Background Articles

"Our hunters have a vast knowledge on a healthy bird. They know what a healthy bird looks like. If a goose has the symptoms of avian flu … people shouldn't eat it," said George Diamond of Cree Public Health.

Zoos across North America are moving their birds indoors and away from people and wildlife as they try to protect them from the highly contagious and potentially deadly avian influenza. Penguins may be the only birds visitors to many zoos can see right now, because they already are kept inside and usually protected behind glass in their exhibits, making it harder for the bird flu to reach them.

A lack of adequate water and sewer service and overcrowded housing combined to make the COVID-19 pandemic more severe in rural Alaska, a new study confirms.

Reports of groups of up to 10 mule deer in Southeast Alaska near Skagway have been received by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and there is evidence that fawns are being born here. Studies show that nearby populations harbor a variety of diseases that have biologists concerned.

For the first time in more than 20 years, rabies was confirmed in a river otter, officials said.

One common salmon virus introduced to southern B.C. 30 years ago despite assertions from government, industry virus is 'endemic' to province. Further analysis of the PRV genomes in B.C. waters indicate that the number of PRV infections in the region has increased by two orders of magnitude over the last two decades, a pattern that aligns with the regional growth in farms, where nearly all of the fish become infected.

Three miles uphill from the Bering Sea beach, gulls darting in and out of the Nome landfill. Some of those birds are being exposed to antibiotics and, through that exposure, picking up bacteria with antibiotic resistance.

However the phenomenon is not only seen in people who suffer from pollen allergies, Finnish experts noted.

We examined the effects of temperature and salt concentration on growth of the freshwater oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica that has recently (since 2013) been found to infect an important subsistence fish (in Iñupiaq, Aanaakłiq; broad whitefish, Coregonus nasus) on the Colville River in Nuiqsut, Alaska. Using two confirmed isolates (one from the Colville River and another from a southern British Columbia aquaculture facility), we tested the following hypotheses: (1) the isolate from Alaska will grow at a greater rate than the isolate from British Columbia at lower temperatures, (2) the isolate from British Columbia will grow at a greater rate at higher temperatures than the Alaska isolate, and (3) increasing salinity will reduce the growth rate of both isolates similarly at all temperatures. In addition, we used local observations—subsistence fishers and observations asso- ciated with scientific monitoring—to assist in interpreting the potential implications of our experi- mental results in the context of these environmental observations. In the habitat relevant to this study, water temperature ranges between <0°C and 18°C, and salinity ranges between 0 and 30 parts per thousand due to a seasonal (and occasional west wind-driven) saltwater intrusions. No statistically significant differences were detected in growth rate or salt tolerance between the two isolates at the temperatures and salinities tested; high temperature (24°C) and low salt concentra- tion are associated with the highest growth rate for both isolates. From our lab study, one might conclude that the peak host colonization would occur during the seasonal period of warmest water temperature; however, the observations by local fishers and biologists show this not to be the case. We conclude that, at this time, we do not have evidence that peak warm water is the primary cause of an increased incidence of infection by this freshwater mold. Although indirect and lag analysis of temperature and timing of infection were not part of this study, we note that there is a greater role of complex interactions among biotic and abiotic factors (including temperature) that may predis- pose some individuals in the population to become infected during spawning season.

Why the "Cluster 5" coronavirus mutation in fur farms has led to a nationwide cull and a political outcry.

People carried the coronavirus onto mink farms in the Netherlands, starting a viral back-and-forth that ended up with 68% of fur farm workers and their close associates infected, researchers reported Tuesday.

New study spotlights influenza virus that could wreak havoc if it adapts to humans.

Wild salmon have higher rates of the parasites when ocean fish farms are near, research shows

The world’s biggest reindeer population is up for big vaccination as regional authorities in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug act to stave off outbreaks of anthrax.

Biologists have to figure out how to monitor salmon populations in rural communities without the danger of bringing the coronavirus into those communities.

Feather, fur or fin, all creatures contend with viruses.

Even those athletes of our rivers, Atlantic salmon, usually aren’t as healthy as they look.

A study of tissue samples taken from 150 Atlantic salmon found 14 separate infectious

The Arctic possesses frozen pathogens from past contagions, raising fears that climate change could unleash them as melting permafrost reveals the corpses of their victims.

In big and small ways, a pandemic has altered what Anchorage feels like to live in, from coffee to court to riding the bus.