Cholera has been around for centuries but in our modern history there has been a resurgence with at least 7 devastating global outbreaks occurring worldwide in in the last century each claiming thousands of innocent lives. Cholera infects 1.3 to 4 million people around the world, killing 21,000 to 143,000 people annually according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is thus imperative to research this bacterial disease and come up with ways of shedding light on effective prevention and cure. Cholera is an illness of multi‐causal origin where biological, environmental, social, political, and cultural factors intervene. This disease continues to resurge as a sanitary problem of great magnitude in many countries and emerged in Haiti following the January 12, 2010 magnitude 7.0 earthquake some 16 miles from the capital city of Port‐au‐Prince, where it caused massive damage to roads, buildings, and the environment. Although Haiti is among the poorest countries in the Americas, and its capital city lacked much in the way of modern public sanitation at the time of the earthquake, the country had been cholera free for at least 150 years or more at the time of the earthquake. By mid‐October 2010, the first cases of cholera began to appear, and by the end of the decade would infect some 800,000 Haitians (~10% of the population of Haiti) and approximately 10,000 deaths. The source of the infection was traced to the Artibonite River, a main source of water in Haiti, which was believed to have become unknowingly contaminated by well‐intentioned foreign workers from Nepal following the earthquake. The strain of cholera found in Haiti was similar to the one found in Nepal (CDC). Haiti employed measures of Cholera prevention and eradication efforts including water treatment, sanitation and hygiene measures, education, oral vaccination, and addressing climate variability issues, history, epidemiology, clinical diagnosis, and treatment, monitoring and prevention of this disease to prevent further loss of life. By 2020, no new cases of cholera have been reported for over 12 months, indicating that Haiti may soon be cholera free once again. Results/Conclusion: Effective hygienic conditions, timely medical intervention including supportive care, access to the appropriate antibiotics, availability of clean drinking water, hand washing, and other prevention protocols can help curb the loss of life associated with cholera. Cholera can kill a healthy person within 12 to 24 hours from the onset of diarrhea, as it is quite virulent. The current situation of cholera in the world (particularly in Haiti), and the extensive collaborative relation and the geographical proximity to Haiti makes the epidemiological risk in neighboring countries increase; therefore, immediate action is required in the organization of health services to prevent yet another epidemic.

Infectious diseases have been a threat to human health globally. The relentless efforts and research have enabled us to overcome most of the diseases through the use of antiviral and antibiotic agents discovered and employed. Unfortunately, the microorganisms have the capability to adapt and mutate over time and antibiotic and antiviral resistance ensues. There are many challenges in treating infections such as failure of the microorganisms to respond to the therapeutic agents, which has led to more chronic infections, complications, and preventable loss of life. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration is warranted to create more potent, effective, and versatile therapies to prevent and eradicate the old and newly emerging diseases. In the recent past, natural medicine has proven its effectiveness against various illnesses. Most of the pharmaceutical agents currently used can trace their origin to the natural products in one way, shape, or form. The full potential of natural products is yet to be realized, as numerous natural resources have not been explored and analyzed. This merits continuous support in research and analysis of ancient treatment systems to explore their full potential and employ them as an alternative or principal therapy.

Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide, where it contributes to stroke, cardiovascular and renal disease. Forty percent of adults aged 30-79 years worldwide have hypertension, two-thirds of whom are living in low and middle-income countries. Most adults with hypertension are not fully aware that they have the condition, therefore it often goes ignored and untreated. Of the 1.28 billion people worldwide, who have been reported to have hypertension, data indicates that one in five females and one in four males are included in that estimate. Moreover, data from World Health Organization reports that less than half of adults (42%) with hypertension are diagnosed and treated adequately and approximately only one in five adults (21%) with hypertension have it under adequate control. One of the worldwide goals for non-communicable diseases is to scale back the prevalence of hypertension by 33% between 2010 and 2030. In African Americans, readily available thiazide diuretics or Calcium Channel Blockers (CCBs) have been shown to be more effective in lowering blood pressure than Renin Angiotensin System inhibitors (RAS) or β-adrenergic blockers and are also more effective in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) events than RAS inhibitors or adrenergic blockers. The ethnical difference in hypertension and hypertension- related complaint issues are associated with lesser mortality and morbidity pitfalls compared with their white counterparts. These redundant pitfalls from elevated blood pressure have a dramatic effect on life expectancy and career productivity for African American men and women and which is significantly lower than has been reported for Caucasian Americans of either gender. These present challenges remain to be completely understood and give a result to overcome ethnical and racial differences in the frequency and treatment of hypertension. Social determinants of health similar as educational status, access to health care and low income play a crucial part in frequency and blood pressure control rates. Development of appropriate health care programs at the state and public situations to address these issues will be essential to reduce these differences. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to review the prevalence and ethnic disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and to suggest steps to improve the outcomes.

