Pathogens in the modern world

What pathogen is responsible for the zika virus disease?

zika (named after zika forest in uganda)

What is the virulence of the zika virus disease?

Extremely low, Most people wont have symptoms at all

How are new diseases identified?

as a geographically clustered pattern of symptoms and signs

What is the reservoir for zika?

aedes species mosquito

What are treatments for zika?

Control of the vector population (mosquito) Condoms or other physical barriers to prevent transmission

What has the discovery of zika virus shown in how we deal with new pathogens?

dumping lots of side effects and correlations happens and has to be disproven later on - people lose faith and carry on false info on virus

How was a link established between zika and microcephaly?

scientific consensus bc when testing for dengue, happened to show zika virus was also there in cases of microcephaly

What is epidemiological surveillance?

collection, analysis and dissemination of public health data

What are issues with epidemiological surveillance?

• takes time

• can be inaccurate

• correlation based data falls very short of ‘cause and effect’

What is the transmission of zika?

sexual transmission - semen

How long can men vs women carry zika for?

men is 6 months vs women 2 months

What are symptoms and side effects of zika?

Mild fever, Rash Muscle and Joint pain, Malaise or Headache, symptoms last for 2-7 days

birth defects (2016) like microcephaly and Guillain–Barré syndrome

Which pathogen is responsible for zika virus disease?

zika virus

What causes the ebola virus disease and ebola hemorrhagic fever ?

ebola virus

How does ebola virus act and what symptoms does this cause?

attacks blood vessels = bleeding from all orifices

What is the ebola virus named after?

the Ebola river in Democratic Republic of Congo

What is the virulence of the ebola virus?

Highly virulent, 40 – 90% Mortality

How do patients die from Ebola?

internal bleeding and die through shock, nerve damage and seizures

What is the reservoir of Ebola? The transmission?

NOT KNOWN

through direct contact with skin of patient

Why is Ebola called zoonotic?

believed that fruit bats are at the origin of the ebola virus but there is an intermediary but it’s not known

What is the treatment for Ebola?

Currently ‘untreatable’ – Isolation [2020] –potential antibody therapies Vaccine under dvpt

When was ebola first discovered? What does this mean for our understanding of the disease?

1976 (just after star wars came out)

means we still don’t know much about it

What is the biggest challenge to global public health today?

antimicrobial resistance