Respiratory illness - adenovirus 14 -hits remote Alaska island - FluTrackers

Shiloh · Oct 2, 2008

Source: http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=9116462

Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

by Angela Blanchard
Thursday, October 1, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska-- The State Health Department and U.S. Centers for Disease Control are investigating an outbreak of a respiratory illness on Prince of Whales Island.

Health department officials are reporting 26 suspected or confirmed cases of the unknown illness in communities like Craig and Klawock.

Officials say seven people have been hospitalized.

Symptoms of the illness include a severe dry cough and a fever above 101 degrees.

The health department says so far the state is not prohibiting travel to and from the island or quarantining anyone but is advising people to practice good respiratory hygiene.

"Basically you can go a long way with just washing your hands meticulously and covering your cough and using tissues and throwing them away," Medical Epidemiologist Dr. Beth Funk said. "Don't leave them lying around, just sort of simple things like that."

The health department is collecting samples and sending them to the CDC, as well as testing samples in an Anchorage lab.

Contact Angela Blanchard at ablanchard@ktuu.com

Laidback Al · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

From the Prince of Wales Chamber of Commerce web site:

Prince of Wales Chamber of Commerce
"Welcome to America's Third Largest Island"
Located in Southern Southeast Alaska . . . .

WILDLIFE --

Sitka black tailed deer and black bear are the primary game animals, and the island supports several packs of wolves. Moose have been spotted on Prince of Wales. While the streams and lakes contain a variety of trout, most people fish the salt water for the five species of salmon, or for halibut, red snapper, and other bottom fish. Eagles are a common sight and waterfowl abound during the nesting season. Several species spend the winter in the area including the trumpeter swan.

http://www.princeofwalescoc.org/climate.html

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

It's the beginning of RSV season here.

See chart at http://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/id/dod/rsv/RSV_ASVLResultsGraph.pdf

We had a cooler summer, so cases could arrive a little early.

.

HenryN · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

AlaskaDenise said:
It's the beginning of RSV season here.

See chart at http://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/id/dod/rsv/RSV_ASVLResultsGraph.pdf

We had a cooler summer, so cases could arrive a little early.

.

Any confirmation? Some sources are raising more serious issues.

HenryN · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

http://plumbot.com/Craig,_Alaska.html

Science Teacher · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Interesting radio interview done on 9/4/08 npr KCAW-FM (Raven Radio).
http://kcaw.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=se&page=2

Wrangell doctor reaches four corners of POW by Lisa Phu

WRANGELL, ALASKA (2008-09-04) For almost ten years, Wrangell doctor Dave McCandless has been holding rural clinics in communities on Prince of Wales Island that don't have health providers and don't have easy access to them. It started when Point Baker and Port Protection asked Wrangell to send a visiting doctor. Since then, every six weeks throughout the entire year, Dr. McCandless visits the remote communities of Coffman Cove, Whale Pass, Naukati, Edna Bay, Point Baker, and Port Protection.

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

niman said:
Any confirmation? Some sources are raising more serious issues.

I just talked to the state epidemiology dept. in Anchorage (friday noon local time).

There is still no diagnosis. They have sent a team to the island to collect additional specimens. As soon as they have results they will be released to the media.

They have been getting calls from a wide area - including media, rumor-checkers, etc.

When I suggested RSV, she said it is on their list. WHen I suggested bird flu, her response was that the state had been testing birds around the state, so they doubt that is what it is.

However, she agreed that the symptoms are flu-like.

So....we wait.

I nomally listen to our in-state NPR station all day, so the minute I hear anything, I'll post it here.

I hope there's nothing in swans, as pacific-flyway swans flew through here last week. During their southward migration, species will "mix" at busy migratory bottlenecks - the perfect opportunity to trade pathogens. This theory has been proposed by our in-state migratory bird experts - that AI pathogens would most likely be passed from asymptomatic carriers to more sensitive species as they begin their flight south.

We got our first snow this morning, so it will probably convince any remaining migratory birds to leave the more populated areas here in southcentral Alaska. THere are many water bodies within populated areas, so pathogens in birds could impact many people. I have 5 lakes within a one mile radius of my home - very typical.

.

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Prince of Wales Island is at the extreme southern end of SE Alaska - just north of Prince Rupert, British Columbia and west of Ketchikan, AK. see map:

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Migratory bird hunting on POW Island as evidenced by the number of Migratory Bird Hunting registered guides. Five guides specify their guiding locations as POW Island, while some specify all of SE Alaska.

see: http://www.wildlifenews.alaska.gov/hunt_trap/hunting/duck/wfguides.pdf

One hunter gives his business address as Craig, AK. Seven guides are allowed to guide in that Management Unit (#2).

I hope we're not seeing an event related to the swans, poultry and soldier in Japan & South Korea last April. (and Kamchatka in June)

See: http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04280801/H5_Japan_Swans.html

.

