Jerry Genesio is the author of “Unseen Hazards That Threaten Hunters, Campers, and Hikers: What you should know about pathogens commonly found in wildlife.” He is a University of Southern Maine graduate and served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps (1956-62). Jerry was employed for nearly 20 years (1970-88) by Cutter Laboratories as a blood specialist in Cutter’s Biological Products (Human) Division. From 1988-93 he worked with United Nations NGO’s providing humanitarian aid to children in war torn areas of Central America, and from 1994-96 worked with the Children of War Rescue Project evacuating war-wounded children from Bosnia. He is now retired and spends much of his time researching and writing articles and books focusing on U.S. and Natural History. Jerry is a native of Massachusetts and lives in Scarborough, Maine.
Jerry Genesio
Author of "UNSEEN HAZARDS That Threaten Hunters, Campers, and Hikers: What you should know about pathogens commonly found in wildlife."
This is where wildlife and healthcare professionals, hunters, campers, hikers, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts will find interesting information about natural unseen hazards that place them at risk. As my book focused exclusively on Rabies, Tetanus (Lockjaw), Tularemia (Rabbit Fever), Brucellosis (Undulant Fever), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Borrelia (Lyme Disease), posts regarding these six diseases will be limited to more recent developments and items of interest that were not included or were not available when the book was published in June of 2009. Topics will also include Chronic Wasting Disease, West Nile Virus, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, and other diseases of particular interest to those who work and play in the great American outdoors.
Don’t Be Afraid – Be Aware!
The Natural Unseen Hazards blog is available to all free of charge and is maintained as a public service.
If you have questions related to pathogens commonly found in wildlife, e.g. the disease caused by a specific pathogen, hosts, vectors, symptoms, treatment, territorial range, etc., please comment here or e-mail to jerrygenesio@gmail.com and I will attempt to provide answers.
"Chance favors the prepared mind."
Louis PasteurUnless otherwise noted, images have been provided by the CDC Public Health Image Library, Wikimedia Commons, the National Park Service or other government agencies, Bing.com, and/or Google.com.
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
Marie Curie"It's better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back and regret."
Jackie Joyner Kersee
Natural Unseen Hazards Blog 
Hey Jerry,
I came across your blog this afternoon as I too am a supporter of Outdoor Bloggers Summit… I really enjoyed the read and wanted to ask you about sharing links between our sites… I own a couple blog style websites and I was wondering if you would be interested in adding one of them to your blog roll and in exchange I will add a link on http://www.huntigwhitetaildeer.net to your blog..?
If this is possible I would like you to link to http://www.HuntOnly.com and use the text Deer Hunting in the link so it looks like this Deer Hunting….
Let me know if this works for you and I will get your link added right away!!
Thanks for your time and keep up the good work!!
Hi Steve,
Thanks for visiting the Natural Unseen Hazards Blog and for your kind words. I’ve added a link to your web site by listing “Deer Hunting” on my blogroll. Is that what you had in mind? If not, please reply with new instructions. I’d appreciate a link from your site as well under “Unseen Hazards”. The phrase generates a lot of curiosity among hunters, campers, and hikers alike.
Hi Jerry,
I came across your blog earlier today when I was submitting my own blog to Technorati. I find the work you’re writing about very interesting and, in a way, it links back to my own hazards work; I track and monitor natural hazard occurrence, namely earthquakes, floods and landslides, using the news media . If you’re interested I’d like to link to a few of your articles and would appreciate it if you did the same so we can improve readership.
Thanks for your time,
Kurtis
http://nathazmonitoring.wordpress.com/
http://kjgarbutt.wordpress.com/
Kurtis: Thanks for reading the Natural Unseen Hazards Blog. Please feel free to link to those of my posts that are appropriate. I’ll look your blog over and see if you have posts relative to natural hazardous pathogens and, if so, I will consider doing the same. Jerry
Thanks so much for this site…it has lessened my fear of contracting rabies in Stanislaus County, California…Now I know that it takes a full-on BITE to the dog and then to a human to contract it….
Lo: Thank you for visiting the Natural Unseen Hazards Blog. You need to know that rabies can also be transmitted via contact with the saliva of an infected animal. I urge you to read modes of rabies transmission posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/transmission/index.html
Great blog, I look forward to following you. Sign me up for email.
Thanks.
