Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, also called SARS is caused by a group of viruses that are accountable for many causes of the “common cold.” It is presumed that civets, cat-like appearance mammals, are the source of conveyance of the disease. The outbreak of SARS initially began in the Guangdong province of China in November 2002. 8,098 people have compacted the virus and 774 have died due to this horrifying disease, from November 2002 to June 2003. However, ever since then, there have been very few cases of SARS noted. These people who have been exposed to this disease recently have probably contracted the virus from in laboratories or from direct contact with civets. Luckily, this outbreak has been contained and there have been no more cases of this virus.
The outbreak began in Guangdong, China because these deadly civets were delicacies in this province. This SARS virus which was similar to those in Horseshoe bats have been questioned as a chance that these creatures were the ones that were transmitting the virus into the civets. Although China did know about this outbreak, the Chinese government did not make aware of the outbreak until early 2003 to the World Health Organization. As a result, the sale of these civets, during 2004 in this Chinese province was instructed that the captive civets were to be exterminated and the sales of these creatures were to be banned. Although many of these cases were reported in 30 different countries, China had 90% of these cases. European countries have had less than 1% of these cases which shows how significant this influenza was in South East Asia.
SARS is a virus of an animal, from wild or domestic animals that were used for food supplies. This virus is from a coronavirus family. T...
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Not only does this disease cause minor complications, but many of these small troubles mostly lead to bigger problems. Because these patients have trouble breathing, these SARS patients develop pneumonia. The most common deaths among those with SARS are because of respiratory failures and this can also result in liver and heart failures as well. Many of these patients need mechanical respirators in order to breathe and live. These viruses damage the host’s cells by rupturing in the insides of the patient’s body, which causes pressure to danger the patients. This infection brings about sensitivity to the host. They overproduce mucous, which can result in insufficient amount of oxygen in the blood of the host. From this, the inability to produce oxygen in blood puts too much pressure into the lungs and the host suffers tremendously from respiratory failure.
This extremely pathogenic zoonotic virus is now understood to travel from bat species, to equine intermediate hosts, to humans.[8, 10] The Hendra virus is listed as a Bio-Safety Level (BSL)-4, and can only be studied at a few adequately equipped laboratories worldwide due to its virulence.[1, 2] Case fatality rates
The medical field is a vast land of beauty but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife. The viruses are spread in many different ways in the novel, but all are due to human mistakes.
Feline panleukopenia is endemic to cats worldwide. The virus has been identified since the early 20th century. The virus is so severe that it was referred to as “cat plague” in earlier times when infections worldwide nearly wiped out cat populations in certain geographic areas. Now FPV rarely occurs in domestic populations in which vaccination is routinely practiced. There is a seasonality to the occurrence of FPV that usually coincides with the production of new populations of susceptible kittens. This seasonal effect may vary according to geographic location. In the northeastern United States, most cases of FPV are seen in the summer and early fall. However, outbreaks of FPV may occur at any time of the year. It is thought that feral domestic cat populations are a natural resevior for Feline panleukopenia virus.
Exotic animals carry diseases and infections that can be potentially harmful or fatal to humans, jeopardizing the safety of the community. These diseases range in severity from common ringworm infections from African pygmy hedgehogs to lyssaviruses in p...
... without causing an economic crisis as well. History of the evolution of the virus shows origin in Asia among poultry, closing monitoring as well as restricting travel activity and import of poultry in these regions will be highly recommended in the event of a detection of the Avian virus.
Polio is a viral disease. It cripples thousands of people and infects even more every year. Even though millions are inoculated, and the polio disease has been successfully purged from hundreds of countries still thousands of people and developing countries are infected and still people are dying. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) polio affects the Central Nervous System, or CNS; by infesting the intestines and transmitting it into the nerves thought the blood vessels. There the virus spreads through the nerve cells to the brain stem or other motor units, while forever damaging the nerves.
Samples of tissue from patients infected with the mysterious disease were sent to the CDC Special Pathogens Branch for analysis. After a few weeks and several tests, the virologists linked the disease with an unknown type of hantavirus. Because other hantaviruses were known to be transmitted to people by inhalation or ingestion of rodent feces or urine, our next task was to collect as many species of rodent in the area as possible in order to pinpoint the source of the virus (AMNH). While trapping rodents, we decided that it was worth the risk to not wear protective clothing or masks so as to avoid alarming residents of "The Four Corners" region (CDC). After testing approximately 1,700 rodents we had found a link--the prevalent deer mouse carried the unknown type of hantavirus. But why was this mouse suddenly infecting people in this region? I was becoming frustrated, my years of work in medicine were failing me and I couldn't figure out why these people kept getting sick.
