RESEP SAMBAL NANAS ASAM PEDAS

Resep sambal nanas bercita rasa asam pedas sebagai pelengkap menu makan harian yang meningkatkan selera. Rasa buah nanas yang manis dan asam sering kali dijadikan sebagai bahan utama ataupun sebagai bumbu pelengkap dari aneka masakan bercita rasa asam yang segar.

Sambal dengan menggunakan nanas sebagai bahan utamanya merupakan kombinasi dari rasa tersebut yang dipadukan lagi dengan rasa pedas sehingga menjadikan hidangan yang enak disantap serta dapat membantu meningkatkan selera makan.

Mengkonsumsi nanas terkadang membuat gatal di lidah atau tenggorokan dikarenakan kandungan kalsium oksalat. Tips sederhana cara mengolah nanas biasanya dengan membersihkan juga mata mata nanas, selain itu juga menyisihkan bagian tengah nanas yang mengandung asam oksalat yang lebih tinggi agar tidak gatal di lidah atau bisa juga direndam sebentar dengan air garam untuk menetralisasi asam supaya bisa langsung dikonsumsi tanpa rasa gatal.

RESEP SAMBAL NANAS

Bahan dan bumbu :

• 1 buah (400 gram) nanas
• 3 buah cabe rawit merah
• 2 buah cabe merah besar
• 1/2 sdt terasi udang bakar
• 1/2 sdt gula merah
• garam secukupnya

CARA MEMBUAT SAMBAL NANAS

1. Kupas kulit dan bersihkan dari mata mata nanas mengikuti alur melingkar miring atau menggunakan alat pemotong nanas. Baung tulang tengahnya kemudian potong-potong nanas sesuai selera.
2. Ulek semua bahan lainnya hingga halus, aduk rata lalu masukkan potongan nanas. Aduk lagi hingga rata, sambal nanas sudah siap untuk disajikan.

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Revisiting The Migratory Bird Debate

Major Global Migratory Flyways – Credit FAO

 

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A decade ago, when H5N1 was making its first forays into Europe and the Middle East, concerns ran high it might hitch a ride on migratory birds and make its way to the Americas. As the map above illustrates, there are two major `shared’ migratory flyways which could plausibly provide a bridge for avian flu from either Europe or Asia.

 

• The East Atlantic Flyway extends from Northern Canada to Northern Europe and Russia and runs all the way down to the southern tip of Africa, while overlapping two major Eurasian flyways (see PLoS One: North Atlantic Flyways Provide Opportunities For Spread Of Avian Influenza Viruses).
• .The Pacific Americas Flyway overlaps with both the Central Pacific and (more importantly) the Asian-Australian Flyways in Alaska and Siberia

 

While primarily north-south migratory routes, these flyways all overlap, and therefore allow for lateral (east-west) movement of birds as well.  A good example this comes from our own Arctic Refuge, where more than 200 bird species spend their summers, and then head south via all four North American Flyways each fall. 

Credit FWS.GOV

 

In 2008, a USGS study found Genetic Evidence Of The Movement Of Avian Influenza Viruses From Asia To North America, where we saw evidence that suggested migratory birds play a larger role in intercontinental spread of avian influenza viruses than previously thought.

 

A couple of years later, in Where The Wild Duck Goes, we looked at a USGS program that used Satellite Tracking To Reveal How Wild Birds May Spread Avian Flu.

 

For reasons that remain obscure, in 2007 the aggressive global expansion of H5N1 halted, and over the next few years we saw a retreat of the virus from across much of Europe, with most of the activity centered around  Asia, India, Indonesia, and Egypt. 

While concerns over H5N1 winging its way to the Americas didn’t go away, they were at least dampened.

Although research has continued to implicate wild and migratory birds as vectors of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) viruses, the idea has not been without its critics. 

