ARCTIC EPIDEMIOLOGY 



rates, but rather to raise living standards, and this task is not made 

 easier by the rapid population increase. 



In closing, I would like to touch upon a few features of the biologic 

 environment. If this meeting had been called in June, we would have 

 been very much aware ofthe high mosquito density which character- 

 izes an arctic summer. Surprisingly enough, mosquitos have yet to 

 be implicated as disease vectors in this part ofthe world, though 

 the possibility requires further study, with particular reference to 

 the ARBO viruses. As for animal reservoirs, Hildes and his group 

 at the University of Manitoba, conducting serologic surveys in the 

 Eastern Canadian Arctic,foundl5per centof 241 Eskimos possessed 

 complement fixing antibodies to psittacosis (Hildes, 19 58) . Although 

 cross reactions with other viruses, especially trachoma and in- 

 clusion conjunctivitis, must be considered, it is very possible these 

 people contacted psittacosis as a result of eating raw birds. I have 

 already referred to trichinosis, echinococcosis and rabiesj all of 

 which have mammalian reservoirs. Within recent years, brucellosis 

 has been discovered in both men and reindeer of the Soviet and 

 American Arctic (Cherchenko, 1961; Edwards, 19 59; Huntley, 1962). 



Finally, to illustrate the importance of understanding arctic 

 ecology, let me mention a Strontium-90 survey conducted here in 

 Alaska with the help of Colonel Fulton (Schulert, 1962). Because 

 of permafrost, radioactive fallout from Soviet nuclear testing ac- 

 cumulates on thesurfaceof the soil where mosses, lichens and other 

 low vegetation grow. These plants provide forage for caribou. A 

 study of caribou antlers in Alaska revealed a concentration of Sr-90 

 more than ten times that of pooled deer antlers in California. Eski- 

 mos in certain areas eat large quantities of caribou, and urine 

 assays in these communities showed that new bone was being laid 

 down with about 12 mmc of Sr-90 per gram of calcium, which is four 

 times the average U. S. concentration. This single problem required 

 the interrelating of knowledge concerning meteorology, geology, 

 botany, anthropology, animal ecology, and radiobiology. 



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