Public Health Confronts the Chicken, the Hamster, and the Goat

John Pape is an Epidemiologist with the Communicable Disease Epidemiology Program, Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. This slide-show presents facts and images relating to Zoonoses: diseases of animals transmissible to humans under natural conditions. The characteristics of Zoonoses are: common in natural reservoir, uncommon in people; rural exposure; serious diseases with high fatality rates; complex cycles; prevention achieved via “The Weakest Link.” Zoonotic diseases comprise the majority of potential bioterrorist agents and emerging infections. Specific sections include: Influenza, Avian Influenza,and Pandemic Influenza Projected Pandemic Scenarios COLORADO H5N1 Surveillance Strategy in US Baylisascaris and Racoons Q-fever Outbreak Associated with Goats Hamsters & Tularemia Sin Nombre Virus in Colorado: Deer Mice and Cotton Rats Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Human Plague Cases in Colorado Animal Plague Surveillance West Nile Virus: Outlook for 2006

The Sensitivity of Auditory-Motor Representations to Subtle Changes in Auditory Feedback While Singing

Singing requires accurate control of the fundamental frequency (F0) of the voice. This study examined trained singers’ and untrained singers’ (nonsingers’) sensitivity to subtle manipulations in auditory feedback and the subsequent effect on the mapping between F0 feedback and vocal control. Participants produced the consonant-vowel /ta/ while receiving auditory feedback that was shifted up and down in frequency. Results showed that singers and nonsingers compensated to a similar degree when presented with frequency-altered feedback (FAF); however, singers’ F0 values were consistently closer to the intended pitch target. Moreover, singers initiated their compensatory responses when auditory feedback was shifted up or down 6 cents or more, compared to nonsingers who began compensating when feedback was shifted up 26 cents and down 22 cents. Additionally, examination of the first 50 ms of vocalization indicated that participants commenced subsequent vocal utterances, during FAF, near the F0 value on previous shift trials. Interestingly, nonsingers commenced F0 productions below the pitch target and increased their F0 until they matched the note. Thus, singers and nonsingers rely on an internal model to regulate voice F0, but singers’ models appear to be more sensitive in response to subtle discrepancies in auditory feedback

Human Prion Disease and Relative Risk Associated with Chronic Wasting Disease

Colorado death certificate data from 1979 through 2001 show that the risk for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease did not increase for residents of counties where chronic wasting disease is endemic among deer and elk