Geography of Pandemics and Covid-19

1. There are fossils of viruses preserved in the DNA of the hosts that they
have infected. Describe how this molecular fossil trail can help scientists
understand where viruses came from and how they have evolved.
- In order for a virus to replicate, it has to infect a host cell. Once the
cell has been infected, the virus uses the cell to get its way to the
proper “machinery”. Once the machinery has been hijacked, it can
replicate. Now that the virus has replicated, it moves onto a new
host, however, some cells may stay and this can lead to this virus
being inherited. In addition, the virus could be integrated into its host
dna. This means that the virus will reproduce, but more slowly since
hosts reproduce slowly. This helps scientists because with this
information they can figure out how old this virus is and where it
could’ve originated from. By lining up sequences of organisms, they
are able to compare them. Once they’ve gathered up their data, they
are able to date where certain viruses came from.

2. List the six diseases that forever changed the world.

a. The Plague - Spread by fleas and infected animals
b. Smallpox - Caused by the Variola virus
c. Syphilis - Caused by the Treponema pallidum bacteria
d. Cholera - Caused by drinking water infected with poop particles
e. Yellow fever - Caused by mosquitos
f. Hemophilia - Inherited

3. Describe how pandemics spread from person to person and around the
world.
- Since we have airplanes, people can get from place to place faster.
This is how bacteria can spread within hours. All it takes is one
person with the virus to sneeze or cough. Not only could it be spread
to humans, animals can be infected as well, or vise-versa.
4. Why was the 1918 Pandemic considered the “mother of all pandemics?”
- To begin with, about 50-100 million people were killed by this flu. It
was soon to be called the Spanish Flu. It was one of the deadliest flu
with the most deaths. Similar to Covid-19, people isolated
themselves and didn’t know who or what to expect.

5. Explain how scientists use smart vaccination techniques to end a

pandemic that killed millions around the world.
- Although Smallpox killed many people, survivors were immune to
contracting Smallpox again. As crazy as it sounds, the Smallpox
vaccine contained material from cattle that were infected with
cowpox. By injecting cowpox into your system, you would become
immune to getting Smallpox.

6. Explain how scientists figured out what HIV is, when the infection morphs
into AIDS, and where they think the virus originated.
- It came to attention when an immunologist recognized a pattern in
only gay patients. He noticed that there was some type of fungus on
their lungs, making it hard for them to breathe. A dermatologist later
had a similar situation and diagnosed the patients with Kaposi's
sarcoma. People were quick to assume only gay people could get it
and they would call it the “Gay cancer”, but that was true. It wasn’t
until multiple doctors identified a retrovirus from Aides. In 1986, this
unknown retrovirus was given the name HIV.
- The infection morphs into Aides once the virus has killed off too
many T-cells. Once this happens, your body is unable to protect
themselves against Pathogens. After this, you are diagnosed with
Aides and unfortunately, you’ll most likely die from it.
- Now that we know how you could get it, where did it come from?
Researchers noticed that Macaque Monkeys carried a similar
disease called SIV. It’s believed that HIV may have come from
chimpanzees, which then passed onto us. This is possible because
there could’ve been spillovers. Since we had a taste for bush meat,
butchers were cutting up chimpanzees. It was as simple as
accidentally getting blood from them in a small cut. Once it gets in
your system, you can pass it on, leading to HIV. By analyzing
 chimpanzee pee and poop, they tracked their location to Southern
Cameroon, Tongo. They believe that this virus came around in 1908.
It was possible that HIV was spread by prostitutes or by injectable
drugs.

7. Describe the science behind how vaccines trigger an immune response

and teach our bodies to recognize dangerous pathogens.
- It begins when foreign microbes invade you. Your immune system is
triggered and tries to identify and remove the microbes. Your
adaptive immunity is also triggered, which calls for special cells like
T-cells and B-cells. They record information to develop the best way
to attack them. The purpose of the vaccines is to imitate the
principles the body uses to defend itself. It triggers the adaptive
immune system, but without getting the full disease. There are
multiple types of vaccines. The first one is the Live Attenuated
vaccine. This one is made of the Pathogen itself, but is weaker. The
next vaccine is the Inactive vaccine, In this vaccine, the pathogens
have been killed. It ensures that the pathogens don’t develop into
the full disease. However, people with weaker systems can’t have
this vaccine. Another type of vaccine is the Subunit vaccine. This
vaccine is only made from one part of the Pathogen, an Antigen.
This ingredient triggers the response. Scientists are also making
DNA vaccines. They isolate the genes that make the specific antigen
that the body needs.

