A wise endocrinologist once told me in so many words, “All you people with marginalized diseases or illness without known causes are fighting for the same charity or research dollar. What you need to do is to form coalitions. You have mutual interests and should be cooperating.”
We all have a vested interest in protecting the environment and living in and with a healthy ecology. Nowhere does this become more clear than in the realm of vector and tick-born diseases.
“The term ‘climate change’ conjures images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and nations. But just as important is how increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation levels will change the distribution of dangerous pathogens. The health of wild animals is tightly linked to the ecosystems in which they live and influenced by the environment surrounding them. Even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases they might encounter and transmit as climate changes.”
Dr. Steven E. Sanderson
President and CEO of the
Wildlife Conservation Society
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month
Lyme is the most prevalent vector-borne disease and one of the fastest spreading diseases throughout the United States, and the subjects of diagnosis and treatment of Lyme are politically-charged.
This series of diaries is designed to provide information to the Daily Kos community both for Lyme disease prevention and for those Kossacks living with Lyme. Because the disease is often missed by physicians, these diaries may assist an individual or two in pursuing testing which might otherwise have been missed.
The Lyme Disease Awareness series is eclectic, including personal statements, informational pieces about the science of Lyme, and calls to action for community and political advocacy.
We hope you'll all join us all month in learning about this rampant disease and the medical/financial/political morass in which Lyme patients find themselves.
Whether or not you are a member of this group, it appears you will need to FOLLOW in order to have the diaries show up in your stream. We invite you to join and follow us.
THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY REPORT
In 2008 the Wildlife Conservation Society issued a report titled The Deadly Dozen. It was clear that some of the twelve diseases named were not just about animal health.
Two diseases in particular that we are interested in this month are..
BABESIOSIS
Babesia species are examples of tick-borne diseases that affect domestic animals and wildlife, and Babesiosis is an emerging disease in humans. In some instances, Babesia may not always cause severe problems by themselves but when infections are severe due to large numbers of ticks, the host becomes more susceptible to other infectious diseases. This has been seen in large die-offs of lions in East Africa due to canine distemper. Climate factors fostered heavy infestations of ticks on wild buffalo and subsequent spill-over infection of lions. The lions then became more susceptible to infections with the distemper virus. In Europe and North America, the disease is becoming more common in humans, also linked with tick distributions. Diseases that have previously been thought to have limited impact, such as babesiosis, must be watched closely in a changing climate to assess how environmental conditions may tip the scale and cause more significant impacts on ecosystems, animals, and people.
LYME DISEASE
This disease is caused by a bacterium and is transmitted to humans through tick bites. Tick distributions will shift as a result of climate change, bringing Lyme disease into new regions to infect more animals and people. Although effects of the disease on wildlife have not been documented, human-induced changes in the environment and on population patterns of species such as white-tailed deer that can carry infective ticks greatly affect the distribution of this disease. Monitoring of tick distributions will be necessary to assess the impacts of climate change on this disease.
The report was deemed important enough to be released to many news and science organizations. The findings were carried world wide in many prestigious magazines journals and agencies.
Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Said...
The "Deadly Dozen" list—including such diseases as avian influenza, Ebola, cholera, and tuberculosis—is illustrative only of the broad range of infectious diseases that threaten humans and animals. It builds upon the recommendations included in a recently published paper titled "Wildlife Health as an Indicator of Climate Change," which appears in a newly released book, Global Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events: Understanding the Contributions to Infectious Disease Emergence, published by the National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine. The study examines the nuts and bolts of deleterious impacts of climate change on the health of wild animals and the cascading effects on human populations.
The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/...
Said...
Among the trials that have already proved the success of the idea is a network of hunters and other locals who use the forests of the Republic of Congo. By reporting on sightings of gorillas and chimpanzees that have died from outbreaks of Ebola they have prevented any human outbreaks of the deadly disease in northern parts of the country for three years.
Good Housekeeping/ The Daily Green
http://www.thedailygreen.com/...
The Deadly Dozen: 12 Diseases Global Warming Incubates
From Lyme Disease to Ebola Virus, The World Is Getting Sicker
Said...
The group has been at the forefront of a movement to understand how environmental change affects human health, and they’ve credibly demonstrated many ways in which changes to the landscape -- not only due to climate change -- foster ecological changes that breed disease. The group’s focus is wildlife monitoring to predict the ecological changes that precede outbreaks, in order to better understand and prevent human illness.
Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/...
Deadly by the Dozen: 12 Diseases Climate Change May Worsen
The Wildlife Conservation Society has identified some of the illnesses that global warming may exacerbate
Said...
Bird flu, cholera, Ebola, plague and tuberculosis are just a few of the diseases likely to spread and get worse as a result of climate change, according to a report released yesterday by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). To prevent such ailments from becoming as destructive as the "black death" (which wiped out a third of Europe's population in the 14th century) or the flu pandemic of 1918 (which killed an estimated 20 million to 40 million people worldwide, including between 500,000 and 675,000 people in the U.S.), WCS suggests monitoring wildlife to detect signs of these pathogens before a major outbreak.
National Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...
"Deadly Dozen" Diseases Could Stem From Global Warming
Said...
A spike in deadly infectious diseases in wildlife and people may be the "most immediate consequence" of global warming, according to a new report released today.
Dubbed the "deadly dozen," sicknesses such as Lyme disease, yellow fever, plague, and avian influenza, or bird flu, may skyrocket as global shifts in temperature and precipitation transform ecosystems.
Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
Climate change and the threat of deadly dozen
Harshal T. Pandve, Kevin Fernandez, Samir A. Singru, and P. S. Chawla
Said...
To conclude, as per the findings of such reports, climate change already contributes to the global burden of disease and this contribution is expected to grow in the future. Emerging infectious diseases are a major threat to the health and economic stability of the world. As per the report, monitoring of wildlife health provides us with a sensitive and quantitative means of detecting changes in the environment. The best defense, according to the authors of these reports, is a good offense in the form of wildlife monitoring to detect how these diseases are spreading so that health professionals can learn and prepare to mitigate their impact.[3] It is essential for the health policy planners and administrators to consider climate change as a major public health problem in the near future and plan accordingly.
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/...
Climate change seen aiding spread of deadly diseases
Said...
"Even minor disturbances can have far reaching consequences on what diseases (wild animals) might encounter and transmit as climate changes," said Steven Sanderson, head of the society.
"The term 'climate change' conjures images of melting ice caps and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and nations, but just as important is how increasing temperatures and fluctuating precipitation levels will change the distribution of dangerous pathogens," he said.
Newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/...
The Deadly Dozen
Said...
If you look on the bright side, when you think of the health effects of climate change you probably think of fewer sub-zero spells and, therefore, fewer cold-related illnesses and deaths. Maybe. But in a warmer world, as I wrote last year, poison ivy and ragweed will get more prevalent and more toxic, and tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever will reach toward the poles. Those, it turns out, are only the tip of the (melting) iceberg.
Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/...
Said...
Pathogens that affect wildlife already have destabilized trade and caused financial damage, including an estimated $100 billion in losses to the global economy, said the report released yesterday at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature meeting in Barcelona.
Forest Fragmentation and Environmental Health Results In Spreading Ticks and L. Borreliosis in Tick Vectors Like the White Footed Mouse
The result of creating small islands of 'wild land' causes a reduction of natural predators and a reduction of rodent and mammal diversity. The remaining species can be very competent reservoirs of Borrelia such as the White Footed Mouse. Since ticks have fewer species types to feed on the rate of infected ticks is higher the smaller the land fragment. Without predators, the remaining animals reproduce to fill the area quite densely and carry higher numbers of ticks per individual.
The excerpts of papers below explain this in more detail. I added 'Action' as a header before paragraphs that indicate possible way forward.
1
Climate change and infectious diseases in North America: the road ahead
Canadian Medical Association Journal - Volume 178, Issue 6 (March 2008)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
In North America, other infectious diseases that may expand their ranges because of northern expansion of vector populations include such tick-borne threats as babesiosis, anaplasmoses and Powassan encephalitis in addition to mosquito-borne threats such as dengue. In Europe, the expansion of the range of ticks and other vectors (e.g., sandflies) may increase the incidence and distribution of Lyme disease,[14] boutonneuse fever[15] and leishmaniasis.[16] In Australia, the southern expansion of mosquito ranges is expected to result in an increase in such endemic diseases as Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus and Murray Valley encephalitis.[17] [18]
ACTION
Finally, the importance of animal and environmental reservoirs of disease suggests that interdisciplinary communication between health professionals, veterinarians, environmental scientists, ecologists, geographers and economists seeking to understand climate change will be key to protecting people in North America and worldwide against these threats. Rigorous cross-disciplinary studies using a variety of methodologic tools will enable us to predict the transmission dynamics of diseases under different climate scenarios and estimate the cost-effectiveness of mitigation strategies. The performance of such high-quality research will depend on the extent to which such endeavours are embraced by decision-makers, the research community and funding agencies.
