Biology Questions-Measurement of Morbidity
Watch the video that can be found by following this link:
Transcripts of the video can be found here:
https://www.biointeractive.org/sites/default/files/virus-hunter-nipah-virus-bats.pdf
Please complete the exercise by using full sentences. Write in your own words and use as much space as needed. Make sure that you are complete and show that you understand and can apply the material that we have seen in the class to interpret and understand the information given in the video.
Useful definitions:
Incidence
measurement of morbidity
the number of new cases of a disease that occurs in a specified period of time in a susceptible population
often expressed per 1,000 persons à (# new cases/# of persons at risk) x 1,000
example: 122 cases of disease in a susceptible population of 13,500 à 9 cases per 1,000 persons
Prevalence
Measurement of morbidity
Number of cases existing in a population at a specified time
A takes into account the new cases and those who contracted the disease in the past and are still surviving
Morbidity
Refers to illness or cases related to a particular disease (not to be confused with mortality)
Mortality
Deaths caused by a particular disease
# deaths / total # cases à described as a proportion (percentage) or per population (per 1,000, per 100,000)
Example: WHO reported 28,639 cumulative cases worldwide including 11,316 deaths during a recent epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) which started in Guinea, West Africa
A mortality = 11,316/28,639 x 100 = 39.5%
Assignment on the video Virus Hunter: Monitoring Nipah Virus in Bat Populations
Name:
Watch the video Virus Hunter: Monitoring Nipah Virus in Bat Populations.
This video focuses on a Nipah outbreak that occurred in Bangladesh in 2004. In the video, Dr. Jon Epstein, an epidemiologist, tracks the transmission of the virus from bat populations to humans. Use the information you learned in the video to answer the questions below.
- What human behavior was the cause of the Nipah virus outbreak in Bangladesh? How did scientists determine this?
- Scientists determined that bats are a natural reservoir for Nipah virus in Bangladesh.
- In your own words, explain what a reservoir animal is.
- What evidence suggested bats were the reservoir for Nipah virus?
- Which of the following methods, as described in the video and reading, is used to monitor Nipah virus in bat populations? Select all that apply:
- monitoring symptoms
- sequencing viral genomes
- detecting antibodies to specific viral peptides in an individual’s blood
- How can monitoring bat populations in this way help with human health?
- Bats are natural reservoirs for Nipah virus and do not die from the infection. Knowing this information, would it be more valuable to report data for the incidence or prevalence of Nipah virus in bats (assuming that you also report the total number of bats in the population)? Explain your choice.
- Why would you need to calculate morbidity and mortality in humans but not bats? In your answer, show that you understand each of these terms.