Why Did the US Enter the Vietnam War

The US entered the Vietnam War in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism, but foreign policy, economic interests, national fears, and geopolitical strategies also played major roles. Learn why a country which had been barely known to most Americans came to define an era. Key Takeaways: U.S. Involvement in Vietnam The Domino Theory held that communism would spread if Vietnam became communist.Anti-communist sentiment at home influenced foreign policy views.The Gulf of Tonkin incident appeared to be a provocation for war.As war continued, desire to find an honorable peace was motivation to keep troops in Vietnam. The Domino Theory The American foreign policy establishment tended to view the situation in Southeast Asia in terms of the Domino Theory beginning in the mid-1950s. The basic principle was that if French Indochina (Vietnam was still a French colony) fell to the communist insurgency which had been battling the French, the expansion of communism throughout Asia would be likely to continue unchecked. Taken to its extreme, other nations throughout Asia would become satellites of either the Soviet Union or Communist China, much like nations in Eastern Europe had come under Soviet domination. President Dwight Eisenhower invoked the Domino Theory in a press conference held in Washington on April 7, 1954. His reference to Southeast Asia becoming communist was major news the following day. The New York Times headlined a page one story about his press conference, â€Å"President Warns of Chain Disaster if Indo-China Goes.† Given Eisenhower’s credibility on military matters, his prominent endorsement of the Domino Theory placed it at the forefront of how many Americans for years would view the unfolding situation in Southeast Asia. Political Reasons: Anti-Communist Fervor On the home front, beginning in 1949, fear of domestic communists gripped America. The country spent much of the 1950s under the influence of a Red Scare, led by the virulently anti-communist Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy saw communists everywhere in America  and encouraged an atmosphere of hysteria and distrust. Photo of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The McCarthy Era was marked by dramatic accusations that communists had infiltrated the highest levels of American society as part of a global conspiracy. Getty Images Internationally, following World War II, country after country in Eastern Europe had fallen under communist rule, as had China, and the trend was spreading to other nations in  Latin America, Africa, and Asia as well. The US felt that it was losing the ​Cold War, and needed to contain communism. It was against this backdrop, then, that the first military advisers were sent to help the French battle the communists of Northern Vietnam in 1950. (That same year the  Korean War  began, pitting Communist North Korean and Chinese forces against the U.S. and its UN allies.) French Indochina War The French were fighting in  Vietnam  to maintain their colonial power and to regain their national pride after the humiliation of  World War II. The United States government had an interest in the conflict in Indochina from the end of World War II until the mid-1950s, when France found itself fighting against a communist insurgency led by Ho Chi Minh. Throughout the early 1950s, the Viet Minh forces made significant gains. In May 1954, the French suffered a military defeat at Dien Bien Phu and negotiations began to end the conflict. Following the French withdrawal from Indochina, the solution put in place established a communist government in North Vietnam and a democratic government in South Vietnam. The Americans started supporting the South Vietnamese with political and military advisors in the late 1950s. Military Assistance Command Vietnam The Kennedy foreign policy was rooted, of course, in the Cold War. And the increase of American advisers reflected Kennedy’s rhetoric of standing up to communism wherever it might be found. Nguyyan Dinh Thuan, Chief Cabinet Minister to President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, confers with President Kennedy in his White House office today. Thuan delivered a letter from President Ngo Dinh Diem dealing with the Communist threat to his country. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images On February 8, 1962, the Kennedy administration formed the Military Assistance Command Vietnam, a military operation intended to accelerate the program of giving military aid to the South Vietnamese government. As 1963 progressed, the issue of Vietnam became more prominent in America. The role of American advisers increased and by late 1963 there were more than 16,000 Americans on the ground advising South Vietnamese troops. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident Following Kennedy’s death, the administration of Lyndon Johnson continued the same general policies of putting American advisers in the field beside South Vietnamese troops. But things changed with an incident in the summer of 1964. American naval forces in the Gulf of Tonkin, on the coast of Vietnam, reported being fired upon by North Vietnamese gunboats. There was an exchange of gunfire, though disputes about what exactly happened, and what was reported to the public, have persisted for decades. The U.S.S. Maddox DD-731 was the victim of an unprovoked attack in international waters off Vietnam, the Navy announced in Honolulu 8/1. The attack was made near the Communist Chinese held island of Hainan. