Description
In an age characterized by a rapidly changing environment in which emerging and reemerging diseases continue to confront us, how can we predict the next major threats to human health? Are we in fact aiding the spread of disease by destroying the barriers that keep us from it? In his seven-part series Medical Ecology: Environmental Disturbance and Disease, Dickson Despommier, Professor of Public Health and Microbiology at Columbia, illuminates the connections between the disruption of ecosystems and eruptions of human disease. In Waterborne Infections, the sixth seminar in the series, Professor Despommier examines both the pathogens that cause waterborne disease and the role that water plays in their transmission and proliferation. He looks at how human disturbance of the environment can seriously impact the spread of waterborne disease and the emergence of new, more-virulent diseases. Professor Despommier's engaging lecture is enhanced with interactive maps, data, and readings.

Minimal prior knowledge of science— including basic concepts of disease, viruses, and bacteria—is required for this course.