Jerry, as a resident of the Pacific Northwest and the owner of 80 acres in the Siskiyou range, I greatly appreciate your blog. I also work at the Southern Oregon Humane Society and am trying to track down the original photographer of a feral cat photo on you blog to see if I can use the image in some of our literature to raise awareness about spay/neuter issues and feral colonies. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Maryland 05/16/11 herald-mail.com: by Dave McMillion – Hagerstown man beat a fox to death with a shotgun Monday afternoon on Bentwood Drive after the animal bit his wife on the leg. The Humane Society of Washington County responded to the home off Halfway Boulevard near Valley Mall and took the fox so it can be tested for rabies, according to Sgt. Brian Albert of the Maryland Natural Resources Police. Terry and Melinda Pike of 17014 Bentwood Drive said the fox attacked their small dog, grabbing their pet by its head and ears. Terry Pike said he grabbed a shoe and beat the fox repeatedly. Melinda Pike had two puncture wounds where the fox bit her on her lower left leg. She said she was planning to start a series of rabies shots because of the attack, which was reported at 4:10 p.m. Suspicious animals can be reported to Maryland Natural Resources Police at 410-260-8888.
Hi, I found my story on your website last night and i wanted to give you an update.The fox that bit me,attacked my dog and bit a neighbors dog on the neck was found to be positive for rabies I was contacted by the local health dept 2 days later.I went to hospital that evening at recieved a total of 4 shots/vacinations plus injections in to all 4 puncture sites onmy left shin,Those where not fun at all..by June 3rd i had completed the vaccination process. My husband and two children also had to get the series of vacinations for exposure to the rabies virus.I was not aware that the rabies virus was carried in the saliva of the infected animal until this happend to us.I have recieved many caring comments and a few not so nice comments on the news web sites that covered my story. I would like everyone to know that the fox was killed by my husband in self defence,unfortunately by the but of the gun and not by a bullet only because after the first shot missed the fox continued to charge my husband,as my husband stumbled and fell only than did he have to make the decision in defence..My husband is not a hunter of animlas & I am a vegatarian,we are so sad that the fox first of all was infected with a deadly virus which caused it to behave in the manner it did that day in May 2011 as well as the way in which it’s life ended..Everything that transpired that afternoon in my neighborhood only took less than 15 minutes to accure.It was like a slow motion flash in time..I am also very thankfull that I went to see what my dog was barking at outside my front door in stead of my 9 yearold Daughter who was standing behind me & witnessed the fox bit me and grab and drag our 8 lbs dog under my car..So very Thankfull!!.My family and I have healed physicaly and mentaly..I do want to add that if you ever have to revieve rabies vacinations check with your insurance company before you get them.we found out the hard way that our insurance would not cover the vacinations becasue they where supplied by the health dept which was “out of network” ..I applied and the insurance company reversed the decision due to “medical necessity”only after I educated them on the way my county handles such things….
Blessing,
Melinda Pike 2.2012
Hi Jerry,
I just want to thank you for your work and commitment to this blog. My husband and I are full-time RV travelers around North America. We travel with 2 dogs and a cat, do lots of hiking, biking, and running. Your blog is invaluable to learn the current news of the natural world in which we travel. I am going to share the link to your blog on my twitter feed; you provide really valuable information
Kind Regards,
Robin
Hi Jerry, I don’t know if you saw that I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award, for making such an interesting and useful blog, that is also different from so many others. Some are not interested in awards, but if you like, it is yours. Congratulations! http://bentehaarstad.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/versatile-blogging/#comment-899
Hi Jerry, I find your blog highly educational and informative, with on-the-spot and experiential materials useful to all walks of life, particularly in the fields of natural science and medicine. Congratulations!
Abe
avrotor.blogspot.com (Living with Nature – School on Blog)
Hi Jerry,
I’m going through a wave of photos attribution checks on my images and found my photo used in this article on your site:
https://naturalunseenhazards.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/mississippi-wildlife-federation-cites-chronic-wasting-disease-as-reason-for-opposition-to-pending-legislative-bill-and-rabies-reports-from-north-carolina-and-virginia/ The original image is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lexnger/159686988/
I’m delighted that you are using the photo, but since it is provided under a Attribution, Noncommercial Creative Commons License, in order to use it you need to provide both attribution and a link back to the original image or my one of my site alexaclark.com or unsweetened.ca
I’m going through a wave of checking my images, and I know it’s sometimes hard to find the source of an image. I generally use http://www.tineye.com to ensure I’m giving proper attribution.
Thanks in advance.
Lex
p.s. I couldn’t find an email address or private contact form to send this, so feel free to delete it from the public comment stream once you’ve received it.
Hi Alexa: Thanks for contacting me and for your generosity. I try to use as many public domain and government images as possible because I do this as a public service and just don’t have the time to spend searching for the right image on a daily basis. Occasionally, I use an image that I turn up on Bing or Google that’s not public domain but is the right match for a post. In these instances, I rely on the Fair Use Doctrine, which makes using it legal, and hope photographers like yourself won’t mind as long as the use is non-commercial and in the public good. If you’d prefer that I remove the image from my post, please send me the date that it was used and a description of the image and I’ll be happy to remove it. I’m just trying to keep folks safe and I’m too darn old to be getting into a hassle over it. Jerry