Grassroots Science

from the incomparable
http://www.promedmail.org ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org

I have mentioned the Wildlife Disease Center before

• Updates on bird flu results, USA AK (HEDDS)
• results, maybe
• Where is… bird test results

The map format will be a great complement to the
global human H5N1 disease map mentioned here
(Where is… Bethel and 2007 bird flu) and to the
MIT HealthMap of the latest alerts on infectious disease around the world

Web tool puts wildlife diseases on the map
Date: Fri 2 May 2008 Source: US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey (USGS) Office of Communication]
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1928

- ——————————————
A new on-line map makes it possible, for the 1st time, to track disease outbreaks around the world that threaten the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people.
…
Updated daily, the map displays pushpins marking stories of wildlife diseases such as West Nile virus, avian influenza, chronic wasting disease, and monkeypox. Users can browse the latest reports of nearly 50 diseases and other health conditions, such as pesticide and lead poisoning, by geographic location. Filters make it easy to focus on different disease types, affected species, countries, and dates.

The map is a product of the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN), a 5-year-old collaboration between UW-Madison and 2 federal agencies, the National Wildlife Health Center and the National Biological Information Infrastructure, that are part of the USGS. WDIN is housed within the university’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the USGS.
…
“If you click on the name of a particular disease, it takes you to our main website and does a quick search of everything that we have on that topic,” says Cris Marsh, a librarian who oversees the wildlife disease news services for the WDIN. …The WDIN gathers news from more than 20 on-line sources and makes it available in a number of handy formats, from a Wildlife Disease News Digest at to desktop widgets, e-mail, and RSS feeds.

Subscription information for these news delivery services can be found at http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/wdindigest.html … “People who collect data about wildlife diseases don’t currently have an established communication network, which is something we’re working to improve,” says Dein. “But just seeing what’s attracting attention in the news gives us a much better picture of what’s out there than we’ve ever had before.”

Concerns about the emergence and spread of diseases that can pass between species have forged new links in recent years between wildlife health, human health, and domestic animal health professionals. “It all ties in together, the ‘One-World, One-Health’ idea,” says Marsh. “The West Nile virus acted as one of the catalysts for that connection. People in different areas in the eastern US began to see isolated incidences of dead and dying crows that seemed abnormally high, but nobody knew other areas were experiencing the same thing.” Because West Nile virus also affects humans and other mammals, it became apparent to scientists that disease outbreaks of this kind need to be addressed as quickly as possible, explains Marsh. Outbreaks of monkeypox and highly pathogenic avian influenza soon afterward underscored the importance of linking information about emerging diseases across all species.
…
Contact information Chris Marsh cmarsh ATusgsDOTgov Joshua Dein fjdein ATusgsDOTgov US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey Office of Communication
119 National Center Reston, VA 20192 USA

Site Search Tags: HealthMap, MIT, ProMed, USGS, diseases, veterinary, WDIN, zoonoses, NBII.gov, disease+map, epidemiology, emerging+diseases

Amazing fish tag journey. Scientists are trying to figure out how an electronic fish tag implanted in a steelhead at a Washington fish hatchery made its way to New Zealand, where in April it was found in the belly of a sooty shearwater chick, according to an Associated Press story. The tag had traveled 7,700 miles. “We know (the tag) went into the ocean, and we know it ended up in New Zealand,” said Dave Marvin, who tracks Columbia River PIT tags for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in Portland. “But what happened in between is speculation.”

Site Search Tags: New+Zealand, fish, migrations

Track their progress yourself–
2008 Bar-tailed Godwit Updates
and their progress against the sea ice melting Where is… ice pack and the tundra thawing, Where is… breakup freezeup

Scientists track bar-tailed godwits on marathon migration to and from Alaska
By GEORGE BRYSON Anchorage Daily News
Published: March 31st, 2008 12:02 AM
Last Modified: March 31st, 2008
http://www.adn.com/front/story/360937.html

Previously noted–
The godwits are coming
More on the godwits
Our birds Polynesia
YK Bird Study Protocol
Birds sampled 1988-2004

Site Search Tags: godwits, New+Zealand, Polynesia, Australia, ice+pack, migrations, satellite

Juneau (our nearest US capitol at 1,000 miles away) recently lost their electrical infrastructure. An avalanche breached the power lines from the hydroelectric generators. As a consequence, electricity must be generated from diesel-fueled generators which are much more expensive. The story reported by APRN.org,
http://aprn.org/2008/04/16/avalanches-drive-up-electricity-costs-in-juneau/ noted that costs per kilowatt hour were expected to go from 11 cents to 40 to 50 cents.

