MMWR – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

1. Television and Video Viewing Time Among Children Aged 2 Years — Oregon, 2006–2007

Christine Stone
Communications Officer, Oregon Division of Public Health
Phone: (971) 673-1282
Cell: (503) 602-8027

Pediatricians recommend that children watch no more than two hours of television per day, since excessive watching of TV and videos is associated with child developmental problems and obesity. Despite these recommendations, a survey of Oregon mothers found that when their children reached two years age, one out of five children watched two or more hours of TV in a typical day. Eighteen percent of mothers reported that children with a TV in the bedroom were twice as likely to watch excess TV.

2. Commercial Fishing Fatalities — United States, 2000–2009

CDC Division of News and Electronic Media
Phone: (404) 639-3286

From 2000-2009, 504 commercial fishermen were killed in the United States. Of these, 261 (52 percent) occurred following a vessel disaster, 155 occurred when a person fell overboard (31 percent), and 51 (10 percent) resulted from an injury onboard. Risk factors for these events vary geographically across the US. Safety improvements in the commercial fishing industry have occurred as a result of safety regulations, marine safety training, and fishery-specific interventions focusing on unique hazards. Further safety interventions should be developed for specific hazards with an emphasis on the prevention of vessel disasters among high-risk fisheries such as the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery, the Northeast scallop fleet, and the West Coast Dungeness crab fleet. Additional efforts are needed for the prevention of falls overboard and increasing personal flotation device usage among crew members. To reduce fatalities among commercial fishermen, interventions need to be tailored to the specific hazard or risk factor the fishery has.

3. Outbreak of Acute Lead Poisoning Among Children Aged <5 years — Zamfara, Nigeria, 2010

CDC Division of News and Electronic Media
Phone: (404) 639-3286

In May 2010, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health assembled multiple organizations, including CDC, to investigate reports of deaths from lead poisoning in multiple villages in northern Nigeria due to an increase in mining activities in the villages. An investigation in two affected villages was performed and blood/environmental samples were collected and analyzed for lead. Blood samples from children aged <5 years revealed lead poisoning and environmental samples demonstrated environmental lead contamination. This was a severe outbreak of lead poisoning, which resulted in high child mortality. All the children aged <5 years who received blood lead testing were lead poisoned and 97 percent of children exceeded the threshold for initiating chelation therapy. Two-thirds of households reported processing gold ore rich in lead (breaking, grinding, and drying ore) inside family compounds; the majority of these activities began in the last year. Immediate control measures included disseminating public health messages, providing chelation therapy for lead poisoned children, and environmental remediation. Currently, 166 children have undergone chelation therapy and environmental remediation (e.g., removal of contaminated soil) is underway in both villages. Through this investigation, CDC worked with other organizations including the Nigerian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and the Blacksmith Institute to determine that there was extensive contamination in the villages and in individual family compounds. Two thirds of surveyed families performed gold ore processing activities within their family compound. Active case identification in other villages, an assessment of animal health, and discussions about long term monitoring and support of lead poisoned children are ongoing.

 

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES