Infectious disease
9 articles-
How “Useless” Science Unraveled an Amphibian Apocalypse
One spring day in 1984, Joyce Longcore got a phone call from Joan Brooks, a biologist at the University of Maine. Brooks had received a National Science Foundation grant to study the interactions of fungi and bacteria in peat bogs. She needed a hand, and she heard through the grapevine that Longcore knew a bit […] -
How Slow Responses Made the Ebola Outbreak So Deadly
As a rule, huge organizations move sluggishly, bogged down in democratic decision-making processes and bureaucratic policies. Ebola, on the other hand, moves fast. People become desperately sick and contagious within a few weeks of infection. By the time international agencies effectively responded to the ongoing Ebola outbreak, it had spiraled out of control in West […] -
3 Graphs That Help Show Why Ebola Goes Viral or Dies Out
Fighting Ebola requires lots of equipment and personnel.Morgana Wingard, USAID Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . In September 1854, 600 residents of London’s Golden Square died from an infamous outbreak of cholera. It was no coincidence that this occurred in one of London’s poorest neighborhoods. We now know […] -
How We Can Finally Start Outsmarting Single-Cell Attackers
Imagine you are a bacterium, roughly 1/1,700,000 of your current size, residing in your own human body’s gut. You live in a diverse community, the “microbiome,” teeming with other bacteria: friendly neighbors who live next door, some ne’erdowells who occasionally vandalize the town, and your neighborhood cops who try to keep everything in check. The […] -
The Pretty Bacterial Dance That May Help Prevent Infections
Imagine looking down through a microscope and seeing a big mass of bacterial cells, writhing in sync, churning in circles. You can almost hear a buzz of activity. The micron-sized organisms migrate across a plate of agar, gobbling up the nutrient-rich media, recalling the frenetic activity of bees in a hive. Nautilus Members enjoy an […]
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Using Sharks’ Tricks to Prevent Lethal and Costly Infections
Staph bacteria (red) forming a biofilmNational Science Foundation Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . A common enemy befouls surgeons, plumbers, and sailors alike: slime. In each of their professions, they wage ceaseless war against biofouling—layers of living organisms that stick around exactly where we don’t want them. Removing these […]
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If You Can’t Beat Diseases, Domesticate Them
A tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) sucking blood from human skinMarco Uliana via Shutterstock Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . For most of our history, wolves have been a menace to humanity. Sharp teeth, raw speed, and pack coordination put us at serious risk. Their howls still send chills down […]
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Bring Out Your (Very Infrequent) Dead!
If you imagine the bubonic plague, based on what you learned as a kid, you probably imagine something similar to Pieter Bruegel’s 1562 painting, The Triumph of Death. Dead bodies in piles. Helpless civilians sprawled on the ground in anguish. Panicked crowds trying to flee as the village burns and falls into disarray. Total mayhem. […]
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The Near-Mythical Beast That Spread an All-Too-Real Disease
January 1996 was, in most respects, a month like any other in Jefferson County, Colorado, the “Gateway to the Rocky Mountains.”* But one thing distinguished that particular month in that particular county in Colorado: an outbreak of salmonellosis among children, most of whom were under 13 years of age. The Colorado Department of Public Health and […]