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images Whatever happened in the confrontation, the Johnson administration used the incident to justify a military escalation. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by both houses of Congress within days of the naval confrontation. It gave the president broad authority to defend American troops in the region. The Johnson administration began a series of air strikes against targets in North Vietnam. It was assumed by Johnson’s advisers that air attacks alone would cause the North Vietnamese to negotiate an end to armed conflict. That did not happen. Reasons for Escalation In March 1965, President Johnson ordered U.S. Marine battalions to defend the American airbase at Da Nang, Vietnam. It marked the first time combat troops were inserted into the war. The escalation continued throughout 1965, and by the end of that year 200,000 American troops were in Vietnam. In 1966 the troop totals rose again to 400,000. By the end of 1968, American troop totals peaked in Vietnam at 540,000. Throughout the late 1960s the mood in America transformed. The reasons for entering the Vietnam War no longer seemed so vital, especially when weighed against the cost of the war. The anti-war movement mobilized Americans in vast numbers, and protests against the war became commonplace. American Pride During the administration of Richard M. Nixon, the levels of combat troops were reduced from 1969 onward. But there was still considerable support for the war, and Nixon had campaigned in 1968 pledging to bring an honorable end to the war. The sentiment, especially among conservative voices in America, was that the sacrifice of so many killed and wounded in Vietnam would be in vain if America simply withdrew from the war. That attitude was held up to scrutiny in a televised Capitol Hill testimony by a member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, future Massachusetts senator, presidential candidate, and secretary of state, John Kerry. On April 22, 1971, speaking of losses in Vietnam, and the desire to remain in the war, Kerry asked, â€Å"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake.† In the 1972 presidential campaign, Democratic nominee George McGovern campaigned on a platform of withdrawing from Vietnam. McGovern lost in a historic landslide, which seemed, in some part, to be a validation of Nixon’s avoidance of a speedy withdrawal from the war. April 30, 1970, Washington, DC. In a TV speech to the Nation from the White House, President Nixon announced that several thousand American ground troops entered Cambodia to wipe out Communist headquarters for all military operations against South Vietnam. The President is shown here standing before a map of Cambodia. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images After Nixon left office as a result of the Watergate scandal, the administration of Gerald Ford continued to support the government of South Vietnam. However, the forces of the South, without American combat support, could not hold off the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. The fighting in Vietnam finally ended with the collapse of Saigon in 1975. Few decisions in American foreign policy have been more consequential than the series of events that led the United States to become involved in the Vietnam War. After decades of conflict, more than 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam and more than 50,000 lost their lives, and still, the reasons why the US entered the Vietnam War to begin with remain controversial. Kallie Szczepanski contributed to this article. Sources Leviero, Anthony. President Warns of Chain Disaster If Indo-China Goes. New York Times, 8 April 1954. p. A1.Transcript of President Eisenhowers Press Conference, With Comment on Indo-China. New York Times, 8 April 1954. p. A18.The Indochina War (1946–54). Vietnam War Reference Library, vol. 3: Almanac, UXL, 2001, pp. 23-35. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Sociological Autobiography - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1611 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/03/13 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Autobiography Essay Did you like this example? When we make decisions and experience things, we often describe them as being our own, ours. However, when we think about why we made those decisions and why we experience things we come to realize that we are influenced by society to make decisions for us. There are many external societal factors that influence our beliefs and values which in turn affect how and why we make decisions. My family, friends, and society in general have heavily influenced the way I have lived my life and the person that I am today. I was birthed into this world on January 24, 2002 in the city of San Jose, California, eyes wide open, ready to be shaped and molded into the individual that society wanted me to become. Immediately I was given the ascribed status of a girl. A quick glance was all it took to confirm what then became my gender and that was that. With this social label my parents, in result, treated me according to societys view of how a girl should be treated. This included pink and purple everything, dolls and dollhouses. It wasnt until I got a little older and would play with my cousins that that stereotype began to change. I grew up surrounded by a lot of family mainly because my culture is very family-oriented, but also because my family was so large in number. