Assignment:
Discussion 1: Disease as an Environmental Hazard
Read the articles and take notes on the questions listed below.
A) ‘WHO warns of global epidemic risk.' BBC News. 8.23.07.
1. What is the main argument of this article?
2. List the reasons the article gives for why diseases are emerging more rapidly in today's world. Provide an example of a disease that is relevant to each of the points you make.
B) Jones, K.E., Patel, N.G., Levy, M.A., Storeygard, A., Balk, D., Gittleman, J.L. & Daszak, P. (2008) ‘Global trends in emerging infectious diseases', Nature, 451 (Feb): 990-994.
1. Briefly, what did Jones et al. do in this study?
2. How has EID incidence changed over this time period?
3. Can we account for a reported rise in EIDs by assuming that it is simply that more disease outbreaks are being reported?
4. What was probably responsible for the large number of emerging infectious diseases recognized in the 1980s?
5. What factors do the authors list as significant in driving increases in EID events? Provide a disease example that illustrates each of these factors.
6. The authors point out that there is usually reported to be a latitudinal gradient in pathogens (in other words, we find more pathogens as we get towards the warm, wet conditions near the Equator). However, their results suggest that EID outbreaks are more common at higher latitudes. How do they explain this apparent anomaly?
7. What recommendations do the authors have for improving surveillance?
8. Look at the maps on page 992.
a. Can you explain where we see most threat from zoonotic pathogens from wildlife?
b. How might people pick up zoonotic pathogens from non-wildlife sources?
c. Where is drug-resistance developing most rapidly? Why?
d. Where do we see most activity related to vector-borne disease? Why?
Discussion Questions
1. Have disease outbreaks been increasing in frequency recently?
2. What is ‘reporting bias'? Can we explain recent changes in EID outbreak frequency with reporting bias?
3. What factors do the two articles list as drivers of changes in the frequency of EID outbreaks?
4. How are emerging infectious diseases a "hidden cost of human economic development" (Jones et al. p.991)?