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The Geography of Disease Transmission

A. Townsend Peterson, Jorge Soberón, Richard G. Pearson, Robert P. Anderson, Enrique Martínez-Meyer, Miguel Nakamura, and Miguel Bastos Araújo

in Ecological Niches and Geographic Distributions (MPB-49)

This chapter discusses various applications of ecological niche modeling in the study of the geography and ecology of disease transmission. Niche modeling approaches have many applications in the ... More

This chapter discusses various applications of ecological niche modeling in the study of the geography and ecology of disease transmission. Niche modeling approaches have many applications in the field of public health and epidemiology. Among the most common spatial epidemiological applications are mapping geographic patterns of disease transmission risk, identification of risk factors, and assessment of populations at risk of infection. The chapter describes a number of applications of ecological niche modeling in the realm of disease transmission, such as characterizing disease ecology, disease distributions and risk mapping, and potential distributions of pathogens or other individual component species in transmission systems, as well as forecasting disease transmission patterns in the face of ongoing global climate change. It also reviews practical considerations to keep in mind when exploring such applications and outlines some caveats, limitations, and challenges involved. Finally, it suggests future directions for research.Less

HUMAN COMMENSALISM AND PEST MANAGEMENT

Ted R. Anderson

in Biology of the Ubiquitous House Sparrow: From Genes to Populations

The status of the House Sparrow as a human commensal is discussed, including both its role as a pest and its positive impacts on humans. Methods of pest management are described and evaluated. The ... More

The status of the House Sparrow as a human commensal is discussed, including both its role as a pest and its positive impacts on humans. Methods of pest management are described and evaluated. The role of the species in disease transmission to humans or their domesticated animals is also discussed.Less

The Ecology of Exotic Birds in Novel Locations

Tim M. Blackburn, Julie L. Lockwood, and Phillip Cassey

in Avian Invasions: The Ecology and Evolution of Exotic Birds

This chapter considers how exotic birds interact with native species, and how they serve to re-shape global biodiversity patterns. Both exotic and native species are distributed unevenly across the ... More

This chapter considers how exotic birds interact with native species, and how they serve to re-shape global biodiversity patterns. Both exotic and native species are distributed unevenly across the environment, such that some areas house more species, and other areas house fewer. The origins of these distributions for exotic and native bird species are undoubtedly very different, yet they share several common features, such as species-area relationships on islands, and latitudinal gradients. The chapter examines whether the same processes produce the same patterns in each set of species, and what this says about the causes of distribution patterns in native species, and also in exotics. It then considers the associations that exotic species forge in their recipient communities through their biotic interactions with native species, including native birds.Less

Communicable Disease and Control

Emily Ying Yang Chan

in Essentials for Health Protection: Four Key Components

Control of communicable diseases is one of the core components in health protection practice. This chapter describes key concepts and principles related to communicable diseases and their management. ... More

Control of communicable diseases is one of the core components in health protection practice. This chapter describes key concepts and principles related to communicable diseases and their management. According to World Health Organization, the number of deaths due to communicable diseases reduced from 12.1 million in 2000 to 9.5 million in 2012. However, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and neglected tropical diseases remain the major health challenges for the global community. Moreover, new emergent and re-emerging diseases constantly present new health risks. For the coming decades, globalization, changing behavioural patterns, lifestyle, and technological outcomes will pose major challenge to communicable disease control and management. The increasingly urbanized lifestyle and high-density-based living will also render most city-based communities vulnerable to living environmental pressure and communicable disease risks. Effectiveness and success in future communicable disease control rely on global coordination and cooperation.Less

Should We Criminalize HIV Transmission?

