- ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters)
-- Alaska Natives may be the the most likely people in North America to
be exposed to the avian flu virus because they depend for food on wild
migratory birds from Asia, a health care expert said on Thursday.
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- Alaska is a probable point of entry for the H5N1 strain
of bird flu, because it is at the crossroads of wild waterfowl and shorebird
migration to and from Asia.
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- Native Alaskans are likely to come in contact with infected
ducks and geese, but the government's advice for avoiding infection, such
as washing thoroughly when handling hunted birds, makes little sense for
people living and working in a wilderness environment.
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- "I don't know anybody in any of the villages who
has rubber gloves in their hunting gear, or hand sanitizer," said
Patricia Cochran, executive director of the Alaska Native Science Commission,
at a pandemic flu planning summit organized by federal and state agencies.
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- "Sometimes we need ... a bit of a reality check,"
she said.
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- Alaska Natives are the indigenous Eskimo, Indian and
Aleut people who make up about 16 percent of the state's population and
traditionally hunt for their food. Most Native villages are located in
rural areas of Alaska.
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- Worries about avian flu are acute among Native Alaska
populations and there are memories of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which
almost wiped out entire villages, said Cochran, an Inupiat Eskimo from
northwestern Alaska.
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- Between 75,000 and 100,000 wild birds around the United
States will be tested for the H5N1 virus, with much of that effort concentrated
in Alaska, said Alex Azar, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
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- The avian flu virus, which has killed at least 109 people
worldwide, has spread since 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and
Africa.
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- Health officials noted, however, that the virus has proved
difficult to spread from bird to human, and even more difficult to spread
among humans.
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- "It will not be a cause for panic. It will not be
a cause for people to stop hunting. It will not be a cause for people to
stop eating poultry," said Azar.
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- Note: Bird flu likely to hit Alaska natives particularly
hard. This article outlines why, and what needs to be done to protect them.
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- Apr 13, 2006
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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