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PubMed1981

Haemophilus influenzae disease in Alaskan Eskimos: characteristics of a population with an unusual incidence of invasive disease.

During 1971-77 the incidence of bacterial meningitis among Alaskan Eskimos was 84.4 cases per 100 000 population per year, which is more than 10 times that for most other U.S. populations. Haemophilus influenzae (HI) accounted for 68% of meningitis cases. The average annual incidence of HI disease per 100 000 children below 5 years of age was 409 for patients with meningitis only and 491 for patients with all systemic HI disease. Children with HI meningitis in Alaska tended to be younger than those in other U.S. populations, 98% of the children affected being less than 18 months of age. The risk for all HI disease was 2.4% during the first year of life. The spectrum of HI disease in Alaska differs from that in other populations in that no patient had epiglottitis and 5% of children had recurrent HI disease. Alaskan newborns and children over 4 years old had HI anticapsular antibody titres that were nearly thrice those for children of similar ages in other U.S. populations (p less than 0.005). The pharyngeal carriage of HI type b (5%) and the rectal carriage of Escherichia coli K100 (2%), an organism with a capsule antigenically similar to HI type b, did not differ from those in other populations. The high incidence of disease almost exclusively in the very young and the early development of antibody in this population suggest that the high rate of disease is due to early exposure to HI type b rather than to an unusual susceptibility to HI type b.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2007

Seal and whale meat: two newly recognized food allergies.

BACKGROUND: Alaska's marine mammals compose a large portion of the diet of indigenous coastal Alaskan people. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), inhabitants of the Bering and Beaufort seas along Alaska's western and northern coasts, are 2 of the most important subsistence species, serving as major food sources to the native population. OBJECTIVE: To describe an Inupiaq boy with symptoms consistent with an IgE-mediated food allergy after ingestion of bowhead whale and bearded seal meat. METHODS: Extracts of cooked bowhead whale and bearded seal were prepared, lyophilized, and evaluated for protein content. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed for each extract, followed by transfer to nitrocellulose and IgE immunoblots. Skin prick testing was conducted using reconstituted extracts of 1:10 wt/vol dilution. RESULTS: Immunoblots revealed serum specific IgE binding with the extracts of bowhead whale and bearded seal meat. Protein bands of approximately 25, 40, 50, and 90 kDa were found in the seal meat. Protein bands of 55 and 90 kDa were found in the whale meat. Skin prick test results were positive to whale and seal extracts with appropriate positive and negative controls. Ten control subjects had negative reactions to both extracts. CONCLUSION: A patient with moderate anaphylaxis to bowhead whale and bearded seal meat demonstrated serum specific IgE by means of immunoblot and positive skin prick test results. This is the first known reported case of specific IgE to these species.

Alaska↗
PubMed1983

Type 49 Streptococcus pyogenes: phage subtypes as epidemiological markers in isolates from skin sepsis and acute glomerulonephritis.

Studies of group A, M type 49 streptococci from England, Trinidad and Alaska indicate that isolates of this serotype often differ with respect to phage subtype from one geographical area to another, but are generally homogeneous in one place at one time. The findings support the conclusion that acute glomerulonephritis can be associated with a variety of phage subtypes of M type 49 streptococci. In outbreaks of skin sepsis without nephritis in England, the phage subtypes of M type 49 streptococci isolated from skin lesions of meat handlers were the same as those recovered from skin lesions of non-meat handlers in the same community. The findings on the Trinidad isolates suggest that M type 49 streptococci of one phage subtype may persist in a population for 9 years and may result in a second outbreak of acute glomerulonephritis. In an Alaska Eskimo population in whom acute glomerulonephritis was occurring, most of the M type 49 isolates available for testing were of a single phage subtype. Equally prevalent in this population were group A streptococci that exhibited the same T antigen as the type 49 isolates but differed in their serum opacity reaction and phage subtype. This apparently related strain was not typable with available M antisera but showed functional evidence of M protein and is probably a new M type.