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Sociological Autobiography" essay for you Create order Most of my first cousins, especially those close to my age, were male. Because many of my cousins who I played with as a child were male, I started to participate in more boy activities. For example, playing in the dirt and mud, playing basketball, and playing video games. I do not recall my parents or family ever saying anything about me participating in these activities however, I do remember an occurrence when I was in kindergarten in art class. The art teacher had assigned us an art project where we were to paint a picture for our dads for Fathers Day. I decided to paint flowers for my dad because at the time he liked to garden and had all kinds of vegetables and flowers growing in our backyard. When I had told the art teacher what I was going to paint she told me to paint something else, like a car. At the time I didnt understand why I couldnt paint flowers for my dad when I knew that he would like it, but that didnt matter because flowers are girly and not meant for boys. This was just the first of my experiences with societys gender roles. I am the youngest and only girl out of three other siblings. However, they are all half-siblings. I have two older brothers from my father and one older brother from my mother. Because of this, and because of the large age gap between my brothers and I, I never experienced that close sibling relationship with them. Being not only the youngest, but also the only girl had a huge influence on who I am today. My dad had only ever had sons, so he, in a way, treated me like another son. He wanted me to play all kinds of sports like my brothers did. I was never an athletic person, and still am not, so I never played any sports that my brothers played like football and baseball. My dad also was rougher with me because he didnt want me to be soft. Because of this I was called a baby or wimp if I cried over little things. My mom however, always defended saying that it was okay for me to cry though her reasoning was because Im a girl and you must be more careful around me because I am not as tough as a boy. Growing up in the Bay Area the community that I was surrounded by was extremely diverse much like here in Sacramento, if not more so. There was a great mix of people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds. The neighborhood that I grew up in specifically was inhabited mostly by middle class families, my own included. Being around people of the same or similar social class and economic backgrounds caused less discrimination and prejudice toward people when it came to social statuses and salaries. Being raised in this community also encouraged diversity especially in race and ethnicities, so even at a young age, seeing people of different skin colors participating in various cultural practices became a norm. Though I am half African American and half Chamorro, I was raised predominantly by my maternal side of the family. My mother and my mothers side of the family being Pacific Islanders, I grew up with their beliefs, norms, and values solely because that was what I grew up with. As a Pacific Islander, more specifically a Chamorro/Guamanian, our culture is centered around a very social lifestyle. Our culture is also extremely family-oriented and that includes both immediate and extended family members, so as I was raised, family was taught to be one of the most important values in life. Another important value that was taught is storytelling. Passing down stories through generations was taught to be important in order to keep the culture alive. Because Pacific Islanders are not a very common race compared to others based on population sizes, there is often prejudice towards Pacific Islanders since there is such little common knowledge about us. Pacific Islanders as a group are often generalized to all be Hawaiian or the same as Hawaiians when that is not the case. At a young age when people would ask me where I am from and I would tell them that I am from Guam, they would be confused, which even at a young age I understood because it is a very small island on the other side of the globe, and I wouldnt expect them to know. It was often difficult to feel involved or connected with classmates and groups in school because of the race being so underrepresented. In turn, I embrace my ethnicity and culture as much as possible and will be sure to pass those values on to my future children. One way I embrace my culture right now is through cultural dancing. I have danced with a local Polynesian dance group since I