Snowy Owl · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Haida of BC, CHarlotte Islands left up-north

Klawock, Alaska

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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<TABLE class="infobox geography vcard" style="WIDTH: 23em; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1.25em; WIDTH: 100%; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap" align=middle colSpan=2>City of Klawock, Alaska</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TD class=maptable style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.4em; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em" align=middle colSpan=2><TABLE style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; WIDTH: 100%" align=center><TBODY><TR><TD style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle" align=middle colSpan=2>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Klawok_seal.png

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TD align=middle colSpan=2>Nickname(s): Site of the First Salmon Cannery in Alaska</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TD align=middle colSpan=2>Motto: kla-na-kee-duk</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>

<SMALL>Location in the state of Alaska</SMALL>
</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TD align=middle colSpan=2>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Alaska_Locator_Map_with_US.PNG

City of Klawock, Alaska

<SMALL>Location in the state of Alaska</SMALL>
</TD></TR><TR class=mergedbottomrow><TH style="FONT-SIZE: smaller; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.7em; TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Coordinates:

55°33′18″N 133°5′7″W / 55.555, -133.08528</TH></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TH>Country</TH><TH>United States</TH></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>State</TH><TH>Alaska</TH></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>Borough</TH><TH>Unorganized</TH></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>Founded</TH><TD>1868</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>Incorporated</TH><TD>1929</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TD colSpan=2>Government</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>- Mayor</TH><TD>Donald Marvin</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TD colSpan=2>Area</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>- Total</TH><TD>0.9 sq mi (2.3 km²)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>- Land</TH><TD>0.6 sq mi (1.5 km²)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>- Water</TH><TD>0.3 sq mi (0.8 km²) 34.83%</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TD>Elevation</TD><TD>79 ft (24 m)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TD colSpan=2>Population (2000)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>- Total</TH><TD>854</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>- Density</TH><TD>1,465.4/sq mi (568.5/km²)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TH>Time zone</TH><TD>AKST (UTC-9)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedbottomrow><TH style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap">- Summer (DST)</TH><TD>AKDT (UTC-8)</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TH>Zip code</TH><TD>99925</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>Area code(s)</TH><TD>907</TD></TR><TR class=mergedtoprow><TH>FIPS code</TH><TD>02-40400</TD></TR><TR class=mergedrow><TH>GNIS feature ID</TH><TD>1423100</TD></TR><TR><TD class=mergedtoprow style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Website: WWW.CityOfKlawock.Com</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Klawock is a city in Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, on Klawock Inlet, across from Klawock Island. The population was 854 at the 2000 census.
It is 90 km (56 mi) from Ketchikan, 11 km (seven mi) from Craig, and 39 km (24 mi) from Hollis.

HenryN · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

UNDIAGNOSED RESPIRATORY ILLNESS - USA: (ALASKA), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Thu 2 Oct 2008
Source: KTUU.com, Alaska [edited]
<http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=9116462>

Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island
---------------------------------------------
The Alaska State Health Department and US Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) are investigating an outbreak of a respiratory illness on
Prince of Wales Island.

Health department officials are reporting 26 suspected or confirmed
cases of the unknown illness in communities like Craig and Klawock.
Officials say 7 people have been hospitalized.

Symptoms of the illness include a severe dry cough and a fever above
101 [deg F / 38.3 deg C].

The health department says so far the state is not prohibiting travel
to and from the island or quarantining anyone, but is advising people
to practice good respiratory hygiene. "Basically you can go a long
way [towards preventing spread] with just washing your hands
meticulously and covering your cough, and using tissues and throwing
them away," medical epidemiologist Dr Beth Funk said. "Don't leave
them [used tissues] lying around, just sort of simple things like
that."

The health department is collecting samples and sending them to the
CDC, as well as testing samples in an Anchorage lab.

[Byline: Angela Blanchard]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
& Randolph Kruger

[It is extremely unusual for no provisional diagnosis to be given for
an outbreak in the USA, let alone for fever and cough at this time of
year in Alaska. I wonder why they don't suspect influenza A or some
such seasonal pathogen. How can there be confirmed cases when they
don't know what the cause is? Any further information will be
welcome.

PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND, USA: 2231 sq mi (5,778 sq km), off SE Alaska;
largest island of the Alexander Archipelago. The island is heavily
forested, but has little arable land, no source of freshwater, and no
available areas for ship docking. Many of the islanders left when the
pearl-shell industry, once profitable, declined after the 1950s -- see
<http://www.questia.com/
library/encyclopedia/prince-of-wales-island-united-states.jsp>.

