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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.
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?
22 June 2020
Writing about wildlife diseases
It’s that time of year again when I head to rural Pennsylvania to teach a field course in disease ecology for undergraduates at my alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh.
No it’s not. But it should be.
3 July 2019
Toxoplasma: A Cat-astrophe?
Could your pet cat really be carrying a dangerous disease?
Some people might be afraid of adopting cats due to the fear of contracting Toxoplasma, a disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii which is one of the world’s most common parasites. While this disease is usually correlated to cats it is more often contracted through eating contaminated food.
25 July 2018
Black Lung Disease is Making a Come-Back
This is part of a series of posts from our own Shane Hanlon’s disease ecology class that he’s currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Students were asked to write popular science posts about (mostly) wildlife diseases. Check out all the posts here. By Victoria Wright Black lung disease is making a come-back. Characterized by shortness of breath and hypoxemia, a recent NPR article explains that not only are …
23 July 2018
The “Lazy” Southerner: Sloth or Anemia?
This is part of a series of posts from our own Shane Hanlon’s disease ecology class that he’s currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Students were asked to write popular science posts about (mostly) wildlife diseases. Check out all the posts here. By Kausthubha Yaratha Since the postbellum period, Americans south of the Mason Dixon line have been widely stereotyped as lazy and unmotivated. Academics of the 20th …
16 July 2018
Good morning! Bed bugs left you Chagas Disease.
Bugs can be scary. Bugs can be especially scary when they are in your bed.
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to showcase creative and effective science communication via multiple mediums and modes.
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