Alaska↗
PubMed2004

Estimate of oil persisting on the beaches of Prince William Sound 12 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

We estimated the amount of oil remaining in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 12 yr after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill to assess its importance as a long-term reservoir of toxic hydrocarbons. We found oil on 78 of 91 beaches randomly selected according to their oiling history. Surface oiling was recorded for randomly placed quadrats, which were then excavated and examined for subsurface oil. The cumulative area of beach contaminated by surface or subsurface oil was estimated at 11.3 ha. Surface oil varied little with tide height, but subsurface oil was more prevalent at the middle tide heights. The mass of remaining subsurface oil is conservatively estimated at 55 600 kg. Analysis of terpanes indicated that over 90% of the surface oil and all of the subsurface oil was from the Exxon Valdez and that Monterey Formation oil deposited after the 1964 Alaska earthquake accounted for the remaining surface oil. These results indicate that oil from the Exxon Valdez remains by far the largest reservoir of biologically available polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on beaches impacted by the spill and that biota dependent on these beaches risk continued exposure.

Accidents↗
PubMed2001

[From some Hymenolepididae (Cestoda)of Alaskan Charadrii birds, where Nadejdolepis bealli n.sp., is a parasite of Calidris alpina].

Nadejdolepis bealli n. sp. a parasite from Calidris alpina in Alaska (USA), is described and illustrated. It is 3-4 cm long and has: rostral nitiduloid hooks 95-96 microm long, with the blade a little longer than the handle; three testes in a symmetrical triangle; a cirrus-sac 175 microm long, not crossing the median line; a cirrus borne on an unarmed basal bulb, 25 microm long when evaginated, and armed with numerous, compact and very thin spines 1 microm long; a short (25 microm) membranous and tubular vagina with neither a sclerotinoid section nor a sphincter; and a pyriform seminal receptacle. The species is differentiated from the other species of the genus with rostral hooks of comparable length by the configuration of the male and female genital ducts; they have no equivalent particularly in the shortness of the evaginated cirrus and the type of spines with which it is armed. Mention is also made of the presence of Nadejdolepis paranitidulans (Golikova, 1959) and Wardium amphitricha (Rudolphi, 1819) from the same host in Alaska.

Alaska↗
PubMed2002

K-ras oncogene DNA sequences in pink salmon in streams impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill: no evidence of oil-induced heritable mutations.

It was hypothesized in previous studies that the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, induced heritable mutations and resulted in mortality of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) embryos. In one of these studies, laboratory exposure of pink salmon embryos to crude oil resulted in apparent mutation-induction in exon 1 and exon 2 of the K-ras oncogene, but no fish from the area impacted by the oil spill were analyzed. We assessed K-ras exon 1 and exon 2 DNA sequences in pink salmon from five streams that were oiled and five streams that were not oiled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, and two streams with natural oil seeps and one stream without seeps on the Alaska Peninsula. Of the 79 fish analyzed for exon 1 and the 89 fish analyzed for exon 2, none had the nucleotide substitutions representing the mutations induced in the laboratory study. Other variable nucleotides occurred in similar proportions in oiled and non-oiled streams and probably represent natural allelic variation. These data do not support the hypothesis that heritable mutations in the K-ras gene were induced by the Exxon Valdez oil spill or oil seeps.

Alaska↗
PubMed2000

Phylogeography of a post-glacial colonizer: Microtus longicaudus (Rodentia: muridae).

The molecular phylogeography of Microtus longicaudus was investigated with DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. We used phylogenetic and pairwise distance methods to reconstruct the history of the species with particular emphasis on the Pacific Northwest. Genetic variation across the species was consistent with vicariant events during the Pleistocene and subsequent northern postglacial expansion following the receding Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. The largest break (> 6% uncorrected sequence divergence) was found to exist between populations found southeast of the Colorado River (eastern Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico) and all other western populations. Other well-supported subclades were composed of samples from: (i) the islands and north coast of southeast Alaska; (ii) eastern Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon; and (iii) northern California, Idaho and Montana. Within subclades, divergence was low. Our results suggest that the close relationships among haplotypes within northern subclades are a result of recent colonization, whereas higher among-subclade divergence is caused by genetic differentiation during prolonged periods of isolation, possibly as a result of mid-Pleistocene climatic events.

