BurnaBy native races 3,000 miles
page
5
could you leave your cell off?
page
6
Jane sterk quits the greens
page
12
crystal gayle, dolly Parton, Patsy cline— all the country queens are coming to massey theatre. see Page A17
friday
August 16 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
Byrne Creek ladder gives fish a boost One of city’s most productive creeks Mario Bartel
photo@burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARtEL/NEWsLEADER
Burnaby researcher Joanne young has developed a vaccine to protect birds like the Japanese quail against the West nile virus.
Local researcher develops West Nile vaccine Could save endangered species, and also be used to protect humans Mario Bartel
photo@burnabynewsleader.com
A vaccine developed by a Burnaby zoologist to protect birds from the West Nile Virus could eventually help humans. Joanne Young has spent the past eight years researching and developing a vaccine against the mosquito-borne pathogen that has spread across North America since 1999, killing common and
endangered birds as well as 286 from one test tube into another,” people in the United States and injecting the results in Japanese another 42 in Canada. Quail and then testing their blood Young, a PhD and spleens for student at the antibodies. University of British The vaccine could Columbia’s Michael Joanne Young stop the spread of Smith Laboratories there’s no reason why it the disease amongst and Department endangered species couldn’t be used in people. But that would take a lot of Zoology, along that are particularly more testing. with Prof. Wilfred susceptible, like Jefferies, used DNA the Greater Sage components of the West Nile and Grouse and even flamingos and other viruses to build the vaccine. It penguins housed in zoos. was, said Young, meticulous work “There’s no reason why it couldn’t that involved “moving clear liquid be used in people,” said Young.
The BEST place for fresh fish and seafood
Regent FISH MARKET 4020 HASTINGS STREET | 604-298-9828
CHOICEquotes
75
YEARS
anniversary
“But that would take a lot more testing.” It wasn’t long ago the sighting of a dead crow on the side of a road sparked dread of a virulent new disease that could cause flu-like symptoms in humans which in some cases spread to the nervous system and brain leading to limb weakness, paralysis and even death. The virus was first identified in the West Nile subregion of Uganda in 1937 and popped up sporadically in places like Algeria and Romania before it reached North America.
Book your FREE hearing assessment at our NEW location! STUART LLOYD
Owner & Hearing Instrument Practitioner
Please see WEst NILE, A4
(formerly Sears Hearing Clinic)
#205 - 5066 Kingsway,
NewBurnaby place,| familiar face 604-434-2070
A new fish ladder nearing completion on Byrne Creek will help smaller juvenile fish reach the waterway’s upper reaches beyond Griffiths Drive. It’s also another step on the urban stream’s long return to health. The ladder replaces an old concrete boxstep type ladder that was installed more than 12 years ago. The force of water flowing through that ladder made it impassable to smaller fish, said Christine Ensing, the fisheries habitat and environmental services officer for the City of Burnaby. The new ladder looks more like a natural stream, as water burbles down a gentle slope, flowing over and around rocks and pebbles of all shapes and sizes. “Byrne Creek is one of our most productive creeks in South Burnaby,” said Ensing. “The fact we have fish all the way up at this location gives us an indication that fish will move around as long as they can.” Please see WE sEE, A3