Microbial Diseases and Natural Disasters Essay

Pathogens are everywhere. They are in people, animals, and the environment. Pathogens come in a wide variety. The types are fungal, bacterial, viral, and other parasites. All pathogens can be dangerous, but two of them are more dangerous. These two types that more dangerous are fungal and bacterial. While both fungal and bacterial pathogens cause illness, they differ in the way they are transmitted, the way they are treated, and the diseases they cause.

Some of the most emerging and re-emerging agents of the waterborne diseases are; Cholera which is caused by the ingestion of water that is infected by Vibrio Cholerae. This is a painless form of diarrhea characterized by watery stool. Dysentery which is caused by Escherichia Coli. Typhoid that is caused by Salmonella typhi which is usually accompanied by fever is yet another disease. Gastroenteritis diseases caused by Giardia and Cryptosporodia and some species of hepatitis are also known to be caused by water (CDC, 2011). These disease causing agents find their way into the human body through infected water that people from the poorer communities in Uganda use and have no option of cleaner water.

Disaster is anything that can occur causing damages, an ecological disruption and deterioration of health and the health services. Disaster can be manmade or natural disasters such as floods. When disasters like flooding or tornadoes that may be accompanied by floods occur, the public health personnel and public health nurses are normally the first people who respond to the emergency, given that they are the people who understand and know the available resources used in providing first aids to the affected victims.

The evidence used in order to find out if the cases are connected would be the groups of people exposed to the contaminant.

CDC has a goal to reduce potential outbreaks of the preventable disease in a large group setting from the disaster with the use of vaccines (CDC, 2013). The public nurse is educating those communities regarding the importance of strengthening their immune system with receiving vaccines. The community and individuals will also be education on where to get the vaccines and how to manage themselves after vaccination for the event of the second complication. The community health nurses have a central role in providing prevention of disease and promotion health education after catastrophic like an earthquake.

For example, in Canada, the number of human deaths has been small in comparison to those that have occurred in developing nations as a result of extreme events of similar magnitude and intensity. Nevertheless, there have been a number of disasters that have caused enormous disruption and/or damage, including the 1998 Ice Storm, the Prairie droughts of the 1930s, 1980, 1987 and 1989, the Red River flood of 1997, the British Columbia forest fires of 2004, the Saguenay flood of 1997, Hurricanes Hazel (1954) and Juan (2004), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS, 2003) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (Haque, C.E and Etkin, D 2007).

The contamination was ultimately found to be Escherichia coli 0157:H7 commonly referred to as E. coli or EC0157. Investigations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Missouri state and county public health departments determined the most probable source of contamination was leakage of sewage near broken water main lines that then entered the drinking water distribution system (Swerdlow et al, 1992). According to the report by Swerdlow et al (1992), this particular incident had the distinction of being not only the largest incidence of EC0157 infection at that time but also “the first due to a multiple resistant organism, and the first documented to be transmitted by water” (Swerdlow et al, 1992, p. 818). Testing of water taken directly from the wells in Cabool revealed the water contamination did not occur in the ground water itself but was initiated in and then distributed via the water supply system.

Water-borne diseases are caused by the ingestion of water contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites. These pathogens are spread through the feces or urine of an infected individual (africaneeds). The most common diseases are cholera, guinea worm and typhoid. People can easily contract these diseases if there is no system of sewage collection and treatment. In fact, almost 2.5 billion people worldwide do not have access to adequate sanitation (UN water). Climate change can also impact the water crisis in Africa. Water is necessary for survival, and when areas get

According to the World Health Organization, a 2008 study showed that in the last 100 years, the world has warmed by approximately 0.75oC (Cruickshank 354). This warming has been and is a major factor that has contributed to the increase of destructive weather events. Such could be true in the case of the deadly typhoon that struck the Philippines in November of 2013. These weather events, in turn, contribute to the fact that infectious disease is the cause of approximately 37 percent of all the deaths in the world. This statistic is only expected to increase as a result of global warming. Additionally, over 40% of the citizens of developing countries and less than 2% of the citizens of developed countries are infected at any given time (Chan et al. 330). This is a staggering inequality, and it is undeserved that many of the countries that are being the most affected did little to contribute to the cause of global warming. This is why developing countries were specifically chosen to be looked into opposed to the entire earth population. Now, that some context has been given, more specific examples and studies can be looked into.

