The Caribbean island of Trinidad contained a high concentration of Plasmodium vivax well into the 20th century. The malaria caused by the Plasmodium parasite greatly hindered the sugarcane and cacao farming on which Trinidad’s economy depended. The poor East Indian farmers and plantation workers were especially hard hit, as they were located in the areas where the disease was most common (Fonaroff 543). The capital, Port-of-Spain, was also continually threatened by malaria outbreaks originating in the large mangrove swamps that bordered the town. Even along the coast, large swaths of land were essentially uninhabitable because of the malaria that emanated from the brackish coastal thickets (British Medical Journal 477). The island …show more content…
This can lead to new generations of mosquito that are resistant to the pesticides and therefore much more difficult to wipe out. This is a significant obstacle to eradication efforts in places that are larger and less easily organized to fight malaria than Trinidad was. As a result, the measures that eliminated malaria in Trinidad must be applied in conjunction with an evolutionary understanding of mosquito resistance if they are to be effective elsewhere today. The mosquito eradicators fighting malaria in Trinidad had to overcome the host of geographic and ecological features that had made malaria so endemic. Among the fifteen species of mosquito native to the island, two acted as significant disease vectors (Fonaroff 533). One, Anopheles bellator lays its eggs in the water reservoirs of bromeliad flowers that grow on trees in the rainforests of the islands interior. At dusk, the females fly to nearby villages in search of blood meals (Fonaroff 548). The other, Anopheles aquasalis breeds in fresh or brackish water, often coastal mangrove swamps and rice paddies. It flies, sometimes miles from its breeding grounds, seeking blood meals in coastal areas, including Port-of-Spain (Fonaroff 533). The females invade houses at night and bite animals and people for sustenance (Fonaroff 555). Between the highland A. bellator and the coastal A. aquasalis, potential mosquito vectors inhabit nearly the entire island.
Ecological factors that encourage the Anopheles mosquito, and thus also encourage the prevalence of malaria include: being near the equator, densely populated areas, warmer temperatures, standing water, maintaining water for irrigation and deforested areas. (Holy p.1)
The one thing that could keep me inside on a nice summer’s day is the threat of mosquitoes. Where they bite me, I swell up and itch for days afterwards. It’s a hard choice between slathering myself in nasty smelling insect repellant or staying inside. Sometimes even with the insect repellant I still get bit. To add insult to injury, they sometimes get in the house and attack me. They seem to be an annoyance I can’t escape. I’m lucky that the mosquitoes that bite me don’t carry dangerous diseases like the ones in other counties. Daniel Engber who wrote the article “Let’s Kill All the Mosquitoes” has the solution to our problem. He makes a great argument to kill the dangerous mosquitoes and it’s very well supported with credible sources.
The new mosquitos contain a gene that produces high levels of a protein that stops their cells from functioning normally, ultimately killing them.” And “While similar releases in Florida are years away, some locals have already reacted forcefully. One activist gathered 100,000 signatures on a petition to oppose using the mosquitoes in eradication efforts.” But their concerns are ““What if these mosquitoes bite my boys or my dogs? What will they do to the ecosystem?”
Malaria: However, those who inherit just one copy of the mutation do not suffer too badly; in fact, they are resistant to malaria which defined as an infective disease caused by sporozoan parasites that are transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito; marked by paroxysms of chills and fever. The discovery told geneticists much about evolution and how harmful mutations can increase to relatively high levels within a population provided they confer some advantage. By understanding how
Department of Health. (2009, April). Information Sheet: Malathion and Mosquito Control. Retrieved July 11, 2011, from New York State department of health: http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/2740/
In addition, diseases such as Hookworm and Malaria–brought to Latin America through colonisation and slavery–cause economic problems to this day. According to Hausmann (2009): “countries at a high risk of malaria grow 0.6 per cent slower than countries free from malaria”. Exports can be affected such as during the Cholera outbreak in Peru in 1991 which cost the fishing industry $800 million (Hausmann, 2009). It also increases healthcare costs and reduces worker productivity (Hausmann, 2009). Presently, resistance means that cheap medications for treatment of and protection from malaria are becoming less effective (Gallup et al., 2003, p.135). As
Mosquitoes are the host to many diseases the pose a threat to humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Endemic birds are the most affected by the transmission of avian diseases through mosquitoes. Controlling the mosquito popular is key in bringing back the native bird population.