 

For years we’ve heard from some experts that `Sick birds don’t fly’ , even though it has been well established that some bird species can carry HPAI viruses asymptomatically (see Webster On China's `Silent' Bird Flu Infections).  A few notable dissenting voices include:

 

• In 2009, in India: The Role Of Migratory Birds In Spreading Bird Flu, we saw an expert committee declare that migratory birds were not responsible for the spreading of H5N1 in India and neighboring countries.
• While in Another Migratory Bird Study,  a paper appeared in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology in 2010, that claimed that the global spread of the H5N1 virus through migratory birds was possible . . . but unlikely.
• In January of 2014, in response to the South Korea assertion that Migratory Birds Likely Source Of H5N8 Outbreak the  Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds quickly issued a statement saying:

  1. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks are most frequently associated with domestic poultry production systems and value chains.
  2. H5N8 HPAI virus has recently emerged in domestic poultry in the Republic of Korea and has caused mortality of domestic poultry and wild birds.
  3. As well as impact on the poultry industry, there is the potential for significant mortality of wild birds most notably in large flocks of Baikal teal.
  4. There is currently no evidence that wild birds are the source of this virus and they should be considered victims not vectors.

  (Continue . . . )

We’ve explored this often bitter debate between the poultry industry and conservationists a number of times (see Bird Flu Spread: The Flyway Or The Highway?) and while poultry industry practices and poor biosecurity are no doubt major contributing factors for the spread of avian flu, it is hard to dismiss wild birds as being at least partially responsible, particularly for long distance jumps of the virus.

 

For a full decade following the second emergence of H5N1 in Vietnam (2003), the bird flu scene remained fairly stable. There was HPAI H5N1, and a handful of lesser LPAI (low path) H5 and H7 viruses of concern (plus LPAI H9N2), but only one HPAI threat.

 

Things began to get messy in 2013, when a new LPAI H7N9 virus appeared in China.  While it didn’t make birds sick, it was highly pathogenic in humans, and it has sparked three mini-epidemics since its arrival.   Since it is asymptomatic in birds, it spreads stealthily in poultry flocks and live markets, making it very difficult to detect and control.

 

A few months later an HPAI H10N8 appeared in China, causing several deaths, followed by HPAI H5N8 which showed up in South Korean migratory birds – and commercial poultry – in January of 2014.  Not to be outdone, a new H5N6 virus appeared in both China and Vietnam in the spring of last year, and much like H5N1, it can infect (and kill) humans.

HPAI H5N8 quickly spread across China and into Russia, but a big surprise came last November when a farm in Germany reported the virus (see Germany Reports H5N8 Outbreak in Turkeys), followed 10 days later  by reports from the Netherlands (see Netherlands: `Severe’ HPAI Outbreak In Poultry), and again from Japan (see Japan: H5N8 In Migratory Bird Droppings).

H5N8 Branching Out To Europe & Japan

Suddenly H5N8 was on the move, in a manner which we hadn’t seen since the great H5N1 diaspora of 2006 – when that virus sprang out of southeast Asia and moved into Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

 

An even bigger surprise came when HPAI H5 virus literally jumped continents and turned up – first in Canada’s Pacific Northwest (see Fraser Valley B.C. Culling Poultry After Detecting H5 Avian Flu) in early December – and then began spreading across the western United States (see EID Journal: Novel Eurasian HPAI A H5 Viruses in Wild Birds – Washington, USA).

.

As H5N8 arrived in Taiwan, Canada, and the United States, it has reassorted with local LPAI viruses and produced unique reassortant viruses (H5N2 and H5N1 in North America, H5N2, H5N3 in Taiwan).

How viruses shuffle their genes (reassort)

 

Not only has H5N8 proved to be an able hitchhiker aboard migratory birds, it appears to reassort easily with other LPAI viruses, and has churned out a remarkable number of viable offspring in a short period of time.

 

Of these, H5N2 has spread the fastest, and caused the most damage to the poultry industry.  But the possibility of seeing additional reassortments emerge in the years to come is real, and their behavior – and their pathogenicity in birds and humans – is quite frankly, impossible to predict.

 

The $64 question is what comes next.