8.
a. Contrast the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic and
what the responses by governments are to each from a geographic
or spatial perspective.
- An epidemic is known as a sudden, unexpected increase in
cases of a disease in a particular region, whereas a pandemic
is worldwide. You can contain epidemics, but you can only
mitigate pandemics.
 b. Compare the difference between asymptomatic transmission and
community spread.
- Asymptomatic transmission is the spread of a virus without
having symptoms. This can happen by sneezing or coughing.
Community spread is when people in a community are getting
sick, but without knowing where they could’ve gotten infected
from. Since they haven’t been to areas where there is a virus,
they are confused about where they could’ve come in contact
with it.
c. Explain the purpose of social distancing.
- The purpose of social distancing is to try to slow the spread of
the disease. Since people are keeping a safe distance, the
spread of the disease will be slow, allowing the nation to
decrease the risk of getting this virus.
d. Describe how the virus is being transmitted between humans and
how we can reduce the spread of the disease.
- A virus can be transmitted to people through coughing and
sneezing or even just being close to each other. That’s why it
is important to stay 6 feet from a person. We can decrease the
spread by obviously keeping a safe distance from others.
Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and
water. Avoid touching your face and if you feel sick, avoid
contact with others. Getting your flu shot can also help you
reduce the chance of getting the virus, but you’re not immune
to covid.

9. Analyze and describe the epidemiology strategy of “flattening the curve.”

- With an exponential growth the rates can be steady and low, until all
of a sudden it increases rapidly within days. It isn’t until the virus has
trouble finding new people to infect and it begins to slow down. This
creates a curve. This is called a logistic growth and the curve is a
SIgmoid. By lowering the amount of new infected people we get
daily, people who are already infected have the chance to recover
which means there will be less infected people. With less infected
people, it’ll be harder to spread the virus if the right precautions are
taken. Therefore, you can “flatten the curve”.
10. Describe why social distancing is so important to “flatten the curve” to
slow the pandemic from becoming a catastrophe.
- By limiting the amount of contact with people, the virus is harder to
be transmitted. This decreases the cases of covid and is a bit easier
to contain the virus. With more people ignoring the signs and
continuing to go out and see people, the worse this virus will get and
the harder it’ll be to contain it.

11.
a. Describe how and where the COVID-19 virus originated and how did
it potentially reach humans.
- Covid is believed to have originated from a bat that was
passed into a pangolin then to a human. They believe that it
was transmitted to humans through wet markets, which
carried many dead animals to eat.
b. Explain what makes China’s wet market different from other wet
markets around the world.
- China offers many different types of animals, which include
wildlife. The market in Wuhan had many animals from all over
the world.
c. Explain China’s “Wildlife Protection Law” and its impact on the
wildlife farming industry.
- When the government saw that people had private farming
that involved wildlife animals, they took it to their advantage
since it provided living for their people. This law would protect
people that used wildlife recources, as it benefited humans.
d. Describe how the impacts on this industry also impacted China’s wet
market in comparison to wet market practices in other regions of the
world.
- Since people were able to own these type of farms, they took
advantage of it. Farms that started off with 3 bears later had
over a thousand. Farms included animals like tigers,
peacocks, snakes, bats, etc. The problem was that with a big
amount of animals, the chances of bringing viruses was
extremely high. The farms would start selling them to wet
markets to make profits. This is where their mistake went.
 Many viruses and infections were coming from these markets
and people were noticing. It wasn’t until the Covid outbreak
that they closed down these markets and banned the wildlife
market. Hopefully in the future they are able to ban the wildlife
market for good.

