French Guiana Deforestation Linked To Increase In Infectious Tropical Disease

Deforestation by humans in French Guiana has reportedly led to an increase in the number of insects and animals infected with the tropical disease, Buruli ulcer, according to an international team of researchers. The scientists conducted a study to know more about the possible impact of cutting down rain forests on the spread of infectious diseases.

The Washington Post reported that the researchteam went to French Guiana where Buruli ulcer is a common occurrence. The scientists collected 3,000 organisms from 17 places around the country and then examined each for M. ulcerans. Subsequently, it was found that the bacteria can infect a vast range of fish, insects and other invertebrates. Furthermore, the infections were more widespread in the lower levels of the food chain.

The researchers also observed the locations of the organisms they gathered and saw that in areas where deforestation had taken place. There were fewer organisms that lived higher up on the food chain. This, in turn, led to increases in the numbers of lower level organisms that the higher order animals normally preyed upon, and that led to more infections by M. ulcerans in lower order animals as they continued to flourish due to not being preyed upon.

"There is sort of this sweet spot where you get a lot of the organisms that carry the bacteria, but as you progress to large levels of habitat destruction, then they sort of decline again," said lead author Aaron Morris. "With habitat destruction you lose organisms, but you also gain some."

According to science website Phys.org, the research team made no comparisons of the findings with increased human infections; however, the data indicate it could be a possibility that gives more evidence against the negative impact of the deforestation of rain forests, and a likely rise in the spread of bacterial infections at least initially. The study also indicated that as deforested land was converted to human use, even lower order organisms were eventually pushed out, along with the bacteria they hosted.