 

And quite frankly, no one knows.  In 2007, just when it looked as if H5N1 was on the verge of becoming a global threat, it unexpectedly began to wane.  The same thing could happen again, although this time the HPAI bench is deeper, as it includes H5N1, H5N2, H5N8, H5N6, and H7N9 (among others).

 

The expectation is that H5N8/H5N2 will return with the fall arrival of migratory birds, and if farm biosecurity measures aren’t effective - we could see a repeat of this past spring – except more states and more farms are likely to be impacted. 

 

If that happens, it could cost the poultry industry billions, which is why on Tuesday, Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack will be meeting with state and local officials, and representatives of the poultry industry, in Des Moines, Iowa to discuss preparing for this exact possibility.

 

There are other scenarios, of course.

• The most dire (but hopefully the least likely) being H5N8 or H5N2 evolve to the point they could pose a human health risk.  For now, the risk of infection from these viruses is deemed low by the CDC  (see EID Journal: Infection Risk To Those Exposed To HPAI H5 Viruses – United States).
• Other plausible scenarios could involve new reassortant subtypes emerging from the interaction of H5N8/H5N2 with other native LPAI viruses. Already we’ve seen an EA/NA version of H5N1 (see USGS: Genetic Analysis Of North American Reassortant H5N1 Virus From Washington State), as the result of ongoing reassortment.
• And now that H5N8 has demonstrated it can be done, we need to be open to the possibility that other HPAI viruses may make the trek from Asia or Europe via migratory birds in the years to come.  A threat that looms larger with each new avian flu subtype that emerges in Asia.

 

The same avian flu scenarios facing North America this fall and winter pose similar threats to much of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  Only the flyways that will serve as potential bird flu conduits differ.

 
If there are any doubts remaining over the role that migratory birds are playing in the spread of avian flu viruses, with the scrutiny they will get this fall and winter (see APHIS/USDA Announce Updated Fall Surveillance Programs For Avian Flu),  there’s a pretty good chance they will be resolved over next 6 months to a year. 

 

For more on the spread of avian viruses across long distances by migratory birds, you may wish to revisit:

 

Erasmus Study On Role Of Migratory Birds In Spread Of Avian Flu

PNAS: H5N1 Propagation Via Migratory Birds

EID Journal: A Proposed Strategy For Wild Bird Avian Influenza Surveillance

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Saudi MOH Confirms Another MERS Case In Riyadh

 

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After several fairly quiet weeks, MERS reports are starting to pick up again in Saudi Arabia, with 7 cases reported over the past 5 days – 6 of which have centered around  Riyadh.

 

Although the source of exposure was not provided for the first 5 cases, the latest two cases are listed as having `Contact with suspected or confirmed cases in community or hospitals’.

Whether this means they are the result of a family cluster, or  another nosocomial outbreak, isn’t clear.   In any event, the details on the latest case read:

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Video: Florida DOH On The Link Between Armadillos & Leprosy

Nine-banded Armadillo –wikipedia

 

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The past couple of weeks armadillos and leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) have been in the news again, as Florida recorded its 9th case of 2015 (see Newsweek’s Spitting Armadillos Blamed for Florida’s Emerging Leprosy Problem). Although  rare, the United States still sees about 150-220 cases each year, and 200,000 cases are estimated around the world each year.

 

Indigenous cases are primarily associated with contact with armadillos – for some, a southern delicacy – and known reservoir for the bacteria: Mycobacterium leprae (see my 2011 blog  Hint: Don’t Order The `Possum On the Half Shell’).

Credit Wikipedia

Armadillos are not native to Florida, or the southeastern United States for that matter, but have proliferated and expanded their range remarkably over the past 50 years. They are now so numerous in Florida, and so often end up as road kill, that the old joke `Why did the chicken cross the road?’ now has a Florida-centric punch line:

 

`To prove to the armadillo it can be done.’

 

But I digress.  

