posted
The November 14 issue of Newsweek has an article entitled "Tracking Disease" that discusses why changes in the environment have caused the increase in Lyme disease in humans.
Here are some (paraphrased) excerpts:
Protection of the environment often seems like a low-priority issue when stacked up against more immediate concerns. But a healthy environment is no mere luxury...it is a prerequisite for human health.
Researchers at the Wildlife Trust have spearheaded the development of "conservation medicine" - a scientific exploration of the links betweteen the health of humans, wilfdlife and ecosystems.
It is an approach that evolved from the recognition of a crisis - namely, unprecedented levels of disease, driven by human-induced environmental degradation.
Since the mid-1970's, more than 30 new diseases have emerged, including AIDS, Ebola, Lyme disease and SARS. Most of these are believed to have moved from wildlife to human populations.
Damaged ecosystems - characterized by toxins, degradation of habitat, removal of species and climate change - create conditions for pathogens to move in ways they wouldn't normally move.
Lyme disease is a good example. The bacterium in tick saliva that causes Lyme disease has been around a very long time. But only recently has it emerged as a cause of disease in humans.
That's because forests have been choppped up into suburbs. White-footed mice are happy living in little clusters of rhododendrons in the suburbs, so they proliferate. But they also carry Lyme disease which passes from mice to the ticks that suck their blood.
In a healhty forest, there would be many more species for the ticks to feed on, including chipmunks, weasels and foxes, which are generally poor reservoirs for Lyme disesae. These species also prey on mice, reducing their numbers.
It's a situation where wildlife disease has moved into the human sphere. We're increasingly substituting ourselves and our livestock for the animals that would be the natural reservoirs of disease-causing agents.
Ann-OH
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2020
posted
Thanks so muchfor this article. It is a very good explanation of how the changes in environment make it easy for opportunistic diseases to get transmitted to people.
One comment: The coyotes that are moving into suburban areas may actually be of benefit to us as one of their prime food sources is mice. On the other hand, it hasn't been proven whether they can or cannot get Lyme disease. I think, like many other wild animals, they are immune.
One last thing. Maybe we should study the blood of all wild animals that do not get Lyme disease when bitten - Lizards included. Maybe there is a factor or something that could be helpful in developing a vaccine.
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