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Colwell Discusses Importance of Environmental Factors in Spread of Infectious Disease
Rita Colwell, Ph.D., the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar, Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., and Distinguished University Professor at both the University of Maryland at College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, discussed the importance of environmental factors in the spread of infectious disease in a March 24 lecture that was part of the Spring Seminar Series of the Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. Dr. Colwell, whose work bridges the disciplines of the environmental sciences and medical epidemiology, used cholera as a paradigm for presenting the effect of climate on infectious disease. Cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has an enormous health impact in many areas of the world, particularly in India and Bangladesh. By showing that the maintenance of natural Vibrio populations in the environment are closely related to factors such as water temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen content, Dr. Colwell has shown that climate drives the disease, with a peaking of the Vibrio population in the environment prior to the outbreak of human epidemics. Models and environmental data are able to predict the potential location and intensity of epidemics and Dr. Colwell is working to increase collaboration between climatologists and epidemiologists in order to develop even more powerful predictive capabilities. An advocate of what she calls “preemptive medicine,” the use of multiple methods for attacking a given health problem, Dr. Colwell has conducted studies in Bangladesh showing that cholera incidence can be reduced by 50% by filtering bacteria-carrying plankton out of water using sari and T-shirt cloth that has been folded multiple times. This crude filtration process provides benefits to cholera prevention. Because cholera is dose dependent, those who get cholera from drinking the filtered water tend to get less sick. Additionally, filtering the water reduces the amount of chlorine necessary to make the water potable, thereby making it more palatable to the many Bangladeshis who avoid chlorinated water because they dislike its taste and believe that it is not as healthy as untreated water. In conjunction with improving water quality, Dr. Colwell also advocates vaccination campaigns targeting people who are in contact with those who have cholera rather than vaccinating everyone. This approach is especially important when the vaccine supply is limited. From 1998 to 2004, Dr. Colwell served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Prior to going to NSF, she was President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University of Maryland, and a member, from 1984 to 1990, of the National Science Board. The author or co-author of more than 700 scientific publications, Dr. Colwell has been awarded 43 honorary degrees and has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology, and President of the American Association for the AdvancementAugust 2, 2005 American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, and the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Dr. Colwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Her primary interests are global infectious diseases, water and health. –Story by Christy Gordon |
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