The chikungunya virus can be traced back to an outbreak in Africa, more specifically a border area. The Makonde Plateau between Mozambique and Tanzania appears to be the source of this mosquito-borne disease.

Likely originating in the Eastern and Central areas of Africa, the virus was first discovered in 1952. The word “Chikungunya” is said to have come from the Makonde language where it means “that which bends up.”

That may seem like an odd way to describe a virus, but the name comes from a symptom. When infected with chikungunya, the illness can cause severe joint pain. That pain can cause a more stooped posture from the arthritic symptoms of the disease.

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They may be deadly in some cases, but vaccines have changed the way we handle many mosquito-borne diseases. Immunizations for yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis have helped much of the world avoid those diseases.

But, we’re still unable to fight many similar illnesses.

Scientists still search for vaccines to prevent West Nile and Zika virus. Many have even resorted to giving mosquitoes diet pills to reduce those diseases. The Chikungunya virus is in six of the seven continents and Dengue fever infects more than 390 million individuals every year. And let’s not forget Malaria, which affects over 214 million people annually.

These illnesses are deadly, and millions of people can lose their lives due to the effects.

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For many people, the idea of travel is enticing except for one important part: airplanes. Like traveling alone, fears of air travel can keep a person from boarding a plane and with little or no options to visit a new destination.

In 2017 a record 4 billion people worldwide used air travel to reach a new destination. Even in the United States, over 2.5 million people travel every single day.

Out of the people who fly in the U.S. alone, between 2.5 and 6.5%, about 10-20 million people, are afraid of flying.

What makes people scared of flying? Further, how can they overcome this phobia to get through a flight?

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Around the world every year, there are an estimated 2.9 million reported cases of cholera.

That staggering statistic happens despite constant work to reduce cholera cases. Officials continue to try and improve drinking water and sanitation in developing countries. But, the disease still causes over 100,000 deaths every year, according to Eureka Alert.

As another step in the fight against cholera, the WHO created a Global Task Force for Cholera Control. The organization then set a goal to eliminate cholera as a public health threat by 2030.

One crucial part of this plan is better information on active cholera cases. We need to be able to keep track of cases as accurately as possible.

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Today, epidemiology is a valuable field of study which plays a role in eradicating diseases. It helps us prevent outbreaks, craft preventative measures and treat illnesses.

But, it wasn’t so long ago that the world didn’t have this practice and suffered much more drastic consequences from each case of sickness.

Stories of the most rudimentary vaccines stretch back a few hundred years, but epidemiology is a bit younger.

Described by Merriam Webster as, “medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population,” epidemiology’s origins are largely credited to legendary Victorian doctor John Snow. His claim to fame in discovering that cholera is spread by a parasite through contaminated water or food. Snow’s work even earned the nickname “the father of epidemiology.”

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