Question

Typhoid fever is caused by bacteria in contaminated food or drink. In 1903, an outbreak of typhoid fever in Ithaca, New York, killed almost 80 people. In addition, more than 1,000 Ithaca residents became sick with the disease. The population shares the public water source. Which type of limiting factor was involved in the typhoid outbreak that occurred in Ithaca? density dependent or independen

Answer 1

The typhoid outbreak in Ithaca was a real-world example of a density-dependent limiting factor, as the population of Ithaca was sharing the same public water source and the contamination of the water led to the spread of the disease. In density-dependent factors, the effects of the factor on the population are proportional to the population density. This means that as the population grows, the effects of the factor become more severe and can limit the population growth. In this case, the density of the population and the water contamination were directly proportional to each other, leading to the outbreak of typhoid fever. Therefore, the answer is density-dependent.