Disease ecology is a branch of ecology that focus on how the interactions of species and the abiotic

factors of the environment influence the patterns and processes of disease. This branch of study
emerged as scientists realized that the interaction between pathogen and host might be linked to
interactions of different species including predator-prey, competitors, and mutualists. The disease
ecology paradigm explains why diseases are distributed differently around the globe. The concept
asserts that any disease may be linked to three sets of factors: genetics, environment, and behavior.
The biological features of organisms are referred to as genetics, the geographic setting in which they
live is referred to as environment, and the activities, and interactions are referred to as behavior.
These elements interact in different ways in different locales, resulting in disease ecologies that are
distinct (R.S. Ostfeld, 2018).

Infectious and non-infectious diseases are the two categories that diseases are divided into. Genetic
abnormalities, food, and the environment are all causes of non-infectious diseases. An example of an
environmental factor is ultraviolet radiation which can cause skin cancer. Infectious disease has been
the core focus of the study of disease ecology. Infectious diseases are caused by an organism — a
pathogen – infecting a host. Pathogens can be passed from one host to the next in several ways
including sexual contact, contact with respiratory droplets, blood, or excrement, and a variety of
additional methods. Vector-borne illnesses are pathogens that require another creature to transmit
them from one host to another. To describe distinctions in their biological population, pathogens are
typically divided into microparasites and macroparasites. Microparasites are the microscropic
organisms like viruses; and macroparasites are organisms that can be seen with the naked eye, like
helminths (J.R. Oppong, 2014).

R.S. Ostfeld. (2018). Disease Ecology

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199830060/
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%20ecology%20is%20a%20rapidly%20developing%20subdiscipline

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