Alaska↗
PubMed2000

Phylogeography and genetic structure of northern populations of the yellow warbler (Dendroica petechia).

Phylogeographic patterns of intraspecific variation can provide insights into the population-level processes responsible for speciation and yield information useful for conservation purposes. To examine phylogeography and population structure in a migratory passerine bird at both continental and regional geographical scales, we analysed 344 bp of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence from 155 yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia) collected from seven locations across Canada and from Alaska. There is a major subdivision between eastern (Manitoba to Newfoundland) and western (Alaska and British Columbia) populations which appears to have developed during the recent Pleistocene. Some localities within these two regions also differ significantly in their genetic composition, suggesting further subdivision on a regional geographical scale. Eastern and western birds form distinct phylogeographic entities and the clustering of all western haplotypes with two eastern haplotypes suggests that the western haplotypes may be derived from an eastern lineage. Analyses based on coalescent models support this explanation for the origin of western haplotypes. These results are consistent with important features of Mengel's model of warbler diversification. From a conservation perspective they also suggest that individual populations of migrant birds may form demographically isolated management units on a smaller scale than previously appreciated.

Alaska↗
PubMed2000

Glacial vicariance and historical biogeography of rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) in the Bering region.

In this paper, we address alternative hypotheses for the evolution of subspecies of rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) endemic to the Aleutian Archipelago. To do this we examined patterns of genetic differentiation among populations of rock ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands and parts of both Alaska and Siberia. Variation in mitochondrial control region sequences of 105 rock ptarmigan from 10 subspecies within the Bering region revealed three major phylogenetic lineages, two of which are endemic to the Aleutian Islands. Accordingly, haplotype and nucleotide diversities of rock ptarmigan within the archipelago are much higher than within mainland Alaska or Siberia. For Aleutian rock ptarmigan, analyses of molecular variance indicated significant genetic structuring and low estimates of gene flow among populations, despite small interisland distances within the archipelago. However, isolation by distance did not describe the pattern of gene flow or differentiation at this scale. Our estimates of divergence times of lineages suggest that Aleutian rock ptarmigan became isolated prior to the most recent Pleistocene glaciation event (late Wisconsin Stade) and that current patterns of genetic variation reflect the postglacial redistribution of divergent lineages and subsequent limited gene flow. In addition, genetic divergence among lineages was concordant with the distribution of plumage types among subspecies. The patterns of genetic variation described here for rock ptarmigan provide evidence for the role of glacial vicariance in contributing to genetic diversity within this and other Bering region species.

Alaska↗
PubMed2002

Population genetic structure of the cyclic snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) in southwestern Yukon, Canada.

Spatial population structure has important ecological and evolutionary consequences. Little is known about the population structure of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), despite their ecological importance in North American boreal forests. We used seven variable microsatellite DNA loci to determine the spatial genetic structure of snowshoe hares near Kluane Lake, Yukon during a cyclic population peak. We sampled 317 hares at 12 sites separated by distances ranging from 3 to 140 km, and used 46 additional samples from Alaska and Montana. The level of genetic variation was high (13.4 alleles/locus, 0.67 expected heterozygosity) and the distribution of alleles and genotypes was not homogeneous across the sites. The degree of differentiation was low among Yukon sites (FST = 0.015) and between Yukon and Alaska (FST = 0.012), but the Montana site was highly differentiated (FST = 0.20). A weak pattern of isolation by distance was found over the Yukon study area, with an indication that local genetic drift may be important in shaping the regional genetic structure. Landscape barriers expected to influence gene flow did not consistently affect genetic structure, although there was evidence for a partial barrier effect of Kluane Lake. The high level of inferred gene flow confirms that snowshoe hare dispersal is widespread, successful and equal between the sexes. A stepping-stone model of gene flow, potentially influenced by the synchronous density cycle, appears to best explain the observed genetic structure. Our results suggest that despite their dramatic fluctuations in density, snowshoe hares in the northern boreal forest have a large evolutionary effective population size and are not strongly subdivided by either physical or social barriers to gene flow.

