Yukon Kuskokwim Nushagak science

This is a nice experiment. The information is needed in the overall understanding of pandemic infections and of emerging infections. People are part of the environment, but we mediate our interactions through culture. In the H5N1 example, we domesticate waterfowl and therefore provide a new natural pathway. This experiment is designed to understand the characteristics of that pathway.

[Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like the other participants in the research have been included in its design (public involvement) which means that only parts of the study have been thought through. For example, sometimes “subjects” want to be identified in reports. They contribute as much as the other experts to the success of the questions asked.]

(see if you can provide alternative hypotheses to test, that is, what other reasons may account for finding antibodies, the record of exposure, or for not finding antibodies?)
Read the rest of this entry »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poorest_places_in_the_United_States

100 Poorest Counties by Per Capita Income

Number of counties by state in the 100 poorest counties: Texas, 17; Kentucky, 16; Mississippi, 14; South Dakota, 10; Louisiana, 5; Alabama, 4; Georgia, 4; Montana, 4; New Mexico, 4; North Dakota, 3; Arizona, 2; Idaho, 2; Nebraska, 2; Tennessee, 2; West Virginia, 2; Alaska, 1; Arkansas, 1; Colorado, 1; Florida, 1; Missouri, 1; Oklahoma, 1; South Carolina, 1; Utah, 1; Wisconsin, 1.
Twenty-six states do not have any counties in the 100 poorest counties.

United States of America: $21,587
#8 Wade Hampton, Alaska $8,717

100 Poorest Counties by Median Household Income

Number of counties by state in the 100 poorest counties: Kentucky, 29; Mississippi, 13; Texas, 10; Alabama, 7; Arkansas, 7; South Dakota, 6; West Virginia, 6; Louisiana, 5; Georgia, 3; Missouri, 3; Oklahoma, 3; Tennessee, 2; Colorado, 1; Hawai’i, 1; North Dakota, 1; New Mexico, 1; South Carolina, 1; Virginia, 1.
Thirty-two states do not have any counties in the 100 pooorest counties.
Alaska?

United States of America: $41,994

http://tinyurl.com/ggg9o

Eskimo Troops Brace for Iraq
Alaskan Guard units are called up for the first time in decades. Villages worry about losing men.
By Sam Howe Verhovek, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

June 5, 2006
KONGIGANAK, Alaska

….In this village of 386 people, six men have been notified to report for duty next month. ..The call-up in the marshy delta country to the west reaches villages so remote that there are only two ways to get here most of the year — by airplane or snowmobile — and a third from May to September, or perhaps October in a warm year with a late freeze-up: the river.

So in places with Eskimo names such as Kongiganak, Kwigillingok and Manokotak, elder leaders and wives find themselves planning how to carry on without strong young men who serve as vital providers of food….

===========================================
I did some calculations to see what numerical impact (and ultimately biocultural impact) the call-up will have.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Spring 2006 issue of Alaska’s Village Voices includes articles on Bird Flu. The issue is in pdf format, available to download here

http://www.ruralcap.com/aboutrc/villagevoices.cfm

Maps are one of those basic resources for identifying problems and their solutions, whether cognitive maps or tangible maps. An understanding of their strengths and limitations ought to be elementary.

From the always excellent source, The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2006. http://scout.wisc.edu/
Read the rest of this entry »

David Horsey’s map from: At the Super Bowl -

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20060206/horsey_superbowl.jpg

More local news via the world-wide web tools (Google Alert - alaska bird flu) [see earlier post, Test results (maybe)]

Anchorage lab certified to test for bird flu
Anchorage Daily News - Anchorage,AK,USA
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A state lab in Anchorage is ready to join a nationwide effort to detect early on whether a deadly bird flu virus has reached the North …

Bird flu worries prompt new Alaska animal test law
Reuters India - Mumbai,India
… and wild birds during the summer and fall providing timely results from Alaska, the focus of much of the federal government’s bird flu surveillance efforts.

=====================================

By ANNE SUTTON, The Associated Press
Published: June 13, 2006

The Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Health Laboratory was certified last week to test for avian influenza in what will be thousands of fecal and intestinal track samples collected from wild and domestic birds around the state this year.

The National Animal Health Laboratory Network approved the lab, making it one of 47 state-funded labs around the country that will conduct the bird flu surveillance testing….

The lab will test for H5 and H7 subtypes of the virus. Any positive results will be sent on to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for a full analysis to see if it matches the highly pathogenic virus that has killed or led to the slaughter of millions of birds in Europe, Asia and Africa….

In announcing the certification today, Gov. Frank Murkowski also signed into law a measure that gives the state veterinarian legal authority to isolate sick animals. Until now, the state has had to depend on the voluntary efforts of animal owners….

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/7854174p-7747963c.html

Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:55 AM IST163
By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A new Alaskan law increases the state’s power to test and quarantine animals suspected of carrying contagious diseases, a precaution that officials say will be necessary in the case of a deadly strain of bird flu.

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski signed the bill on Tuesday that expands animal-control rules largely unchanged since 1949.

The new law widens the state’s authority during a public health risk to test all animals for all diseases.

The old law limited testing to livestock, commercial poultry and animals raised on the fur farms that once dotted Alaska’s islands and coastal areas, state officials said.

