National Institutes of Health

Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases part B

Part 2 Disease Detectives Prerequisite Knowledge:

Infectious diseases are diseases that result from the presence of an external agent or its products. Antibodies are produced by the body in response to invasion by a foreign organism or molecule, and the presence of particular antibodies indicates a previous encounter with the foreign agent that triggered their production. Purified antibodies to a particular organism or molecule can be used to detect that organism or molecule in tissue samples from victims of an infectious disease.

Mystery Disease A friend developed a

strange rash and then a fever accompanied by severe vomiting and diarrhea.

Your friend was hospitalized for a week before finally recovering.

You hear about another student in class who has similar symptoms,

This student’s cousin was also sick with fever, vomiting, and diarrhea.

A few days later, you hear a television report about a strange illness affecting five students at a nearby high school

The symptoms described sound just like those experienced by their friend.

Suggest questions you might ask about how to protect yourselves from this illness.

What do you want to know?

Do all the sick people have the same disease?

What is the cause of the disease?

Do the victims have anything in common that can tell us how the disease is transmitted?

Who are responsible for answering questions when a cluster of unusual cases of disease occurs?

Public health officers

Now it is your turn

Follow in the footsteps of a public health officer to answer questions about 3 mystery diseases

Click on picture to go to website or find transcripts in papers.

Mystery disease #1

Read through the papers from physician, lab technician and epidemiologist to fill out the paperwork.

http://teacherweb.com/AE/DGFHS/Biology/Part-2.pdf

Record significant information on the appropriate form: 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7

Mystery disease #2 These videos are also on this site

Mystery disease #3

Look at the Final reports for Mystery disease 2 and 3.

Using the final reports for Mystery disease 2 and 3, try to fill in a report for mystery disease #1. This is the one you gathered all the information on from the physician, epidemiologist and lab technician. This is to be turned in.

Mystery Disease SummaryFill inMystery Disease

Infectious Agent Transmitted by

Emerging, Re-emerging or Endemic?

Relevant Environmental Factors

1

2

3

The infectious agents for the three diseases are transmitted Mystery Disease 1—contact with deer

mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) urine and feces

Mystery Disease 2—bite from deer ticks (Ixodes dammini)

Mystery Disease 3—contact with rat (Mastomys natalensis) urine and feces, and close contact with victims of the disease

The environmental factors involved are: Mystery Disease 1—climatic conditions favoring

large deer mice populations and human encroachment into areas inhabited by deer mice

Mystery Disease 2—climatic conditions favoring large acorn harvests and human movement into wooded areas

Mystery Disease 3—conditions that reduce competition to M. natalensis from R. rattus, including human efforts to reduce the R. rattus population

Can you see one overall factor that resultedin the emergence of all three of these diseases?”

all the diseases are emerging the transmission of the infectious agent involves a

nonhuman animal environmental factors strongly help explain their

occurrence environmental and ecological factors, combined with

the movement of humans into previously uninhabited areas, help explain the relatively sudden appearance of these “new” diseases.

The answers are #1 Haunta Virus (first recognized in 1993) This

was the one you were working on. #2 Lyme disease (1975) #3 Lassa fever (1969)

To turn in: An important reason for the emergence of a

new disease is… This means that, in order to reduce the

chances of new epidemics among people, we should…

End of Part 2 Major Concepts: A major cause of the

emergence of new diseases is environmental change (for example, human encroachment into wilderness areas and increased human traffic through previously isolated areas).

Objectives: After completing #2 activity, students will recognize the variety of evidence that

epidemiologists must collect to determine the origin, infectious agent, and route of transmission of an infectious disease;

be able to give examples of how an infectious agent can be transmitted to humans; and

be able to explain how environmental changes can result in the emergence of infectious diseases.