http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/health/Bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis) is a bacterium that lives in the blood of some rodents. Each year, approximately ten to twenty Americans catch it. One to three of these people die. Today, most cases of plague are located at the meeting place of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado; also known as Four Corners. This is caused mostly in rodent-infested housing, where victims in most cases live.
Ferrets and prairie dogs are hosts to this bacterium, and when fleas infesting these animals travel closer to humans, it is passed off. Examples of this passing are when fleas transfer the disease to mice, squirrels, or rats, who somewhat interact with pets, that give it to humans.
Although global warming may seem harmful, and in no way beneficial, it could be helping us with this problem. It's possible that global warming is reducing the amount of bubonic plague in the US. Higher temperatures show less cases of plague, for multiple reasons. Warmer weather causes snow to melt, which leads to drier soil in rodent burrows. Fleas die when the soil becomes too dry.
Even with higher temperatures, it is still possible for new outbreaks of the disease, as closeness to infected animals increases. Despite this, antibiotics can be used to cure it when caught early enough.
Opinion: I think that we need to keep a very close eye on this disease, and the many factors to it. It is definitely good that global warming is helping the problem, but even that causes more issues on other topics. It is very necessary to wash hands often, especially after touching animals (even your pets!). Ridding of flea infested rodents in highly populated areas is also a good idea. I'm also confident that more research will be done on the disease, and antibiotics (and cures) will be improved. I for one hope that more will be done about bubonic plague, because I do not want to catch it!
Questions:
What else do you think can be done about bubonic plague to benefit humans?
Do you think that global warming is really helping to rid of the bacterium? Or is it just coincidence?
What other information do you know about the topic? Any other sites?
This article was very interesting and informative. With respect to global warming and whether it is helping to hinder the incidence of Bubonic Plague or just coincidence, the best way to find out for sure is more scientific research. It seems to me that there is a direct link to the hinderance of the disease. Perhaps scientists can do more time sensitive and specific testing in this area.
ReplyDeleteAs far as what can be done to benefit humans, awareness, education and new developments associated with the disease are most important.
Since the Four Corners area is a focus, the community there should rally around keeping residents informed. Perhaps local Pet Adoption Centers and Veterinarians could have information filled pamphlets for their customers with detailed facts about the spread and prevention of Bubonic Plague.
I read a health article (US National Library of Medicne :Plague) on the topic that says if treament is not sought within 24 hrs., death may be unavoidable. This is a strong statment that shows that information, prevention, treatment and scientific research needs to continue if the US wants to seriously hinder the
presence of Bubonic Plague.
Ok, I'm going to be honest, I really don't care about Bubonic Plague. It is mostly located in Four corners, and the odd of me catching it is .0000065% so basicly about 1 in 65,000,000 people get it per year in the U.S., so the odds of me getting it or anyone i know getting it are slim to none. I really dont think 3-7 people dying a year because of this is really that big of a problem. I think we need to focus on other more important causes like finding a cure for cancer which kills about 7.6 million people a year which is much worse than 3-7. My answer to question 2 is this, I think global warming may be a part of it, but I thinks its really more of a coincidence. My opinion right now is that we should leave it be and focus our efforts on something more important.
ReplyDeleteEven though the animal articles were very interesting, this is by far the most interesting and surprising. What surprises me most is that global warming is actually helping reduce something that is causing a problem in the United States. I never would have thought that global warming, one of the most controversial topics in the world, would be beneficial in any way. #1: I believe that people should be aware of this problem if they want to avoid Bubonic Plague or assist in further awareness for others. #2: I honestly do believe that global warming is helping with the riddance of Bubonic Plague. Here is an interesting site I found on this topic: http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, hats off to Nicole for putting a little variety into our blog. (But that doesn’t mean that you should go back to endangered species Ben)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I was surprised to hear that the Bubonic Plague is still alive after its massive epidemic in Europe in the 14th century. I was also shocked to see that it killed so rapidly (2 in 3 americans who get it and don’t treat it die within a week). But I have to disagree with Nicole because even though it is a very lethal disease, it only affects 20 americans out of 300 million. Considering that, I think keeping a very close watch on the disease would be a little over the top but people should still take precautions. Just simple ones like getting your pet checked regularly and making sure that your pet doesn’t wander to anywhere it shouldn’t be. Unlike what Ben thinks, we shouldn’t completely ignore but like Ben said, the odds are getting it are so farfetched that a lot of monitoring would be superfluous.
I agree with Ben and think that global warming decreasing its infection frequency is a little bit of a coincidence. I also have to disagree with Nicole a little bit because in my opinion, global warming would lead to the snow melting more rapidly which in turn would deposit a large level of moisture throughout a shorter period of time.
As far as the bubonic plague goes I know a little bit about it. It is most famous for its epidemic in the 1300s in Europe when it killed 25 million Europeans, in greek it means “swollen glands” and some symptoms include chills, high fever, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, and even seizures. Now, I got all of my information on Wikipedia.com so it can be a little dicey but for the most part I think it was helpful for bubonic plague info.