 

Here in the United States, Hansen’s disease is studied and tracked  by the HHS’s National Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) Program.  Some excerpts from their homepage:

A genetic study at the National Hansen’s Disease Program reports that armadillos may be a source of infection in the southern United States. The Program advises:

• The risk of transmission from animals to humans is low, but armadillos are wild animals and should be treated as such, with all proper precautions.
• Individuals should decide for themselves whether or not to interact with these animals and, if so, what precautions to take.

Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) Facts

• Most (95 percent) of the human population is not susceptible to infection with M. leprae, the bacteria that causes Hansen's disease (leprosy).
• Treatment with standard antibiotic drugs is very effective.
• Patients become noninfectious after taking only a few doses of medication and need not be isolated from family and friends.
• Diagnosis in the U.S. is often delayed because health care providers are unaware of Hansen's disease (leprosy) and its symptoms.
• Early diagnosis and treatment prevents nerve involvement, the hallmark of Hansen's disease (leprosy), and the disability it causes.
• Without nerve involvement, Hansen's disease (leprosy) is a minor skin disease.

 

The World Health Organization’s  Leprosy FAQ further states:

Leprosy

Fact sheet N°101
Updated May 2015

Key facts

• Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by a slow multiplying bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae.
• M. leprae multiplies slowly and the incubation period of the disease is about 5 years. Symptoms can take as long as 20 years to appear.
• The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes.
• Leprosy is curable.
• Although not highly infectious, it is transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases.

With this prolonged incubation period - running from 5 to 20 years - determining how and where someone might have been exposed in our highly mobile society can be difficult, or even impossible.

 

All of which serves as prelude to a press release and short video, released by the Florida Department of Health yesterday, answering questions about the risks of leprosy from contact with armadillos.

 

Florida Department Of Health Provides Online Resources Regarding Hansen’s Disease Or Leprosy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2015

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PROVIDES ONLINE RESOURCES REGARDING HANSEN’S DISEASE OR LEPROSY

TALLAHASSEE—In an effort to facilitate media interviews regarding Hansen’s disease, formerly known as leprosy, the Florida Department of Health has made available a broadcast-quality, downloadable interview with Deputy State Epidemiologist Dr. Carina Blackmore. The video can be accessed here: http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/leprosy/index.html

In Florida, between two and 12 cases are reported each year. So far in 2015, nine cases have been reported in Florida residents. The incubation period for Hansen’s disease is two to 10 years, which makes it inherently difficult to identify the exposure source.

At this point, the role of armadillos in the transmission of Hansen’s disease to humans is not fully understood. There is a particular strain of Hansen’s disease identified in people in the Southeastern U.S. that has also been identified in armadillos in the same region.

The department recommends that people avoid contact with wild animals, such as armadillos and to take precautions if they must handle them by using gloves and washing their hands before and after exposure.

  

 

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CDC FluView: 1 Novel (H3N2v) Flu Case Reported – Minnesota

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From this week’s FluView report we’ve news of the third novel flu detection in the United States for 2015, which should serve as a reminder that good farm biosecurity needs to extend beyond just the chicken coop and into the other barns as well.

The two previoius cases this year were both swine variant H1N1v, with one case (fatal) report last May from Ohio (see FluView Week 17: Fatal Swine Variant (H1N1v) Case In Ohio) and one mild case from Minnesota reported in late January (see FluView Week 3: Senior Hospitalizations Soar & H1N1v In Minnesota).

This from today’s FluView Report.

 

Novel Influenza A Viruses:

One human infection with a novel influenza A virus was reported by the state of Minnesota. The person was infected with an influenza A (H3N2) variant (H3N2v) virus and was hospitalized as a result of their illness. No human-to-human transmission has been identified and the case reported close contact with swine in the week prior to illness onset.

Early identification and investigation of human infections with novel influenza A viruses are critical so that risk of infection can be more fully appreciated and appropriate public health measures can be taken. Additional information on influenza in swine, variant influenza infection in humans, and strategies to interact safely with swine can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/index.htm.

 

The CDC describes Swine Variant viruses in their Key Facts FAQ.

What is a variant influenza virus?