was nine years old. In the group we perform Hula, Tahitian, and other Polynesian dances. Hula and Tahitian dancing are often sexualized because of the movement of the hips and the type of attire worn, especially by women, when dancing and performing. When I would tell people that I danced Hula and Tahitian, many times guys would say things like, Oh, so you can move your hips? Society portrays the Hula Girl in a way to attract tourists or a public relations campaign. As a result, sometimes people dont take the performances seriously or do not recognize the significance of the dance. This is just another example of the lack of common knowledge of Pacific Island cultures. Another value that Pacific Islanders have is practicing religion. There is no one religion that is enforced specifically however, Catholicism is predominantly practiced within the race. My father is not a very religious person and that was just how he was raised, but my mother was raised in a very Catholic home. Consequently, I was raised in a Catholic family. My maternal grandmother often pushes Catholicism on me and my other cousins. If someone were to ask me right now what religion I follow, I would tell them Catholicism but only because that is the only religion that I was taught about or practiced. As I have grown older and have been more educated on different religions and on how different people view religion, my belief about certain practices and their purpose has faltered. I believe in God, but many of the beliefs and rules of the Catholic faith I have begun to question. Religion is very complicated. As I am growing and truly finding what I believe in, I begin to question who is right? Who is wrong? Is there a right or a wrong? Overall, my religion is something that I am continuing to question every day and will continue to change as I discover myself and my true beliefs. Sexuality and my sexual orientation were not something that I ever really thought a lot about. Growing up I knew that I was attracted to the opposite sex. It wasnt until I got older, around middle school, when I was properly educated about the different sexual orientations. At that time, it was starting to become more common for people around my age to discover their sexuality. Becoming more educated on the various sexual orientations, my orientation did not change however, I became more open to a possible change. All my life thus far I have only ever been attracted to the opposite sex, heterosexual, but I cannot say that I will never be attracted to someone of the opposite sex or someone of a different gender identity. The way that society and the people in my life have defined race and ethnicity, social class, and gender have greatly affected how my life has developed thus far. They have shifted the way I view my roles as a mixed race, middle class, female. The things that I have experienced and learned have affected and will continue to affect the way I live the rest of my life. Society has a huge impact on our lives and will continue to change and shape the way we live throughout time. Our experiences in the social world are what make us who we are.

Media Role in Everyday Life Free Essays

string(124) " workshop is not to deny that these institutions will also have political roles to play and manipulative techniques to use\." Analyse the following quote: â€Å" it is because the media are central to our everyday lives that we must study them†¦ as social and cultural as well as political and economic dimensions of the modern world. † (Roger Silverstone, Why Study the Media? 1999. ) criteria understand respond to question construct logical argument key terms/concepts used accurately provide relevant examples where required Reading 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Media Role in Everyday Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now 1 Why Media Studies is Worthwhile: Bazalgette ‘Media studies is controversial because it is still new and because it deals with things that are not only continuing to change but are also the focus of many anxieties. 2000:5 ‘Newspapers, film, radio, television and, increasingly, computer software and communications networks are generally considered to be immensely popular in ways that are not fully understood and about which there is little consensus. They are consequently blamed for all kinds of social ills, political problems and cultural degeneracy. Each of these media has also, in its time, been seen as the harbinger of apocalyptic change – for better as well as for worse. Similar essay: Disagreement in Natural Sciences But because the oldest of them – the mass circulation press – has only been in existence for little more than a century, the process of change has been too fast for anyone to arrive at definitive conclusions about what its social, political and cultural effects really are. ‘As much as everyone likes to think they rebel against their parents and teachers, and keep up to date with new ideas and technologies, we are all substantially formed through the frameworks of ideas and thought of earlier generations, and we all find change difficult. ‘ ‘Change almost always provokes strong feelings: excitement, anxiety, tension, fear, anger. The media, conspicuous and changing objects in a world that is itself changing, are a particularly public focus for these kinds of emotion and argument. There is therefore much disagreement about how the media should be understood, regulated and consumed. 