China is a major producer of sickness
March 20, 2008 – 10:17 amIn the February issue of the science magazine Nature there has been an article about the sources of new pathogens.
Map showing the sources of pathogens newly introduced to humankind since 1940.
The scientists researched the sources of pathogens, which newly arrived to the human world. AIDS would be an example. They discovered, that a majority of these new pathogens are transmitted form wild animals to humans (60% of the researched cases). This type of pathogen is called zoonose. The main 2 sources of diseases are:
- Areas with a hot and humid climate
- Areas with a high population density
India and China especially stand out as sources of these new ghosts that haunt humankind. The majority of these unwanted lifeforms however are not viruses as one could think. Bacteria, fungi and metazoa are the majority. The research is based on 335 cases.