Rebecca Bennett

in The Criminal Justice System and Health Care

This chapter analyses the criminalization of disease transmission by considering whether the convictions we have witnessed, since 2003, for reckless transmission of HIV during consensual sexual ... More

This chapter analyses the criminalization of disease transmission by considering whether the convictions we have witnessed, since 2003, for reckless transmission of HIV during consensual sexual intercourse constitute an appropriate legal response. Judgments in rulings in 1998 establish a legal duty upon HIV-positive persons to disclose their HIV-status before engaging in activities which are considered to pose a high risk of transmission of the virus. It is argued that while reduction of the incidence of HIV transmission is a clear public health goal, the threat of prosecution will not necessarily lead to a reduction in risky behaviour, and criminalization actually runs the risk of being counterproductive in this area. The retributive aim of criminalization is then scrutinized. It is concluded that attempts to quantify the level of moral wrong in each case is fraught with difficulty, and often inappropriate, and that the criminalization of reckless sexual transmission of HIV should be resisted.Less

Compensation and the Victims of Constraint

Margaret P. Battin, Leslie P. Francis, Jay A. Jacobson, and Charles B. Smith

in The Patient as Victim and Vector: Ethics and Infectious Disease

When pandemic constraints are imposed, some people will suffer losses, people who might not otherwise have done so. The economic losses of facilities that are used in pandemic emergencies have been ... More

When pandemic constraints are imposed, some people will suffer losses, people who might not otherwise have done so. The economic losses of facilities that are used in pandemic emergencies have been addressed by other chapters; this chapter considers losses faced by individuals who are required to stay at home to avoid disease transmission. It argues that the costs they bear result from social choices that are aimed to benefit everyone by reducing the risks of disease transmission. In such cases, reciprocity requires compensation to the extent possible, for losses such as wages, exacerbation of disease conditions, or exposure to the risks of disease from activities such as home care for ill family members who cannot be accommodated in overwhelmed health care facilities.Less

Epidemic Puerperal Fever in Towns

Irvine Loudon

in The Tragedy of Childbed Fever

This chapter examines the puerperal fever epidemic in English towns during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Town epidemics seem to have escaped the attention of historians. They were terrible ... More

This chapter examines the puerperal fever epidemic in English towns during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Town epidemics seem to have escaped the attention of historians. They were terrible outbreaks that arrived suddenly and without warning. Puerperal fever epidemics often began in winter or early spring and they were usually preceded by an outbreak of sepsis in various forms, including erysipelas. Some of the notable features of these epidemics include high fatality rate, frequent tendency to be limited to the patients of one or two medical practitioners of midwives, and the transmission of the disease to mothers by birth attendants.Less

. Discrimination and Its Discontents: Protecting the Victims

Peter Baldwin

in Disease and Democracy: The Industrialized World Faces AIDS

This chapter discusses the forms of discrimination of AIDS patients and HIV infection high-risk groups in different developed countries, including the ways these countries are dealing with this ... More

This chapter discusses the forms of discrimination of AIDS patients and HIV infection high-risk groups in different developed countries, including the ways these countries are dealing with this issue. Western nations differed significantly in how they countered discrimination against the infected. Attitudes toward AIDS victims varied in tandem with the legal protection offered the handicapped, women, and ethnic and other minorities in the legal systems considered here. In the United States, the issue of discrimination against the victims of HIV was incorporated as part of broader protections for the handicapped. This chapter also discusses the regulations imposed by industrialized countries on prostitution as this is a possible area for the transmission of HIV/AIDS. The issues related to HIV/AIDS among medical personnel and prisoners, as well as aspects regarding insurance coverage and marriage are also discussed.Less

Male Circumcision in the AIDS Era: New Relevance of an Old Topic

Judith E. Brown

in AIDS, Culture, and Africa

This chapter examines the importance of the current research by anthropologists on male circumcision as a possible HIV intervention in Africa. It explains that modern biomedical evidence is growing ... More

This chapter examines the importance of the current research by anthropologists on male circumcision as a possible HIV intervention in Africa. It explains that modern biomedical evidence is growing that male circumcision offers partial protection against the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). It evaluates whether make circumcision should be offered as a measure to lower the probability of disease transmission and whether it should be offered even in societies that never practiced it.Less

