Essay on The Hanta Virus

In the article “Are Viruses Alive?,” Luis P. Villarreal discusses the effects of viruses on life, while presenting different angles as to whether or not they are alive themselves and arguing about the impact viruses have had on evolution. Through a deeper understanding of viruses and their functions, the scientific community may come to fully appreciate viruses, whether they are living or non-living in themselves, as significant evolutionary components.

Coughing and sneezing can spread the viruses easily. Infected stool may be infectious, such as changing a diaper or children use hands to touch their stool before touching another objects and put in their mouths..

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.

Introduction: Over time we come to realize a lot of things we have to live life with right under our nose and right at our door step. one of the worst and on going things we have to deal with are Viruses. there are a wide range of different types of viruses, from ones that can kill you ,to ones that we don't even know we have, some are contagious , and some are not, and also the dreaded air borne viruses. One virus that is not commonly mentioned is Valley Fever.

I recently read an article written in The NEWYORKER called The Deadliest Virus by Michael Specter. The article talked about the Avian Flu virus, also known as “bird flu”. In the article, Specter interviewed many people, but the most important person, in my opinion, is a virologist who conducted research on the Avian Flu, Ron Fouchier. This article raised many ethical questions. The questions are as followed: Should research be conducted on this virus? Does Fouchier’s research pose a threat? Does the risk of the work outweigh the benefits of the research?

The emergence of the “Hong Kong Flu” in 1968-1969 marked the beginning of the A(H3N2) days. When this virus first emerged it had the lowest mortality rate in the 20th century. Although this virus first emerged with such a small death rate, it still continues to kill people to this day. Just as when the A(H2N2) virus appeared in 1957 causing the disappearance of the A(H1N1) virus, the appearance of the A(H2N3) virus caused the disappearance of the A(H2N2) virus. After being dormant for almost 30 years, the A(H1N1) virus reappeared and today

Avian influenza is a disease that has been wreaking havoc on human populations since the 16th century. With the recent outbreak in 1997 of a new H5N1 avian flu subtype, the world has begun preparing for a pandemic by looking upon its past affects. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed three pandemics in the years of 1918, 1957, and 1968. In 1918 no vaccine, antibiotic, or clear recognition of the disease was known. Killing over 40 million in less than a year, the H1N1 strain ingrained a deep and lasting fear of the virus throughout the world. Though 1957 and 1968 brought on milder pandemics, they still killed an estimated 3 million people and presented a new

How the disease was transmitted was further looked on by Nelson (1995). According to the said author, the disease was transmitted primarily by fleas and rats. The stomachs of the fleas were infected with bacteria known Y. Pestis. Nelson held that “the bacteria would block the "throat" of infected fleas so that no blood could reach their stomachs, and they grew ravenous since they were starving to death” (1995, par. 14). The bacteria would then attempt to suck up blood from their victims, only to disgorge it back into their preys' bloodstreams (Nelson, 1995). Now, however, the victims' blood was mixed with Y. Pestis. Fleas infected rats in this fashion, and the rats spread the disease to other rats and fleas before dying (Nelson, 1995). Without rodent hosts, the fleas then migrated to the bodies of humans and infected them in the same fashion as they had the rats .

​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%.

Two of the common known attacks on computing systems are the deployment of computer viruses and malware.

An invisible organism enters your body. It penetrates into your tissues and then takes over the machinery in your own cells to make more copies of itself. This tiny infiltrator works silently, producing thousands of these clones that fill up the cell and cause it to explode. The clones mercilessly continue the process of invading, taking over and destroying cells. The result might be a minor inconvenience to you as the host, or it could result in a slow or rapid death. It depends only on which variant of this unwanted infiltrator overcomes your body’s defenses. There are cures to wipe out some types of these invisible intruders, but others are so difficult to eradicate or so readily adaptable, that the world’s greatest scientists

     Person to person transmission can occur through poor hygiene habits or by handling human waste. Daycares and nursing homes are at a high risk for person to person transmission because of the high risk of handling infected feces. Family outbreaks are common, as are outbreaks among children at nurseries (Donnelly & Stentiford, 1997).

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.

Countries of the world do not understand specifically how people become infected with MERS-CoV, but it is believed that the virus can be passed from person to person when they are in close contact with each other, but WHO claims the virus does not easily transmit from person

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.