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16 July 2020
Anthrax, a cool band name but devastating to reindeer
Anthrax, also known as Bacillus anthracis, is a gram-positive bacterium that has a very high fatality rate up to 80% when inhaled. This deadly bacterium is now a yearly ticking timebomb in northern Russia every summer, devastating the local wildlife and spreading to humans.
15 July 2020
Tongue worms, they’re not just for reptiles…..humans too!
Tongue worm disease caused by the parasite Linguatula serrata is a blood sucking parasite that belongs to the group Pentastomida. This species generally inhabits the upper respiratory tract of terrestrial, carnivorous vertebrates. It is mainly found in reptiles and bird species.
14 July 2020
Winston Churchill and the Spanish Flu
Winston Churchill is notable one of the most influential people to ever live being recognized for many public policies that he had implemented in England during his time serving in parliament. What is not talked about to a great detail is how he attempted to establish many policies dealing with certain wildlife diseases such as the Spanish flu.
13 July 2020
A Troubling Site: Mass Death of Botswanan Elephant Population
Since early March, there has been mass death among the elephant population in Botswana. The cause? We don’t know. The Botswanan government has ruled out three causes: poison, poaching, and anthrax. Yet, there has been significant question in the government’s handling of elephant mortality.
10 July 2020
Debunking the alleged connection between Lyme disease and Unrelated Conditions
Lyme Disease, or Lyme Borreliosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the Borrelia genus of Bacteria. This bacteria is usually transferred to a human host by the bite of a tick. Lyme disease can effect the host’s neurology and often results in fever, headache, tiredness, various bodily pains, and in some cases memory loss. Lyme disease has proven to be a major problem in the United States, affecting an estimated 300,000 Americans yearly.
9 July 2020
Danse Macabre, Not as Fun as it Sounds
Wildlife diseases not only impact the health of humans and animals, but they also play a large role in generating artistic trends. One such trend in, or genre of, art was the Danse Macabre, also known as the Dance of Death. This French term comes from the artistic genre that was seen in 1250 to 1500 CE Europe, during the Late Middle Ages. It symbolizes the fact that the journey of life and death is expired by all, and is a uniting theme despite its morbid tone.
8 July 2020
The Deadliest Disease that had Claimed Many Lives in the Pre-Columbian Americas
One of the most well-known infectious diseases that had existed throughout history is Smallpox. The Variola virus is the type of virus that is involved in causing this disease. Smallpox tends to spread easily between one individual to another, which makes this disease highly contagious. Fever, vomiting, rashes, body aches, and fluid-filled blisters that are covered with scabs are the kind of symptoms that usually occur among Smallpox infected individuals.
7 July 2020
First you were like, “whoa!” Then we were like, “WHOA!” And then you were like, “Fibropapillomatosis.”
There is currently a disease that is costing green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, more than just a fin or some “noggin” – it is taking their lives. Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease with a cause that is unknown. Here is what we know.
6 July 2020
Viruses as Medicine for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections
One of the most groundbreaking medical discoveries has been the development of phage therapy. Phage therapy refers to the use of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a mechanism to defeat antibiotic resistant infections. Phage therapy was first researched due to the fact that, globally, 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis each year.
2 July 2020
Rabies: What Do You Really Know?
When people think of rabies, they are most likely visualizing an aggressive animal foaming at the mouth and ready to viciously attack any living thing in sight, but is this image always the case?
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to encourage scientists to reach out to non-scientists and to do so with plainspoken discussion.