When an influenza virus that normally circulates in swine (but not people) is detected in a person, it is called a “variant influenza virus.” For example, if a swine origin influenza A H3N2 virus is detected in a person, that virus will be called an “H3N2 variant” virus or “H3N2v” virus.

 

Up until about six years ago the CDC only received 1 or 2 swine variant infection reports each year.  In 2010, that number jumped to 8, and in 2011 to 12.  In 2012 we saw more than 300 cases – mostly mild - and nearly all associated with exposure to pigs at state and local agricultural fairs. 

 

The number of detections has dropped off markedly the past couple of years, but we continue to see sporadic cases. 

 

While occasional cases are not particularly alarming, we keep an eye on these viruses because they belong to the same subtypes as do human flus (H1, H2 & H3), and presumably would  need less of an evolutionary leap to adapt to humans than avian flu strains. 

 

The CDC’s FAQ states:

 

Why are human infections with variant viruses of concern?

Influenza viruses that infect pigs may be different from human influenza viruses. Thus, influenza vaccines made against human influenza viruses are generally not expected to protect people from influenza viruses that normally circulate in pigs. In addition, because pigs are susceptible to avian, human and swine influenza viruses, they potentially may be infected with influenza viruses from different species (e.g., ducks and humans) at the same time. If this happens, it is possible for the genes of these viruses to mix and create a new virus that could spread easily from person-to-person. This type of major change in the influenza A viruses is known as antigenic shift. Antigenic shift results when a new influenza A virus to which most people have little or no immune protection infects humans. If this new virus causes illness in people and can be transmitted easily from person-to-person, an influenza pandemic can occur. This is what happened in 2009 when an influenza A H1N1 virus with swine, avian and human genes emerged in the spring of 2009 and caused the first pandemic in more than 40 years.

 

For more on swine variant influenza, you may wish to revisit:

 

Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize Pig

Waiting For The Next Flu To Drop

Fair Biosecurity & H3N2 In North Dakota Show Pigs

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APHIS Releases Updated HPAI Epidemiology Report

 

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On June 15th APHIS  released a 38-page partial epidemiology report on the spread of HPAI H5 across the United States (see APHIS: Partial Epidemiology Report On HPAI H5 In The US) that cited a number of plausible factors that might explain the rapid spread of the HPAI between farms, particularly in the Midwest.

 

While investigators had been unable to find one or even a group of factors that satisfactorily explain this AI spread, factors under consideration included movement of poultry, poultry products, equipment and personnel between farms and the possibility that prevailing winds may have carried contaminated dust particles from farm to farm.

 

Today APHIS has released an updated – 99 page PDF – Epidemiological Report that contains a great deal more information – including details of a case-control study -  but does not nail down any `specific pathway or pathways for the current spread of the virus’.

 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Releases Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Epidemiology Report

Published: Jul 24, 2015

 

July 21, 2015—The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today released an updated highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) epidemiology report.  

The report has been updated to include:

1. interpretation of data from 81 turkey flocks investigated for HPAI;
2. preliminary results from a case-control study conducted in layer operations in Iowa and Nebraska; and,
3. preliminary results of a study of wildlife near affected and unaffected premises.

The updated report can be read here, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/downloads/Epidemiologic-Analysis-July-15-2015.pdf.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – UPDATED

For the past several months, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has conducted epidemiological investigations and other studies with the goal of identifying transmission pathways of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This report includes updates to the report released by APHIS on June 5, 2015.

With the data from both reports, APHIS concludes that there is not substantial or significant enough evidence to point to a specific pathway or pathways for the current spread of the virus. This edition of the report includes data on the characteristics and biosecurity measures of infected turkey farms and a case control study to compare these measures between infected and non-infected farms. We have also sampled wildlife near affected and unaffected farms.

In a case series investigating 81 turkey farms across the Midwestern United States, we found turkey farms typically follow biosecurity protocols, which are established by the company with which they work. Common procedures include spraying vehicle tires with disinfectant at the farm entrance, requiring visitors and employees to wear coveralls and disposable boot covers (or dedicated footwear) before entering the barns, using disinfectant footbaths at barn entrances, using rodent control, and caring for younger birds before caring for older birds. The objective is to establish a clean-dirty line where outside contaminants are not carried into the barn.

