Epstein maintains that these killers can quickly exact staggering tolls on nations' development, trade, tourism, and agriculture. With rapid identification of risk factors, public health officials can institute remedial measures to contain disease waves and save lives. Epstein and colleagues at the CHGE are using information from satellites to help identify and track infectious diseases spreading across oceans and land. Aimed at developing disease early warning and prevention systems, Epstein's work is also connecting the spread of infectious diseases worldwide to changing environmental and climate conditions in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. HABs can impact health issues in direct and indirect ways, he explained.
Some brown tides are also directly poisonous.
And, algal blooms can harbor bacteria that infiltrate the food chain, water supplies, and human populations through the marine environment. A n association between seasonal coastal algal blooms and cholera outbreaks has been established since the 1960s, Epstein said. Of plankton species, both algae and zooplankton are known to harbor bacteria, and cholera is linked specifically to zooplankton. Using satellites, no method to distinguish zooplankton from surrounding species yet exists. But, with an established relationship between algae and zooplankton abundances, satellite data could be key.