Author Archives: scp0015

In the recently published article from researchers Molentze and Streicker, 2020, the authors provide findings and supportive reasoning regarding their acceptance of the notion that “special” animal reservoirs of zoonotic viruses should not be attributed to a previously perceived, distinct ecological or immunological relationship between animal taxa and viruses. The authors explain their disagreement inContinue reading “Current Disease Ecology Thoughts”

So far, I have largely concentrated on pathogens that no longer seriously affect us in this modern world. But, of course, there is a price we pay for such luxuries. One of which would be the risk of healthcare-associated pathogens and the accompanying antibacterial resistance, as seen in the evolutionary story of Staphylococcus aureus. S.Continue reading “Superbug”

The highly successful parasitic tapeworm known as Taenia solium has long been evidenced in human history, with ancient Greek and Chinese recordings. The Greeks correctly recognized the association of widely common intestinal tapeworms with the ingestion of cyst-laden pork. They referred to these “hailstones” in meat as cysticerci (which we still refer to them today),Continue reading “Pigs, Worms, and Cysts”

When you hear “Kissing Bug” maybe your mind goes to something delicate and sweet, like gentle kisses from a colorful butterfly in a meadow. Today, however, I’m going to share with you a story that is a little rougher around the edges – a story of triatomine bugs and the protozoan parasite they can carryContinue reading “The Kissing Bug”

As someone who grew up near the Gulf Coast and braved hurricanes that we definitely should have evacuated for (hindsight is 20/20…) I have realized that it takes quite a bit for me to panic regarding natural disasters or public health issues. So, when the University told me to work from home until further noticeContinue reading “COVID-19 – all the facts and none of the panic”

The variola major virus is the causative agent for the deadly disease we know as smallpox. Thanks to successful global vaccination efforts spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) after the last naturally occurring outbreak in the United States in the late 1940s, smallpox has since been eradicated. This eradication marked the first and onlyContinue reading “Smallpox”

When most people with an American grade school upbringing hear ‘bubonic plague’ our brains probably picture Gothic artistry of skeletons and death from the middle ages depicting the “Black Death”, as we were taught so adamantly by our teachers and world history textbooks. If questioned, I bet we would all buzz in on Jeopardy toContinue reading “Ring around the rosy, a pocketful of posies”

What could you say unites all human beings? Love, death, humanity itself? I am going to go out on a limb and provide another suggestion… There is one encounter that every adult human has probably experienced that has the brute force to link us all together – that, my friends, is the complete and utterContinue reading

If you’re like me and watched Old Yeller on repeat as a child (and as in “repeat” I mean walk to the TV and take the 3 minutes to rewind the VCR tape to re-watch), then you learned two important lessons early in life: (1.) avoid wild hogs at all costs and (2.) rabies canContinue reading “Best Doggone Dog in the West”

As a bit of self-therapy, I have decided to deliberately sift through some of the most prevalent pathogens that effect the frog population of our world. I have (temporarily) set aside my severe repugnance (*croak*) towards amphibians, in general, to take some time to learn about the very thing I sometimes will to become extinctContinue reading “Frogs (and what is killing them)”