It is interesting that washing of hands and general cleanliness might prevent the leprosy and polio but I am not sure anyone does it now that covid is over (if they ever did). I keep having flashbacks of mask wearers with the top of the mask under noses. Now that it will actually be important for tb, pertussis etc I am not sure they can peddle what they did before to help not spread the diseases. Also interesting was they have been experimenting by spreading non fertile mosquitoes down south to prevent EPM(?). Might help, if it worked. Cold in Mississippi is probably lows of 30 sometimes. I remember seeing frost on his vids sometimes.
Here only the most liberal or deluded are wearing masks. One thing though, a properly-fitted N95 does help protect against bacteria, at least it is assumed to do so and I have not heard of anyone wearing a mask and exposed to TB contracting the disease. We still have a fair amount of it in this state.
1-I see more masks in Charlottesville than I see in my rural county, but you see them in both. 2-I would have thought that a region that undergoes such a prolonged deep freeze would be freer of viruses and bacteria than any other place. Why so much TB in Alaska?
I’m not answering for Don because he would know much better than I but I would imagine that community sweat lodges would add to the exposure.
Actually, I went in search of answers. Native Alaskans were ravaged by TB in the late 1800s through the mid 1900s. A [supposed] gift from Russians, exacerbated by the crowding that poverty (and sweat lodges) bring. TB is not transmitted by casual contact...you must be sharing air space over a period of time. It's still an issue in the southwestern part of the state. I had no idea.
I think the TB here is due to confinement, much as @Bobby Cole said. Natives often have extended families all living under one roof. It makes for very crowded living for long periods in the cold and dark of winter. Most bacteria and a lot of viruses are killed by the cold, but the mycobacteria, such as TB and leprosy are tough buggers. Fortunately they are not super contagious, so you have to be confined with an infected person for a long time. I worked with a TB clinic in Bolivia and was exposed almost every day, but I never even triggered a positive skin test.
From my understanding it might be fair to mention that literally everyone has the tuberculin bacillus present in their body. Now, whether or not it manifests into something greater and how it became that way is where the questions come in. And ditto to not catching the stuff. When I was in a VA health program in S. Carolina, I roomed with a guy who tested positive with the tine test and his x-rays confirmed that he had TB but even with me being around him for a few weeks, I never showed any positive results on my tests. Lucky I guess.
Not that TB isn’t a problem but Small Pox and Polio are the two biggies that I’m most concerned about. The illegals in general haven’t had any preventative measures taken to keep them from carrying the diseases into a community of people who know nothing of them any longer. I’m sure there are no hospitals which are outfitted to handle a Small Pox outbreak anywhere in this country.
Small pox was my biggest fear when I was attending the "bioweapons" training stuff after 9-11. Since Saddam had on of the top bioweapons people in his employ, we expected an attack from that area. Thankfully our fears were never realized. Some of us oldsters might have some residual immunity from childhood vaccination, but anyone born after about 1968 would be susceptible. Historically death rates were bout 30%, but could be lower with antiviral drugs. https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/clinicians/clinical-disease.html
Short story. I do remember getting my first vax for smallpox but unlike my younger brother who’s arm blistered profusely and to the extremes, I had no tell-tale spot. Fast forward to basic training. Since I couldn’t prove I had the vax, I got another one which again, left no scar. AIT..same thing. Vaxed again and no scar. Finally, before I got vaxed again prior to Nam, a doctor looked at my military shot record and told me that those extra vaccinations were unnecessary since I was probably immune to the crap from the git go. Same with mumps. I’ve been in a room full of guys with the mumps and nope, I’m immune. Reason. My mother had the mumps whilst I was being formed.