Infectious disease risk low in Alaska

This editorial was originally printed in the Thursday edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The announcement this week that an American has tested positive for the highly infectious and often fatal Ebola virus stoked fears nationwide that the disease might spread out of control now that it has made its way within our borders. At the same time, a virulent respiratory ailment known as enterovirus 68 has sent several hundred young people to the hospital in the Lower 48. But it’s not time to panic yet.

Neither Ebola nor the enterovirus has been reported in Alaska — we’re one of nine states yet to see a case of enterovirus 68, which has been confirmed in 472 people across 41 states and the District of Columbia. Of the two diseases, enterovirus is by far the more likely to show up in the state, but there’s good news: despite high rates of transmission by those infected with the disease, no deaths have yet resulted.

There are a few big reasons why Alaska is at a considerably lower risk for an Ebola case. The first is geography: Alaska is physically isolated from other states, and there is much less traffic across our borders — especially in winter, when visitor numbers drop considerably — than in the Lower 48, where state borders are more or less irrelevant with regard to disease transmission. The second is ethnography: few Alaskans hail from or visit the countries in Western Africa where the disease is more prolific. The third is communicability: all known strains of Ebola aren’t infectious until symptoms appear, unlike other illnesses in which the sick can unwittingly spread the infection before they have any idea they’re ill.

The state’s geographic isolation also plays a role in the lower threat from enterovirus 68, though its much higher rate of infectiousness means the state may well see cases this flu season. Fortunately, as is often the case, its greater ability to spread is paired with a much lower severity of symptoms — while the fatality rate for Ebola is around 50 percent, no deaths have resulted from enterovirus 68.

While the Alaska flu season has yet to start, the spread of enterovirus elsewhere in the U.S. has state health officials asking the public to take extra precautions this winter. Most of the precautions should be common sense, like covering coughs and sneezes as well as not sharing food, utensils or other items with those who are sick. Others are more frequently flouted by the public than they should be, like getting a flu shot and staying home from work or school when we feel ill.

There has been plenty of press coverage of the Ebola and enterovirus outbreaks, and that’s justified given the fatality rate of the former and the quick spread of the latter. But so far, there’s no cause to be alarmed. As with other, more common communicable diseases, relatively simple and common-sense precautionary measures will go far toward ensuring a low rate of infection among Alaskans if either does eventually show up.