The Hot Zone, written be Richard Preston, is a book that talks about the deadly viral disease, Ebola. It shows the transition of the viruses; Marburg virus, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire and Ebola Renton that eventually leads to the non-treatable Ebola disease. The book is an account of the growth of the disease, tracing its origins, how it spreads and the effects it has on infected people. Preston reveals the story of the outbreak of the disease, first observed in a cave at Mt. Elgon in Kenya.
The recent outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa has caused a controversial panic all over the world. Heightened Ebola alert is no laughing matter because it is highly contagious, and no cure has been found to this day. Ebola is our generation's Black Plague(Black Death) because they have similar symptoms and are transmitted from person to person through bodily fluids creating a rise in Ebola cases around the world. Going back to the origin, The Black Plague goes back to 1300's when it eradicated about one-third of Europe's population. The bacterium that causes the disease is called Yersinia pestis, which is mainly found in rats.
The sporozoites are transmitted via the saliva of a feeding mosquito to the human bloodstream. From there they enter liver parenchyma cells, where they divide and form merozoites. After 9-16 days they return to the blood and penetrate the red cells, where they multiply again, progressively breaking down the red cells. This induces bouts of fever and anemia in the infected individual. In cerebral malaria, the infected red cells obstruct the blood vessels in the brain.
The Zika virus is a well-known virus that is transmitted by infected mosquitos to humans. This occurs when an infected mosquito bites a person. The Zika virus has affected many countries and many people. I will explain where this viral infection came from, how it affects people, how it is transmitted, the signs and symptoms, the countries most affected and what we could do to prevent an epidemic in the United States. First, the discovery of the Zika virus was found in the year 1947.
What causes it? • Chicken pox is caused by a very contagious infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. • It is an airbourne virus, which means it is easily and rapidly spread through sneezing and coughing. Droplets of water expelled from the nose and mouth of the infected person are inhaled by those around them • The infection may also be caused by direct contact with the secretions from the blisters. • The varicella virus has an incubation period of between 10 and 21 days.
The most severe type being Plasmodium falciparum. This type is accredited with the majority of deaths due to malaria this parasite is transmitted by the mosquito bite. These parasites once in the body make their way to liver where they multiply and infect other red blood cells and travel throughout the body exploding the red blood cell and infecting new blood cells each time a new one ruptures. Symptoms. The incubation period is usually ten (10) days to four (4) weeks after the individual has been bitten by an infected female mosquito.
Further, it was transferred to humans and this is when it became lethal to the society (Engdahl, 2009). When the CDC and the Mexican government began to unravel the cause of H1N1, it was discovered that it “shares genetic material from human, avian, and swine influenza viruses” (www.swine-flu-vaccine.info/). Within day, the flu began to spread through out the world, reaching England, Israel, America, and other countries. The WHO, also known as the World Health Organization has declared that … “a public health emergency of international concern; defined by them as an occurrence or immanent threat of illness or health conditions caused by bioterrorism, epidemic, or pandemic disease, or highly fatal infectious agents or toxins that pose serious risk to a significant number of people” (Engdahl, 2009). With this dire news, the pharmaceutical companies like Roche Inc., increased their profit.
Mosquitoes are the most deadly animal on earth, and this is because they run risks of caring parasites which are deadly. Mosquitoes are responsible for more than 300 million cases of malaria each year, and causes between one and three million deaths (ScienceWorld, 2011). Mosquitoes can also carry dengue and yellow fevers, encephalitis, elephantiasis, and canine heartworm. With this said mosquitoes not only cause deaths within humans but other animals as well. Any animal that comes in contact with a mosquito; human or not, runs the risks of becoming infected and dyeing.
These viruses would both become a severe virus for all humanity to recognize. The H1N1 disease was first detected in the United States in August 2009 and would later be known as the “swine flu”. This was because this disease was mostly found hosting in pigs. There was not much concern since the symptoms were similar to the seasonal flu but in a couple months these concerns would soon come to haunt them. Just two months after the first detections the swine flu it was now classified as a pandemic.
For example, in the 1300's (middle ages) there was a horrible outbreak of the Black Death. This was caused when a flea bit an infected rat, the flea then bit humans who started to get infected with the plague. People then started to make contact to the infected allowing to plague to spread. If anyone went abroad or if infected rats went on ships to other countries it would easily spread and that's what happened. Across Europe the plague spread causing the death rate to rise heavily.