Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Trigger events: enviroclimatic coupling of Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Trigger events: enviroclimatic coupling of Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks

    1Biospheric Sciences Branch, Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics, National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. pinzon@negev.gsfc.nasa.gov


    Abstract

    Trigger events: enviroclimatic coupling of Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks


    We use spatially continuous satellite data as a correlate of precipitation within tropical Africa and show that the majority of documented Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks were closely associated with sharply drier conditions at the end of the rainy season. We propose that these trigger events may enhance transmission of Ebola virus from its cryptic reservoir to humans. These findings suggest specific directions to help understand the sylvatic cycle of the virus and may provide early warning tools to detect possible future outbreaks of this enigmatic disease.


    PMID: 15569802 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free full text
    "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation
Working...
X