Craig's population has varied following trends in the commercial
fishing industry. As of the census of 2000, the population was 1397.
The population of Klawock was 854 at the 2000 census (Source:
Wikipedia.com). - Mod.JW

The US state of Alaska can be located on HealthMap/ProMED-mail
interactive map at
<http://healthmap.org/promed?g=5879092&v=64,-150,3>.
Prince of Wales Island is one of the islands of the Alexander
Archipelago, just west of the northern half of the Canadian province
of British Columbia. It can be seen at
<http://healthmap.org/promed?g=5844324&v=55.666,-132.083,8>. - CopyEd.MJ]

[see also:
2006
----
Undiagnosed illness - USA (IA): RFI 20061208.3470
2002
----
Undiagnosed illness, hotel - USA (New Jersey) (02) 20020214.3560
2001
----
Undiagnosed illness - USA (Wyoming) 20010603.1091
2000
---
Undiagnosed illness - USA (California) 20000914.1575]
........................................jw/mj/jw

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

ProMed may say there's no areas for ship docking, but there is in nearby Ketchikan - a major stop for the many cruise ships going through SE Alaska. The last ships leave Whittier/Seward about September 20th - then proceed south. Those cruise ship passengers and crew (from many foreign countries) typically bring out-of-season flu here in summer. People from Craig & Klawock could easily have been employees of the tourism industry - although I"d expect any of their illnesses to also infect Ketchikan.

.

Snowy Owl · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

History

Originally, Craig's townsite was a temporary fishing camp, used for gathering herring eggs.<SUP id=cite_ref-FS-PoW-C_8-0 class=reference>[9]</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
Craig was named after Craig Miller <SMALL>(alternate spelling: Millar)</SMALL> who established a fish saltery on nearby Fish Egg Island in 1907<SUP id=cite_ref-FS-PoW-C_8-1 class=reference>[9]</SUP> with the assistance of the local Haida natives who moved onto Prince of Wales Island from Haida Gwaii (British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands) starting in the 1700s.<SUP id=cite_ref-NOAA-AFSC-C_2-3 class=reference>[3]</SUP><SUP id=cite_ref-9 class=reference>[10]</SUP>

Craig Miller constructed a cold storage plant and packing company at the present site of Craig,<SUP id=cite_ref-NOAA-AFSC-C_2-4 class=reference>[3]</SUP> and in 1922 was instrumental in the incorporation of the city (originally as an Alaska second-class<SUP id=cite_ref-AK-FS_7-1 class=reference>[8]</SUP> city within the Alaska Territory, pre-statehood).

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Per ProMed:

How can there be confirmed cases when they
don't know what the cause is?

.

HenryN · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/10030801/PoW_Alert.html

Snowy Owl · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Commentary

Respiratory Illness On Prince of Wales Island Alaska
Recombinomics Commentary 23:17
October 3, 2008

The State Health Department and U.S. Centers for Disease Control are investigating an outbreak of a respiratory illness on Prince of Whales Island.

Health department officials are reporting 26 suspected or confirmed cases of the unknown illness in communities like Craig and Klawock.

Officials say seven people have been hospitalized.

Symptoms of the illness include a severe dry cough and a fever above 101 degrees.

The above comments describe an outbreak of respiratory disease on Prince of Wales Island. The involvement of the CDC as well as the location of the island in southeastern Alaska under a major migratory bird route is cause for concern.

Earlier this year there were major outbreaks of H5N1 in South Korea, northern Japan, and southeastern Russia. All outbreaks involved a reassorted Fujian strain of H5N1 (HA is clade 2.3.2 and the other seven genes were clade 2.3.4). The dead whooper swan signaled spread to the north over the summer, including regions of Alaska. Birds in Alaska are now migrating south, increasing concerns regarding respiratory disease in regions frequented by waterfowl, such as Prince of Wales Island.

The lack of a diagnosis remains a cause for concern. More information on these patients and testing, including influenza A, would be useful.

Medi a Links

Recombinomics Presentations

Recombinomics Publications

Recombinomics Paper at Nature Precedings

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/10030801/PoW_Alert.html

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Stories about martians in Alaska wouldn't surprise me. We've been getting the most insane MSM stories about our state ever since our governor was tapped for a national race. Either MSM reporters are incredibly ignorant or there is intentional biased reporting.

Unless we hear verifiable stories about transportation closures, communication blackouts, etc., I won't be convinced of any BF cases.

.

HenryN · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

AlaskaDenise said:
Stories about martians in Alaska wouldn't surprise me. We've been getting the most insane MSM stories about our state ever since our governor was tapped for a national race. Either MSM reporters are incredibly ignorant or there is intentional biased reporting.

Unless we hear verifiable stories about transportation closures, communication blackouts, etc., I won't be convinced of any BF cases.

.

The original story on this outbreak is from the local (Alaskan) media.

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

niman said:
The original story on this outbreak is from the local (Alaskan) media.

I'm not doubting the original story - just saying that I wouldn't be surprised by stories about Martians.

Information about diagnosis may not be forthcoming simply because they're a small town and oblivious to the far-reaching interest.

.

AlaskaDenise · Oct 3, 2008

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

Re: Respiratory illness hits remote Alaska island

We could add initial pulmonary TB infections to list of possibilities. Symptoms can be fever and dry cough.

Latest report on TB in Alaska at http://www.epi.alaska.gov/pubs/webtb/TBReport2007.pdf

.

Respiratory illness - adenovirus 14 -hits remote Alaska island - FluTrackers

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