BLG 181 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, Avian Influenza, Swine Influenza
Document Summary
Germs, agents, bugs, bacteria, viruses, algae, protissts, fungi. Not pathogenic, but are beneficial to ecosystems and humans. Processes that contribute to the emergence of viral: mutations of existing viruses. Rna viruses have unusually high rate of mutation: dissemination of a viral disease form a small isolated human population. Go unnoticed for decades (aids), change in social factors increases spread: spread of existing viruses form animals. Of new human diseases originate in this way, 2009 swine flu . Evolutionary approach: application of psychology to the problems of pathogen virulence and health. The degree to which a disease-causing pathogen can affect the organism/ host or disease-producing power of a pathogen. Pathogens will evolve to be highly virulent when transmission between hosts is easy . A test of the hypothesis: in some wasp species, a single female lays eggs n each fig (low density, in other species, multiple females lay eggs in each fig (high density)