Alaska↗
PubMed2003

Disjunct distribution of highly diverged mitochondrial lineage clade and population subdivision in a marine bivalve with pelagic larval dispersal.

Mitochondrial DNA sequence data for 295 individuals of the marine bivalve Macoma balthica (L.) were collected from 10 sites across the European distribution, and from Alaska. The data were used to infer population subdivision history and estimate current levels of gene flow. Inferred historical biogeography was expected to be congruent with colonization of the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean after the opening of the Bering Strait 3.5 Ma. In addition, the last glacial maximum, about 18000 years ago, was expected to have been responsible for most of the present-day distribution of molecular variation within Europe, because the area must have been recolonized after confinement to France and the south of the British Isles during the last glacial maximum. Current gene flow was hypothesized to be high, because the larvae of M. balthica spend 2-5 weeks drifting in the water column. The geographical distribution of one highly diverged haplotype clade was found to be disjunct and was encountered exclusively in samples from the Baltic Sea and Alaska. A molecular clock calibration for marine bivalve cytochrome-c-oxidase I dates this clade as having split off from the other haplotypes 9.8-39 Ma. Multiple colonizations of the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific by M. balthica may explain the strong differences found between Baltic Sea and other European populations of this species. The sympatric occurrence of the highly diverged mitochondrial lineages in western parts of the Baltic Sea points to secondary admixture. With the use of coalescent analysis, population divergence times for French vs. other non-Baltic European populations ('Atlantic population assemblage') were estimated at a minimum of about 110000 years ago, well before the last glacial maximum 18000 years ago. Signatures of population divergence of M. balthica that appear to have originated during the Pleistocene have thus survived the last glacial maximum. Some of the populations within the Atlantic assemblage are currently isolated, while others appear to be connected by gene flow. Apparently, populations of this species can remain highly subdivided in spite of the potential for high gene flow, implying that their population and evolutionary dynamics can be independent.

Alaska↗
PubMed2005

Outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus gastroenteritis associated with Alaskan oysters.

BACKGROUND: Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the leading cause of seafood-associated gastroenteritis in the United States, typically is associated with the consumption of raw oysters gathered from warm-water estuaries. We describe a recognized outbreak of V. parahaemolyticus infection associated with the consumption of seafood from Alaska. METHODS: After we received reports of the occurrence of gastroenteritis on a cruise ship, we conducted a retrospective cohort study among passengers, as well as active surveillance throughout Alaska to identify additional cases, and an environmental study to identify sources of V. parahaemolyticus and contributors to the outbreak. RESULTS: Of 189 passengers, 132 (70 percent) were interviewed; 22 of the interviewees (17 percent) met our case definition of gastroenteritis. In our multiple logistic-regression analysis, consumption of raw oysters was the only significant predictor of illness; the attack rate among people who consumed oysters was 29 percent. Active surveillance identified a total of 62 patients with gastroenteritis. V. parahaemolyticus serotype O6:K18 was isolated from the majority of patients tested and from environmental samples of oysters. Patterns on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis were highly related across clinical and oyster isolates. All oysters associated with the outbreak were harvested when mean daily water temperatures exceeded 15.0 degrees C (the theorized threshold for the risk of V. parahaemolyticus illness from the consumption of raw oysters). Since 1997, mean water temperatures in July and August at the implicated oyster farm increased 0.21 degrees C per year (P<0.001 by linear regression); 2004 was the only year during which mean daily temperatures in July and August at the shellfish farm did not drop below 15.0 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation extends by 1000 km the northernmost documented source of oysters that caused illness due to V. parahaemolyticus. Rising temperatures of ocean water seem to have contributed to one of the largest known outbreaks of V. parahaemolyticus in the United States.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Policy strategies to address sustainability of Alaskan boreal forests in response to a directionally changing climate.

