Question

How might the environmental stability of an infectious disease agent affect the likelihood of theft and misuse?​

Answer 1

Answer:

There have been a number of outbreaks of acute infectious gastrointestinal illnesses (AGI), such as those caused by norovirus (e.g. United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002), and acute respiratory illnesses (ARI), such as influenza (e.g. Brotherton et al., 2003), on ships caused by communicable infectious agents. For example, in 2002, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected 21 outbreaks (in this case, defined as “probable Norovirus infections causing illness in >3% of the ship population”) on board ships arriving at ports in the United States (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002). In general, diseases arising from communicable infectious agents result from infection of the gastrointestinal system (digestive tract, intestines, stomach) and cause acute symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Respiratory infections can also arise and can cause acute symptoms such as fever, myalgia, weakness, sore throat, cold and cough. Although these diseases are often self-limiting or even asymptomatic, deaths can arise, particularly in sensitive populations. In the confines of a ship environment, these diseases can spread rapidly to affect significant proportions of the total ship population. These same diseases are highly prevalent on land, making it difficult to avoid some infected persons coming aboard.