Public Health Issues Affecting Arizona State

Public Health Issues Affecting Arizona State Name: Institution: Course Title: Instructor: Date: Public Health Issues Affecting Arizona State The purpose of this report is to review Arizona State environmental quality and public health departments with a view of describing the community’s health concerns; identifying the existing environmental risk assessment techniques applicable to the public health concerns; and creating and strategically analyzing a proposed intervention program. Specifically, the report provides various vector related diseases that affects this community. Vector-related diseases, also referred to as vector-borne diseases, are the diseases that are transmitted indirectly to humans through vectors (Velazquez-Castro, Anzo-Hernandez, Capilla, Sato-Bajo & Fraguela-Collar, 2018). They are also defined as infections transmitted through vector-bites. Such vectors results inhuman suffering, decreased productivity, increased health care costs and increased mortality and morbidity. Vectors refer to living organisms transmitting diseases from certain animals to humans or between humans. Some of the most common vectors include blackflies sandflies, triatomine, ticks and mosquitoes. Next, the report identifies the existing environmental risk assessment techniques applicable to the vector-borne diseases. The report also provides a research-based intervention program and a SWOT analysis of the program. The Community’s Health Concerns Arizona State is faced with a variety of vector-related diseases. The Arizona Department of Health Services (2018) identify various vector-borne diseases that affects the community, including anthrax, Colorado tick fever, dengue fever, malaria, scabies, anaplasmosis, rabies, yellow fever and scabies. Specifically, the most common vector-related diseases that face Arizona State are Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, plague, valley fever and West Nile virus. These diseases and their prevalence are depicted in Figure 1 below. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: The most common vector-related diseases facing Arizona State, 2005-2012. Source: Roach, Wilder, Smith, Chambers & Patten et al. 2017 Figure 1 above reveals that valley fever is the most prevalent vector-related disease followed by West Nile virus, plague and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, respectively. Valley fever, also called acute coccidioidomycosis, is caused by the fungus growing in the ground. Valey fever is more prevalent in southwestern United States with two-thirds of all the country’s cases being reported from Arizona State (Arizona Department of Health Services, 2018). Coccidioides organisms are the causes of this fungal infection. These organisms (fungi) are often found within the soil in certain regions of Arizona State. Once anything such as wind, construction or farming disrupts such soil, the spores of the fungi are stirred into the air that we breathe. As individuals inhale the air, the fungi enter into their lungs causing valley fever. While mild cases of this disease do not require medication, severe ones require the doctor’s prescription of the necessary antifungal medication. Some of the symptoms associated with the disease include coughing, chest pain and fever. West Nile virus is ranked as the second most c...