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Governments should consider vaccinating poultry against bird flu, which has killed hundreds of millions of birds and infected mammals worldwide, to prevent the virus from turning into a new pandemic, the head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said.
When you see a wild bird such as a duck or seagull, think bird flu. Because it’s actually more likely than not they’re infected with the virus. And many species of wild birds are asymptomatic, meaning that they don’t show any symptoms.
But the data illustrates a circumstance both unseen and commonplace in Alaska’s biggest city: In April, unhoused people were found dead on a sidewalk, in a ditch, in a sleeping bag tucked in the corner of a parking lot, along the state’s busiest highway.
State officials say Unalakleet will see work to improve conditions on its water system in the near future.
State officials say Alaskans who encounter bats should avoid any physical contact. The state's last rabid bat was found last June near Juneau.
Of the 61 red foxes counted in and around Nome between February and March 2023, nearly one quarter were positive.
On the north slope, the whale brings together and sustains life for everyone. "We have a bond with the animals. They fed us, they clothed us, they sheltered us since time immemorial. Without them, we wouldn't survive the Arctic."
This paper analyzes the evolution of the H3 subtype of avian influenza virus in China from 2009 to 2022, including its spatial and temporal distribution and genetic changes. The findings have implications for pandemic preparedness.
The number of dogs testing positive for tick-borne illnesses has nearly doubled this year, says a Nova Scotia veterinarian. Jeff Goodall, the owner and a veterinarian at Sunnyview Animal Care, said the problems go beyond Lyme disease. Anaplasmosis is also a concern. He said dogs have been testing positive for tick-borne illnesses throughout the winter.
Three cases of H3N8 detected in China since 2022 as WHO says strain doesn’t appear to spread easily between humans. First case resulting in death occurred in China.
The relocation between from Newtok to Mertavik has taken time and community members stay patient as local, state, and federal agencies figure out the complex funding and logistical hurdles.
"Siku" means sea ice in the Siberian Yup'ik language. But about a hundred other Yup'ik words describe different types of sea ice, including icebergs, floating pressure ice ridges, solid ice safe for travel — and "pequ," "an unsuitable area in ice field where the current causes ice to heave up or break up," Vera Metcalf said.
The Copper River Basin in Alaska has experienced less reliable snow and ice conditions in recent years, impacting winter activities such as trapping, hunting, and gathering firewood. This study, based on nine oral interviews with local residents, reveals that crossing rivers has become more treacherous and difficult, with significant changes in ice conditions observed since the 1970s. Decreased snowpacks and increased shrub growth have also posed obstacles for accessing winter trails, requiring individuals to cut through forests. These changes, combined with socio-economic and technological factors, have affected the way people engage in winter activities in the Copper River Basin. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of climate change's impact on winter activities in Alaska and the Circumpolar North.
Climate change has been observed for hundreds of years by the plant specialists of three Odawa Tribes in the Upper Great Lakes along Lake Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the focus of two National Park Service (NPS) studies of Odawa Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of plants, ecosystems, and climate change. Data collected during these studies contributed to developing Plant Gathering Agreements between tribes and parks. This analysis derived from 95 ethnographic interviews conducted by University of Arizona (UofA) anthropologists in partnership with tribal appointed representatives. Odawa people recognized in the park 288 plants and five habitats of traditional and contemporary concern. Tribal representatives explained that 115 of these traditional plants and all five habitats are known from multigenerational eyewitness accounts to have been impacted by climate change. The TEK study thus represents what Native people know about the environment. These research findings are neither intended to test their TEK nor the findings of Western science.
Questions still linger about what caused the bear to kill a woman and her baby — but more important for Wales is the question of how to move on.
Scientists say climate change appears to be a factor making Florida and other parts of the U.S. welcoming to non-native mosquitoes.
World leaders already have many options to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and protect people, according to the United Nations report.
Some of the world's leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide.
The recent death of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia's Prey Veng province infected with avian influenza has reinvigorated concern over the virus potentially gaining the ability to spread among humans. And while experts maintain the risk of that happening "remains low" at this time, the World Health Organization has said that increasing reports of avian influenza infection in humans are "worrying."
This weekend marks the third anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of the global pandemic — and Juneau’s wastewater is awash with COVID.
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