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The Zika Virus is just another one of the diseases that are slowly taking over the world. Although many cases of this virus have generally been found in South America, it is making its way into the US and eventually right here in Canada. The cause of this terrible virus: the yellow fever mosquito. Now you may be wondering how this relates to our topic of Public Health. Well climate change and the raise in temperature is definitely one of the biggest causes of the increase of mosquito population globally.
When we emit greenhouse gases, we, as the citizens of Canada, are causing global warming. As individuals, we are harming not only our planet, but all the living things on it. My original inquiry (how will reducing greenhouse gas emissions improve public health?) is answered by saying that people will be healthier and less likely to contract diseases and viruses. This is due to the fact that mosquitoes (the cause of the Zika Virus, West Nile Virus and Malaria) breed in warm and wet climates. The increase of floods allows for breeding of mosquitoes. There has been 44 cases of this virus inside of Canada and this number is being updated.
“Changes in temperature, precipitation, and humidity can alter how long the mosquitoes live, how often they bite, how many offspring they have.” stated Atlantic Magazine.
Some prevention methods that we can take as individuals is to use bug/mosquito repellent and wearing protective clothing. There is currently no vaccination for this virus so we need to take actions to prevent it. The government is also working to prevent and treat this virus by creating research labs to create a vaccination and giving travelers advice to protect themselves. I strongly believe that we need to look at the bigger picture to prevent the spread of this virus anymore than it already has. As a community, we are responsible for our actions and we need to take actions like creating public awareness of the increase of mosquitoes and it's link to climate change to assure our safety. Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions (by walking instead of driving, turning off lights) can create a huge change in our future.
RELIABLE SOURCES
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/...
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/phn-asp/2016/zika-eng.p...
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/diseases-conditions-...
https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/why-doe...
