The Ten-Thousand Year Fever : Rethinking Human and Wild-Primate Malarias.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Cormier, Loretta A.
Imprint:Walnut Creek : Left Coast Press, 2011.
Description:1 online resource (243 pages)
Language:English
Series:New frontiers in historical ecology ; v. 2
New frontiers in historical ecology ; v. 2.
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11279163
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781611327977
1611327970
9781598744828
1598744828
9781598744835
1598744836
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
English.
Print version record.
Summary:Malaria is one of the oldest recorded diseases in human history, and its 10,000-year relationship to primates can teach us why it will be one of the most serious threats to humanity in the 21st century. In this pathbreaking book Loretta Cormier integrates a wide range of data from molecular biology, ethnoprimatology, epidemiology, ecology, anthropology, and other fields to reveal the intimate relationships between culture and environment that shape the trajectory of a parasite. She argues against the entrenched distinction between human and non-human malarias, using ethnoprimatology to develo.
Other form:Print version: Cormier, Loretta A. Ten-Thousand Year Fever : Rethinking Human and Wild-Primate Malarias. Walnut Creek : Left Coast Press, ©2011 9781598744828
Review by Choice Review

Malaria is one of the oldest serious infectious diseases in humans. Taming malaria, let alone eradicating it, continues to be a significant research challenge in the 21st century. This book provides a historical perspective on the disease. Anthropologist Cormier (Univ. of Alabama) has collected data from molecular biology, ethnoprimatology, epidemiology, ecology, and anthropology to reveal a dynamic interplay between the pathogen, human culture, and the environment. Deforestation and development have contributed to malaria's persistence because indigenous people and wild primates often exploit and share with mosquitoes forest space and water resources in the tropics. The author introduces the four major types of primate malarias, illustrating human and wild-primate cross infections. Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of human malarias, provides new evolutionary insights. However, Plasmodium vixax malaria is believed to be much older than P. falciparum. The book explores the significance of various biological adaptations to malarial pathology. Other topics discussed include laboratory experimentation on rhesus monkeys and human experimentation on prisoners. Lastly, the book discusses the ways humans have altered the ecological landscapes to affect malaria's proliferation. This slim volume is an excellent model of interdisciplinary integration and is richly documented with an extensive list of references. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All students, faculty, and researchers in the field. S. M. Paracer Worcester State College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review