?3. a)The current status of Ebola and Leishmaniasis are deadly diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Ebola is comprised of five distinct species: Zaire, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Bundibugyo and Reston, which causes 25-90% deaths found in African clinics. Leishmaniasis is caused by parasites which transmit this disease by the bite of a tiny female phlebotomine sand fly. This deadly disease is estimated to infect 1-2 million new cases every year. The two diseases that are similar to Ebola and Leishmaniasis are small pox and Leptospirosis.
According to author Laurie Garrett the current status of small pox seems to have decreased over the years until there aren’t any cases remaining. “World Health Organization (WHO) had announced that the last known case of smallpox had been tracked down in Ethiopia and cured”P. 2. This is majorly due to the fact of increase investigation of medicine which helped developed a cure. Leptospirosis disease can be found in areas where there is overcrowding, poor sanitation, and poor health care.
Authors Colleen Lau, Lee Smythe, Scott Craig and Philip Weinstein said that “Leptospirosis is most likely to occur in urban slums, low-lying coastal areas and small island states”P. 23. This tells us that the current status of Leptospirosis is not as common as before because of the advanced urbanization that has been developed in these past years. b) The organism that caused smallpox to occur is known as variola virus. Variola virus is known as variola minor or variola major. The organism that caused Leptospriosis to occur is Leptospira interrogans which is a bacterium (spirochete).
c) Currently smallpox has been wiped out of the world meaning that there are no cases or prevalence to be found. As for Leptospirosis the last current outbreak of Leptospirosis was at June 17 2004 at Kenya. Nearly 143 cases have been confirmed including 8 deaths because of the outbreak. d) The social factors which affect the spread of smallpox are in an area where it is overpopulated and crowded. This allows the virus to spread between people because it is so contagious. “Population expansion raises the statistical probability that pathogens will be transmitted, whether from person to person or vector–insect, rodent, or other-to person.
”(Laurie Garrett) P. 12 Unclean water systems and sewages is an environmental factor that affects the spread of smallpox such as contamination and easy access of contagiousness. Garrett said “High density need not doom a nation to epidemics and unusual outbreaks of disease if sewage and water systems…” P. 13. The social factors that affect the spread of Leptospriosis are the direct contact that humans have with animals and an ingestion of contaminated food and water. “
Humans, can acquire infection through direct contact with animals…..infection might occur through ingestion of contaminated food or water” (Lau, Smythe, Craig and Weinstein). P. 1 Environmental factors which contribute in the spread of Leptospriosis are rainfall and flooding, temperature, exposure to animals and poor sanitation and inadequate waste disposal.Lau, Smythe, Craig and Weinstein have stated that “epidemiological studies have identified various environmental risk factors for infection or outbreaks that differ between ecological settings [such as]…are rainfall and flooding, temperature, exposure to animals and poor sanitation and inadequate waste disposal. ”P. 6.