Estimators of R0 derived from mechanistic models

Odo Diekmann, Hans Heesterbeek, and Tom Britton

in Mathematical Tools for Understanding Infectious Disease Dynamics

This chapter presents a selection of methods to estimate a value of the basic reproduction number R₀ from a variety of available data. The estimation of R₀ is important, as these play a major role, ... More

This chapter presents a selection of methods to estimate a value of the basic reproduction number R₀ from a variety of available data. The estimation of R₀ is important, as these play a major role, for example, in gauging outbreak potential, and in public health decisions on prevention and control effort. The chapter focuses on three topics: (i) generalizing estimators presented earlier in the book based on final-size epidemic data or age-structured endemic data; (ii) controlled (transmission) experiments performed to estimate transmission potential and duration of infectivity; and (iii) the infectious agent is emerging, either for the first time or for the first time in a particular host population, so very little is known and outbreak data are becoming available “in real time,” as the epidemic progresses.Less

. The Polymorphous Politics of Prevention

Peter Baldwin

in Disease and Democracy: The Industrialized World Faces AIDS

This chapter discusses the similarities and differences in the approach that developed countries employed in the control and prevention of HIV/AIDS. It provides an account of the laws and restrictive ... More

This chapter discusses the similarities and differences in the approach that developed countries employed in the control and prevention of HIV/AIDS. It provides an account of the laws and restrictive measures present in these countries to conduct epidemiological surveillance of HIV/AIDS, and penalize irresponsible behavior among HIV/AIDS patients. This chapter also discusses the civil rights aspects of these public health measures regarding HIV/AIDS control and the evolution of these public health measures to becoming more democratic and voluntary.Less

The impacts of urbanization on avian disease transmission and emergence

Lynn B. Martin and Martyna Boruta

in Avian Urban Ecology

This chapter examines avian disease transmission and emergence in cities. It first summarizes the relevant literature then integrates it with ideas derived from the fields of disease ecology and ... More

This chapter examines avian disease transmission and emergence in cities. It first summarizes the relevant literature then integrates it with ideas derived from the fields of disease ecology and ecological immunology. This approach provides conceptual unification and direction to an area that is simply too young to warrant synthesis. The chapter argues that among all the factors that impact avian disease in cities, perhaps the most controllable is human provisioning of resources. Although landfills, restaurants, food processing sites, and farms can impact avian disease cycles (and epizootic risk), the maintenance and use of bird feeders might be the one that, if modified, could rapidly and significantly affect urban health.Less

The epidemic in a closed population

Odo Diekmann, Hans Heesterbeek, and Tom Britton

in Mathematical Tools for Understanding Infectious Disease Dynamics

This chapter discusses the case of an epidemic in a closed population. “Closed” means that demographic turnover, emigration, and immigration are not considered. The following questions may be asked: ... More

This chapter discusses the case of an epidemic in a closed population. “Closed” means that demographic turnover, emigration, and immigration are not considered. The following questions may be asked: Does this cause an epidemic? If so, at what rate does the number of infected hosts increase during the rise of the epidemic? What proportion of the population will ultimately have experienced infection? We assume that we are dealing with microparasites, which are characterized by the fact that a single infection triggers an autonomous process in the host. We further assume that this process results in either death or lifelong immunity, so that no individual can be infected twice. In order to answer these questions, we first have to formulate assumptions about transmission. It is then helpful to follow a three-step procedure: model the contact process; model the mixing of susceptible and infective (i.e., infectious) individuals; and specify the probability that a contact between an infective and a susceptible actually leads to transmission.Less

Pathological Landscape: Epidemiology and the Medical Geography of Malaria in Palestine

in Healing the Land and the Nation: Malaria and the Zionist Project in Palestine, 1920-1947

This chapter examines the historical epidemiology and medical geography of malaria in Palestine. It explains that the country possessed topographical and climatological features that contributed to ... More

This chapter examines the historical epidemiology and medical geography of malaria in Palestine. It explains that the country possessed topographical and climatological features that contributed to the disease's transmission. The chapter discusses disease etiology and the different rate of infection and mortality between the Jewish and Palestinian communities. It also argues that the interaction of humans and the environment in constructing and reconstructing the landscape of Palestine certainly effected change but did not rid the country of the disease entirely.Less

Is the gift a good one?

