Biodiversity and Human Health: ERIDs

Field researcher inspects a deer mouse for signs of hantavirus

EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

"When a species increases inordinately in numbers in a small tract, epidemics often ensue; and here we have a limiting check independent of the struggle for life."

Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species

Environmental disruptions and lack of appropriate planning for human population growth around the world are leading to the emergence of new diseases, such as West Nile Fever, Ebola and Hantavirus, as well as the re-emergence of previously contained diseases, such as tuberculosis and measles.

Many people in urban areas may wonder how problems with the health of wildlife and natural habitats could possibly impact them in the city -- in fact, there is a very real link.

Stewart Mitchell's article, Urban Biomes – An Ecological Niche For Potential Hantavirus Vectors, discusses how urban ecosystems can inadvertently foster the expansion of ranges for disease-carrying organisms, such as the deer mouse vector of hantavirus.

In the news:

Australians face a rising threat from parasitic diseases. 02/12/02. Australians are increasingly threatened by parasitic diseases such as malaria, and the country's ability to respond to fresh outbreaks is declining, according to the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS).
Possible vaccine found for West Nile virus. 10/30/01
West Nile virus strikes Florida horses. 07/24/01

The Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal online, from the CDC.

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