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Atlanta's Weekly E-Magazine
July 27nd - Aug 3rd, 2001
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IMAGES: The Wonders of Yellowstone
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World News
Market News
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West Nile virus
reaches Georgia
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West Nile virus (WNV) has arrived in Atlanta, when it was discovered in a hawk, found by a man walking his dog, near the intersection of Buford Highway and North Druid Hills Road. The hawk was the second bird to be found in Georgia. A week ago, a crow was found outside Valdosta.
West Nile virus is a disease organism that lives in birds and is transmitted to mammals and humans by mosquitoes. In most humans under the age of 50 it causes a transient flu-like infection.The symptoms in mild infections include fever, headache and body aches. However, for people over the age of 50, or those who are chronically ill, or those who have impaired immune systems, the infection can become more severe and it can escalate into encephalitis, a potentially fatal swelling of the brain.
People can take some simple measures to avoid mosquito bites. Stay away from stagnant waters which are usually mosquito breeding spots. Limit your outdoor activities in the morning and in the evening when mosquitoes are more active. If you have to, make sure you wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, socks and shoes. You can use mosquito repellents which can provide protection. However, repellents should not be used on infants.
The Georgia Health officials have mounted a campaign with the help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to monitor the virus and keep the public informed about the disease. If you come across a dead bird, please report it immediately to your County Public Health officials, so that they can test it for WVN.
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Editor's Corner
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Yellowstone National Park is spread over 3,472 square miles and represents the core of a much larger system covering approximately 28,000 square miles. It is America's and the world's first National Park. Most of the park is situated in Wyoming, but small parts of it lie in Montana and Idaho. It contains not only the largest concentration of geothermal features in the world, but also sustains one of the greatest wildlife populations left intact in North America.
There is no shortage of spectacle at Yellowstone. The facts, the features, the figures are terribly impressive. The largest, the tallest, the deepest, the first, the incredible, are some of the adjectives that describe it. Yellowstone National Park is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined together. There are 12 campgrounds in the park. The National Park Service operates seven of them, totalling 457 campsites. The park has 310 miles of paved roads, making it possible for visitors to visit principal park features and developed areas. There are at least 1,000 miles of trails.
The geysers are probably the most attractive and colorful features in the park. Each of Yellowstone's geysers has a distinct personality. For instance, the Old Faithful geyser, the most frequently visited geyser, when it erupts, it jets straight upwards in its unmistakable column of iridescent water and steam. Riverside geyser shoots at an angle. Grand geyser erupts in a series of small explosions. Castle geyser vents from a cone. The Firehole River which originates south of Old Faithful, flows through the Upper Geyser Basin which is the most populous and popular geyser community. The Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest, oldest, and most changeable of Yellowstone's thermal areas. It contains Steamboat geyser, the tallest and probably most unpredictable geyser in the world. Its eruptive cycles range from 4 days to 50 years. Until May 2, 2000, Steamboat had not erupted for 9 years, yet during the 1980's it erupted 23 times in one summer.
The wild life at Yellowstone Park is rich and abundant. Besides the bison, the black bear, the grizzly bear, the bighorn sheep ram, the elk, the gray wolf, the bald eagle and the lake trout who are the permanent residents of the park, there are at least over five hundred of other species which make the park their home during the four changing seasons. What makes this wildlife environment different than any other, is the integrity of Yellowstone's living community. It is virtually unchanged from the time of the American Indian. A visitor can walk among tall, 400-year-old fir trees, marveling at the diverse and abundant wildlife.
For more information, please write to: Yellowstone National Park, P.O.Box 168, Yellowstone, WY 82190-0168.
Or call (307) 344-7381 or www.nps.gov/yell. For lodging or camping inside the park, same address as above, or www.travelyellowstone.com. It is suggested that advance reservations be made for inside lodging or camping. For outside lodging, you can call the Cody Chamber of Commerce @ (307) 587-2777 or http//:www.codychamber.org .
James C. Stathis
Associate Editor
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Due to our trip to China, the next issue of Midtown Gazette will be on Sept 1st 2001.
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