“A just-published study in the online journal PLOS Biology says that shrinking biodiversity means a rise in tropical diseases including malaria and dengue fever.
“One-third of the world’s species are now threatened with extinction. It is a massive loss of biodiversity that has serious implications for our health and for the earth’s health: A just-published study in the online journal PLOS Biology says that shrinking biodiversity could mean a rise in tropical diseases including malaria and dengue fever. The study makes a case for why, in fighting human disease, ecological preservation is just as important as medicine and vaccines.
“As more and more species of animals and plants face extinction, humans are at greater risk of being affected by parasitic and vector-borne diseases. The latter term refers to bacterial and viral diseases transmitted by mosquitos, ticks and fleas. The reason for the rising risk is that, with a decreasing variety of animal carriers for a disease, an illness’ “life cycle” is less likely to be disrupted, as Matthew Bonds, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and the study‘s lead author, explains to NPR.”
Source: www.care2.com
GR: I suppose that the surviving wildlife species will also have to tolerate more and more diseases. That is one creepy sign. So don’t go down to the woods today, because you won’t be alone.
