Tag Archives: Animals
Most emerging diseases arise from cross-species transmission of viruses and bacteria, which are then transmitted from animals to humans. Live animal markets foster the spread and evolution of unstable viruses across animal species, leading to emerging disease and pandemics. We must recognize the danger and address transmission of animal pathogens across species, to prevent chronic disease and to prevent future pandemics. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/science/coronavirus-rats-vietnam.html
Influenza pandemics have ravaged society over centuries, as each new form of influenza-A bird flu evolved. Many influenza-A pandemics have occurred at or around the time of other disease outbreaks. The first pandemics in the age of microbiology were in 1889-1880 and 1898-1900. The pandemic of 1889-1880, referred to as the Russian or Asiatic flu, came in 3 waves, and is estimated to have killed more than a million people. Scientists attempted to identify the cause of the pandemics retrospectively,…..
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2013400?query=TOC
From the published genomic analysis, two types of coronavirus are circulating in the population—type S and type L. Type S is the older strain, and the dominant strain of coronavirus in Washington State and on the West Coast. Type L is newer and more transmissible strain; and is the dominant type of coronavirus in Italy, New York City, and Brazil. Researchers have not determined if the strain impacts severity and mortality, but have shown type L induces a higher viral…..
Experts have recognized that humans can transmit covid-19 to pets and other animals, but deny pets can pass covid-19 to humans. This article shows cats and ferrets can be amplifying hosts to covid-19, with the pathogen reproducing rapidly in the infected animal. Pets and animals do not transmit pathogens intentionally, but it is unreasonable to believe pets cannot pass pathogens to humans—spillover of pathogens from animals to people (zoonosis) is well documented. It is important to protect yourself, your children,…..
New York City has 600K+ dogs and 400K+ cats; and a zoo in Central Park. New York City playgrounds were found contaminated with toxocara (roundworm), which lives in the intestines of dogs and cats, particularly stray animals. Toxacara can infect the liver, lungs, brain, eyes, and central nervous system; and has been linked to a reduced IQ.Metropolitan areas in Brazil have a highly density of pets, including dogs, cats, birds, and monkeys; 50% of elementary school children and 60-80% of…..
The One Health Initiative encourages collaborative and communication between medical, veterinary, and climate scientists, to attain optimal health for people, animals, plants and our environment. Their web page is a wealth of relevant information on the origins of covid-19, pathogens transmitted between humans and animals, prior outbreaks of emerging pathogens, and the impact of climate change and deforestation in creating the emergence of new pathogens. The web page is well worth taking the time to explore. “Between animal and human…..
For more information about pathogens that are be passed from one animal species to another, resulting in amplification and transmission to humans, read “SPILLOVER: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic”, by David Quammen. The book is interesting, informative, and frightening, as it explains the evolution and transmission of animal pathogens to humans. The book was published in 2011, and predicted the next pandemic could originate in a wild animal market in China. During the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic,…..
Emerging diseases, transmitted by animals to other animals and to humans, are a short-term and long-term threat to human health. A significant percent of chronic diseases arise from pathogens transmitted by animals, many of which have already evolved to allow person-to-person transmission. Many “genetic diseases” are a reflection of genetic changes induced by animal pathogens, in the person or in prior generations. Bird pathogens (birds/bats) are some of the most dangerous to humans, and can evolve into new and…..
More and more, scientists are starting to accept infectious causes of chronic disease. The article supports that mental illness can be a medical illness! Bartonella may be one cause of mental illness, or work in tandem with other immortal pathogens attacking endothelium–but is not likely the only infectious cause of mental illness. For instance, toxoplasmosis can cause mental illness, and both Batonella and toxoplasmosis are transmitted by cats. Patients with mental illness deserve a greater emphasis on medical illness…..
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