Fomites, such as equipment, are probably playing a role in this outbreak. In the majority of cases in this study, feed trucks, live haul loaders, pre-loaders, and other items were shared by multiple farms. While equipment sharing makes  economical and logistical sense, it also increases the risk of lateral spread of HPAI between farms. Wild birds, another possible route of disease transmission, were observed inside barns on 35 percent of the farms, with the frequency ranging from daily to occasionally.

While most of the 81 farms surveyed had biosecurity protocols in place, only 43% of case farms reported that biosecurity audits or assessments were conducted on the farm by the company or a third party. Farms can decrease their HPAI risk by verifying that biosecurity procedures are being followed properly.

In a case-control study focused on egg layer flocks in Iowa and Nebraska, a number of risk factors for HPAI introduction and factors associated with lowering the risk of introduction were identified in our preliminary analysis.

• Factors associated with an increased risk of becoming infected with HPAI included being located within one of the 10-kilometer control zones; using rendering of dead birds as a disposal method; sharing of company trucks, trailers, bird removal and egg removal vehicles; sharing of equipment between farms like egg rack, pallets and flats; and visits by company service personnel who entered barns.
• Factors associated with a lowered risk of infection included being more than 100 yards from a public gravel or dirt road, having wash stations for vehicles on the farm, and being more than 100 miles from the egg processing facility used by the farm.

Also in this edition are preliminary results of a study of wildlife near affected and unaffected premises. Testing is ongoing on the over 2,600 samples collected.

APHIS will continue to investigate how the HPAI virus is introduced and spread and will provide updated results regularly. We are also collaborating with affected industries and States to implement more stringent biosecurity procedures while continuing to work on identifying and mitigating other possible disease pathways in poultry farms nationwide. With the results of this and the June 5 report, which included wind and airborne virus studies as possible causes of viral spread as well as a genetic analysis of the viruses detected in the United States, we have identified several possible pathways. Comprehensive and stringent biosecurity practices remain crucial to reducing the risk of HPAI infection.

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Grenada: Submarine Volcano Raised To Orange Alert

 
Credit Wikipedia

 

 

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Although we tend to think of hurricanes as the greatest natural disaster threat in the Caribbean, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives over the past 300 years.  The 2010 Haitian earthquake alone claimed 200,000+ lives, and the1902 eruption of Mount  Pelée on the northern end of the island  Martinique is believed to have killed as many as 30,000.

In 1995, a previously dormant volcano (Soufrière Hills ) on the island of Montserrat erupted and eventually buried the island's capital, Plymouth, in nearly 40 feet of mud and ash.  Although the damage was extensive, and half the island is now uninhabitable, there was enough warning to evacuate nearly all of the residents.

As we discussed last March, in The Caribbean’s Hidden Tsunami Potential (Revisited), the Caribbean has a long history of volcanic, seismic, and tsunami activity. 

 

One of the most active volcanoes of the past 100 years is a submerged seamount called Kick’em Jenny, which rises more than 4000 feet from the seafloor, yet its peak remains more than 500 feet below the surface.  

 

Between 1939 and 2001, at least 12 eruptions have been recorded, although many were so small to be only detectable by instruments.  It has remained pretty quiet for the past 14 years.

 

Yesterday, the Seismic Research Centre (SRC) of the University of the West Indies issued an Alert, and a statement, regarding increased seismic activity in and around Kick’em Jenny.  For now, this is just an Alert, and there is no immediate threat.

