Tag: Disease

Mathematical tools to aid in the interpretation of coronavirus testing

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New mathematical equations co-developed by Puget Sound Institute affiliate research professor Marc Mangel are designed to help health officials interpret coronavirus test results for better risk assessments.  As more people in the U.S. are vaccinated and mask restrictions loosen, public health officials hope that the coronavirus pandemic has reached a turning point. Even so, the virus continues to rage around the world and concerns remain for people who are unvaccinated or may have compromised immune systems. Testing for new infections continues to be a critical tool in the fight against […]

Research in the time of the coronavirus

An endangered southern resident orca leaps out of the water in Puget Sound. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
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As the state’s stay-at-home order drags on, much of the work to recover Puget Sound has shifted online. Funding schedules for the state and federal Strategic Initiatives remain on track and events like the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference are going virtual next week with presentations by video conference. But researchers face an entirely different situation as labs are shuttered and field work is cancelled almost across the board. Megan Dethier, Director of the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories calls the situation at her lab fairly typical. Friday Harbor, known […]

The coronavirus has been found in Tacoma sewage. It could help scientists track the pandemic

An illustration of the coronavirus. Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Researchers at a non-profit biotech startup in Tacoma have found traces of the novel coronavirus in the city’s sewage, opening up new possibilities for tracking and monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. The testing is being led by Center for Urban Waters collaborator David Hirschberg who directs the RAIN biotech incubator in Tacoma, along with RAIN’s principal scientist Stanley Langevin and recent University of Washington Tacoma graduate Ryan Culbert who ran the tests. “We found it,” said Hirschberg, who began collecting samples of raw sewage and sludge from the city’s Central Wastewater […]

Warming ocean conditions fuel viruses among species in the Salish Sea

Salmon smolts. Photo courtesy of Governor's Salmon Recovery Office
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As officials struggle to track and contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, ecologists say widespread impacts from viruses and other pathogens are also a growing threat to the species of the Salish Sea ecosystem. “We’re all especially impressed with how rapidly [COVID-19] emerged, the pace of its spread and how massively it has changed our world already,” said Dr. Drew Harvell of Cornell University at last month’s meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle. “Infectious outbreaks of ocean organisms are also […]

Keeping watch on seabird health

Rhinoceros auklets near Protection Island. Photo: Peter Hodum
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Scientists are still trying to understand what caused the deaths of thousands of rhinoceros auklets in the Salish Sea in 2016. Some studies point to disease as a central factor in that incident and potentially other large seabird die-offs along the coast. That is prompting a deeper look at what makes these birds sick, and how local populations are faring. We followed a group of researchers as they gave a health checkup to a breeding colony of rhinoceros auklets on Protection Island. Read the story from Eric Wagner in our […]

The Orca Docs: When should medical experts intervene to save a killer whale?

Scientists collect breath samples of an orca using a long pole with petri dishes attached at the end. Photo: Pete Schroeder
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This week we present “The Orca Docs,” a two-part series from our senior writer Christopher Dunagan. The series focuses on some of the issues related to proposed medical intervention for Puget Sound’s endangered orcas. The death of a young female orca in September has sparked a discussion of how and whether scientists should step in with medical care for distressed animals in the wild. Medical intervention has become routine for some endangered mammals, but scientists say Puget Sound’s resident orcas present a series of unique challenges and ethical questions. In […]

Despite WA ban on farmed salmon, BC impacts may flow across border

A US Fish & Wildlife Atlantic employee displays an Atlantic Salmon with characteristic large black spots on the gill cover. Credit: Greg Thompson/USFWS (CC BY 2.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantic_Salmon_(9680675578).jpg
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A high-profile salmon escape led to a ban on salmon farms in Washington earlier this year. But just across the border, scientists say salmon farms in British Columbia expose migrating fish from Puget Sound to potential maladies like parasites, bacteria and dangerous viruses. They say simply getting rid of salmon farms in Washington does not put the potential impacts to rest. Eric Wagner reports for our magazine Salish Sea Currents.

Diving deeper to understand eelgrass wasting disease

Eelgrass at low tide. Photo by Olivia Graham.
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New studies show that eelgrass wasting disease is more common in warmer waters, leading to concerns over the future effects of climate change on eelgrass populations in Puget Sound. We continue our series on science findings from the 2018 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. Robin McLachlan reports for Salish Sea Currents.  

Going viral: Concerns rise over potential impacts of disease on the ecosystem

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From orcas to starfish to humans, disease affects every living creature in the ecosystem. Scientists are increasingly alarmed by its potential to devastate already compromised populations of species in Puget Sound. Read the story in our Salish Sea Currents series.