a crisis than during one,” said Dr. Sarah Wooten, a veterinarian and certified veterinary journalist. “Once a pet is in the ER and the estimate is several thousand dollars, families may be making medical decisions under enormous financial stress.”

Her benchmark question for any owner: “Could I pay for a $2,000 emergency this month? If the answer is no, they need a plan before something happens.”

Bob McKay, president of Together Credit Union, recommends treating it as a standing budget line rather than a surprise.

“Just as a household might have an emergency fund for personal expenses, creating a pet emergency fund means that when an emergency strikes, they will have more options,” he said. Start small if you have to. The point is that it exists before you need it.

The other path is coverage, purchased while a pet is healthy and before anything becomes a pre-existing condition. Plans like Healthy Paws Pet Insurance convert an unpredictable four- or five-figure event into a monthly number a household can actually plan around.

Glassman’s framing is the one worth sitting with. Given how compressed a pet’s lifespan is, he said, “when you get a new pet, you can almost be guaranteed that within the next 15 years, there will be a major life-threatening event that will cost a lot, so it is prudent to be prepared.”

Three in four of us say we’d borrow to save them. The better question is whether we ever have to.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pet owners would go into debt for their pet? 

About 76% say they would take on debt to save their pet’s life, according to ValuePenguin, rising to 82% among Gen Z and 80% among millennials. A U.S. News survey found the same 76% share reporting they had actually done so.

Is it cheaper to get pet insurance or save for emergencies? 

Owners report being able to absorb roughly $2,818 in emergency vet costs before borrowing, and 53% say they couldn’t cover a $1,000 emergency without taking on debt. Emergency surgeries commonly start at $4,000 to $5,000, which is where the gap opens.

Do vets offer payment plans for emergency bills? 

Rarely. Most veterinary hospitals no longer extend in-house credit, so owners are directed to third-party financing like CareCredit, ScratchPay or Cherry. Those carry interest terms worth reading closely before signing.

Does pet insurance pay the vet directly? 

Usually not. Most policies work on reimbursement, meaning you pay the hospital upfront and get money back afterward, often within 30 to 45 days. A few providers offer direct-pay arrangements with participating hospitals.

Why is pet debt worse for owners of chronically ill pets? 

Because it compounds. Owners who borrowed for a chronically ill pet carried average balances of $3,167, versus $2,269 for owners of otherwise healthy pets.

Renowned for its delectable lobster rolls and serene charm, Maine is a picturesque northeastern state. Yet, beneath this tranquil surface, it has emerged as an unexpected hub for type 1 diabetes, according to recent data.

A new compilation of state-specific statistics highlights that Maine boasts the nation’s highest incidence of type 1 diabetes, with a rate of 27.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, far surpassing the national average of 24.0.

On a broader scale, states such as Vermont, New Hampshire, and West Virginia also find themselves among the top five in type 1 diabetes rates. In contrast, regions like Hawaii, New Mexico, and California enjoy the lowest rates nationwide.

In the United States, the majority of diabetes cases are type 2, a condition marked by the body’s inability to manage blood sugar levels effectively due to a diminished cellular response to insulin.

However, an increasing number of individuals are receiving diagnoses of type 1 diabetes. This form involves the cessation of insulin production, often triggered when the immune system erroneously attacks insulin-producing cells.

The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unclear. But researchers warn that genetics, being from a white ethnic background and exposure to viruses and other environmental factors may play a role.

Now, researchers in New York have analyzed state-level population data to establish which areas of the country have the highest rates of the disease. 

Nationwide, an estimated 2.07 million Americans are now living with the condition, a number projected to grow by 10 percent by 2033. 

More than 60,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year, with half of all new cases now diagnosed in adults, most commonly in those 45 to 64 years old.

The latest data, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed incidence rates – number of cases newly diagnosed – for type 1 diabetes nationwide in 2024. 

Data was converted to cases per 100,000 people to allow for comparisons between states, which have different population sizes.

By state, West Virginia recorded the highest incidence rate at 27.8 per 100,000, followed closely by Maine and Vermont, both at 27.4. 

New Hampshire, with 26.9, and Kentucky – 26.8 – rounded out the top five. 

Researchers caution, however, that West Virginia’s figure is based on a smaller population, and that Maine and West Virginia are statistically tied.

At the other end of the scale, Hawaii had the lowest incidence rate at just 17.0 per 100,000. New Mexico’s rate was 20.5. 

California, at 20.6, also ranked among the lowest, along with Alaska, with 20.9, and Arizona with 22.5.

Separate data on the prevalence for type 1 diabetes – the total number of people living with the disease – in 2024 showed that California and Texas had the highest rates. 

These states also have the largest overall patient populations.

The researchers did not speculate on why certain states had higher rates for type 1 diabetes compared to others.

In the paper, the scientists added that their results showed that more pediatric endocrinologists were needed across the country.

More than 70 percent of type 1 diabetes cases have been diagnosed in white adults, while 15 percent are in Hispanic individuals and 10 percent are in Black and Asian individuals.

Maine has the highest proportion of adults from a white ethnic background in the US, according to statistics, which make up 90 percent of its population, followed by West Virginia and Vermont, both at 89 percent.

At the other end of the scale, Hawaii has the lowest proportion of adults from a white ethnic background, 21.6 percent, followed by California, 35 percent.

It is not clear why individuals from a white ethnic background may be more likely to develop type 1 diabetes than those in other groups, but researchers say it may be down to a genetic mutation.

White adults are more likely to have a mutation on the HLA-DR3 or HLA-DR4 genes, which are linked to autoimmune disease, which scientists say may raise the likelihood of the immune system misfiring and destroying insulin-producing cells, causing the condition. 

Some environmental exposures have also been linked to the condition.

A landmark 2025 study found that 83 percent of people with type 1 diabetes showed signs of an infection with enteroviruses, a group of viruses that cause colds, pink eye and polio.

They suggested the virus does not directly cause diabetes but may act as a trigger in genetically susceptible people.

Another theory is that overly clean environments and reduced exposure to microbes in early life can disrupt immune system development, increasing the risk of autoimmune diseases.

A 2025 mouse study found that antibiotic exposure during a critical developmental window stunted growth of insulin-producing cells, while a specific fungus – Candida dubliniensis – found in healthy infants promoted beta-cell growth and reduced diabetes risk.

Higher type 1 diabetes rates at greater distances from the equator point, such as Maine, to vitamin D deficiency as a potential factor.

Vitamin D has immunosuppressive effects, and deficiency may allow the autoimmune response to proceed unchecked. Evidence on supplementation is mixed, but some studies suggest higher sun exposure or vitamin D sufficiency during pregnancy or early life may lower risk.

Obesity and insulin resistance may accelerate beta-cell destruction, known as the accelerator hypothesis. Environmental chemicals like phthalates and heavy metals, which can disrupt immune function and hormone systems, are also under investigation.