2000:6 It is essential to recognise that media studies, even as we enter the twenty-first century is still new. ‘†¦. it is a subject still in the process of being formed. Full of disagreements and different claims as to what it is ‘really about’. It is also a hybrid subject: that is to say, the ideas and approaches that it draws upon come from many different sources. The mass circulation press, the cinema, radio, television, digital software and the internet each attracted comment, analysis and speculation from the start (2000:7) Everyone who spoke or wrote about these media was themselves already educated within existing academic disciplines and motivated by particular interests 2000:7 Nevertheless, hybrid d isciplines do appear all the time: semiotics, structuralism, sociolinguistics, and many more. Media studies snaps them all up: there can never be too many different ways of analysing just what is really going on in those fleeting images. Those rapt audiences. Those smoke filled boardrooms of owners. Technology and theory 2000:8 – The media themselves change much faster than any theory. In fact it is often changes in the media – even basic technological changes – that impel changes in the academic construction of the subject. As I write this in the late 1990s we have moved into a period of what are profound changes brought about by digital technologies. Until the 1980s the term ‘media’ meant what it said (although it was, and still is, widely misused as a singular noun). It refers to numbers of different ways of physically reproducing and carrying meanings. The whole point of a media text is that it moves and flows: the meaning is never ‘there’ at a given moment, but in juxtaposition and sequence, in the tension between one moment and another. 2000:8 2000:9 Media studies is thus a catch-all title designating a wide variety of courses, and since these are all embroiled both in developing a coherent theoretical base and in keeping up with technological and institutional developments in the media themselves, does it even make sense to lump them all together? 2000:9 In media studies you are asked about the profit motive. In media studies you are asked this. You are asked to look at cinema and television as industries which employ large numbers of people and to understand how they work, how they are financed and why they produce what they do. 2000:10 In media studies you may be asked to think about films, television programmes or other ‘media texts’ in the same way. But you will certainly also b asked to think about how they address you – or other people – as a member of a group: as British, say, or as a black person, or as a man, or even – but how often? – as all three. By asking you to think about texts in this way, and by making you investigate who made, say, a film or programme, and why, and in whose interests, media studies is essentially political. Every investigation of even quite short or trivial texts potentially leads into larger questions about power structures in society and how they are organised. 2000:10 – It is just as ‘political’ to be asking questions about who owns this newspaper, who financed this film, and why; or perhaps more interestingly, who wouldn’t finance that film and why, or how one kind of television programme is more likely to be made than another. The politics of the media affect our lives as much as the politics of Parliament or Congress, and can be more satisfying to investigate since the evidence is all around you every day. 2000:10 At the same time it is the inclusion of this political dimension that media students often find the most satisfying and worthwhile aspect of the subject. ‘You stop taking things at face value’. You should beware of media courses which render the subject down to a few handy maxims such as ‘the basic function of all media is to sell audiences to advertisers’. To object that this can hardly apply to public service broadcasting or a community video workshop is not to deny that these institutions will also have political roles to play and manipulative techniques to use. You read "Media Role in Everyday Life" in category "Essay examples" But it does reassert the principle that there is more than one way to look at any text. A political dimension to critical analysis should add complexity, not simplification 2000:10 So far, I have identified two basic principles that media studies courses are likely to have in common: using economic and political perspectives as key ways of understanding the media. These are the most characteristic differences between media studies and most other subjects. But no course will concentrate on these areas alone. 2000:11 One of the strengths – and also the challenges – of media studies is precisely that it asks you to consider texts from different and often sharply contrasting perspectives. What do you study in media studies? 