Evaluation of pathways for release of Rift Valley fever virus into domestic ruminant livestock, ruminant wildlife, and human populations in the continental United States.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility for Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) to enter the continental United States by various routes as well as to identify states in which domestic and wild ruminant and human populations would be most vulnerable to exposure to RVFV.

Study Design: Pathways analysis.

Sample Population: Animals, commodities, and humans transported from RVFV-endemic countries to the continental United States between 2000 and 2005.

Helicobacter pylori infection among non-Native educators in Alaska.

Objectives: To determine seroprevalence of H. pylori infection in non-Native educators residing in urban or rural settings in Alaska, and to determine potential risk factors associated with infection in this population.

Study Design: A cross-sectional survey of non-Native educators residing in urban or rural settings in Alaska.

Public health evaluation of cadmium concentrations in liver and kidney of moose (Alces alces) from four areas of Alaska.

Liver and/or kidney samples were collected from 139 hunter-killed moose from four areas of Alaska during 1986. The concentration of cadmium in organ tissue was determined by direct-current plasma atomic emission spectrometry. All results are reported as mug/g wet weight.

Human biomonitoring to optimize fish consumption advice: reducing uncertainty when evaluating benefits and risks.

National fish consumption advisories that are based solely on assessment of risk of exposure to contaminants without consideration of consumption benefits result in overly restrictive advice that discourages eating fish even in areas where such advice is unwarranted. In fact, generic fish advisories may have adverse public health consequences because of decreased fish consumption and substitution of foods that are less healthy. Public health is on the threshold of a new era for determining actual exposures to environmental contaminants, owing to technological advances in analytical chemistry.

Association of regulatory issues with an echovirus 18 meningitis outbreak at a children's summer camp in Alaska.

We document an echovirus 18 meningitis outbreak occurring at a remote overnight children's camp in Alaska. The outbreak involved 26% of 113 camp residents, was associated with building overcrowding and occurred in a camp with a contaminated drinking water source. Lack of specific children's camp regulations and failure to implement and enforce existing regulations may have contributed to the outbreak.

Incremental effectiveness of 2 doses of measles-containing vaccine compared with 1 dose among high school students during an outbreak.

A measles outbreak occurred among a highly vaccinated population in Alaska during 1998, providing an opportunity to determine the incremental efficacy of >or=2 doses of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) compared with 1 dose. Of 33 confirmed case patients identified, 31 had been vaccinated with 1 dose of MCV, 1 had received 2 doses, and vaccination status was unknown in 1 case. Seventy percent of cases were school-associated; 58% of cases occurred in 2 high schools.