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?