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Inuit whalers are being warned away from eating raw meat (muktuk) from Beluga whales after researchers at the University of British Columbia's Marine Mammal Research Unit identified infection in whales by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
Toxoplasma is usually identified as being carried by cats and is often cited as a reason why pregnant women should not clean out litter boxes. According to the CDC, effects of toxoplasmosis related illness can range from "flu-like symptoms" to "causing damage to the brain, eyes, or other organs".
Speculation is that the rising temperatures in the Arctic are allowing new pathogens to spread to the North. "Ice is a significant ecological barrier and it influences the way in which pathogens can be transmitted in nature and your risk of exposure" said molecular parasitologist Michael Grigg. "What we're finding with the changes ongoing in the Arctic is that we're getting new pathogens emerging to cause diseases in the region that haven't been there before."
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Maow on Sunday February 16 2014, @07:04AM
Another example of the Inuit people (among others of the far northern lattitudes) gaining all the nastiness of industrial society minus the benefits of jobs, much access to consumer goods, etc.
Imagine if you didn't live within thousands of miles of a single factory, yet were told that your pregnant women were not to eat fish due to mercury, etc. toxicity? I'd be outraged.
Another example would be the communities situated north of the tar sands projects. Water in the McKenzie river system flows north, taking the pollutants with it. And should one of the containment ponds rupture - heaven help those that have lived in the region for hundreds of generations; things will never be the same.