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Alaska Native people have suffered disproportionately from previous influenza pandemics. We evaluated 3 separate syndromic data sources to determine temporal and geographic patterns of spread of 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) in Alaska, and reviewed records from persons hospitalized with pH1N1 disease in 3 areas in Alaska to characterize clinical and epidemiologic features of disease in Alaskans. A wave of pH1N1 disease swept through Alaska beginning in most areas in August or early September. In rural regions, where Alaska Native people comprise a substantial proportion of the population, disease occurred earlier than in other regions. Alaska Native people and Asian/Pacific Islanders (A/PI) were 2-4 times more likely to be hospitalized than whites. Alaska Native people and other minorities remain at high risk for early and substantial morbidity from pandemic influenza episodes. These findings should be integrated into plans for distribution and use of vaccine and antiviral agents.

In October 2010, an employee at Facility A in Alaska that performs fire assay analysis, an industrial technique that uses lead-containing flux to obtain metals from pulverized rocks, was reported to the Alaska Section of Epidemiology (SOE) with an elevated blood lead level (BLL) ≥10 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL). The SOE initiated an investigation; investigators interviewed employees, offered blood lead screening to employees and their families, and observed a visit to the industrial facility by the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Section (AKOSH). Among the 15 employees with known work responsibilities, 12 had an elevated BLL at least once from October 2010 through February 2011. Of these 12 employees, 10 reported working in the fire assay room. Four children of employees had BLLs ≥5 μg/dL. Employees working in Facility A's fire assay room were likely exposed to lead at work and could have brought lead home. AKOSH inspectors reported that they could not share their consultative report with SOE investigators because of the confidentiality requirements of a federal regulation, which hampered Alaska SOE investigators from fully characterizing the lead exposure standards.