The hanta virus has become a growing threat in the United States. Although the number of cases of hanta virus in the United States has dropped since 1993, much research must be done on this deadly rodent borne virus (www.nmsu.edu). Not enough information about the deer mice that carries this disease has been obtained, although this is being remedied. As with all deadly viral infections, the main goal is prevention. A vaccine is being researched, however this break through may not occur in the near future. Right now, alleviating the symptoms of the hanta virus is an obtainable goal. Although neither of the two drugs mentioned herein are in general use, they may become standard weapons in the war against the hanta virus. A big step towards preventing hanta virus infection is to be careful around any sort of mouse or mice feces. Simply taking the steps mentioned in this report could reduce the risk of people contracting the hanta virus and possibly dying.
Common animals that carry these diseases are rats, prairie dogs, and parrots (“Exotic Animals as Pets”). According to Live Science, a science news website, researchers have found that 13 zoonoses, which are diseases transmitted from animals, cause approximately 2.2 million human deaths per year. "From cyst-causing tapeworms to avian flu, zoonoses present a major threat to human and animal health," lead researcher Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist. According to researchers, about 60% of all human diseases are zoonotic, meaning they come from animals. Most zoonotic human diseases come from livestock, such as pigs, chickens, cattle, goats, sheep, and camels (Bryner). If humans would not come into close contacts with animals there would not be as many diseases in the world which would result in less human and animal deaths. According to WebMD, an American corporation that provides health news, advice, and expertise, a very common zoonotic disease in the world today is influenza, also known as the flu. Influenza usually comes from ducks, geese, or pigs and then it spreads to chicken and pigs. Leptospirosis is another example of a human infection that comes from animals. Leptospirosis is caused by contact with water, food, or soil that has been contaminated with urine from infected animals. This infection can lead to liver failure, kidney damage, brain and spinal cord infection, and rarely, death
The human population has a high susceptibility to the contraction of new diseases and outbreaks of these diseases are of high risk. Diseases in recent times that have broken out into the human population are the H7N9 flu strain and SARS. Despite the risk, outbreaks like H7N9 and SARS have been controlled due to epidemiology and other disease control methods. Outbreaks of disease are not uncommon to the human population as they move to new areas around the world with foreign diseases that the native residents would have developed a resistance to.
The virus is spread by animals. Warm blooded animals are required to transmit the virus and the disease is almost always fatal (CDC). It is passed through saliva from the host to the victim also through mucous membranes like the eyes or nose. Yet the most common ways of transition is through a bite with the virus containing saliva. The main animals that hold the virus are: skunk, fox, bat, raccoon, and the coyote (CDC). These wild animals account for 93% of the cases in the United States. The raccoon still leads as the major carrier and the animal is domestic in the Eastern United States. The skunk is native to the inland states, parts of Texas to Montana and all the way to Wyoming. The fox and the coyote are both native to the Mid Southern US, and the fox is also spotted in Alaska along the coast. Although not heard of lately, bats are a big carrier of the virus. They are common in most of the states except Hawaii (WebMD.com). The bats have also spread though out the world, and most recently in Australia. Australia was once free of rabies until rabid bats were found there recently (Mayo Clinic Proceedings). The virus can also be spread to domesticated animals, and most cases are reported in the summer and fall months. The three major domesticated animals are: cats, dogs, and cattle.
The Black Plague (1348-1350) was the biggest tragedy Europe has ever faced because of the social and economic downfalls, which caused a huge loss of millions of people due to the terrible disease. The Black Plague was the largest epidemic that Europe has ever seen; it killed off fifty percent of their society all around. The economy was corrupt and it caused inflation. The Black Plague destroyed the social standings within society, and also the origin of why there were so many deaths in Europe.
Infectious diseases also called as communicable diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms (such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi), can be spread directly or indirectly from one person to another.
Murray, M.2006. The epidemiology of SARS. In SARS in China: Prelude to pandemic?, ed. A. Kleinman and J. Watson, 17-30. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
The swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs that is caused by the type A influenza viruses. These viruses are referred to as swine flu viruses but scientifically the main virus is called the swine triple reassortant (tr) H1N1 influenza virus. When the viruses infect humans they are called variant viruses. This infection has been caused in humans mainly by the H1N1v virus in the United States. The H1N1 virus originates in animals due to improper conditions and the food they ingest. The virus stays in latency form, thus harmless to the respective animal. The longer the animals survive the more likely the virus is to develop and strengthen making it immune to vaccines. The virus reproduced through the lytic cycle. The virus injects its own nucleic acids into a host cell and then they form a circle in the center of the cell. Rather than copying its own nucleic acids, the cell will copy the viral acids. The copies of viral acids then organize themselves as viruses inside of the cell. The membrane will eventually split leaving the viruses free to infect other cells.