It tropical and sub-tropical climates temperature, humidity, and rainfall work together to create a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are a host for communicable diseases one in particular is called malaria. Malaria is a parasitic disease that infects a particular type of mosquito, Anopheles mosquitoes, which feeds on humans. People who get malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can usually be prevented (Global Health - Division of
Malaria (also called biduoterian fever, blackwater fever, falciparum malaria, plasmodium, Quartan malaria, and tertian malaria) is one of the most infectious and most common diseases in the world. This serious, sometimes-fatal disease is caused by a parasite that is carried by a certain species of mosquito called the Anopheles. It claims more lives every year than any other transmissible disease except tuberculosis. Every year, five hundred million adults and children (around nine percent of the world’s population) contract the disease and of these, one hundred million people die. Children are more susceptible to the disease than adults, and in Africa, where ninety percent of the world’s cases occur and where eighty percent of the cases
The autogeny is the ability of some species of mosquitoes to lay eggs without consuming blood, allowing them to maintain the species when they are not near hosts. In Aedes albopictus and Ae . aegypti have been reported autogenous strains of these species in different countries , but in Colombia is not yet have studies on the presence of this
Malaria or other similar diseases like malaria has been recognized and encountered by humans for more than 4,000 years. Malaria is caused by the genus Plasmodium parasites, which enter the human body and are transmitted to people through the bite of a mosquito infected with the parasite (Q&A, Malaria). Once the parasite enters the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver and then infect red blood cells. The malaria parasite was first discovered on November 6, 1880, by a French army surgeon named Charles Louis Al phonse Laveran. While stationed in
To begin Latin America and the Caribbean as many countries that make up it group of countries. These countries each have an individual national identity which can be built in bountiful of ways. Firstly, a national identity is something that can presented by a single country using the greater of a wealth of topics, for example politics, culture, historical, climate and tourist attraction, this is just a small amount that can make up a country national identity. The country that this writing assignment is specifically about the one country of The Bahamas. The Bahamas as a country has many elements to its national identity and many of those elements will be discussed in detail throughout this paper. The first component of that national
Many animals kill countless numbers of humans every second, minutes, and hours. The mosquito is among those predators, and it causes the most morbidity and mortality among humans compared to any other animal or insect. Mosquitoes are notoriously known for causing malaria worldwide. Malaria is a disabling illness which can result in mobility and mortality. People infected with the disease become weak over a period of time. This reduces their productivity level; thus it makes simple activities of daily living difficulty to accomplish. Some of the common symptoms of malaria resemble those of the flu. Malaria is an extreme health burden in low and middle income countries especially African countries. Moreover, the disease is mostly prevalent in sub-Saharan African countries, among pregnant women and children age 5 and younger. Over the years, scientists have discovered and developed several methods to control the spread of malaria. One of the most controversial control methods for malaria is DDT. DDT is short for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane; this method come in the form of a pesticide or insecticide. It is used to kill pest and insects specifically mosquitoes. “DDT is used in indoor spraying for control of vectors of malaria and visceral leishmaniasis” (Van den Berg, 2009). Scientists have realized that the pesticide could be effective at preventive malaria by reducing the amount of mosquitoes in the environment. Despite this, concerns about the effectiveness and safety of
About 3.3 billion people, that is about half of the world’s population are at risk of contracting malaria (figure 1). Every year there are 250 million cases of malaria, and nearly 1 million deaths. That amounts to 2,732 deaths per day. Out of those million people that die every year, 800,000 of them are African children under the age of 5. To control malaria three actions need to be taken: insecticides need to be used to decrease the vector population, people have to be educated as to how to prevent the vector from reproducing, and anti-malarial drugs need to be distributed. To understand the vector and what the vector is, scientists had to first discover what the parasite was and how it worked. It was not until the year 1880 that French Physician Charles Laveran discovered that Malaria was caused by a protozoan in the genus Plasmodium (Malaria, 2013)
Departing from MDA chemotherapy, other forms of vector control is the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides. MDA and use of LLINs and IRS techniques are all problematic for similar reasons. First and foremost, use of insecticides has been closely tied to the development of resistance on the part of the vector. Several studies have demonstrated increased resistance of Anopheles species to insecticides previously used for control measures in the region, including organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids (Benelli, Jeffries, & Walker, 2016). For example, the exposure time required to kill 50% of the An. gambiae population in an area in