Onchocerca Volvulus and River Blindness

River Blindness

Onchocerciasis or River Blindness, is caused by a parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus. While the disease is causes River Blindness, it is not transmitted by water; but by a black fly that lives and breeds near fast flowing water. The infection transmitted by the fly bite can result in blindness or a skin disease.

River blindess is most common in tropic areas with majority cases in Africa.

Pictures of River Blindness

The organism that causes River Blindness

Blindness

Skin Rash

River Blindness Life Cycle

Infecting 18 million people world wide, River Blindness begins when an infected black fly feeds from a human and the parasite is transferred. The parasite then begins to migrate in the skin tissue until it becomes an adult worm. Female worms cluster together, while male worms migrate between clusters to mate. Female worms then produce up to 1000 microfilariae a day that reinfect black flies when they bite and feed off an infected human. The disease is treated by the drug Ivermectin, which is given in the form of a pill. Suramin, which is administered intravenously is given in areas were there is resistance to ivermectin.

Source

http://www.cartercenter.org/health/river_blindness/index.html

Predominant Parasites and Infectious Diseases

North America

Predominant Parasite Trichomoniasis

Predominant Infectious Disease HIV/AIDS

South America

Predominant Parasite River Blindness

Predominant Infectious Disease HIV/AIDS

Europe

Predominant Parasite Fasciolo heptica

Predominant Infectious Disease HIV/AIDS

Australia

Predominant Parasite Fasciola hepatica

Predominant Infectious Disease HIV/AIDS

Asia

Predominant Parasite Hook Worms

Predominant Infectious Disease Dengue Fever

Africa

Predominant Parasite River Blindness

Predominant Infectious Disease HIV/AIDS

Antarctica

Predominant Parasite Copepoda Sp

Predominant Infectious Disease Parapox Virus

There is no such thing as Global Warming

When dealing with the science of any field, to form an educated opinion you fully research the topic. Your research may or may not include literature review; it may just be tuning into the local news and listening to pre-planned, scientifically based rhetoric. This is how Global Warming became a front page news story for the past few years. If you base your opinion on actual scientific reports, what do you believe if it is proven that the research has been manipulated and possibly not factual?

In order to have legit scientific research, it has to prove your hypothesis and another person should be able do the same research the same way and get the same result. If the data is manipulated to benefit your research, then your research is not valid. This is what happened at the University of East Anglia. Researchers withheld important information that would deny the claims that the world’s temperatures were actually rising, when in fact they were dropping. There were several emails that leaked proving that there was some type of research tampering or withholding of data.

One specific email from Kevin Trenberth, PhD. at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research to Michael Mann on October 12, 2009 stated: The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't...our observing system is inadequate.

If the system or instrument that you use to monitor and observe the rising and dropping of temperature is inadequate, how are you accurately proving that Global Warming is actually taking place?

Source:

The Telegraph. November 23, 2009. University of East Anglia Emails: The Most Contentious Quotes. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/6636563/University-of-East-Anglia-emails-the-most-contentious-quotes.html

Where in the World...

The water is everywhere in the world. It covers 70 percent of the earth and can be found underground. The largest ocean is the Pacific Ocean, covering an area of about 60 million square miles.

Ninety-seven point five percent of all the water on Earth is salt water. That leaves only 2.5% of the water as fresh water (The Water Resources of Earth, 2006) Seventy percent of the fresh water is frozen; therefore it is not accessible (The Water Resources of Earth, 2006). There is less than one percent of water that is actually suitable for drinking (www.lenntech.com).

Unfortunately, with less than one percent of the water actually suitable for drinking, some of that water is also contaminated with trash, debris, and a lot of disease causing agents. Impoverished areas like developing countries and rural areas, are often the areas that are most affected by the consumption of contaminated water.

In order to determine the best place for good and accessible soils for agriculture, silvicultre, and farming you must know what you want to grow and or raise. Land near wetland is often good soil for items that need to moist soil and there is other agriculture that needs dryer dirt. Please click here for map of the best soil in the world.

Traditional industries or labor industries can still be found throughout the world within all communities and cultures. Even as each culture has adapted, the need for traditional, labor intensive industries is still evident. It seems as though the more advanced the world becomes with technology, the desire for smaller hand developed items from traditional/labor industries grows. The type of work a traditional industry varies by culture and community. Here is a link to a web page showcasing Georgia’s Traditional Industries.

The high-tech industry is not as worldwide as traditional industries because these industries require a lot of money; but there are some developing countries that have large high-tech industries because of the benefit of inexpensive labor to create the high tech gadgets. The most populated high tech areas are Asia and India.

The 10 Most Populated Cities in the World

The 10 Most Populated Cities in the United States of America

Tribal Group with little or no contact with “Modern Society”

The country with the greatest diversity is Tanzania, with 23 groups, while Papua New Guinea, has zero; according to this study.

According to the US Census Bureau there are 6, 922, 402, 047 people in the world and 311, 475, 374 of those people live in the US. For a list of the top populated countries in the world, click here.

Additional Sources:

Human Appropriation of the World's Fresh Water Supply; http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_supply/freshwater.html

Water Treatment Solutions: Lenntech. Water Quantity FAQ http://www.lenntech.com/water-quantity-faq.htm