Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2001)
Spi ly:jy Ty woo, IVi in ) Springs, Oieon October 18, 2001 si l: W . " i I - L .. ; . ' 't:;. i . : , I V',. ' '1 if Pholot by Mlk Van Meier CoIdStorage A piece of history was pulled from the Warm Springs Market this week - an ice machine and cutting implements that used to supply much of the need for blocks of frozen water as heavy as 300 pounds throughout north central Oregon. Robert Macy and Tom Grant (pictured) pulled the old equipment, which will make way for an expansion of the store's retail space. Road construction continues on Wolf Point project New route to:KahTNee.rTa. Work is well under way on phase one of a road that eventu ally could become a main route to Kah-Nee-Ta. Workers with Warm Springs Construction Enterprise have been making steady progress since this summer on the Wolf Point, or Webster Flat road project. This is a realignment of route 13, starting along Highway 3 and working northeast toward Kah-Nee-Ta. ,. The current project involves straightening the road, paving and lining. Eventually, the Culpus Bridge will be improved, as will the road from the bridge to Kah-Nee-Ta. At that point the new route from the Warm Springs area to - Zt : - r , , Psf (J i.'t' Urn P 'V''" Je? Photos by Dave McMechan Crews and heavy equipment have been working this summer on the project, which will be completed next summer. Kah-Nee-Ta would be completed. For now the crews are working on phase 1, which makes up about 40 percent of the roadwork from Highway 3 to the Culpus Bridge, said Glenn Carpenter, construc tion supervisor. Phase 2 should be finished next summer, said Carpenter. Total length of phases 1 and 2 is about 4 miles. Tenino Road also saw some improvement this summer. This work has been put on hold now that the cooler weather has set in. In colder temperatures it is not possible to apply the necessary oil mixture onto the surface of the roadway, said Carpenter. i - ; ' ; ' ..-, f ' """r- . j, ' " '4 --1 f ? ivy : f 'rf-J.. ' v Questions about bioterrorism concerns addressed by experts From OSU Extension Warm Springs In an attempt to answer ques tions about bioterrorism that may arise this information was prepared by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies. Bioterrorism Concerns after September 11 Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, public concern re garding a potential biological at tack has heightened. The Johns Hopkins Ci.-nter for Civilian Biodefense Studies received a steadv stream of phone calls from the general public seeking more information about bioterrorism and ways to protect themselves. In response, the Center prepared the following "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) fact sheet. Should I buy a gas mask? No. A mask would only protect you if you were wearing it at the exact moment a bioterrorist attack occurred. Unfortunately, a release of a biological agent is most likely to be done "covertly," that is, with out anvone knowing it. That moans von would n! know ahead of time to put on your mask. To wear a mask continuously or "just in case" a bioterrorist attack oc curs, is impractical, if not impos sible. Should I have my own supply of antibiotics? There are a number of different germs a bioterrorist might use to carry out an attack. Many antibi otics are effective for a variety of diseases, but there is no antibiotic that is effective against all diseases. Thus, no single pill can protect against all types of biological weapon attacks. Keeping a supply of antibiotics on hand poses other problems because the antibiotics have a limited "shelf life" before they lose their strength. There is currently no justifica tion for taking antibiotics. Also, it should be known that antibiotics can cause side effects. They should only be taken with medical super vision. Is it safe for me to drink wa ter from the tap? It would be extremely difficult for a bioterrorist to contaminate our drinking water supplies to cause widespread illness. There are two reasons. First of all, huge amounts of water are pumped daily from our reservoirs, most of which is used for industrial and other purposes; very little is actu ally consumed. Thus, anything deliberately put into the water sup ply would be greatly diluted. Sec ondly, water treatment facilities routinely filter the water supply and add chlorine in order to kill harmful germs. . What is smallpox? Smallpox is a disease caused by the Variola virus. Historically, 1 out of 3 people who contracted the disease died. The disease can spread from person to person. Transmis sion usually occurs only after the patient develops a fever and rash. Although there is no treatment for the disease, a vaccine against small pox provides excellent protection and serves to stop the spread of the disease. While many vaccines must be given weeks or months before a person is exposed to infection, smallpox vaccine is different. It protects a person even when given 2 to 3 days after exposure to the disease and may prevent a fatal outcome even when given as late as 4 to 5 days after exposure. , ' Smallpox was stamped out glo bally by 1980 and vaccination stopped everywhere in the world. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintain an emergency supply of smallpox vaccine. Currently, there are 12-15 million doses in storage, and a program to produce more vaccine began a year ago. For more information on smallpox, go to agentsmallpox.html. t If smallpox is a potential threat to the U.S., why shouldn't we all get vaccinated? The vaccine may cause serious side effects. In 1972, the U.S. de cided to stop routinely vaccinating its citizens because many people were experiencing side effects, while they had almost no risk of getting smallpox. By 1972, the dis ease was present only in a few countries of Asia and Africa. To day, health authorities would only recommend vaccination if there was clear evidence that the disease had resurfaced and those in the U.S. were at risk of acquiring in fection. Many people over age 30 have a vaccination scar. Vaccination con sists of introducing the virus into the top layers of the skin. Over the following few days, a blister forms at the site of vaccination (usually the upper arm). The arm is sore, and there is fever. Very rarely, some people get a vaccine-related infec tion of the brain (about 1 case per 300,000 vaccinations); one fourth of these cases are fatal. Other po tential negative effects of the vac cine are a severe skin reaction, spread of the vaccine virus (known as Vaccinia) to other parts of the body, and spread of the Vaccinia virus to other people. If I was vaccinated against smallpox before 1980, am I still protected? Probably not. Vaccination has been shown to wear off in most people after 10 years but may last longer if the person has been suc cessfully vaccinated on multiple occasions. If health authorities de termine that you have been ex posed to smallpox or are at risk of infection, they would recommend that you be re-vaccinated immedi ately. What can I do to protect my self and my family? Unfortunately, there is pres endy little that individuals can do in advance to protect themselves from a bioterrorist attack. How ever, there is much that govern ment agencies, health care institu tions and public health depart ments can and should be doing to improve the capacity to protect the public following a bioterrorist at tack. For more information, go to congress.html. Oregon State University Exten sion Service offers educational pro grams, activities, and materials without regard to race, color, reli gion, sex, sexual orientation, na tional origin, age, martial status, disability, end disbled veteran or 'ietnam-era veteran status.