Biological and Social Hazards Lesson

Lesson 9.2 Biological and Social Hazards

Three quarters of infectious disease deaths
are caused by five types of diseases:
respiratory infections, AIDS, diarrheal
diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Tuberculosis-causing
bacteria

Infectious Diseases

Lesson 9.2 Biological and Social Hazards

Did You Know? In 2002, AIDS killed
about 2 million people worldwide—
almost equal to the entire population
of Arkansas.

• Caused by pathogens

• Spread by human and animal
contact and through contaminated
food and water

• Cause of almost half of all deaths
in developing nations

• Covering your mouth when you
cough, washing your hands often,
and staying home from school if
you’re sick help prevent the
spread of infectious disease.

Emerging Diseases

• Diseases appearing in the human population for the first time
or suddenly beginning to spread rapidly

• Humans have little or no resistance, and no vaccines have
been developed.

• Facilitated by
increasing human
mobility, growing
antibiotic
resistance, and
environmental
changes

Lesson 9.2 Biological and Social Hazards

Responding to Emerging Diseases

• World Health Organization (WHO):
Monitors health events worldwide and
coordinates international responses to
emerging diseases

• Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC): Responds to
emerging diseases in the United States;
the CDC developed pandemic plans to
deal with the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.

Lesson 9.2 Biological and Social Hazards

H1N1 Virus

Social Hazards

Lesson 9.2 Biological and Social Hazards

• Some social hazards are
easier to avoid than others.

• Examples of social hazards
include smoking, being
exposed to secondhand
smoke, living near an old
toxic waste site, working
with harmful chemicals, and
eating fatty foods.