My ears perked at this because in Bethel I “normally” pay 40 cents or so per kwh, with the Power Cost Equalization subsidy that the state legislature (who meets in usually cheap Juneau) sometimes provides. Businesses in Bethel pay quite a bit more.

Some Juneau people have been concerned enough at the sudden increase in electrical rates to request a declaration of emergency.

Mr Nels Anderson, Jr. on the Nushagak (our sister rivershed) has very good ideas to consider in this APRN interview. Dillingham’s rates are only slightly less than Bethel’s.

Phillip Munger at Progressive Alaska reprints Mr Anderson’s letter to Gov. Palin which stresses that the crisis in Alaska power rates is not just in Juneau.

I am hoping that our Rural elected leaders, regional organizations, state-wide organizations will insist that village energy needs be considered along with Juneau. Juneau does have a serious problem but all of our villages do as well.

Read more about Mr Anderson and his letter here http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2008/04/

• E-mail the Governor
• [N.B. Thimk] How effective will Alaska windfall rebates be?

How much do you normally pay for electricity?

• Bethel

0.39/kwh plus something called “customer charge” (flat $10.98) plus 6% sales tax

For 390 kwh (about the very least usage possible) costs $172.19 Power cost equalization knocks off $0.2162 or $84.32 for final total of $87.87

• Dillingham

31 cents/kwh plus $9 surcharge

Powered by Zoundry

Site Search Tags: Dillingham, Nushagak, Bethel, Juneau, electricity, rates, APRN.org, energy, cost+of+living

With spring and break-up just around the corner (please, please, please!) one thing we often forget until too late are family heirlooms, photos, records, manuscripts and so on. Heritage Emergency National Task Force special day is aimed at more formal institutions, but every home or tribal office would benefit from considering emergency preparedness for tangible cultural resources.

If you are in Alaska, contact the state museum in Juneau which has a grant to help local museums with preservation and documentation efforts. Bruce Kato, Chief Curator (bruce DOTkato AT alaska DOTgov),
Telephone: (907) 465-4866, http://www.museums.state.ak.us

April is also Alaska Archaeology Month. This year’s theme is archaeology associated with travel along the National Historic Iditarod Trail.

Archives, libraries, museums, and historic preservation organizations across America are setting aside May 1 to participate in MayDay, a national effort to protect collections from disasters…. Here are some ideas from the Heritage Emergency National Task Force:

• * If you have a disaster plan, dust it off and bring it up to date.
• * If you don’t have a plan, make a timeline for developing one.
• * Get to know your local firefighters and police. Invite them to tour your institution and give pointers on safety and preparedness. A poster outlining tips for working with emergency responders ( www.heritagepreservation.org/catalog/) is available from the Task Force.
• * Identify the three biggest risks to your collection or building (such as leaking water pipe, heavy snow, or power failure) and outline steps to mitigate them.
• * Conduct a building evacuation drill and evaluate the results.
• * Update your staff contact information and create a wallet-size version of your emergency contact roster. See the Pocket Response PlanTM (PRePTM) at www.statearchivists.org/prepare/framework/prep.htm.
• * Eliminate hazards such as storage in hallways, blocked fire exits, or improper storage of paints or solvents.
• * Provide staff with easily accessible disaster response information, such as www.heritageemergency.org.
• * Join forces with nearby institutions and agree to assist each other in case of a disaster.
• * Establish a method of identifying objects that are most important to your mission, irreplaceable, or most fragile, making evacuation simpler when disaster hits.
• * Register for a free course to learn how your institution fits into existing emergency response protocols. A list is available at www.heritagepreservation.org/lessons/courses.html…

Heritage Preservation is offering its popular Field Guide to Emergency Response and Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel at special MayDay sale prices from April 15 to May 31.

Related posts–
Cangerlaagpiit (Epidemics) — historical lessons
Alaska History reading list
Alaska history books
Alaska Territorial Guard celebrates 60th anniversary
Lydia T. Black 1925 to 2007
Letters from 1918 SW Alaska British Columbia
Dog-Team Doctor 2
another sneeze video
Jesse Lee Home, Alaska and the pandemic of 1919
More historical resources (Brevig Mission)
More historical pandemic resources (Michigan archives)
Online curriculum for Alaska high school students about their state

Site Search Tags: deadline, preparedness, museums, heritage, photos, libraries, holiday, Katrina

Maryn McKenna who provided valuable references to historical pandemic flu (1918-1919), is currently working on a book about Methicillin-resistant staph infections, MRSA.

• More historical resources (Brevig Mission)

She’s using a web log for her research. This allows us to track some of the latest research findings through her, but also allows interaction with readers as she is developing the book.

