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Pacific Northwest

All articles tagged with #pacific northwest

West Coast Soft-Shell Clams Confront Severe Contagious Cancer Outbreak
science4 days ago

West Coast Soft-Shell Clams Confront Severe Contagious Cancer Outbreak

A PNRI-led study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports a severe outbreak of bivalve transmissible neoplasia in Washington soft-shell clams, with infection prevalence rising from about 45% in Triangle Cove (2022) and 13% in Stanwood to roughly 75% by 2024, making it one of the region’s largest documented outbreaks. The affected clams are non-native to the West Coast, likely introduced from Atlantic populations in the 1870s. Oregon officials say the current risk to their coast is low, and shellfish movements are being tested and monitored by state agencies (WDFW and ODFW).

via Yahoo|
#bivalve-transmissible-neoplasia#outbreak#pacific-northwest
Puget Sound Coyotes Reveal Hidden Tapeworm Threat
health-and-medicine1 month ago

Puget Sound Coyotes Reveal Hidden Tapeworm Threat

Researchers in the Puget Sound region detected the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis in 37% of 100 coyotes, marking the first wild West Coast detection in the contiguous U.S.; the parasite can trigger cancer-like liver cysts in humans and dogs and uses a multi-host life cycle involving canids and rodents. Genetic analysis links a more infectious European-origin strain now circulating in North America; human West Coast cases remain rare, though canine infections have occurred. The study calls for enhanced wildlife surveillance and routine veterinary care to reduce risk.

via ScienceDaily|
#alveolar-echinococcosis#coyotes#echinococcus-multilocularis
Invasive yellow-legged hornet spotted in Pacific Northwest
local-news1 month ago

Invasive yellow-legged hornet spotted in Pacific Northwest

A live yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) was found April 30 aboard a ship at the Port of Vancouver on the Lower Columbia River and is being monitored after traps were set; experts warn this invasive, more mobile hornet—smaller than the notorious northern giant hornet—could threaten Northwest honeybees and agriculture and might spread coast-to-coast, though no further nests have been found yet.

via Rogue Valley Times|
#honeybees#invasive-species#local-news
Pacific Ocean Observatories Shut Down as NSF Scales Back Ocean Monitoring
science1 month ago

Pacific Ocean Observatories Shut Down as NSF Scales Back Ocean Monitoring

Under NSF's descoping push, four Ocean Observatories Initiative arrays are being dismantled—off the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland—with most in-water equipment to be removed by 2027, including Washington’s Coastal Endurance Array already taken out; only Oregon’s Regional Cabled Array remains, prompting concerns about loss of long-term ocean data for science, fisheries, and maritime safety.

via KUOW|
#data-buoys#nsf#ocean-observatories
Rodents in Pacific Northwest harbor more hantavirus than previously thought
health1 month ago

Rodents in Pacific Northwest harbor more hantavirus than previously thought

WSU researchers found that nearly 30% of Palouse-region rodents (deer mice, voles, and chipmunks) carried Sin Nombre hantavirus at some point, with about 10% actively infected, suggesting higher rodent-to-human exposure risk in the Pacific Northwest; SNV is the US hantavirus most linked to disease, transmitted mainly via contaminated rodent excretions, not person-to-person. The work, based on 2023 fieldwork in WA and Idaho and published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, notes occasional cross-species transmission among rodents and that human infections may be underrecognized.

via USA Today|
#hantavirus#health#pacific-northwest
Northwest hantavirus found more commonly in local rodents than thought
health1 month ago

Northwest hantavirus found more commonly in local rodents than thought

A Washington State University-led study in the Palouse region (Washington and Idaho) found Sin Nombre hantavirus in about 30% of tested rodents, with roughly 10% actively infected, suggesting the virus is more widespread in Northwest wildlife than previously known. The team also produced the first full genome sequences of Northwest Sin Nombre strains to aid surveillance, while human infections remain rare; health officials urge precautions when cleaning areas with rodent contamination and researchers hope to expand exposure assessments.

via KOMO|
#deer-mice#hantavirus#health
Mail-In Voting’s Northwest Roots Meet a National Storm
politics3 months ago

Mail-In Voting’s Northwest Roots Meet a National Storm

Mail-in ballots have been the norm in Oregon and Washington for decades, but President Trump’s attacks and related federal moves—USPS funding cuts, executive orders, and court challenges—have turned a once-bipartisan system into a partisan battleground, prompting lawsuits and warnings from election officials who fear eroding public trust in a process those states helped pioneer.

via The New York Times|
#election-law#mail-in-voting#pacific-northwest
Cloud-Piercing NISAR Radar Maps Pacific Northwest
science3 months ago

Cloud-Piercing NISAR Radar Maps Pacific Northwest

NASA-ISRO’s NISAR satellite captured cloud-covered imagery of the Pacific Northwest on Nov. 10, 2025 using L-band radar to see through clouds, highlighting Seattle, Portland, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens. With dual SAR instruments and a large 39-foot antenna, NISAR revisits areas roughly every 12 days to monitor changes in forests, wetlands, urban areas, and infrastructure, and to detect subtle ground movements associated with natural hazards such as volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and floods. The data aid resource management, hazard monitoring, and environmental decision‑making.

via NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (.gov)|
#nasa-isro#nisar#pacific-northwest
Green fireball streak lights up Pacific Northwest as other meteors dazzle across the U.S.
science3 months ago

Green fireball streak lights up Pacific Northwest as other meteors dazzle across the U.S.

A bright green fireball was captured on a dashcam over southwestern Washington near Portland, lighting up the dawn sky as a meteor seen across the Pacific Northwest. The green color is typically from magnesium (nickel can contribute), and NASA notes related fireball sightings across multiple states and Ontario, with a larger Ohio meteor fragmenting and possibly reaching the ground. With more dashboard and doorbell cameras, scientists may deduce trajectory, though ground hits from fireballs are rare.

via CBS News|
#dashcam-video#green-fireball#meteor
Amtrak launches Airo fleet in major modernization, first rolling out on Pacific Northwest routes this summer
transportation4 months ago

Amtrak launches Airo fleet in major modernization, first rolling out on Pacific Northwest routes this summer

Amtrak is rolling out the Airo fleet—a $8 billion upgrade of 83 Siemens trains—to modernize aging cars, beginning this summer on the Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest and later expanding to the Northeast; the redesigned interior includes larger windows, brighter lighting, more outlets, and accessibility upgrades, with seats that slide forward instead of reclining, a change that has drawn mixed reviews; the Cascades trains will seat up to 300 (vs about 168 today) and run up to 125 mph, aided by power-switching locomotives; funding includes federal Infrastructure Act money, and Amtrak plans more routes as ridership hit 34.5 million in 2025.

via Fox News|
#airo#amtrak#fleet-replacement