Post # 5- Historical Geography of Disease

Historical Geography of Disease

Kuru origninated in New Guinia among the Fore people.  It reached near epidemic levels in the 1950's and 60's, but has greatly decreased since government involvement.  Kuru is a TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy’s) or prion diseases. These diseases are special because they contain the misshapen prion protein that collects and builds in the brain tissue (NINDS).  It has mostly stayed among the Fore people because it is transmitted through cannibalism.  The Fore people used to practice cannibalism on their dead relatives as a way to help them move on to the afterlife.  Kuru is “moved” from body to body by the consumption of human flesh.

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Alpers. PubMedU.S. National Library of Medicine. A History of Kuru.Maryland: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2013

Post #4- Biological Evolutionary History of HIV

Biological Evolutionary History of HIV

  Scientists believe that HIV is a mutation of the SIV virus that came from the Chimpanzee’s hunted by humans in Africa.  Once the humans came into contact with the infected blood it then mutated into the HIV virus.  The acronym HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.  The acronym AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.  Although there are two types of HIV, generally in the United States HIV-1 is the most common.  The HIV virus gradually destroys the immune system by attaching itself to the T cells which help the body fight off diseases.  It can be contracted through unprotected sex with a carrier of the virus, the sharing of needles during the use of illegal drugs, or being born of a mother with HIV.  This virus is a buffer that prevents the body’s immune system from doing it’s job. This puts the carrier of the virus at risk for catching diseases that they would otherwise not fall victim too.