“We know today’s diseases cross the boundaries between wild animals, domesticated animals and people,” said Alaska State Veterinarian Bob Gerlach.”…

http://tinyurl.com/p6vdm

Is a Russian peninsula really part of North America?
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/uow-iar050206.php

Human Hantavirus on the Rise
Between January and March of this year, health departments from Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington State reported an increased incidence of human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)….

So far, the only treatment for HPS is supportive care, and survival depends on early recognition, hospitalization, and aggressive pulmonary and hemodynamic support. Even with treatment, human HPS has a mortality rate of 30% to 40%….

Reuters Health Information2006

http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/e3z10LfhuS0Dyr0HcL10EE

More information can be obtained at

http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus

photo from wikimedia, http://tinyurl.com/hgwnd

Cute, eh? When I checked a few years ago, there were some deermice in southeast Alaska (British Columbia) but I haven’t heard of any hantavirus from these creatures. But, like the woodchuck (a.k.a., groundhog, another marmot in Alaska), the deermouse, along with the cougar and the coyote [I think] may move up the corridor that runs from BC to Fairbanks.

Here is the usual depiction of the United States, from

http://www.census.gov/

(Alaska as US Minor Outlying Island)

Here is the first one I’ve seen with Alaska and Hawai’i is approximately correct alignment with regard to the other states.
(from http://www.thefire.org/)

I was hoping for additional information guides for local businesses to use in their preparations. I thought the Mentoring Initiative from Ready.GOV (Homeland Security, home of FEMA) would be useful.

Designed as a call-to-action for business leaders, the Ready Campaign has created Ready Business Mentoring Initiative. This new initiative is designed to help owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses prepare for emergencies.

http://www.ready.gov/business/mentor/index.htm

Here is the entire text of the (on-line in pdf format) Business Emergency Supply Checklist -
http://www.ready.gov/business/_downloads/emergency_supplies.pdf

Emergency Supplies
Talk to your co-workers about what emergency supplies the company can feasibly provide, if any, and which ones individuals should consider keeping on hand. Recommended emergency supplies include the following:

• Water, amounts for portable kits will vary. Individuals should determine what amount they are able to both store comfortably and to transport to other locations. If it is feasible, store one gallon of water per person per day, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered radio and extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First Aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust or filter masks, readily available in hardware stores, which are rated based on how small a particle they filter
• Moist towelettes for sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Plastic sheeting and duct tape to “seal the room”
• Garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Emergency Supplies

Those of you who believe in always getting ready can explain the errors in the above to those awaiting further instructions from the governments, schools, churches, health corp. (about whether and what to do in emergencies).

[another source of business planning is from FluWickie

http://www.fluwikie.com/pmwiki.php?n=Consequences.WorkplaceContinuity

In early March 2006 the Federal agencies announced their bird sampling activity for the summer. An immediate question from the communities here was—what to do with dead birds? (If the birds are dead from a highly pathogenic virus, no one wants to leave them on the tundra, right?) The BrdFlu Hotline did not then have an answer, except that the carcasses should be disposed of. “Do you mean fling them away?” (We are off the road system. There are no sanitary landfills. Dead birds will be found away from Villages and who wants to bring them home to throw in the dump?) The hot line was going to get back to me with a consensus.

In the meantime, down below is what other areas have suggested. These suggestions (double- bagging) are mostly for areas with few occurrences of multiple dead birds and with access to landfills. The state of Alaska suggestions are for poultry farms. I still don’t know enough to provide suggestions. Here are some things to consider (keep in mind the idea is to lessen risk)—
Read the rest of this entry »

This just came in through my Google news alert. I cannot find any mention on the state’s flu pages.
http://www.avianflu.alaska.gov/ or here http://www.pandemicflu.alaska.gov/ or here http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/news/dept_releases.php

“Article Last Updated: 06/09/2006 12:49:03 PM AKDT

Bird testing in Alaska reveals no sign of flu
Associated Press

A spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says no highly pathogenic avian H5N21 flu virus has been found in Alaska birds sampled so far. About two-thousand samples have been collected and tested.

Division of Wildlife Conservation director Matt Robus says most of the birds tested were killed by hunters in southwest Alaska and there are no indications that the virus has reached the state.”

Read the rest here–
http://www.ktva.com/alaska/ci_3919388

MMWR Recommendations and Reports
Volume 55, No. RR-8, June 9, 2006

Extensive water damage after major hurricanes and floods increases the potential for mold contamination in homes and other buildings. Although undisturbed mold is not a substantial health problem, the fungus is a greater hazard for persons with impaired host defenses or allergies. This report presents information on how to prevent the growth of and limit exposure to mold and how to prevent mold-related health effects.

full text

Guess where the hub of Alaska is? Guess where Alaska Air headquarters is?

http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/destinations/RouteMap_FullSize.asp

One of my list-servs I subscribe to for news to share with schoolteachers (see link to side ΣΧ FYI for Sci TEK teachers) is ISEN-ASTC-L a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions. More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org

A posting from today’s issue is

Currently we have on of our exhibit developers, Karen DeSeve up in the Bering Strait, doing work in anticipation of future experiences for the International Polar Year [IPY]

Read the rest of this entry »