2000:11 Just what – if anything – constitutes a valid argument for studying one text, or one group of texts, rather than another? There are five main ways of answering this question? Popularity (2000:12) The emphasis might be on the phenomenon of mass audience pleasure and on understanding and legitimating the enjoyment people derive from these texts or in contrast, the aim of the analysis might be to reveal how audiences are manipulated and deluded by stereotypical or reactionary material Exemplification is an obvious ground for worthiness of study, especially when the aim is to illustrate an aspect of theory, such as genre or representation. Notoriety (2000:12)– is an interesting and useful reason for studying a text that can offer a way in to thinking about social, political and cultural contexts. Texts which are interesting to study in their own right, but whose notoriety reveals much about their conditions of production or consumption, include banned or controversial television documentaries etc ‘Such ‘case studies’ form the starting point or central exemplar which can illuminate aspects of the media we don’t normally think about or see. Turning points and groundbreaking texts could be included in the previous category, but texts can be significant without being notorious, especially in retrospect. Aesthetic value (2000:12-13) s a criterion that many media teachers would deny using as a way of selecting or judging texts. 2000:13 What is it all for? ‘It is also obvious that the media industries themselves are hard to get into and rely increasingly on freelancers, ‘2000:14: that a knowledge of history, politics, economics, accountancy, law – you name it – would be equally useful as a basis for working, as, say, a journalist o r editor It is increasingly likely that, whatever job you do or whatever your domestic circumstances, there will be more opportunities for you to engage with the media, and not just as a consumer. Indeed, the field of ‘alternative’ and subversive media production may be the one that grows fastest over the next few years (who knows? How could you tell? ) as access to technology and circulation systems widens Inside or outside the corporate producers, the new voices will come from the people who are already literate in the new media What media studies can really do is open up your understanding of how things work, how people become informed – or misinformed – and how the myths and ideologies that govern all our lives are created and sustained. Reading 1. Media and Communications: Theoretical traditions 2002:23 The field of Australian media and communications theory and research is in a unique position. On one hand, it is highly derivative†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. this is partly due to general globalisation of ideas today, but also to Australia’s past as a British colony and in more recent decades, to its dependence on the United States. On the othe r hand, in Australia we are able to observe and compare the influences and models emanating from the metropolitan centres of the Northern Hemisphere and to selectively combine and modify them in accordance with our own national reality and place in the world -.. dentify the origins of the major paradigms or schools of thought which have arisen in European and American theory and research as they apply to media and communications; to trace the formative influence they have had on particular styles of work in Australia; and to show how they have become transformed in the process of being adapted to our experience here EUROPE VERSUS AMERICA 2002:23 .. ‘European means heavily interpretive and holistic in scope – that is, taking a macro perspective, looking down on society as a whole. Its sociopolitical stance is critical of society as it exists, and most often specifically Marxist. In its methods, it is deductive in that it applies general principles to the analysis of particular cases By contrast, the American approach is strongly empirical and micro in its scope – at its extreme, its form of knowledge relies on the direction observation of distinct phenomena, preferably controlled and measurable occurrences, like in a laboratory experiment. Its sociopolitical stance is said to be liberal or pluralistic – in other words, it is not aligned with any sector of society which has an interest in changing the world, but in that sense, it is really more conservative 002:24: However ideas do not belong to geographical territories and it is important to appreciate that, even if critical theory has traditionally been weak in the United States, Europe in fact has not only produced the characteristic critical and interpretive schools of thought, but also has a strong tradition of ‘positivism’, which is much more aligned with ‘Americanâ€⠄¢ empiricism and functionalism (Giddens 1974). Positivism is basically the idea that the methods of natural science can and should be applied to understand and control society and culture, which includes the media. Western Marxism and Ideological Critique 2002:24 In order to understand contemporary media studies, it is crucial to understand the significance of the Frankfurt School and its tradition A critique of the rise of the mass media (mainly the new media of cinema and radio in those days) which has defined one important direction for Marxist criticism ever since 2002:25 This is the ideological critique of the media Reading 1. 3 Self and Experience in a Mediated World Reading 1. 4 New Media and Technological Development A Beginner’s Guide to Textual Analysis How to cite Media Role in Everyday Life, Essay examples