Richard M. Titmuss

in The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

This chapter addresses the quality of the gift of blood. The transfusion and use of whole blood and certain blood products carries with it the risk of transmitting disease, particularly serum ... More

This chapter addresses the quality of the gift of blood. The transfusion and use of whole blood and certain blood products carries with it the risk of transmitting disease, particularly serum hepatitis, malaria, syphilis, and brucellosis. Not only are there risks in infected blood and plasma, but there are also risks in the use of contaminated needles and apparatus in the collection and transfusion processes. The absence of a scientific check on quality and safety means that the subsequent biological condition of those who receive blood constitutes the ultimate test of whether the virus was present in the donation. However, few patients know that their bodies perform this role. In these situations of consumer ignorance and uncertainty, as in many others in the whole field of medical care, the patient has to trust the medical profession and the organised system of medical care.Less

The concept of state

Odo Diekmann, Hans Heesterbeek, and Tom Britton

in Mathematical Tools for Understanding Infectious Disease Dynamics

This chapter considers the case of individuals who differ from each other with respect to traits that are relevant for the transmission of an infectious agent. How do we describe the spread of the ... More

This chapter considers the case of individuals who differ from each other with respect to traits that are relevant for the transmission of an infectious agent. How do we describe the spread of the agent? How do we quantify the infectivity? What happens in the initial phase? Can we characterize the final size? Examples of the “traits” we have in mind are age, sex, sexual activity level, sexual disposition, and spatial position. So a trait may be static or dynamic, it may be discrete or continuous. Traits are considered as i-states, where “i” means “individual” and where “state” signifies that the current value together with the environmental input in the intervening period completely determines future behavior. The heterogeneity of individuals is classified in terms of a component, h-state, of their i-state, while the other component, d-state, summarizes all relevant information about output of infectious material.Less

the Gift of Life: Blood, Organs, and Viruses

in Law in Crisis: The Ecstatic Subject of Natural Disaster

This chapter is about giving blood, about donating organs, and about spreading disease during and after earthquakes. More particularly, it is about the legal and political narrative of this ... More

This chapter is about giving blood, about donating organs, and about spreading disease during and after earthquakes. More particularly, it is about the legal and political narrative of this postcrisis rearrangement of what has been called “living matter.” Throughout, it argues that when law is called upon to regulate the transfusion of blood, the transplant of organs, and the transmission of disease, the subject of this law is—quite concretely—in ecstasy and off-center. The subject is dismembered Mary Schloendorff. The disaster becomes intelligible when its legal and political subjects are quite physically beside themselves.Less

Evolved Attitudes to Animals

T.J. Kasperbauer

in Subhuman: The Moral Psychology of Human Attitudes to Animals

This chapter looks at how our attitudes to animals have been shaped by different roles animals played in our evolutionary history. It reviews research on attitudes toward animals across cultures and ... More

This chapter looks at how our attitudes to animals have been shaped by different roles animals played in our evolutionary history. It reviews research on attitudes toward animals across cultures and among very young children. The main argument of the chapter is that we primarily inherited antagonistic attitudes toward animals from our evolutionary forebears. Antagonistic and aversive reactions to animals are discussed within the context of predator–prey relationships and disease avoidance. Positive attitudes to animals are also accounted for by looking at the evolution of pet-keeping and caring for animals. Attitudes toward animals among groups of indigenous people are considered in order to test the validity of the evolutionary account presented in the chapter.Less