12.
a. Describe the misinformation you have heard regarding the
COVID-19 virus?
- There are many people claiming that we don’t need to wear a
mask, but mostly all governors are requiring them. About a
number of people are against wearing masks because they
“don’t” work or they can’t breathe, however, It’s proven that
masks do help reduce the risk of exposure.
b. State how many people had left Wuhan, China at the start of the
massive quarantine
- Once people heard about Covid, many left Wuhan. It was
estimated that about 5 million people who had already been
exposed to covid had already left the city before quarantine
was implemented.
13.
a. Identify the spatial distribution of COVID-19 across the world. Which
regions of the world have the most significant number of cases of
COVID-19?
- As of right now, July 31st, 2020, the US has the most cases
with about 4.5 million cases. Brazil followed in second with 2.6
million cases.
b. Locate the spatial distribution of COVID-19 within the United States.
Which regions of the world have the highest number of cases of
COVID-19?
- With the US being the highest amount of cases, what states
are mostly affected? According to the map provided by Johns
Hopkins University, most of the eastern states, Florida,
Georgia, New York, etc, are the most affected at the moment.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t high amounts in the others
states though, this region just has a higher number of cases.
 Along with Texas, Kentucky and their surrounding states as
well.
c. Describe the data trends (graph lines on the lower-right of the
website) for mainland China and the rest of the world
- For China, the cases seem to be slowing down. The cases
aren’t rising dramatically and they’re staying at a constant
rate. They’re “flattening the curve”. Compared to the whole
world in total, the cases are drastically rising. There isn’t a
sign of the cases being contained and instead more cases are
coming in daily.
d. Provide a summary for each of the following regions: United States,
Asia, Europe.
- Europe is all infected overall. Spain, Italy, Germany, France
seem to be the most infected. Spain has almost 300,000
cases and Italy about 250,000. Germany and France are both
very close to 225,000 cases. Still the other countries have
many too.
- Asia isn’t much better either. India has over 1.5 million cases
alone and Russia is getting close to a million as well. Iran has
over 300,000 cases and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan over
275,000. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time
soon.
- As bad enough as Asia and Europe is, the United States is
even worse. The US alone has over 4.5 million cases. That is
more than any country in the world. Unfortunately, in the state
of Utah there aren’t many restrictions. This will result in more
cases in Utah, I can’t imagine other states.

14.
a. Describe the connection between COVID-19 and racist rhetoric that
is occurring around the world regarding the virus.
- Since it is believed that the virus came from a city in China,
people believe all chinese people carry the virus. Multiple
people are then becoming racist against chinese people. They
are keeping their distance from them, which isn’t necessarily
racist, until they claim that it’s because they are chinese.
 b. Explain the various kinds of misinformation that exist regarding the
virus.
- People believe that if you’re asian-american you are more
likely to get Covid-19. This information isn’t true, at all. It
doesn’t matter where you were born or live, the chances to get
Covid are the same for many.
15. Epistemologists and other health experts recommend that we wash our
hands often, with soap and warm water, for a minimum of 20 seconds.
Explain why soap is so effective against COVID-19.
- If you were to wash your hands with just water, the virus won’t be
affected at all and it’ll stay on your hands. This is because the virus
has a protected layer on the outside. However, if you add soap, you
can wash off the virus. This is because soap has two-sided
molecules. One side is attracted to water, while the other is attracted
to fat. This causes the fat to be pulled apart and dispersing them
through the water. Don’t be fooled though, you have to wash your
hands for at least 20 seconds for the virus to be completely washed
off. If you wash them for less time, don’t expect the virus to be gone.

16. Provide specific examples of how you and the people you know can
help to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The smartest thing we can do is act as if we already have it. Since
Covid symptoms aren’t noticeable for a few days, it’s very easy to
pass it onto others because you feel “fine”. If we avoid seeing others,
going out to public places, and using public transportation we can
lower the amount of cases we have. For example, if you need to
work, ask to see if there is any way to work at home. This will
decrease the need to go out. Another smart thing to do is try not to
go grocery shopping as much. Try to go maybe every 2 weeks and
try to avoid contact with others. When you get home, sanitize your
boxes and wash your fruits and vegetables as best as you can.
Overall, find methods that help you avoid others and avoid being
outdoors. This won’t kill off the virus completely, but people who
really need to be hospitalized can get the help they need, rather than
being kicked to the curb because the hospital is over its capacity.