Unfortunately, for individuals in the developing world resources are lacking. It is individuals in these situations that are extremely vulnerable to potential exposure. Climate change is also impacting disease transmission. Large environmental areas are shrinking due to urban sprawl which is leading to increased populations density’s, increased pathogen load, decreased distributions, and a greater prevalence of disease (Mills, Gage, Khan, 2010). Thus, larger numbers of individuals are living in close proximity of disease vectors.

The migration of a population displaced by a natural disaster such as the occurrence of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the people of Haiti did introduce mortality rates due to unhealthy and unsanitary conditions the refugees lived under in camps. The overcrowded living conditions facilitated a quadrupled spread and transmission of infectious disease such as cholera bacteria inflicting diarrhea. These infections are easily spread through contaminated water. Emotional stress which has a great impact on the physical as well as the mental health of the population quickly degraded the body immune system. Inadequate quantities and qualities of water to sustain health and personal hygiene, poor environmental sanitation and insufficient shelter are all factors that made cholera more potent. An infectious disease like cholera thrives best in a malnutrition host with no access to health care. However, it would be appropriate to educate the people about the bacteria involved hence the need to highlight on the origin (primary) of the bacteria causing cholera. The secondary transmission route would also be enumerated and the impact they both have on the people. The ways in which the spread of the infection could be reduced would further be elaborated.

Given that diarrhea is the second leading cause for children under the age of five worldwide, it is extremely important that this issue is addressed (Andrade & Zoerhoff, 2012). The reason as to why diarrhea so commonly leads to death is because it is associated with dehydration and severe fluid loss, and since San Gabriel has such a low amount of water, the children here are more likely to develop diarrheal disease and die from it. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that diarrheal disease is a result of gastrointestinal infections. These infections occur because of bacterial, viral, and parasitic organisms that can be transferred through the fecal-oral

There are other common sources of cholera bacterium are surface or well water, seafood, raw fruits and vegetables, and grains. In water, Vibrio cholerae can survive for long periods of time, staying dormant. People in areas with poor sanitation, like crowded refugee camps, are at risk of cholera, due to the fact that water provided for said community could be a source of contamination of cholera bacteria. Seafood, when raw or undercooked, can be contaminated by cholera bacteria, if the seafood came from certain areas with contaminated waters. Since the 1970s, cholera outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by smuggled seafood from cholera-infected areas, and from the Gulf of Mexico. Shellfish are especially contaminated, due to the fact that “they filter large amounts of water, concentrating the levels of cholera bacteria”. Raw fruits—especially unpeeled—and vegetables coming from an area with a source of cholera are another frequent source of the cholera bacteria. Innoculation of the fruits

Food may be contaminated with a range of microorganisms during harvesting, processing, handling operations and indirectly by way of contaminated water. Eventually, even during distribution and storage only a small quantity of these will develop and cause serious deteriorations known as food spoilage. Contamination of food with pathogens leads to foodborne diseases. Foodborne disease is any illness that results from the spoilage of food contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins.

coli outbreak at a county state fair that was a result of poor water treatment. The quality of treatment had been far overlooked because private companies monopolized New York’s water systems. They sought profit over quality and their ineptitude led to deadly containments leeching into New York’s water. Not only did many fall ill, but also a three-year-old girl and an elderly man succumbed to the deadly waterborne illness (Olsen et al. v). Afterwards, the state of New York regained control over its public water system, but impurities continued to damper the water of the city.