RESEARCH INDICATES DISEASE MAY BE LINKED TO GLOBAL CLIMATE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 1998

Fairbanks, Alaska - El Nino has been blamed for floods, droughts, and unusual weather, but it may be responsible for triggering something far more deadly. Recent research indicates that climatic events, such as El Nino, may spur epidemics of cholera, an often-fatal infectious disease.

Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation, will discuss the connection between infectious disease and global climate during a free public lecture scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, in the Westmark Gold Room.

Cholera is an epidemic disease characterized by watery diarrhea, vomiting and sudden collapse. The origin of cholera has been difficult for researchers to pinpoint, but recent studies have shown it to be associated with tiny aquatic crustaceans known as copepods, the populations of which change in response to climate fluctuations. Colwell believes satellite imagery offers the potential for predicting conditions conducive to cholera outbreaks or epidemics.

Colwell, a microbiologist, marine scientist and the author of 16 books and more than 500 scientific publications, will deliver the free public lecture as part of the 49th annual meeting of the Arctic Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The AAAS meeting, which is running concurrently with the Wadati Conference on Global Change, also will serve as the inauguration of the International Arctic Research Center, constructed adjacent to the UAF Geophysical Institute.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: A tour of IARC for the media will occur at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26. For detailed information about the variety of scientists and global climate experts that will available for interview at the AAAS meeting, please contact Kathy Berry at the number below, or via e-mail at fygipub@aurora.alaska.edu. Printed information about the scientists and about the research they will present at the AAAS meeting is available at the Geophysical Institute Information Office.

CONTACT:Geophysical Institute Science Outreach Officer Kathy Berry (907) 474-7798.

KB/DPD/10-19-98/99-023