Various viruses
Category archives for Various viruses
Coexisting with Coyotes
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 21, 2012 This is the twelfth of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Stanley Corbin. Disease in wildlife is an important concern to the health and safety of humans and domestic animals. The expanding growth of our nation and resultant land use changes with urbanization has resulted in a shrinking habitat and fragmentation for all animals, including humans. The…
Aw Schucks: When the world is NOT your oyster!
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 21, 2012 This is the eleventh of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Ilze Berzins. When one hears the words “food-borne illness”, what comes to mind? For me, I think of a medium rare, pink, juicy hamburger, or something like potato salad that may be made with mayonnaise containing raw eggs, or maybe a fresh green garden salad sprinkled…
What you don’t see can hurt your cat…and you too
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 14, 2012 This is the second of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Eileen Ball. The beauty of dogs and cats as companions is that we don’t have to raise them to go out into the world and be successful. As pet parents we can set the household “rules” according to what works for us and get on with…
Holy influenza, batman!
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 28, 2012 Typically when we think of flying things and influenza viruses, the first images that come to mind are wild waterfowl. Waterbirds are reservoirs for an enormous diversity of influenza viruses, and are the ultimate origin of all known flu viruses. In birds, the virus replicates in the intestinal tract, and can be spread to other…
Chickenpox parties–just a Facebook friend away
Posted by Tara C. Smith on November 4, 2011 I’ve written a few times about chickenpox parties. The first link refers to a magazine article describing the practice; the second, a few years later, about a Craigslist ad looking to hold such a party “at McDonald [sic] or some place with toys to play on.” Clearly, as chickenpox cases have become more rare in…
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in history–part 4: the bigger picture
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 23, 2011 As I’ve laid out this week (
Measles in Iowa
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 24, 2011 We’ve had pertussis and mumps, so it was only a matter of time. State health officials declared a “public health emergency” Tuesday after a test confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated Dallas County baby who apparently picked up the disease in India. They said people who might have been exposed included passengers on…
Pigs with Ebola Zaire: a whole new can o’ worms
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 18, 2011 Ebola has long been associated with wildlife. From the early days, bats were viewed as a potential reservoir (though it wasn’t confirmed that they actually harbored the virus until 2005). Contact with wild animals–particularly primates which were butchered for food–was also long thought to be a risk factor, and now we know that primates can…
Ebola in Uganda: current and past outbreaks
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 16, 2011 Via H5N1 and other sources, there’s at least one new Ebola case in Uganda: The rare and deadly Ebola virus has killed a 12-year-old Ugandan girl and health officials said on Saturday they expected more cases. The girl from Luwero district, 75 km (45 miles) north of the capital Kampala, died on May 6, said…
Measles in Arizona by the numbers
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 29, 2011 Maryn McKenna has an excellent post on 2008′s measles outbreak in Arizona. 14 confirmed patients, 8,321 individuals tracked down, 15,120 work hours lost at 7 Arizona hospitals due to furloughs of staff who were not appropriately vaccinated, and almost $800,000 spent by 2 hospitals just to contain the disease–and it all could have been prevented.