BIO-245X
Noah Delaney-Manuel
7/5/18
Artifact 1: Appearance of plagues
In history, sicknesses were spread the best in crowds of people. But what happens when people settle to one area more permanently? With the dependence of animals and other goods that aren’t always from that region, people needed to have connections with people from other regions of the world. Along with the bringing in of unknown animals and goods, another scary good traveled wherever people went, disease. Unlike when people were in hunter-gatherer societies, people who lived in the cities around the time The Black Death was around were exposed to filth from animals and even human waste. Although hunter-gatherer societies had their share of infections like intestinal worms, lice, and other sicknesses, there was never truly a group sickness. When people domesticated animals, the animals tended to live in the homes of people and shared water supply with the people. Not only did this allow bacteria flow between people and their animals, but this also attracted rats, mosquitos, ticks, and fleas. A big factor on disease being so strong in these times was because there was no system of waste disposal. With all this waste sitting around, it opened the door for pathogens to make their homes closer to people, and eventually in people. Many of the diseases that became deadly to humans originated from animal diseases: TB, Malaria, plague, Smallpox, Measles, Influenza. Farmlands also created suitable homes for insects to make nests, also exposing humans more to parasites and bacteria.
Today, our scientists and health officials have a new approach on infectious diseases called “One Health”. One Health focuses on linkages between humans, animals, and our environmental health. One major reason for the study of the linkage of people and animals today is because 60% of all human diseases currently and 75% of all emerging diseases come from or through animals. Some of these diseases which are transmitted to humans are extremely deadly. One of those deadly diseases recently broke out in the continent of Africa, stemming from bats and spreading like wild fire through western Africa in 2004, an approximated 28,652 cases arose. Out of those cases, 11,325 deaths happened. Now, one might say how is it possible for that many people to die from a disease in the time we are in medically. Part of the issue of finding cures for diseases in today’s society has to do with funding for research for these cures. Most of the regions where these diseases spread so easily are very poor and rural regions, where “Bush meat” is a staple in diets of all of their people. Bush meat is a dangerous thing to eat because these animals live in the wild and are exposed to more than domesticated animals are when it comes to diet. When these people consume this meat, bacteria are much more present than it is with domesticated animals. Although domesticated animals are much safer to eat, it is not risk free. Depending on how these meats are cooked, can sometimes spread diseases at the same rate as bush meat. E. Coli is spread through beef and has affected many people in the U.S. Another sickness that arises from incorrect cooking of meats, salmonella affects people from the undercooking of chicken. Despite the technology we have today, there is still many risks for anyone at any time to become infected with a multitude of diseases.
Help Received: Power point slides
Noah Delaney-Manuel