Book and Movie 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Book and Movie 2 - Essay Example about the pneumonic plague would trigger irrational fear and force those infected into hiding whereby, they would go on long vacations further spreading the disease (Kazan). Tony Hillerman’s â€Å"The First Eagle†, concurs with Elia’s representation of communicable diseases; however, his focus is on â€Å"Black death† (contracting the pneumonic plague from exposure to infected dead tissue). Communicable diseases are highly contagious, which necessitates timely and adequate containment before an outbreak that indiscriminately attacks the population (CDC). Discussed below is transmission, shift in vector location, and pollution spread of the bacterium that causes the pneumonic plague as portrayed in Elia Kazan’s film and Hillerman’s novel. Kazan’s movie reveals that some pathogens remain active in dead tissues (corpses), which have not undergone proper sanitization procedures aimed at suppressing the pathogens viability or infectious nature. The pneumonic plague, which represents the disease featured in the movie is one such example. Research by the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies Yersinia pestis as the bacterium responsible for causing the pneumonic plague. The disease attacks the respiratory system aggressively. Transmission of the disease occurs either from human to human or from animals to humans. Transmission through the former (primary transmission) occurs when a non-infected person inhales air exhaled by an infected person or when a non-infected person is exposed to infected dead tissue. Conversely, animal to human transmission occurs when a non-infected individual eats an infected animal or is exposed to fleas on the infected animal; for example, a 2006 World Health Organizat ion (WHO) study revealed that pneumonic plague infection in Northwest China resulted from human contact with fleas from infected animals during hunting expeditions (CDC). â€Å"Black Death†, is the name given to transmission of the pneumonic plague