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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?

This article focuses on the effect of violence on the heath service delivery in complex security environments on individuals, discrimination, property and more. The challenges associated with researching this are also discussed in this paper. The paper notes that there is a deficit in the ability to be able to analyze the correlation of violence and the health service delivery due to data collection. There is an overall lack of research that is health specific, publicly available and isn't gender based. This gap in research, overall limits analysis of the correlation. 

Past policies and global events are used to produce the arguments in this paper. The infrastructure set forth by the WHO and CDC in terms of biosecurity and protocols are cited repeatedly. The response to major historical outbreaks are the main details that are used in the paper in order to communicate the main points. Smallpox, flu and AIDS outbreaks are all noted as events we can learn from today in terms of threat response. 

Researchers use this system extensively in order to find correlations between 9/11 and different repercussions as well as to collect and gather data about those who were exposed during 9/11. A unique aspect of this registry is that it contains more participants than any other registry of its kind, making it a great tool for researchers. The public also utilizes this information to study their own forms of various research as well as to gain knowledge on possible afflictions related to the event. The registry also follows up with participants with interviews and matches with other health registries. The website also offers resources to researchers to learn more about the research at hand and where to find other published reports about 9/11.

This book and its themes have been referenced in some of the authors other works. Yet based off my research, I was not abel to find it referenced in other papers or books. 

By the public, it is regarded as a prestigious academic program that enables and creates an environment in which students can become leaders in their respective DRL careers. DRLA is also mentioned in the news alongside headlines including the USAID office of Foreign Disaster Assistance as well as Rwanda assistance and in high regards with the FEMA Chief of staff. It is clear that this program is intermingled with many governmental agencies and is regarded highly by them, as well as the public for its humanitarian efforts and abilities to produce excellent leaders in the DRL fields. It is very clear that this program is highly regarded academically, professionally and socially by the public as well. 

This is seen as a good start to a major problem that needs far more assistance and advancement. People cite that meeting eligibility requirements are very hard and there are people that make more money than allowed to qualify, but still cannot afford mental health treatment. This policy is appreciated in a certain capacity, yet it is very apparent that people want more and think more help is needed. Of course, you will always have an opposing side when it comes to politics and there are people who think this is the perfect amount of assistance and nothing else is needed. 

Emergency response is addressed in more of a public health aspect rather than EMS. The conditions post Chernobyl in terms of government involvement, political and social climates were emphasized. Along with this, the resettlement and life adjustments of those effected, as well as health and radiation implications are extensively discussed. 

These following quotes best exemplify the message of the article: 

" A nuclear emergency response group can no doubt benefit form improving the community resilience and emergency preparedness but this group will unavoidably carry an elite character." (p 196)

"The international community has come to acknowledge the magnitude of risk and responsibly involved in developing and safely operating nuclear facilities." (P. 199)

"To move forward with maximum efficient, an international nuclear response group needs to operationalize relevant experience form international disaster relief organizations." (p 201)