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As a researcher, I’m interested in the political, ecological, and cultural debates around mosquito-borne diseases and the solutions proposed to mitigate them.

When we received the task, my first impulse was to investigate about the contemporary effects of anthropogenic climate change in mosquito-borne diseases in New Orleans. But I was afraid to make the same mistake that I did in my PhD research. I wrote my PhD proposal while based in the US, more specifically in New England, during the Zika epidemic, and proposed to understand how scientists were studying ecological climate change and mosquitoes in Brazil. However, once I arrived in the country the political climate was a much more pressing issue, with the dismantling of health and scientific institutions.

Thus, after our meeting yesterday, and Jason Ludwig’s reminder that the theme of our Field Campus is the plantation, I decided to focus on how it related to mosquitoes in New Orleans.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito and the yellow fever virus it can transmit are imbricated in the violent histories of settler-colonialism and slavery that define the plantation economy. The mosquito and the virus arrived in the Americas in the same ships that brought enslaved peoples from Africa. The city of New Orleans had its first yellow fever epidemic in 1796, with frequent epidemics happening between 1817 and 1905. What caused New Orleans to be the “City of the Dead,” as Kristin Gupta has indicated, was yellow fever. However, as historian Urmi Engineer Willoughby points out, the slave trade cannot explain alone the spread and persistance of the disease in the region: "Alterations to the landscape, combined with demographic changes resulting from the rise of sugar production, slavery, and urban growth all contributed to the region’s development as a yellow fever zone." For example, sugar cultivation created ideal conditions for mosquito proliferation because of the extensive landscape alteration and ecological instabilities, including heavy deforestation and the construction of drainage ditches and canals.

Historian Kathryn Olivarius examines how for whites "acclimatization" to the disease played a role in hierarchies with “acclimated” (immune) people at the top and a great mass of “unacclimated” (non-immune) people and how for black enslaved people "who were embodied capital, immunity enhanced the value and safety of that capital for their white owners, strengthening the set of racialized assumptions about the black body bolstering racial slavery."

As I continue to think through these topics, I wonder how both the historical materialities of the plantation and the contemporary anthropogenic changes might be influencing mosquito-borne diseases in New Orleans nowadays? And more, how the regions’ histories of race and class might still be shaping the effects of these diseases and how debates about them are framed?

The policy does not make any specific mentions of how to deal with vulnerable populations. However, if one were to consider the nature of New York, it can be argued that the city's entire population is vulnerable to outbreak. As a hub of trade, finance, travel, and business, New York is at a considerably higher risk than a city without this high metropolitan activity. The policy does include measures on how to treat individuals who show signs and symptoms in public locations, but does not mandate testing or health checks for individuals involved in transport, travel, or who have limited access to health care (the homeless).

Didier Fassin is an anthropologist and sociologist. He was a doctor trained in internal medicine and public health, and has taken to working on humanitarian projects. He writes this article from this combination perspective - with a medical background as well as anthropology and sociology experience. He focuses more on his position and knowledge of the latter, as he writes with with politics and humanitiarianism in mind

1) EPA: what are the exact duties and responsibilities of the EPA after a disaster? While we mostly consider it to focus on pollutants and environmental conservation, both this article and FEMA training seem to indicate it holds a much larger role in emergency situations.

2) Christie Whitman: a former governor of New Jersey and Administrator of the EPA from 2001-2003, Whitman served during the 9/11 attacks. Despite pointed personal criticism about her time in the EPA (including legal action), Whitman historical demonstrated a pattern of moderatism, often putting her at odds with the administration she served. It would be interesting to see where in the 9/11 lapse emerged-- whether it be from judgement, misinformation, or disinterest.

3) 9/11 Health Effects: The release of millions of asbestos and concrete particles into the air certainly increases the odds of chronic respiratory issues for NYC populations. I would be interested in whether any other chronic issues or epidemics have been noted as a result of pollution from the Towers' collapse

This study has been cited in several other articles and studies that look at disaster and intimate partner violence. Some focus on specific areas such as costal regions, others bring in other factors such as depression.

The program has two primary targets: incarcerated offenders and the public. It was founded, first and foremost, as a way to treat prisoners in the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution. The goal of providing these offenders with basic health care, treatment, and interventions remains at the forefront. Such projects include management of LGBQT youth in correctional facilities, HIV/AIDs prevention/treatment, and substance abuse clinics. More than anything, the program targets inmates who suffer from mismanaged health problem-- often times leading to their incarceration. The secondary goal of the Center is to provide the public and policy makers with their findings, and showcase how human health and imprisonment are linked. This dual-prong approach allows for treatment of both the immediate issue and the causative agent.

This article was primarily supported by it's cited work. It combined and summarized many research reports and other articles. They broke it down into sections that flowed in a reasonable manner and supported each statement with a reference number.

The web platform is supported by the organization Land of Opportunity. Land of Opportunity partners with several sponsors, including a local organization called NOVAC (New Orleans Video Access Center). Other partners include Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, Center for Social Media, Louisiana Justice Institute, PATOIS, Survivors Village, New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, and Video Veracity. These organizations represent funding and on-the-ground workers for Land of Opportunity

"Among inhabitants of Kyiv and other urban centers, there is a growing consensus that the invalids are "parasites of the state, dam aging the economy, not paying taxes." Many youths who had been evacuated from the zone do not want to be associated with groups of sufferers as this association makes it more difficult for them to find employment.

"Another administrator who authenticated com pensation claims told me illnesses had become a form of currency. "There are a lot of people out of work," he said. "People don't have enough money to eat. The state doesn't give medicines for free anymore. Drug stores are commercialized." He likened his work to that of a bank. "The diagnosis we write is money.""

"Symon Lavrov, was well-regarded internationally for having developed computerized fallout models and calculating population-wide doses in the post-Soviet period. He told me, how ever, that "when a crying mother comes to my laboratory and asks me, Professor Lavrov, 'tell me what's wrong with my child?' I assign her a dose and say nothing more. I double it, as much as I can." The offer of a higher dose increased the likelihood that the mother would be able to secure social protection on account of her potentially sick child.""

This article primarily focuses on the major inequalities faced by peoples within Canadian first nations, especially with respect to mental health. There are a supremely disproportionate amount of suicides and attempts within many First Nation communities; these have, in turn, been met with little advancements or aid from the Federal government. It opens about the difficulties creating long-lasting change and working with programs that have funding cut in 2-3 years. Moreover, it highlights the distinct apathy displayed by the Canadian government to help or even discuss these issues-- to the point where even declaring a crisis is met with minimal reaction.