Her infection began when she was bitten by a mosquito which was seeking her protein-rich blood to nourish its eggs. As part of the process of sucking the droplet of blood from the girl, the mosquito, simultaneously injected saliva to ease the flow of blood into its proboscis. Malaria-causing pathogens gathered in the mosquito’s salivary glands and traveled into the girl’s body. Once in the body, the wormlike parasites moved to the girl’s liver to embed themselves allowing them to feed and multiply. By the time a week had passed, each parasite had consumed an entire liver cell and had replicated upwards of 40,000 times. A short time later the infected cells had exploded and the parasites had reentered her bloodstream. Now showing symptoms such as headaches, seizures, sweats, and a fever, the girl was carried to a hospital. However, by the time the girl received treatment the damage had been done. The parasite had reached her brain and latched on causing the girl to fall into a coma. With the proper treatment she was able to return to consciousness. However, she would suffer from the same disability as thousands of other malaria victims – permanent brain damage. Infectious disease has always been a bane to man’s existence, but now infectious disease may be, in some ways, just an agent of man’s other foe, man itself. Worse, humanity is largely unaware of the negative ramifications of it actions. This paper intends to argue the causative relationship in which human-caused global climate change is triggering an increase in the prevalence of infectious disease, and is consequently causing thousands of deaths in developing countries each year.
First, some background on the topic is needed. Carbon dioxide gas concentrations in the atmosph...
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...th: Present and Future Risks.” The Lancet. 367.9513 (2006): 859-869. ScienceDirect. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Sarkar, Sahotra. “Climate Change and Disease Risk in the Himalayas.” Himalayan Journal of Sciences. 6.8 (2010): 7-8. EBSCO Host. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Stenseth, Nils, Noelle Samia, Hildegunn Viljugrein, Kyrre Kausrud, Mike Begon, Stephen Davis, Herwig Leirs, Jan Esper, Vladimir Ageyev, and Sergey Pole. "Plague Dynamics Are Driven by Climate Variation." Plague Dynamics Are Driven by Climate Variation. (2006): 103-135. PNAS Web. 05 Dec. 2013.
Watts, Jonathan. "Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Leaves Haiti Facing New Disaster." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 2 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
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He introduces the book with the concept of parasites and their role in balancing human population growth and their rise in the food chain or how he puts it “compensatory adjustments by other forms of life hemmed in human communities in such a tough and complex way that even after fully human skills had been achieved, the new efficiency attainable through cultural evolution was not sufficient to overpower and revolutionize the ecological system within which humanity evolved.” Interestingly McNeill gives agency to viruses and even distinguishes them as a safety measure preventing humanity from destroying the ecological balance of the world. Throughout Plagues and Peoples, McNeill tracks migration patterns, new points of contact, and warfare across countries and continents and how epidemic outbreak patterns correspond with major events.
Royer, Jordan. “Hurricane Sandy and the importance of being FEMA”, Crosscut.com, Crosscut.com, Web. 1 Nov 2012, 3 May 2014.
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Climate change is causing Earth to readjust. The polar ice caps are melting, lakes are evaporating, droughts are occurring, and the planet is getting warmer as a whole. This is changing even the small things such as microbes. Microbes live in every nook and cranny of this planet. Some are beneficial to life, however many are pathogens causing disease resulting in loss of certain bodily functions or even life. Countless pathogens are being affected by climate change, but one particularly being affected is the N. fowleri. The relationship between the Naegleria fowleri and humans is being altered by climate change resulting in geographical spread, increased rates of infection, and a longer lifespan for the pathogen.
Sontag, D. (2012, December 23). Rebuilding in Haiti Lags After Billions in Post-Quake Aid. The New York Times, pp. 1-14.
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Brower, Lincoln P., Fink, Linda S., and van Zandt Brower, Andrew. 1995. On the dangers of
Currently, almost two years ago Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. It sparked an international urge to help aid and relieve Haiti of its catastrophe. Not only governments in various countries reached out, but independent organizations as well. This disastrous event showed how the world could come together when their neighbor is in need. But prior to this 2010 earthquake, Haiti was already facing devastation other than a natural one - societal.
Shah, Anup (2005, November 13). Hurricane Katrina. Global Issues. Retrieved from mhtml:file://F:Hurricane Katrina—Global Issues. mht
... and feed grains (Nyong, 2008). Higher temperatures can the physiological development of crops such as causing increased respirations, shorter periods of seed formation and reduced biomass production which all result in hastened maturation and reduced crop yields (Adejuwon, 2004). Global warming and drought have affected the change in the incidence and distribution of pests and pathogens which presents challenges for crop management and animal rearing. Moisture and temperature are important elements of climate which determine the occurrence and localization of pests and diseases (Adejuwon, 2004). This is because pests and diseases vectors thrive well in optimum conditions of high temperature and abundant water supply. In this way climate change and global warming has extended the range of distribution of some pests and diseases worsening the plight of farmers.
"Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later | FEMA.gov." Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later | FEMA.gov. N.p., 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. .
The Haiti earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010 just fifteen miles south of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was a severely large-scale earthquake, at a magnitude of 7.0. The initial shock was then followed by a series of aftershocks with magnitudes ranging up to 5.9. Over three hundred thousand people died due to this extreme chaos. Many buildings collapsed and disintegrated under the force of the quake; both the cathedral and National Palace in Port-au-Prince were heavily damaged. In the aftermath of this tragedy, efforts to aid the people of Haiti with medical assistance, water, and food were hampered by the loss of communication lines as well as by roads blocked by debris. Over one million people were left homeless due to this quake. Two days after the earthquake, journalist Leonard Pitts wrote “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” an article describing how the people of Haiti responded to the disaster. In “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” a major theme is that some things are inevitable.
Kay, Joseph. "Hurricane Katrina: a calamity compounded by poverty and neglect." World Socialist Website. N.p., 31 Aug. 2005. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.
Sherwell, Philip, and Patrick Sawer. "Haiti earthquake: looting and gun-fights break out - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. .