Human activities are altering many factors that determine the fundamental properties of ecological and social systems. Is sustainability a realistic goal in a world in which many key process controls are directionally changing? To address this issue, we integrate several disparate sources of theory to address sustainability in directionally changing social-ecological systems, apply this framework to climate-warming impacts in Interior Alaska, and describe a suite of policy strategies that emerge from these analyses. Climate warming in Interior Alaska has profoundly affected factors that influence landscape processes (climate regulation and disturbance spread) and natural hazards, but has only indirectly influenced ecosystem goods such as food, water, and wood that receive most management attention. Warming has reduced cultural services provided by ecosystems, leading to some of the few institutional responses that directly address the causes of climate warming, e.g., indigenous initiatives to the Arctic Council. Four broad policy strategies emerge: (i) enhancing human adaptability through learning and innovation in the context of changes occurring at multiple scales; (ii) increasing resilience by strengthening negative (stabilizing) feedbacks that buffer the system from change and increasing options for adaptation through biological, cultural, and economic diversity; (iii) reducing vulnerability by strengthening institutions that link the high-latitude impacts of climate warming to their low-latitude causes; and (iv) facilitating transformation to new, potentially more beneficial states by taking advantage of opportunities created by crisis. Each strategy provides societal benefits, and we suggest that all of them be pursued simultaneously.

Acclimatization↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Associations between respiratory illness and PM10 air pollution.

In this study, the association between daily morbidity and respirable particulate pollution (i.e., particles with a mass median aerodynamic diameter of < or = 10 microns [PM10]) was evaluated in the general population of Anchorage, Alaska. Using insurance claims data for state employees and their dependents who lived in Anchorage, Alaska, the authors determined the number of medical visits for asthma, bronchitis, and upper respiratory infections. The number of visits were related to the level of particulate pollution in ambient air measured at air-monitoring sites. This study was conducted during a 3-y period, which included several weeks of higher-level particulate pollution that resulted from a volcanic eruption (i.e., August 1992). The particulate pollution was measured by the Anderson head sampler (24-h accumulation). The medical visits of the population at risk were also tallied daily. To help confirm whether PM10 exposure was a risk factor in the exacerbation of asthma, we used a regression analysis to regress daily asthma visits on PM10 pollution levels, controlling for seasonal variability. A significant positive association between morbidity and PM10 pollution was observed. The strongest association was with concurrent-day PM10 levels. The relative risk of morbidity was higher with respect to PM10 pollution during warmer days.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2004

The WAMI Program: 25 years later.

The Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WAMI) Program is a four-state decentralized medical education program initiated at the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSM) in 1972 with the goals of: (1) admitting more students to medical school from all states, (2) training more primary care physicians, (3) bringing the UWSM's resources to needy communities, (4) redressing the maldistribution of physicians by placing more MDs in predominantly rural states and (5) avoiding new construction costs. The program consists of a University Phase and a Community Phase, the latter extending to residency/postgraduate medical training. Thirty-three years on, and now renamed WWAMI (with the inclusion of the State of Wyoming), nearly 1200 students have been admitted to the program, with 5947 clerkship experiences and 2282 resident rotations, and the original goals of this experiment in decentralized medical education have been largely met. Almost half of all residents supported by the program return home to practice, and of graduates who underwent a part of their training in Alaska, Montana and Idaho, 64.7% returned home to practice. This paper reports on some lessons learned and speculates whether the WAMI program can keep pace with the rapid changes in medical education.

Alaska↗
PubMed2006

Conceptions of wellness among the Yup'ik of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta: the vitality of social and natural connection.

