- National Center For Case Study Teaching In Science Learning Goals And Your Role Are You Wondering What Became Of The Inf 1 (70.21 KiB) Viewed 34 times
- National Center For Case Study Teaching In Science Learning Goals And Your Role Are You Wondering What Became Of The Inf 2 (70.21 KiB) Viewed 34 times
E) Why is molecular biology important for studying disease outbreaks? Name at least one
reason.
F) What is bioinformatics?
G) What is the primary cause for novel disease outbreaks (aka emerging infectious diseases)?
H) What is a zoonosis?
I) What is a pathogen?
NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE Learning Goals and Your Role Are you wondering what became of the infected U.S. humanitarian workers? What disease they caught? Why and how the disease outbreak happened? If there was a cure? Before you find out, this case will take you on a journey through this nightmarish outbreak to gain a better understanding of the complex and arduous challenges that public health officials face in characterizing, containing, and combating deadly infectious disease epidemics. In this case study, you will play the role of an Infectious Disease Specialist in training at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. You will be helping in the response efforts to the infectious disease outbreak happening in Africa. Along the way, you will learn about selected molecular biology approaches used in the detection and diagnosis of disease epidemics and apply this knowledge using molecular biology software, such as Gate It, a free molecular biology laboratory experiment simulation, and online bioinformatics tools. (Bioinformatics is the science of collecting and analyzing complex biological data, such as DNA and protein sequences.) Additionally, throughout the case study you will analyze and evaluate social and cultural aspects of infectious disease control. A Long-Standing Battle of Microscopic Proportions [In 1974), my professor of social medicine grabbed my shoulder firmly to make sure I was paying attention. There no future in infectious diseases," he stated flatly in a tone that bore no argument. "They've all been solved." But I wanted to go to Africa. I wanted to save lives. And it seemed to me that infectious disease might be just the ticket and full of unresolved scientific questions. So I ignored him -Peter Piot, No Time to Lase: A Life in the Pursuit of Deadly Viruses Humans have battled with infectious diseases since antiquity. From the plagues that swept across villages of ancient times, to the global human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) pandemic of the twenty-first century, infectious diseases have had an irrefutably enormous impact on human history (3). Interestingly, the primary cause of most infectious disease outbreaks in the human population is due to the impact that humans have had on the environment, in particular, through ecological encroachment. Throughout history, human population dynamics (growth, expansion, urbanization) have disquieted the "slumber" of zoonotic pathogens, facilitat- ing zoonoses when humans cross the animal-human ecosystem interface. This has been true for over half of the nearly 1500 agents known to cause infectious disease in humans (4). Of these pathogens, "viruses [have] exact[ed] an enormous toll on the human population and are the single most im- portant cause of infectious disease morbidity and mortality worldwide" (5). However, with improvements in nutrition. sanitation, and healthcare, particularly with the advent of vaccines, the incidence of outbreaks and the mortality rates due to viral agents in developed countries has been significantly reduced (3). A problem "solved" even? Perhaps from a westerner's perspective. However, despite widespread advances in medical science, viruses, among other infectious agents, continue to have devastating effects for human populations in many developing countries (3) Of the challenges to medical science, monitoring and responding to the emergence (and re-emergence) and spread of deadly tropical febrile (fever-causing) infectious diseases markedly illuminates the devastation that can occur (4). In countries and regions characterized by limited resources and impoverished conditions, and where many illnesses share the same symptoms in the early stages, it is extremely difficult to differentiate between diseases based solely on clinical observations, let alone treat and control viral disease outbreaks, Consequently, scientific progress in our understanding of viral infections is paramount in the detection, management, and eradication of disease outbreaks caused by viruses in developing countries. There is much research that still needs to be done in areas ranging from the molecular and cell-to-cell interaction level. to the level of tissues and systems, and extending to the intersections of epidemiological and ecological interfaces (3) Indeed, there is no time to lose in this battle. "BSL-4 Authorized Personnel Only" by Nicole M. Anthony Page 1