• Superbug http://drugresistantstaph.blogspot.com/

This blog is the virtual whiteboard for my new book, SUPERBUG: The Rise of Drug-Resistant Staph and the Danger of a World Without Antibiotics, coming in 2009 from Free Press. Whether you’re a MRSA researcher or a MRSA victim — or simply a major disease geek — I’m interested in your leads, thoughts, comments and stories. Watch this space for drafts and details as SUPERBUG moves forward.

I’m a freelance writer and author specializing in public health, medicine and health policy. I write features for national magazines and news stories for an infectious-disease website. In addition to this new book about the rise of drug-resistant staph around the world, I’m working on a multi-year research project on emergency room overcrowding and stress. … I’m interested in hearing from researchers, victims and disease geeks; all tips, thoughts, leads and personal stories are welcome. For more about me, check my website in the blogroll, along with other important sites about public health and disease. Let’s get started.

MRSA is now part of our tundra environment, along with various respiratory diseases (RSV, pneumonias) and skin infections (impetigo). This makes us part of the larger world– which we have been, of course, although some readers of the Anchorage Daily News seem blinded to the concept (Respiratory infections in Bush raise alarm : comments). MRSA is an example of evolution, an inadvertent selection by the medical system against the more benign or easier to kill (therefore less dangerous) microbes by killing them off with antibiotics. This allows the resistant microbes to take over. It also allows the resistant microbes to live outside the healthcare system in the community.

See previous posts,

• 3 things everyone should know to prevent pandemic flu, MRSA, RSV, pink-eye
• clean-hands-week-how-will-you-celebrate/ (and references)
• surviving-the-new-killer-bug-mrsa/
• give-germs-the-boot-not-your-baby

It would be interesting to apply some of the understanding about MRSA to that of the higher rate of infectious diseases related to sanitation in our region. Inadequate clean water supplies are part, but not all, of the problem suggested by the recently published study. The region focussed on in the research is also served by just one health corporation which in the past, at least, has used antibiotics freely.

• Increased Health Risk Associated with Lack of In-home Running Water
  http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/2008/r080401.htm
• CDC STUDY: Villages that have to haul water have higher illness rates 2008
  http://www.adn.com/life/health/story/363026.html
• Alaska study links bad plumbing, disease. Published: Feb. 28, 2006 http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2006/02/27/alaska_study_links_bad_plumbing_disease/7842/

Also,

• Staph. aureus and MRSA in Alaska

It’s not just steambaths and high school wrestling mats. As a couple of people have found in Bethel, even bumping a knee can be dangerous.

• http://tundramedicinedreams.blogspot.com/2006/11/steambath-boil.html
• http://tundramedicinedreams.blogspot.com/2006/09/boils-101-workshop-for-health-aides.html

Medical photos from DermNet of Cellulitis
Furuncles Carbuncles (boils)
Staphylococcal Folliculitis (boils)

Site Search Tags: MRSA, staph, Maryn+McKenna, evolution, antibiotic, resistance, superbug, handwashing, hygiene, hospital, antimicrobial, disinfect, epidemiology, environment, rural+health, Bethel, CDC, lung, ADN.com, steam+bath, Yukon+Kuskokwim, staph, septicemia, blood+poisoning, boils

We’re fortunate we are behind (north of) the Ring of Fire but that doesn’t leave us impervious. I’m not sure what effect the loss of ice on the Arctic Ocean or on land may do in the future as the Earth’s surface adjusts. But for now, pay attention to the alerts and Be Prepared. When in Anchorage, read the emergency directions in each hotel’s telephone book.

For the alert map for the Pacific, see Where is… Bethel’s Tsunami

Governor Sarah Palin is asking coastal residents in Alaska to make sure they’re prepared for a potential tsunami. She’s declared this week “Tsunami Awareness Week” to mark the anniversary of the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America. The nine point two magnitude earthquake hit on Good Friday, 1964 and was followed by a series of deadly tsunamis.

Lori Townsend, APRN - Anchorage (mp3)

Site Search Tags: tsunami, preparedness, Palin, earthquake

This is planned for [deadline] April 12, 2008 this year. I’m not sure how long the Girl Scout and Women-in-Science joint annual program has been going. It is certainly an interesting day(s) for the girls and the women involved. We don’t have a local chapter of Women-in-Science so the Bethel version has been Women of Science and local women who are either working in or interested in science are asked to participate.

If you can help, call the Girl Scouts. I may be the only Sigma Xi scientist around, but many women locally practice science– acute observation, comparison, hypothesis testing, gathering facts, critical thinking, etc.– whether choosing berry picking sites, or cooking new recipes, or practicing baby care, or speeding up the cashier lines or stacking a display of round fruit at stores. Of course, our medical practice should be evidence-based, but even herbal medicines require careful preparation.