The Soufriere Hills Volcano of Montserrat has ancient origins and roared back to life in 1995 wreaking severe havoc and damage to the inhabitants, geography, and ecosystems of the Island. The pyroclastic ash flow reached temperatures of 1500 °F and progressed down the hillsides at speeds of 80 mph, causing incineration and virtual destruction of everything in its path, while the gaseous and particulate laden plume reached altitudes of 35,000 feet, impacting air quality and aircraft navigation. The local health authorities recommended masking and physical protection from any potentially harmful effects from the ash to all residents who remained on Island following the 1995 eruption. Volcanic ash can be an irritant to exposed skin and respiratory surfaces upon contact due in part to the sharp and jagged nature of the microcrystalline particulate matter. In addition, the minute size of the smallest particulate matter can impact deep into the unprotected respiratory tree in humans and animals, potentially causing severe respiratory injury. The composition and physicochemical nature of the ash was largely unknown in 1995 and subsequent years. The current study was designed to determine the geochemical composition of the ash. Samples of ash were collected from 7 locations and water samples from three free flowing creeks in Montserrat and indicated that the creek water was acidic in nature. The mean pH of water was 5.2, while the ash showed abundant levels of Iron, Phosphorus, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Aluminum, and sulfur, in addition to lower concentrations of potassium, boron, copper and zinc and intermediate concentrations of Manganese and was devoid of toxic minerals including lead and mercury. The emergence of acute respiratory issues was not found to exceed similar events in other healthy populations including individuals relocated to the UK. In conclusion, direct human and animal exposure to Montserrat volcanic ash was deemed non-harmful to humans when adequate protective measures including masking and exposure precautions were undertaken, while the rich mineral content of the ash can provide a rich source of micronutrient mineralization to soils and surrounding seawaters and support vigorous revegetation and recovery of affected land and sea zones throughout the island community.

Emergence of the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic posed new challenges for the delivery of medical and graduate education by Institutions throughout most of the world, as travel restrictions and regional lockdowns placed new demands never previously imposed on higher education. The University of Science Arts and Technology [USAT], located on the volcanic island of Montserrat, British West Indies began to prepare for such an eventuality since 2007 due to new volcanic eruptions. Despite 24/7 monitoring from the nearby state‐of‐the‐art Montserrat volcano observatory, with little warning, the Soufriere Hills Volcano, located a distant 5 miles Southeast of the Campus spontaneously roared back to life in January 2007, venting clouds of volcanic ash and gas 8 kilometers (5 miles) into the sky with overflow lava and debris reaching the sea to the East and West; the volcano's lava dome continued to grow as it had since 2006, and local volcano experts worried that the rapidly growing lava dome, the mounting pressure building inside the dome could cause a catastrophic explosive eruption, and the renewed volcanic activity indicates that the volcano is now predicted to remain active well into the future. The volcanic activity caused the partial evacuation of the Island, including areas bordering the campus, resulting in the establishment of the USAT Campus satellite transmitter system [CST] in 2007. The CST enabled USAT the establishment of the first secure network on Island for the Secure Small Platform Online Course delivery network [SSPOC] and which enabled USAT to continue lecture operations uninterrupted with faculty that are highly experienced in the delivery of high quality Medical and Graduate education from both on‐Island and remote locations in an efficient, timely, cost effective and highly productive and timely manner, while enabling students an on‐island campus experience during periods of volcanicactivity including options for lectures, public health, epidemiology and environmental research, and selected experiences in areas of family and tropical medicine. During the current COVID pandemic and travel restriction imposed we further enhanced our on‐line teaching system and secure SSPOC model, expanded International options, and as professors and students could not travel to the campus but all lectures were delivered online with absolutely no disruption or compromise in delivery of exceptional quality lectures and teaching experiences continued as if they occurred on campus.