Micro Organisms and Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases

Question: Discuss about the Micro Organisms and Infectious Diseases for Infectious Disease. Answer: Micro Organisms and Infectious Diseases Microorganisms constitute the majority of the living material of the planet and play a major role in maintaining the ecosystem of the earth. They are either beneficial for the life or can cause harm as well. The main categories of microorganisms include bacteria, virus and fungi. The key features of bacteria include the fact that they are the prokaryotic cells that have the ability to absorb nutrients from their surrounding environment or can produce their own nutrients by the utilization of light energy or other mechanisms. They have plasma membrane and cell wall for protection and possess both RNA and DNA. They use flagella and slimy layer for locomotion (Stowell et al. 2014). Bacteria play a major role in the recycling of nutrients and they can be of three different shapes like rod-shaped, sphere shaped and spiral shaped. Viruses are the obligate intracellular parasites that are made up of a protein coat, capsid or envelope and a nucleic acid that contains either RNA or DNA. Using the machinery of the host cell, viruses multiply inside the host cell (Zhou et al. 2013). The nucleic acid in the virus can be either single or double stranded. Fungi are the eukaryotic cells containing a membrane-bound nucleus and having cell walls. The cell walls of fungi are composed of chitin and they are achlorophyllous. They are heterotrophs and they obtain their nutrients by absorption. Commensals are the organisms that build up a relationship with another organism in such a way that the former benefits from the latter without affecting it. In this relationship, one organism obtains food and other benefits from the other organism without benefitting or harming the other. Commensals play an important role in the prevention of infections. This is done by denying the entry of the invading organisms to the target site by producing substances that inhibit the growth of the invading organisms and even kills them (Hasegawa et al. 2012). Therefore, the human host can have a variety of benefits from the commensals like cleaner skin, improved digestion and protection from infections. Examples of commensals in the human body are the bacterial species of Moraxella and Neisseria. Pathogens are the microorganisms that are responsible for producing diseases and the diseases that the pathogens cause in human beings are known as pathogenic diseases. Soil contamination has been the m ost persistent and oldest potential for harboring the pathogens. Pathogens are known to play a variety of roles that include restricting the distribution of plants, regulating the populations, regulating the growth and reproduction of the host and affecting the shelter and food for the animals (Daszak et al. 2015). It becomes easy for the pathogens to move from one species to another when the individuals live close together and therefore, they tend to have a high mortality. Examples of pathogens in the human body are Pseudomonas and Streptococcus. Spreading of microorganisms is called as transmission. The process of transmission involves a number of stages that includes escape from the reservoir or host of infection and transporting to the new host. This is followed by the entry to the new host and finally the exit from the new host. Different pathogens have the ability of transmission through various modes. There are various routes of transmission of the microorganisms that includes person-to-person, food, water, insects and fomites. Person to person transmission is occurred by touch, contaminated body fluids and blood, saliva and air. Cold virus can be transmitted by shaking hands whereas HIV and hepatitis B is spread through contaminated blood (Ribeiro and de Oliveira 2012). Flu and cold can spread through the saliva of the infected person on kissing and the diseases like tuberculosis, mumps and measles spread by sneezing and coughing. Harmful microbes can enter the food during the process of production and is transmitted b y consumption. The animal and human feces transmit diseases like cholera and typhoid by contaminating the drinking water. Insects like houseflies are responsible for transmitting pathogens to the food like E.Coli and Salmonella and mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting malaria. Fomites are the non-living objects that include toys, towels and bedding that transmits disease-causing microorganisms and the fungus Trichophyton is transmitted through the floors of changing rooms and towels (Smith and Mueller 2015). The routes of entry to and exit from the human body lead to the transmission of the microorganisms from one host to another. The routes of entry include oral ingestion through food, breakage of skin through the wounds and by touch or contact with sexual transmission of body fluids. Poor processes of