Focus group research was conducted to examine indigenous conceptions of wellness among the Yup'ik Eskimos of southwestern Alaska. The dialogue on wellness emphasized the importance of living a traditional lifestyle, seeking creative solutions to manage drastic cultural change, and fostering connection within the communities and the native landscape. These themes mesh well with existing characterizations of Alaska Native experiences and worldviews, and reflect substantial links between enculturation, acculturation and health. The data underscores the importance of comprehending local conceptions of wellness in order to effectively work toward promoting optimal health. This paper represents part of an ongoing dialogue in which researchers and native communities co-direct the investigation into healthy ways of being in the world.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2000

mtDNA variation among Greenland Eskimos: the edge of the Beringian expansion.

The Eskimo-Aleut language phylum is distributed from coastal Siberia across Alaska and Canada to Greenland and is well distinguished from the neighboring Na Dene languages. Genetically, however, the distinction between Na Dene and Eskimo-Aleut speakers is less clear. In order to improve the genetic characterization of Eskimos in general and Greenlanders in particular, we have sequenced hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and typed relevant RFLP sites in the mtDNA of 82 Eskimos from Greenland. A comparison of our data with published sequences demonstrates major mtDNA types shared between Na Dene and Eskimo, indicating a common Beringian history within the Holocene. We further confirm the presence of an Eskimo-specific mtDNA subgroup characterized by nucleotide position 16265G within mtDNA group A2. This subgroup is found in all Eskimo groups analyzed so far and is estimated to have originated <3,000 years ago. A founder analysis of all Eskimo and Chukchi A2 types indicates that the Siberian and Greenland ancestral mtDNA pools separated around the time when the Neo-Eskimo culture emerged. The Greenland mtDNA types are a subset of the Alaskan mtDNA variation: they lack the groups D2 and D3 found in Siberia and Alaska and are exclusively A2 but at the same time lack the A2 root type. The data are in agreement with the view that the present Greenland Eskimos essentially descend from Alaskan Neo-Eskimos. European mtDNA types are absent in our Eskimo sample.

Alaska↗
PubMed2000

Increasing pneumococcal vaccination rates among residents of long-term--care facilities: provider-based improvement strategies implemented by peer-review organizations in four western states.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate collaborative efforts and intervention strategies by peer-review organizations (PROs) and long-term-care facilities (LTCFs) for improving pneumococcal vaccination rates among residents of LTCFs. DESIGN: Prospective, before-after quality improvement project. SETTING: 133 LTCFs in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. PATIENTS: All residents of participating LTCFs. METHODS: Baseline pneumococcal vaccination rates were determined by medical-record review, self-reporting by patient or family members, and review of Medicare claims information. Remeasurement of vaccination rates was accomplished from documentation of vaccination of eligible residents by each LTCF. RESULTS: 133 LTCFs with 7,623 residents from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming participated in this quality-improvement project. This accounted for 41% (133/321) of the potential nursing homes and resident population in the participating states. Baseline overall vaccination rates were 40% (3,050/7,589). The overall vaccination rate improved to 75% (5,720/7,623, P<.001). The number of facilities meeting the Healthy People 2000 vaccination goal of 80% improved from 18% (24/133) to 62% (83/133, P<.001). Initial use of chart stickers and implementation of standing orders led to similar increases in vaccination rates, but the standing-order strategy required commitment of fewer PRO resources at a statewide level. Remeasurement of vaccination rates in a subset of participating Idaho LTCFs 1 year after initial vaccination efforts demonstrated a sustained vaccination rate of 70% in facilities enforcing a standing-order policy. CONCLUSIONS: Simple and straightforward vaccination strategies implemented in LTCFs over a short period of time can have a significant impact on vaccination rates. Collaborative efforts between state PROs and LTCFs enhance implementation of these strategies and can result in the achievement of national vaccination objectives. Standing orders appear to be one intervention effective in sustaining successful vaccination efforts. Regardless of the specific interventions employed, PROs played a significant role in facilitating vaccination program development and intervention implementation.

Aged↗