Hahntavirus History

‘Spillover’ by David Quammen is most definitely one of the more unique, yet applicable novels I have read in quite some time. As someone who is interested in attending pharmacy school and ultimately dealing with disease and sickness for the rest of my life, I found it very mesmerizing to learn about how certain zoonotic diseases came to be. With that said, I’ll go right into the first chapter: “Pale Horse”. This chapter focuses on the virus now known as Hendra. It started in a place known as Brisbane, Australia (more specifically a northern suburb known as Hendra) in 1994 where some horses began experiencing the disease. This also ultimately led to some human infections, some of which causes fatalities. Vic Rail, a horse trainer, was the first human to fatally experience Hendra

Hand, foot, and mouth are parts of human body have the highest change to get contagious infection. There are many viruses but Enterovirus groups, (most common is the coxsackie virus) is the main factor. These viruses can spread through direct contact from person to person especially with those have bad habits such as: unusually washed hands or surfaces contaminated with feces. An infected person’s saliva, stool, or respiratory secretions can transmit the infection.

Viruses, Plagues, and History, written by Michael Oldstone, is an insightful and highly educational book that details the history of, that’s right, viruses and plagues. Through typically dry, yet engaging prose, Oldstone recounts what seems like all of it while simultaneously bringing to light the contributions of those brave scientists who asked themselves, “why.” He focuses his attention on some of the most notable viruses such as smallpox, yellow fever, measles, polio, and later he focuses on more contemporary battles against disease.

In the early 1900’s medicine was making some steps closer into some great improvements for health and better understanding of the human body. Doctors with sufficient knowledge of the human body and cures for diseases and viruses were scarce. People were much more concerned with government and politics, than health and medicine, until one of the greatest and most grotesque lethal pandemics that’s struck the earth in human history. This pandemic the “Spanish Flu” spread so rapidly and had an extremely high mortality rate. This was caused by the close contact of humans and poor cleanliness and sanitation, and the host (virus) and the body taking harsh action

SARS is a respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus that was thought to have originated in Guangdong China but was not reported until

The Sin Nombre virus is found in deer mice, common in the Southwestern part of the United States. This virus is not new to the area but the particular strain that caused the outbreak in 1993 was a new strain to the area. The Native Americans in the area have remedies for the virus. The best method for containing the outbreaks is to prevent contamination from the mice. Mice are scavengers that feed on what they can find including grains. Since 1993 there have been no outbreaks of the hantavirus but several people a year are infected and half of the infected people die from pulmonary complications.

An outbreak of HPS in The Four Corners area of the southwestern United States occurred when a Navajo man, who was healthy previously, became ill with symptoms of shortness of breath and died very rapidly. The man’s fiancée died a few days earlier with the same symptoms. Dr. James Cheek of the Indian Health Service stated: “"I think if it hadn't been for that initial pair of people that became sick within a week of each other, we never would have discovered the illness at all". (Tracking a Mystery Disease)

The 1968 Pandemic was known as the “Hong Kong Flu” and was Influenza strain A(H3N2) and caused 34,000 deaths in the U.S.

Wild aquatic fowl, ducks in particular, serve as a reservoir for the Influenza virus to transmit into poultry and then to humans. Infected birds shed flu viruses in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces (CDC, 2004). The current virus seen in Asia is denoted as H5N1 and was first seen in terns in South Africa in 1961 (CDC, 2004). The first human seen infection of the avian H5N1 viruses was in 1997 in Hong Kong in a three- year old boy (Ruben, 2005). The outbreak involved 18 cases and killed 6, one third of the confirmed infected population (Rueben, 2005). In three days 1.5 million birds were killed in order to prevent further spread. A new pandemic is now on the horizon with recent outbreaks in poultry in the eight Asian countries of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam since 2004 (CDC, 2005). As of July 5, 2005, there have been 108 reported human cases of the H5N1 virus with 54 deaths (CDC, 2004). In wake of a

​The origin of the disease has been described at the end of the movie where we find out that a bat with a virus known as paramyxovirus that infects a pig. The pigs that are for human consumption were located near a forest that was being cut down. The pig in turn infects human beings of the earth through a chef. The agent which is very infectious is known as MEV-1 and its potential spread is estimated at 6-7 which suggests that the virus is highly transmissible from one person to the next. The virus has been compared to that of a smallpox virus with a mortality rate of up to 30%.

The clinical features of both HFRS and HCPS are directly related to the pathophysiology of the hantaviruses, which preferentially infect the endothelial cells. Endothelial cells in the renal and pulmonary microvasculature are the principle targets in HFRS and HCPS, respectively. Damage to the microvasculature causes capillary leak, fluid extravasation and eventually organ failure. It has been suggested that immune mechanisms rather than direct viral cytopathic effects are responsible for the capillary leakage seen in both HFRS and HCPS. However, more recent evidence suggests that a virus-cell interaction, and an inhibiting interferon type 1 response may also play a role.

A number of studies have supported the theory that the virus had originally occurred in animals previous to human infections.5 The MERs-CoV virus is a type of coronavirus that has been known for infecting both birds and many species of mammals. These types of infections are commonly referred to as zoonotic diseases because the pathogens are able to be transferred from animals to humans. Zoonosis can happen with or without a vector in order to spread the infection. Although the exact origin of the MERs-CoV infections is unknown, there has been convincing research performed that has found related types of coronaviruses in bats and camels. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the coronavirus is found in multiple species and can cause respiratory illness and gastrointestinal upset.

Hanta virus is a dangerous and often deadly disease that must be guarded against. If proper precautions are not taken, hanta virus could lead to a nationwide outbreak causing many deaths. While there are a few cases of hanta virus reported each year, the consequences of coming down with the disease dictates that the U.S. set up certain safeguards to educate the population on how to protect themselves. Even though research is being done on hanta virus and its related illnesses, there persist many unanswered questions.

MERS-CoV cases have been found in a few countries throughout the world, but mostly have been found in Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. Countries other than the Middle East have had MERS-CoV cases such as Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Reasons for the spread of the disease is believe to be caused by tourist or relatives traveling to and from the Middle East.

The most prevalent pathogen is the Coxsakievirus A16, which is of the family Picornaviradie and the genus Enterovirus. Infections from Coxsakievirus A4 – A7, A9, A10, B1 – B3, as well as B5 have been found to occur occasionally. In addition, the virus Enterovirus 71 is also known to cause HMFD. However, it must be noted that it is not a general rule for Coxsakievirus A16 to be the most prevalent cause of HFMD cases. For instance, in a study of the HFMD disease that broke out in China in 2003, researchers Yan XF et al observed that over 80% of all infections were caused by enterovirus 71 while Coxsakievirus A16 only accounted for less than 7%. The two viruses have also been known to co-infect a host.