2
Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases: Biocomplexity as an Interdisciplinary Paradigm
http://www.hawaii.edu/...
PDF ALERT
Bruce A. Wilcox1 and Rita R. Colwell2
1Division of Ecology and Health, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology, and Pharmacology, John A. Burns School of Medicine,
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96826
2Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
Abstract: Understanding factors responsible for reemergence of diseases believed to have been controlled and outbreaks of previously unknown infectious diseases is one of the most difficult scientific problems facing society today. Significant knowledge gaps exist for even the most studied emerging infectious diseases. Coupled with failures in the response to the resurgence of infectious diseases, this lack of information is embedded in a simplistic view of pathogens and disconnected from a social and ecological context, and assumes a linear response of pathogens to environmental change. In fact, the natural reservoirs and transmission rates of most emerging infectious diseases primarily are affected by environmental factors, such as seasonality or meteorological events, typically producing nonlinear responses that are inherently unpredictable. A more realistic view of emerging infectious diseases [EID] requires a holistic perspective that incorporates social as well as physical, chemical, and biological dimensions of our planet’s systems. The notion of biocomplexity captures this depth and richness, and most importantly, the interactions of human and natural systems. This article provides a brief review and a synthesis of interdisciplinary approaches and insights employing the biocomplexity paradigm and offers a social–ecological approach for addressing and garnering an improved understanding of emerging infectious diseases. Drawing on findings from studies of cholera and other examples of emerging waterborne, zoonotic, and vectorborne diseases, a ‘‘blueprint’’ for the proposed interdisciplinary research framework is offered which integrates biological processes from the molecular level to that of communities and regional systems, incorporating public health infrastructure and climate aspects.
Connecting Climate Change and the Effects On Human Health
The complexity and uncertainty associated with global climate change and its effect on disease incidence and distribution have proven challenging from both the research and policy standpoints. As a public health issue this can, unfortunately, be misconstrued as suggesting a lack of consensus among experts that the potential human health consequences—though as yet not clearly demonstrated—are of significant concern (Colwell et al., 1998). Uncertainty, due both to an incomplete picture of how climate and pathogens interact as well as the complexity inherent in human–natural systems, has been a major factor. Moreover, few longitudinal disease databases are long enough in time to study long-term trends required to monitor health effects of climate change. However, the progress made in understanding cholera’s reemergence and that of zoonotic and vectorborne EIDs generally, has been significant and has, to some extent, begun to reduce uncertainty.
ACTION
This noble goal will not be reached easily and will require science and education initiatives that cross disciplinary as well as institutional, societal, and cultural boundaries (e.g. Kaneshiro et al., 2005), much like the case of HIV/AIDS. Clearly, without appreciating the complex dynamic between social and ecological processes so readily apparent for the diseases discussed here, and employing the related frameworks and perspectives, we will forego the ability to gain insights into the underlying causes of the recent historical upsurge in emerging infectious diseases.
The complexity and uncertainty associated with global climate change and its effect on disease incidence and distribution have proven challenging from both the research and policy standpoints. As a public health issue this can, unfortunately, be misconstrued as suggesting a lack of consensus among experts that the potential human health consequences—though as yet not clearly demonstrated—are of significant concern (Colwell et al., 1998). Uncertainty, due both to an incomplete picture of how climate and pathogens interact as well as the complexity inherent in human–natural systems, has been a major factor. Moreover, few longitudinal disease databases are long enough in time to study long-term trends required to monitor health effects
3
Comment on The Ecology of Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
Ecology, Vol. 91, No. 3, Paul Epstein
http://chge.med.harvard.edu/....
Regarding tick populations, Lafferty states ‘‘. . . the best predictor of changes in TBE [tick-borne encephalitis] from 1970 to 2005 is poverty . . . .’’ While this may be so—and
all outcome measures can be traced to a suite of social and environmental determinants—Lindgren and Gustafson (2001) demonstrate that TBE-bearing tick populations moved north in Sweden in lockstep with each warm winter. And there appears to be no diminution of tick populations at the southern region of their expanding range. Indeed, their maps indicate that tick populations increased in abundance in the area of their former distribution, centered on the Stockholm Archipelago.