food manufacturing and poor processes of food preparation allow the microbes to grow in the food material and therefore lead to the food borne illnesses. E.Coli is a species of bacteria that is often found in the unpasteurized fruit juice and undercooked hamburger meat can have their direct consequences on the elderly and children. Cryptosporidia, Giardia and Salmonella are the microorganisms that infect the water bodies by the fecal matters and can cause diarrhea (Miller and Palenik 2014). Wounds are responsible for breaking the integrity of the tissues and skin through scratches, scrapes and cuts on the superficial layers. Depending on the depth and extent of the wound, the microorganis ms infect the wounds that are also mediated by the environment of the wound and the type of microorganism present on the skin. Direct physical contacts as touching and sexual contacts can be responsible for the transmission. Cold virus is transmitted by shaking hands whereas Hepatitis B and HIV is transmitted by sexual contact. Sneezing, coughing, vomiting and excretion forms the routes of exit of microorganisms. These processes release millions of microorganisms in the air as droplets of saliva or mucus and infect the individual whoever breathes in these particles (Mahon and Flaws 2014). Microorganisms are responsible for causing pathological conditions in the human body by entering the body at different sites and causing diseases by various mechanisms. The microbial invasion is countered by the first line of defense, which is followed by the second line of defense. The defense mechanism of the host body consists of natural barriers, nonspecific immune responses and specific immune responses. Natural barriers include the skin, mucous membranes, respiratory tract, GU tract and the GI tract that bars the invading microorganisms. Skin invasion becomes easier for the microbes in case of an injury or surgical incision. The mucous membranes have secretions with antimicrobial properties and contain IgA, IgG and immunoglobulins that prevent the binding of the microbes. Respiratory tract has the filters in the upper airways and GI tract has acidic pH with secretions with antibacterial properties like intestinal secretions, bile and pancreatic enzymes. GU tract acts by produci ng Tamm-Horsfall mucoproteins that remove the microorganisms (Gallo and Hooper 2012). Nonspecific immune response includes cytokines like interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-6 and IL-1. These are produced by the activated lymphocytes and macrophages with increased neutrophil production by the bone marrow and by IL-8. A variety of antibodies like immunoglobulins is produced because of specific immune responses. Antibodies help to eradicate the microorganisms by activating the complement system and gathering the WBCs. By defending all these barriers, the microorganism enters the blood circulation and spreads throughout the body thereby causing the symptoms. The reason why not all the microorganisms lead to disease is the effectiveness of the defense mechanism. Infection happens when the microorganisms enter the host body and initiates multiplication. In response to the microbial infection, the immune system comes up with the defense mechanism including the antibodies and the white blood cells. During the process of elimination of the microbial infection from the body by the immune system, various symptoms occur like rash, headache, malaise and fever. However, the secretion of the chemicals like interferon avoids disease due to infection by helping the antibodies to target the invaders (Parham 2014). Apart from the defense mechanism of the body, vaccination can also help to prevent diseases due to infections by creating memory T and B cells that are specific for a particular pathogen. These memory cells act by responding effectively to the repeated pathogenic attacks. Zika virus generally does not have any signs and symptoms or have only mild symptoms. The commonly observed signs and symptoms of Zika virus are rash, fever, conjunctivitis and joint pain. Associated signs and symptoms include headache and muscle pain. The signs and symptoms usually develop after traveling to a Zika virus prone region. Zika virus is related to the West Nile, Dengue and yellow fever viruses and plays an active role in the development of Microcephaly where a pregnant woman is infected and the fetus develops with a small head and brain (Musso et al. 2014). Complications of neurologic problems and dehydration are the rare signs and symptoms of the infection and the prognosis of the infections involves acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome and eye abnormalities. The treatment of Zika virus infection has not been defined specifically as the disease is mild and no specific treatment is required. Patients suffering from the infection of Zika virus sho uld be provided with plenty of rest with enough intakes of fluids to prevent dehydration (Campos, Bandeira and Sardi 2015). Fever and pain can be treated with the common medicines like paracetamol and acetaminophen and worsening of the symptoms should be dealt with appropriate medical advice and care. 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