 

Changed Alert Level at Kick 'em Jenny Submarine Volcano

Jul.23.2015

On Thursday, July 23rd from 1:25am to 3:00am local time, a strong continuous signal was observed on instruments monitoring the Kick ‘em Jenny submarine volcano. Signs of elevated seismicity (earthquakes) began on 11th July and continue to present. For the period since the 11th July a total of more than 200 micro and small earthquakes, of varying magnitudes, have been recorded, with the largest, prior to the strong signal, less than magnitude 3.0. There have also been observations from divers of degassing occurring off the west coast of Grenada in the Moliniere Sculpture Park area. This activity is being closely monitored by The UWI-SRC and further updates would be issued as more information becomes available.

Please be advised

Current Alert Level: Orange

No Tsunami Warning Issued

Jul.23.2015

The UWI-SRC wishes to advise that at this time no tsunami warning has been issued for Grenada or any other neighbouring islands of the Lesser Antilles. The alert level at the Kick ‘em Jenny volcano however, has been moved from yellow to orange which means that the exclusion zone around the submarine crater has been widened to 5km. This change of alert is in keeping with increased seismic activity which began on 11th July, 2015. A sharp increasing trend was observed during the 21st and 22nd July and between 1:25am and 3:00am on Thursday 23rd July, 2015 the most intense activity, an eruption was observed. The current alert level at Orange is related to the Kick ‘em Jenny volcano and guides authorities and those in Grenada and the surrounding Grenadine islands on what is appropriate at this level of activity. Mariners are therefore encouraged to observe the Exclusion Zone and not enter within a 5km radius of the Kick ‘em Jenny Crater. The UWI-SRC continues to monitor this volcano and will issue further updates as data come to hand.

 

The 1939 eruption – the largest observed – reportedly sent a plume of steam and debris several hundred meters into the air, and generated a moderate (2 meter) localized tsunami.  Large tsunamis are considered unlikely with a seamount volcano of this type and depth.

 

For an excellent description of the potential hazards – mostly to shipping and boating interests - you can visit the Seismic Research Centre’s:

Grenada - Kick `Em Jenny Hazards

Kick 'em Jenny is the source of a number of potential dangers. The most immediate and frequent danger is to marine vessels in the vicinity of the volcano during eruptions and during the 'quiet' periods between eruptions. The volcano lies directly beneath one of the main inter-island shipping routes and the area is popular both with recreational sailors and fishermen. For this reason Kick 'em Jenny is carefully monitored and a 1.5km exclusion zone around the summit of the volcano is currently in place. Although scientists continue to stress the improbability of an eruption generating a tsunami (a giant sea wave) this hazard also remains of great public concern.

(Continue . . . )

  

The Government of Grenada has issued as statement urging calm, stating that this volcano does not pose any significant threat to the island’s residents.

 

Increased activity at Kick em Jenny poses no significant threat to Coastal Residents

 ST. GEORGE'S, GRENADA, July 23, 2015 - GIS: The Seismic Research Centre, University of the West Indies says that renewed activity at the Kick em’ Jenny under water Volcano just off Grenada represents no significant threat to the coastal regions of nearby islands.

As a consequence there is no need to move people away from coastlines.

Lloyd Lynch, researcher at the Trinidad-based Centre briefed disaster management officials in Grenada Thursday afternoon.

He told an emergency meeting of the National Emergency Advisory Committee at NaDMA Headquarters that more minor eruptions can be expected before the system goes back to sleep.

But he noted that the undersea volcano remains well below the surface, which cancels out any threat of a major tsunami.

Earlier, the Seismic Research Centre issued an orange alert regarding the status of the Kick ‘em Jenny Volcano.

Orange alert means highly elevated level of seismic activities consistent with the small tremors which have been occurring over the past two weeks.

Orange alert also means that all ships must stay outside the five kilometer exclusion zone of Kick ‘em Jenny.

Currently, the volcano is most dangerous for ships and boats since the gases released by Kick ‘em Jenny can lower the density of the water causing them to sink even if it is not erupting.

The Seismic Centre of the UWI is constantly monitoring the situation, and should there be a change in the current status, immediate advisories will be issued.

The people of Grenada should be careful to take note of only official advisories on the matter, which if needed, will come from the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA).

Please note that there was no need for panic, and people should go about their daily lives as normal.

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