Campus News

Traveling bug

An article in U.S. News and World Report about how animal migration has the ability to reduce the spread of disease quoted John Gittleman, dean of the Odum School of Ecology, and Sonia Altizer, an associate professor in the college.

“By placing disease in an ecological context, you not only see counterintuitive patterns but also understand advantages to disease transmission” said Gittleman. “This is a classic example of disease ecology at its best.”

The article concludes with an outline of challenges and questions for future research.

“We need to learn more in order to make decisions about the conservation and management of wildlife and to predict and mitigate the effects of future outbreaks of infectious diseases,” said Altizer.