The health problems are as unique and challenging as the geography and living conditions.
Botulism, for instance. Alaska has more of it than anywhere else in the nation, at least 200 cases and 20 deaths since 1950. Most of it is from fermented foods the natives have eaten for generations - beaver tail, seal and whale flippers, and fish heads, which they call "stinky heads." The traditional way to prepare them is to dig a hole in the cool ground, line it with leaves or moss, put in the fish heads, cover them with moss and let them sit for about four days until they became soft and are considered ready to eat.
In the 1990s, some people decided to embrace technology and began putting the fish heads into glass or plastic containers to ferment, thinking it healthier than putting them in the Earth. Suddenly, botulism cases spiked up.
CDC doctors did an experiment to test their theory of what was going on. On the roof of CDC headquarters in Anchorage, they made stinky heads the traditional way and in plastic and glass bowls. The containers with no air circulation proved to be the ideal environment for botulism germs to make their nerve-damaging toxin.
Next time, said physician Tom Hennessy, he will remember to shut off the building's air intake vents before taking the lids off.
"The whole place reeked," he said. "Everyone was mad at me."
For the whole article, click here, and if you're an Alaskan health care provider (as so many of this blog's readers no doubt are), you'll want to click here for helpful practice pointers. In addition, if you think that fermented beaver tail is safe for snacking, think again.
Throwing Things' round-the-clock coverage of this issue will continue as events warrant.
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