Forum 2- Katlyn Jones

Forum 2- Katlyn Jones

by Deleted user -
Number of replies: 3

My favorite chapter so far has been chapter 2, Thirteen Gorillas. This has been the most interesting chapter to me. Ebola is such a big topic and caused such a scare at one point and time. I remember hearing about it on the news when I was little how they had a case in Atlanta. That was a scary thing to hear about because we didn't really know much about it at time except that it was deadly.Watching the videos in class really gave me more of an understanding of how serious Ebola really was.

The idea that most of our modern disease epidemics are occurring as a result of human encroachment on the natural ecological boundaries of the animal kingdom has been something that has stuck with me. It puts into perspective how we can often get in the way of things and make them worse without even realizing it. As researchers went searching into these animals’ habits and started testing various animals like different bird species, small mammals like rodents, and bats they learned that the Ebola virus species was found in three different bat species. One of them being the hammer-headed bat, which is the largest bat in Africa that humans hunt for food. If humans are hunting these animals and eating them not knowing that they’re infectious, that is how spillovers happen (Quammen, 115-116). Ebola spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact with someone who is ill and has blood or body fluids on them (who.int).  This is how once one human catches it can start rapidly spreading among humans.

This chapter also taught me the meaning of zoonosis. It’s bizarre to think that a little fruit bat could be the cause of deadly Ebola but it’s the truth. It gives various more examples in the book of different spillovers happening from the animals to humans. We as humans are connected to animals in such a fascinating way so in some cases it can be dangerous for us.

“Ebola Virus Disease.” World Health Organization, 30 May 2019, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ebola-virus-disease.

 Quammen, David. Spillover. The Bodley Head Ltd., 2012.


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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Forum 2- Katlyn Jones

by Deleted user -
I totally agree with you Katlyn about when it first was heard of in the U.S. we were pretty young, and it was a scary thing to think about. I think that the videos were really eye opening as well. When you live in a country with so much to offer and takes precautions when things like Ebola comes around, it is extremely obvious how privileged we are, especially compared to the people in the videos in Africa. But with this privilege comes responsibility and some people take advantage of the role we have as humans. The boundaries of the animal kingdom and the affect we have on it is something that has stuck with me as well. You explained just how easily the virus can be spread and this is such a dangerous disease for that very reason. Zoonosis was a new term for me too and it was so interesting to learn from this specific chapter. And as you said, we are connected to animals in several ways and it can definitely be dangerous for us specifically when we intrude in the natural ecology of the wrong animals.

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In reply to Deleted user

Re: Forum 2- Katlyn Jones

by Connor West -
I lived in Atlanta when there was rumor of there being cases of Ebola in Atlanta. I didn't know much about the disease at the time, but it was scary that such an infectious disease from Africa made it all the way to the U.S. It is bizarre too that fruit bats were the cause of Ebola. It makes you think how easily a disease like Ebola could start in the U.S. because we have millions of bats and they could easily transit their diseases to animals we eat. Also, I do agree with the fact that humans need to stop intruding on the ecosystems of wild animals because that is a big component of the world today starting epidemics.

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Re: Forum 2- Katlyn Jones

by Jonah Dennis -
Katlyn, I find it crazy too how a small little critter can infect people with all sorts of diseases of different kinds like viruses, bacteria, prions, parasites, and more. The concept of zoonosis is definitely bizarre especially when the potential resivoir is something tiny like a mosquito or a tsetse fly which only gets to be the size of a fingernail and has the potential to infect you with diseases capable of killing us. The role of humans in the environment has become larger in recent decades and the reading in this class has prompted me to also realize how humans being at the top of the food pyramid really places us at a higher risk of contracting diseases through what we eat.

Tsetse fly Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2020, from http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/tsetse_fly_facts/1250/

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