[转移贴]科学家列举出十二种最致命传染性疾病

cao1976

原贴由Rojjer发表于 2008-10-10 08:49

据英国《泰晤士报》10月8日报道，国际野生动物保护协会的科学家们日前列举出12种对人类和野生动物最致命的疾病，包括埃博拉、霍乱、瘟疫、昏睡病等。他们还警告称，随着气候的改

变，这些疾病也在扩大其传播范围。

科学家们警告称，气候变化的影响，导致这些疾病的传播范围更广，传播速度更快。科学家们为此呼吁在全球范围内建立野生动物监测系统，因为野生动物通常可以在疾病来临之前提前预

警，以挽救数百万人的生命。比如刚果(金)森林引入的监控机制已经被证明成功，通过监控大猩猩种群中是否爆发埃博拉病毒，可以帮助人类提前预防这种致命疾病。

野生动物协会科学家威廉姆·卡瑞许表示，通过观察动物群体疾病爆发情况，应该可以及时采取措施保护人类和当地生态系统。“我们呼吁建立全球范围的疾病预防措施，我们的长期目标是全

面检测全球范围内的野生生物群落健康状况。”

气候变化对疾病的影响包括，气候变暖可以帮助病原体或者它们的携带者活得更久；水源的变化，导致家畜更容易与野生动物发生接触；降雨的变化让病原体更容易存活和传播。

十二种致命病毒（应该是病原体，呵呵）

流感：暴风雨天气的增加经常搅乱鸟类迁徙，迫使一些被感染的野生禽类进入新的区域，从而增加了它们与家禽接触的几率；

犬巴贝斯虫：人类身上日益多见，气候变化导致它们在狮子和水牛身上快速衍生；

霍乱：病原体非常适合温暖天气，全球气候日益变暖很可能导致全球大爆发；

埃博拉：雨林的变化会对其产生影响，病毒能够杀死猩猩和人类；

寄生虫：温度升高、降雨增多，让肠内外寄生虫存活更久，它们对人类和动物的威胁日益增大；

莱姆病：白尾鹿和白足鼠的数量改变促使这种疾病从美国向加拿大传播；

瘟疫：通过啮齿动物和跳蚤传播，随着气候变暖已经大大扩展了它们的生存空间；

红潮：通过释放双鞭甲藻神经毒素、软骨藻酸以及贝类毒素杀死人类，但它们最大的影响是对自然资源的破坏；

裂谷热：这种病毒对健康、食物安全以及生态影响非常大，特别在非洲和中东；

昏睡病：通过舌蝇传播，分布范围已经扩大；

肺结核：饮用被污染了的牛奶，人类会被感染。当因为炎热导致河流干涸后，家畜将被迫与一些被感染了的动物饮用同样的水源；

黄热病：通过蚊子传播，随着雨季和温度的改变，黄热病已经开始向新区域传播。


cite from:http://www.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2008/10/211772.html
Wildlife gives early warning of 'deadly dozen' diseases spread by climate change!

Scientists have nicknamed them the “deadly dozen”: 12 diseases, lethal to humans and wildlife, that are increasing their geographical range.

Ebola, cholera, plague and sleeping sickness were among those identified yesterday by veterinary scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as spreading across the planet because of climate change. The scientists said that wildlife could give an early warning of the approach of diseases and save millions of people.

Researchers called for wildlife monitoring systems to be set up around the globe to watch for signs of disease among animals before it spreads and kills people. Monitoring networks have already been introduced in parts of the world and have proved successful in saving lives.

William Karesh, of the WCS, told the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conference in Barcelona that there was increasing concern about the impact that climate change would have on the spread of disease. Changes in rainfall patterns and temperatures were known to have an effect, though the reason was not always clear, he said at the launch of the report, The Deadly Dozen.

By watching for the arrival of diseases in the animal population it should be possible to take measures to protect both people and local economies. “What we are calling for today is a comprehensive approach to disease globally. Our long-term vision is a comprehensive monitoring network to watch the health of wildlife across the globe,” Dr Karesh said.

Among the trials that have already proved the success of the idea is a network of hunters and other locals who use the forests of the Republic of Congo. By reporting on sightings of gorillas and chimpanzees that have died from outbreaks of Ebola they have prevented any human outbreaks of the deadly disease in northern parts of the country for three years.

Until the hunters were recruited for the project, they brought back dead animals to their villages, hastening the spread of Ebola among people.

Similar projects have been established in South America, where data is just starting to be gathered on the impact of climate change on diseases such as yellow fever. Vaccination programmes are now carried out in areas where outbreaks are observed in primates.

Animals are regarded by scientists as a valuable indicator of climate change because they can rarely adapt rapidly enough for change to pass unnoticed. Changes in the diseases they suffer or the pattern of disease outbreak can often be the result of climate change.

The means by which climate change influences the spread of diseases includes warmer weather, which helps the pathogens or their carriers to live longer; changes in livestock management, such as water availability, bringing them into more frequent contact with wild animals; and altered rainfall patterns that make it easier for pathogens to survive and spread.

The dozen diseases include cholera, which survives better in warmer conditions, lyme disease and babesiosis, which are carried by ticks, and avian flu, which can spread when climate change disrupts migration patterns of wild birds.

Malaria, which is expected to spread because of climate change, was excluded from the deadly dozen list because the version that affects people cannot be caught by animals, despite being carried by mosquitoes. Kristina Smith, of the WCS, joined the call for a wider network of monitors. She said: “We are starting to see trends where disease is affected by the climate. We have a flashing warning sign. Wildlife can be our early warning system.”

The coming contagion

Avian influenza An increase in stormy weather can disrupt flights and force infected wild birds into new areas - and into greater contact with domestic birds

Babesiosis A tick-borne disease that is increasingly a problem for humans. Climate change is thought to have aided a tick boom among lions and buffalo in East Africa

Cholera Warmer water suits the pathogen perfectly. Global warming will cause widespread outbreaks

Ebola Has been linked to variations in rainfall patterns. It kills gorillas, chimpanzees and people

Intestinal and external parasites Both rising temperatures and increased rainfall help the parasites to survive. They are an increasing problem for humans and animals

Lyme disease Changes in population patterns of white-tailed deer and white-footed mice have promoted a spread northwards of the tick-borne disease in the US and into Canada

Plague It kills people and animals and is spread by rodents and fleas, which are altering their distribution amid warmer conditions

Red tides These algal blooms can kill people through the spread of brevetoxins, domoic acid and saxitoxins. Their biggest impact is on the loss of natural resources

Rift Valley fever The virus has significant health, food security and economic impacts, especially in Africa and the Middle East

Sleeping sickness It is transmitted by the tsetse fly, distributions of which are changing

Tuberculosis People catch TB through drinking milk from infected cattle. As rivers dry up because of warming, livestock will be forced to drink in the same places as infected wild animals

Yellow fever Mosquitoes, which carry yellow fever, are expected to spread to new areas as rainfall patterns and temperatures change