NATS 1670 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Cowpox, Rodent, Laguardia Airport
13 May 2012
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Document Summary
Microbes have caused the most devastating epidemics in recent human history: virulent microbe; microbe that causes severe disease. Microbial diseases are often severe: smallpox killed 40% of infected; ebola killed 90% of infected, etc. Tuberculosis & hiv vs. ebola virus & sars. Tb and hiv allows infected to live a normal life without drugs for a longer period of time. Successful pathogens; don"t kill the host immediately. Ebola on the other hand is extremely deadly; kills infected rapidly. Natural evolution of a microbe operates on its spreading capacity, not on its ability to cause a disease. The ability to make its next generation of infected people: death of an infected host compromises the survival of the infecting microbe, hospitals usually become cases of diseases origins. Natural selection favours less or non-virulent microbes: a well-adapted microbe can live in its host without causing significant damage. i. e. tb and hiv cases.