An example from the first Women of Science, with a downloadable set of materials —

• Girl Scout Hovercrafts

Girl Scouts Susitna Council, in partnership with Continuing Education, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus, is hosting a third annual Women of Science Day for Bethel girls.
http://thetundradrums.com/news/show/1731

Organizers seek women who can volunteer their time to plan and lead activity sessions on Saturday afternoon, April 12, at the Kuskokwim Campus.

Sessions in birding, nutrition, dental care, traditional medicine, chemical reactions, weather study, subsistence living, wetland science, winter safety, healthy living, medicinal plants and anthropology … fit well in the 45-minute workshop format.

Adult and teen volunteers are also needed to help guide the groups of girls… For more information, contact Amy von Diest in Anchorage at (800) 478-7448 or by email at avondiest AT gsscak DOT org.

Site Search Tags: Girl+Scouts, women, science, public+involvement, children, KuC, deadline

[thimk, nota bene: my 2 cent opinion]

Senate Bill 289 would allow middle-income Alaskans to get grants and loans to make their homes more energy efficient. The bill is sponsored by Senator Lyman Hoffman of Bethel.

This will certainly be of help to many homeowners and to landlords such as Sen. Hoffman. I’m not so sure it can be effective in existing rental housing if landlords aren’t interested in upgrading. Bethel has no minimum standards for housing safety, even though it collects taxes on rentals. Thus, even “new” housing -may never become more economic for tenants [moldy or lacks insulation or is packed with electrical heating tape because the rehabbed ASHA (Alaska State Housing Authority) buildings don't have reality-based pipe systems (this is a cold region, folks, without standards for the flush-haul system of water delivery and sewage pick-up)]

True Voices left an interesting comment at an APRN.org story on the Alaska senate bill to give rebates to make middle-income homes “greener”.

I hope that this bill will also help in moving up or move away from the ever eroding river banks… very old wiring, old paper style plywoods, all windows cracked & drafty, etc. And can’t QUALIFY to fix or get a livable dwelling, still trying to be independent.

The comment is a succinct summary of what many face. If communities must be moved, the entire community is best moved together (the Davis Inlet to Natuashish incremental move had problems, especially for the older people, Remaining Innu of Davis Inlet feeling Abandoned). But TrueV points out what many individuals also face– imminent house collapse. The “home equity mortgage” bad loans do not work in many parts of the rural areas (housing may be expensive but it isn’t worth much as collateral). Older people in rural and frontier areas frequently don’t have excess/any retirement income. As in Bethel, there may not be any elder housing for 100s of miles (not even for assisted living or nursing homes). Weatherization and rehab funding often works best for situations outside of rural and remote places, with greater population density and civic resources.

The regulations written for emergency housing and relocation at the federal level (e.g., assistance from USDA Rural Development or Natural Resources Conservation Service) haven’t yet been translated into terms that allow rural areas to receive funding. For example, Homeland Security and Army Corps money might be applied if a highway collapse cuts off a town from its grocery stores. But we haven’t yet pointed out how collapsed stairways or river channel siltation also does the same thing, to the same proportion of people, even though the groceries are hunted. Electrical systems are critical homeland infrastructure– whether on a household or a city basis; the relative impact is the same. The applied funding and expertise isn’t. The long-term costs of not attending to adequate housing are so much more than the short-term expenses.

Thus, house by house a community melts into the river and initiates a constant family by family move into ever more crowded homes, ready themselves to collapse.

It may “take a village” to raise a child– a future citizen to assume statewide, national, and global responsibilities. But we don’t have genuine communities when older people must leave home or be trapped in substandard conditions.

How ever did the simple realization that a stitch in time saves nine become the regulatory: don’t call us if it’s less than a 500 million dollar or 500 thousand population crisis?

Site Search Tags: USACE, Army+Corps, energy, weatherization, elderly, relocation, erosion, FEMA, HUD, opinion, APRN.org, emergency, USDA, NRCS, legislation, aging+in+place, climate+change, Davis+Inlet, Innu, Canada, Natuashish, note+bene

I updated the Table of Contents by chronological order yesterday. This provides a listing by title from oldest to newest (the reverse order from the web log normal). Haven’t yet done the update to the alphabetical contents.

In either case, the ToC can be useful to discover other things of interest to a reader. There may still be glitches (I’m getting better at entitling and tagging but never perfect) so the search functions on the sidebar are also recommended.

Because the ToC is a “page” and not a “post” it does not get updated by RSS feed, so I’m making this post.

[revised]

Site Search Tags: Table+of+Contents, revised, chronological, ToC, index