Chapter three has been one of my favorites so far. This is mainly due to the incorporation of ecology by showing how if the malaria parasite is in multiple sources especially, monkeys, will mean the complete eradication of malaria is almost impossible. I find the naming of the topic "Everything Comes from Somewhere." complementary to the overall message of the chapter in terms of human encroachment being a key factor in the production of the zoonotic diseases as the more humans push into new areas that were uninhabited the higher danger of becoming the first person to contract a new dangerous disease. This reflects on the topic of human encroachment of natural habitats due to urbanization as a key cause of both the amount of epidemics as well as the size of the epidemics themselves. The concept of urbanization is discussed by Quammen not just in chapter three but throughout the book in the examples of both Ebola spreading to villages from the consumption of game meat and then between individuals, and Q-Fever where goat farming conditions led to the pathogen becoming concentrated and airborne. Both of which outbreaks are either amplified by urban locations or caused by the presence of humans in previously wild areas and contracted by human consumption of wild game. This issue of ecology in the role of disease spreading has not greatly altered my worldview but rather introduced me to new cautions one should undertake especially the danger of airborne diseases and the danger of super spreaders in terms of magnifying the damaging abilities of a pathogen. The topic has not greatly changed the way I will act in terms of avoiding infectious diseases except shown me the importance of following sanitation procedures in contaminated areas as well as how to limit the spread of diseases like when my friend is sick to be sure to clean anything they may have touched of mine as well as to watch out for being in close proximity with sick people who are not doing things like covering their cough or sneeze.
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Hi Jonah,
I think it is really interesting that your favorite chapter was the one on malaria, as that was actually my least favorite chapter from this section. I think I didn't like it because of all the math, as I found the story so interesting, but math just really is not an area I enjoy reading about.
I think your point about the eradication of malaria being nearly impossible is a good point to make, especially in the context of this class, where we are learning about diseases that spillover from animals to us. However, we have seen examples in the book about people trying to wipe out animals as a way to control the spread of disease (civets in China, deer in the Northeastern USA, dairy goats in the Netherlands) and some of them have worked. Why do you think eliminating mosquitoes in Asia didn't work the same way as killing all the civets in China?
I think it is really interesting that your favorite chapter was the one on malaria, as that was actually my least favorite chapter from this section. I think I didn't like it because of all the math, as I found the story so interesting, but math just really is not an area I enjoy reading about.
I think your point about the eradication of malaria being nearly impossible is a good point to make, especially in the context of this class, where we are learning about diseases that spillover from animals to us. However, we have seen examples in the book about people trying to wipe out animals as a way to control the spread of disease (civets in China, deer in the Northeastern USA, dairy goats in the Netherlands) and some of them have worked. Why do you think eliminating mosquitoes in Asia didn't work the same way as killing all the civets in China?
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