Recently, there has been an outbreak of Legionnaires disease located in New York. The disease is a specific type of pneumonia that is contracted by breathing in the Legionella bacteria. Although it is not clear what triggered the outbreak, the bacteria is being found in the cooling towers of large buildings and structures. All of the people who have contracted the disease are believed to have been exposed to these cooling towers. This event relates to nature-culture, the interactions between people and the environment. The environment encompasses all parts of the natural world as it influences our growth, health, and progress as people. In this example, the bacteria from the environment has influenced the health of the people in New York. There are many people who follow a mechanistic view of nature and believe we are separate from nature. The events that have just unfolded prove that this way of thinking is incorrect and can have repercussions. It is easy to believe that we are invincible; that we can not be harmed by the environment. But if we continue to separate ourselves from the environment and not take cautions, outbreaks like this will continue and we will face more problems in the future. What do you think caused the outbreak? Should we act in precautions to protect ourselves from the world? Is nature out of our control?
We will be exploring global epidemics this year and using the CDC's website as a resource.