News stories tagged with "disease"

(01/25/12) Did you make a New Year's resolution to lose weight or get more exercise? Some local small businesses are doing their part to help their employees stay healthy at the workplace. Wellness programs are not new. They've been staples at large companies for years, but are less likely to be used at small businesses. That's changing.

Amid soaring health spending, there is growing interest in workplace disease prevention and wellness programs to improve health and lower costs. Eager to control rising health care costs, small firms in St. Lawrence County are turning to a health experts for help. Todd Moe has more.

(11/28/11) A new report finds that New York may suffer disproportionate effects of climate change in the coming decades, when compared with other regions. The report was co-authored by scientists from Cornell, Columbia University, and Hunter College. It finds that because New York is a northern state, it has already warmed more than twice the global average--2.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the last forty years.

The report paints a harsh picture, including possible extreme temperatures in the coming decades, along with sea-level rises, downpours, droughts, and floods. The changes are projected to affect nearly every region and every facet of New York's economy, including upstate ski resorts and dairy farms.

The report finds that the changing weather patterns will also affect public health. Co-author Patrick Kinney is director of Columbia University's Climate and Health Program. He spoke with Julie Grant about the diseases and other problems that could be in the north country's future.

(09/28/11) You might be enjoying the warm days this September - but experts say those high temperatures are also attracting some unwanted guests. Mosquitoes are usually gone for the year by now - but just walk outside at dusk, and you'll know they're still with us. Tim Mihuc is coordinator of the Lake Champlain Research Institute at Plattsburgh State. He with Julie Grant about how many mosquitoes might be out there, and why they're still bugging us.

(06/28/10) Growers are nervous this summer as they hope late blight won't resurface in the North Country. The disease devastated tomato and potato crops across the Northeast last summer. David Sommerstein talks with Amy Ivy, horticulturalist for the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Clinton and Essex counties, for the latest on late blight. She says gardeners are confusing the disease with early blight and other, more common, diseases.

(10/12/09) Researchers from around the world gathered in Saranac Lake over the weekend to talk about disease. The conference at Trudeau Institute focused on efforts to develop new vaccines, and a better understanding of the human immune system. As Brian Mann reports, the meeting was held against the backdrop of the growing swine flu pandemic.

(09/04/09) A hundred years ago, Irish immigrant Mary Mallon, on suspicion of carrying typhoid fever, was imprisoned and made news headlines in New York City. Todd Moe talks with actor Eithne McGuiness, who performs her one-woman play Typhoid Mary at the Indian Lake Theater Sunday night (7:30). It's the captivating story of a brave Irish peasant who fought tooth and nail for her freedom and took on the state of New York. McGuiness says the show explores the immigrant experience, discrimination and public health attitudes.

(08/04/09) This summer, researchers are fanning out across the Northeast trying to get a clearer picture of what is happening to the region's bats. Scientists say many bat colonies have been wiped out by a fungal disease, called white-nose syndrome, first detected in 2006. One of the big questions still unanswered is how white-nose syndrome is transmitted. Brian Mann joined a team of biologists studying bats in an old church in Willsboro in the Champlain Valley.

(02/27/09) The mysterious ailment called "White-nose Syndrome" continues to decimate bat populations across the Northeast. A new outbreak was confirmed earlier this month in New Hampshire and the disease has spread as far as West Virginia. Scientists have begun collecting tissue from infected caves, here in the North Country and in Vermont, creating a genetic record of bat colonies that could vanish completely. As part of a collaboration with public radio stations across the Northeast, Brian Mann reports.

(01/05/09) To kick off the new year, we begin a new occasional series. It's called Story 2.0. We'll review stories our news team has filed in the past. Then we'll follow up with the people we interviewed to find out what's happened since. Today, chronic wasting disease. The fatal deer disease was discovered in two wild deer in Oneida County in April 2005. It was the first time it had been found east of Illinois. Wildlife officials were worried the disease would spread throughout the deer herd in New York and the Northeast. But so far, no new cases have been found. Chronic wasting disease has no known effect on people. All the same, it rattled some when it was discovered that one of the contaminated deer was served at the Verona Fire Department's sportsmen's dinner. David Sommerstein traveled to Verona for our story back in 2005. He updates the story with Martha Foley.

(02/08/07) The environmental group Save The River is kicking off a campaign to urge Seaway freighters to clean their ballast water this weekend in Alexandria Bay. At the group's annual "Winter Weekend," the new St. Lawrence Seaway chief is scheduled to make his first public appearance in the North Country. David Sommerstein reports.