From Us To Them -- and Back Again
Have you been following the news about the outbreak of encephalitis in New York City? It's a troubling story, not only because of the impact it's having on humans but because of the impact it has on the birdlife there and the possible human reactions to the threat. No one has tallied the birds that were killed by the disease, but the impact it's having on the people of New York is disturbing. As of September 26th, officials said there had been four deaths and 33 illnesses in the New York City area -- and officials are looking at another 174 cases and 8 deaths that they suspect were caused by this virus. New York is spraying insecticide to get rid of the mosquitoes -- a difficult decision in light of the number of birds that eat mosquitoes but at this point it's one of their few options to stop the disease.
In terms of diseases, it's a very classic case of a virus coming in from the wild and spreading to human beings. It happens all the time in all areas of the world, but we don't notice it until a new strain crops up in our area. Then they call out the epidemiologists.
Epidemiology is probably one of the most fascinating courses ever taught (well... if you're a biologist with a fascination for medicine it's absolutly riveting. I suppose that very few people like to curl up with a good book of gruesome diseases.) I always thought of diseases as some sort of "act of God" that hit whenever and then vanished. What I learned is that diseases caused by living things (wild viruses, wild bacteria, etc) act just like any living creature entering our space. Diseases are born, diseases have a wild 'teenage years', they have a strong adulthood, and as we humans (and our animals) become resistant to them the diseases grow old and die out.
Not all diseases are transmitted only from human to human. Many diseases "hide" in animals (where they do little harm) and emerge when the time is right in human populations -- and then gets carried right back to the animals. This type of disease is called a "zoonosis," meaning that it passes back and forth fairly easily between wild things, domestic animals, and us.
St. Louis Encephalitis is a good example of this type of disease. It's carried from humans to birds
and vice-versa by mosquitoes and in spite of the recent outbreak reports, most people (and many
birds) who catch the disease actually don't show any
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