TASK DEFINITION: Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.
PROBLEM: Paragraph: Saturday marks the Drug Enforcement Administration’s nationwide “Drug Take Back Day.” Only pills or patches can be accepted, not liquids or needles. A list of collection sites is available on the DEA’s website. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s website also provides a list of medication collection sites around the state. People turned in nearly 469 tons of prescription drugs nationwide last year. The Illinois Department of Human Services says turning in unused or expired prescription drugs can prevent abuse or theft of the drugs. Claim: Collection sites available for expired, leftover medications.

SOLUTION: Illinois and federal officials are encouraging people to bring expired and unused prescription drugs to collection sites.

PROBLEM: Paragraph: In 2004, a virulent form of canine influenza surfaced at greyhound racing parks in Florida. In that outbreak, it infected 24 greyhounds and killed 8 more. The contagion has since been confirmed in seven states, having killed greyhounds at tracks in Florida, Massachusetts, Arizona, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas and Iowa. It is highly contagious, spreading through shared items (like toys) or human contact (kennel workers have carried the virus home with them), in addition to dog-to-dog encounters. The virus that has been felling greyhounds is an H3N8 flu closely related to an equine flu strain. It is not related to typical human flus or to the H5N1 avian flu that killed about 100 people in Asia. Several states — including Florida, Minnesota, and Louisiana, among others — reported another rash of cases in late June 2017. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the outbreaks in those states were caused by a strain known as canine H3N2 influenza, which was first reported in Chicago in 2015. An AVMA spokesperson, Sharon Granskog, told us in a phone interview that such outbreaks can be seasonal in nature: There’s a time of year when more dogs are in contact with one another, they’re at dog parks, it’s highly contagious. We suggest that you make sure if your dog is going to a dog park that it’s healthy and talk to a veterinarian about whether or not a vaccine would be right for your dog. The disease was first reported in the U.S. in 2004 after several racing greyhounds in Florida contracted it. The AVMA said that they believed that the dogs became infected by a strain of H3N8 influenza, which is particular to horses. Dr. Ruben Donis, chief of molecular genetics for the influenza branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirmed that the flu jumped from horses to dogs, “a very rare event of considerable scientific interest” and added “at this point, there is no reason to panic.” How that jump occurred is either not known at this point or is not being commented on, so the email’s assertion that the eating of raw meat was to blame should be regarded as speculation rather than as fact. While there is always the possibility the virus might again jump species, this time to humans, this strain of flu has been present in horses for more than 40 years without any documented cases of humans catching it or the related canine flu. But there are vaccines available for both the equine and canine flus. Many readers have been confused (and unnecessarily frightened) by the difference between the terms “morbidity rate” and “mortality rate.” The morbidity rate describes the percentage of animals that will contract the disease after being exposed to the virus, but, despite its name, the term has nothing to do with the death rate associated with the flu. (Nearly 80 percent of dogs exposed to the canine flu virus will contract only a mild form of the disease which mimics kennel cough, a type of canine bronchitis that is rarely serious.) The mortality rate, which describes the percentage of animals that will die after contracting the disease, is in the much lower range of 5 to 8 percent, according to Dr. Cynda Crawford, the veterinary immunologist who first isolated the canine flu virus: The mortality rate is around 5 to 8 percent, says veterinarian Cynda Crawford at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville. “I want to stress that despite the rumors that are out on the Internet and other such sources, this disease is not as deadly as people want to make it,” Crawford said. She says she receives more than 30 calls a day from concerned veterinarians. Dr. Crawford describes the contagion as producing in dogs “a moist, productive cough that ends in a gagging response, that will persist for one to four weeks, despite treatment with antibiotics or cough suppressants. Some dogs develop a thick, yellow discharge from the nose. A very few dogs will spike a high fever, between 105 to 107 degrees Fahrenheit. They become lethargic and weak, with rapid, shallow breathing. This is likely to progress to pneumonia.” Other veterinary experts have estimated the potential death rate as between 1 and 10 percent, with the higher percentage applying to very young, very old, or infirm dogs. Presence of the virus in dogs can be confirmed only through blood tests performed at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Results of such blood screens take as long as two weeks. Dr. Crawford recommends keeping dogs showing symptoms of respiratory disease at home and away from other dogs for up to two weeks. The CDC, which is tracking the disease, issued no official recommendations. Because the symptoms of this as yet unnamed virus somewhat mimic bordetella, a less virulent illness commonly known as kennel cough, it is hard to ascertain how widespread the flu has become. On the flipside of that confusion, vets in various parts of the country have been thrown into a panic when encountering run-of-the-mill kennel cough in any of their clients, fearing they are instead confronting cases of the new flu. The Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University inserted a caution against such hair-trigger diagnosis within a larger advisory about the potential for the flu to have spread to the state of New York: “One should not lose sight of the fact that all respiratory infections in dogs are not due to canine influenza virus. Adhering to the ‘band wagon’ approach could result in the failure to appropriately treat dogs with infections previously known to cause respiratory problems in dogs.” We found this good advice for vets and dog owners in our inbox one day: PLEASE DO NOT PANIC, and do NOT assume that every cough is Canine Influenza. Kennel Cough from parainfluenza and Bordetella is more common. However, the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell is interested in receiving samples from dogs that appear to have kennel cough. Clinical Signs: Since this is a new pathogen in dogs, there is currently no natural immunity present in the unexposed canine population. Almost all exposed dogs will become infected, and nearly 80% have clinical signs. In the mild form the dogs will have a cough that persists for 10 to 21 days. The cough may be soft and moist or dry. Many dogs will have a nasal discharge from a secondary bacterial infection and low grade fever. The nasal discharge responds to broad spectrum antibiotics. In the severe form with pneumonia there is a high fever (104-106 F) and respiratory difficulties. X-rays may show consolidation. These dogs often have secondary bacterial infections and have responded to broad-spectrum antibiotics and supportive care including intravenous hydration. The incubation period is two to five days and dogs may shed virus for seven to 10 days. The disease can spread rapidly throughout a boarding kennel. Dogs that are coughing SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT TO SHOWS or Performance EVENTS. In a 1 June 2017 advisory to its members, the AVMA suggested that vaccines against the H3N2 virus strain “might be another prevention option” for dogs who were at least 8 weeks old and also recommended isolating dogs who could be infected, as well as not sharing toys between dogs and disinfecting shelter, veterinary, and boarding facilities. Claim: A virus deadly to dogs has been spreading in the canine population of the U.S.

