Rivers are the “blood vessels” of all living organisms on earth – they live in the water, drink the water or use it to spread into new regions in order to avoid overcrowding in specific locations. Since the early beginnings of human life on earth, riverbanks have been used as settlement sites, to provide food and for transport. However, since the oldest human cultures many agents of diseases have also spread along these rivers. Written by leading international parasitologists and physicians, this book discusses the involvement of rivers in the spread of diseases, but also their contributions to the development and destruction of human cultures. Examining past and current data, it shows how important and vulnerable river regions are and how they are increasingly endangered by pollution.
