admin
06-13-2007, 08:23 AM
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is seeking information on the risk factors for illness and injury among persons who travel into the backcountry in the United States. The backcountry encompasses primitive or wilderness areas that lack most facilities and services and that are reached primarily by hiking, boating, or horseback. As many as 56% to 94% of long-distance hikers and backpackers have reported experiencing illnesses or injuries during their time in the backcountry. Because little is known about the health outcomes for visitors who use the backcountry areas of our nation's parks, the CDC will investigate behavioral and environmental risk factors that may be associated with illness and injury among hikers and will also provide information about a variety of risk factors for illness, including the risks associated with drinking untreated water from lakes and streams. With this information, the National Park Service (NPS) will be able to address many of the questions raised by outdoor users and public health officials, and improve and strengthen evidence-based NPS guidelines for backcountry health and sanitation practices.
For more information:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-11384.htm
For more information:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-11384.htm