SOLUTION: Has a virus deadly to dogs been spreading in the canine population of the U.S.?

PROBLEM: Paragraph: A SurfSET Fitness class in New York in an undated photo. REUTERS/SurfSET Fitness/Handout Group fitness gadflies can rejoice. Indoor surfing is a new workout, born of the sea but carving out a place in the center of town. “It’s actually harder than surfing,” Sarah Ponn, co-founder and fitness director of SurfSET Fitness, said of the class, which claims to squeeze about three hours’ worth of surfing-based movement into the 45-minute indoor workout. “Our primary goal is fitness,” she said. “We burn a lot of calories. There’s a lot of paddling, a lot of standing on an unstable board. It’s very athletic.”   The class revolves around a piece of equipment called the RipSurfer X, which was developed by SurfSET’s CEO Mike Hartwick, as a way to stay fit after he retired from professional hockey in 2010. “A surfboard, a real one, is mounted on an unstable surface of inflatable bladders. It moves based on where you place your weight,” Ponn explained. “It’s like being on water. (In surfing) if you step down with your right foot it will displace the water. Here it’s not water, it’s air.”   The class is sequenced like a surfing session on the sea, even as it draws from many disciplines, from interval training to resistance training to Pilates. “We do what you would do during a surf session,” Ponn said. The warm up is an intense cardio interval that mimics a sea surfer’s paddling out to beyond the break. Then the abdominal work kicks in. “We incorporate a lot of core strength training,” Ponn said. “Then we move into sprint segment.”   Woven into the workout are indoor versions of such surf staples as duck dives, pushing under a wave, and pop ups, going from lying to standing on the board in one jump. Ponn said a session can burn up to 1,000 calories. It also cultivates the traditionally long, lean, well-defined surfer-type body. “It’s not a body builder mentality,” Ponn said. “It’s not about bulking up.”   For months the class has been popping up temporarily in venues around New York City, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, New Jersey and the Hamptons. A flagship studio is set to open in New York in September. Florida-based fitness and wellness expert Shirley Archer thinks SurfSET is particularly suitable for sports enthusiasts, especially surfers, seeking a fun and different total body workout. “It challenges balance, endurance, upper, lower and core body muscles, and co-ordination,” said Archer, who is a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, after observing a session on the company’s website. She cautions that the risk-averse, the beginning exerciser, or the injury-impaired might want to look elsewhere. “The exercises — duck dips, deep squats, etc. — are fairly challenging and may be too difficult for people who need to move more slowly and with smaller ranges of motion,” said Archer, who is impressed by the apparatus and the creativity of the workout. Ponn said the company is developing a class for older people. A home version of the RipSurfer X is also in the works. A SurfSET Fitness class in New York in an undated photo. REUTERS/SurfSET Fitness/Handout “The machine is highly adjustable,” she explained. “You can tighten it down so that it barely moves.”   The only counter-indication she mentioned was pregnancy. “You can’t lie on your stomach and paddle when you’re pregnant,” she said. “It’s kind of sad.” Claim: Surf's up in the fitness studio.

SOLUTION:
Spun out on spinning? Bored in barre class?