Regarding projections for tick populations, Brownstein and colleagues (2005) model suitable U.S. habitat out to 2080 for Borrelia burgdorferi-bearing ticks (also capable of carrying several viruses and the agents of Ehrlichiosis and Babesiosis). Data, however, suggest that changes in range are occurring much faster than the models project, with the rise in TMINs [temperature minimums] at high temperate and boreal latitudes the most plausible explanation.
4
Effect of Forest Fragmentation on Lyme Disease Risk
Conservation Biology
http://www.life.illinois.edu/...
Volume 17, No. 1, February 2003, Allan et al.
BRIAN F. ALLAN,* FELICIA KEESING,†§ AND RICHARD S. OSTFELD‡
*Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, U.S.A.
†Department of Biology, Bard College, Annandale, NY 12504, U.S.A., email keesing@bard.edu
‡Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, U.S.A.
The elevated risk of exposure to Lyme disease in the smallest patches appears to result from two interrelated phenomena. First, forest fragmentation results in the loss of many vertebrate species from the remaining small forest patches ( Blake & Karr 1987; Rosenblatt et al. 1999). White-footed mice, however, do not appear to be adversely affected by forest fragmentation (Nupp & Swihart 1996 ), so the relative abundance of white-footed mice is higher in small patches. Second, because the vertebrate species lost from the smallest forest fragments tend to be predators on and competitors with whitefooted mice (Rosenblatt et al. 1999; Schmidt & Ostfeld 2001 ), regulation of P. leucopus may be weaker in smaller patches, resulting in the high absolute densities of mice observed in several studies ( Nupp & Swihart 1996, 1998; Krohne & Hoch 1999; Rosenblatt et al. 1999 ). These two pathways combine to increase the fraction of tick meals that are taken from white-footed mice, the most competent reservoir of Lyme bacteria, and to decrease the fraction of tick meals taken from poor reservoirs. Therefore, the loss of vertebrate species from small forest fragments increases the NIP (Ostfeld &Keesing 2000 a).
The infection prevalence of nymphs from the forest fragments, especially from the smallest ones, were higher than those determined (using the same immuno-fluorescence technique) for nymphal tick populations inhabiting more-continuous forest at a nearby site (Ostfeld et al. 2001). In fact, we are not aware of any published values for the prevalence of B. burgdorferi infection of nymphal Ixodes ticks higher than those observed in this study. Such a result would be expected if larvae had access to dense populations of white-footed mice.
ACTION
The incidence of Lyme disease is particularly high in regions where dense human habitation is juxtaposed with forest habitat that supports tick vectors and their hosts (Barbour & Fish 1993). Our results suggest that efforts to reduce the risk of Lyme disease should be directed toward decreasing fragmentation of the deciduous forests of the northeastern United States into small patches, particularly in areas with a high incidence of Lyme disease. The creation of forest fragments of 1–2 ha (hectares) should especially be avoided, given that these patches are particularly prone to high densities of whitefooted mice, low diversity of vertebrate hosts, and thus higher densities of infected nymphal blacklegged ticks.
'One World, One Health™' indeed!
ALSO FROM THE 2011 LYME DISEASE AWARENESS SERIES:
Welcome to Lyme Disease Awareness Month
The Mysterious Case of the Shape Shifting Spirochete
Researchers on Persistence In Lyme Disease
This is Your Brain On Lyme (A Personal Story)
What Do Lyme Disease and Syphilis Have in Common?
Lyme Disease Rant: The Wall of Polarization
Study Shows "immunologic abnormalities" in "Post Lyme Patients"
Lyme Disease & Antibiotics: More Than Skin Deep
Lyme: A Lament on Languishing
7:08 PM PT: h/t MsGrin. Jordan Fisher Smith in his book "Nature Noir" tells a tale about protective suited detectives in the American River system of California.
"But at Eight Mile Curve, what the biologists found surprised them.
On the Foresthill Divide, within the lands the Bureau of Reclamation had condemned to build the Auburn Dam, birds were discovered with ticks embedded in them. Many of the ticks carried Lyme disease. Of ninety-two blood samples taken from birds there - towhees, warblers, sparrows, flycatchers, thrushes, finches, jays, and a single hawk - over half tested positive for Lyme; in some species the number was 100 percent. Many of these bird were neotropicals that traveled as widely as flight attendants, appearing in wintering grounds as far away as Central and South America." from chapter 11 'Eight Mile Curve'