Bizarre Deadly Diseases Transmitted by Animals to Humans Two

Do you know that the disease-carrying mosquito, delivering encephalitis, the West Nile virus, malaria, and Dengue fever and others, is by far the deadliest beast in the animal world? The World Health Organization says mosquitoes cause more than 2 million deaths a year worldwide.

Brucellosis

Brucellosis or Malta fever is a persistent infectious disease caused by a bacterium called brucella transmitted to humans from infected animals, such as goats, cattle or swine and marked by recurrent fever, sweating, weakness and generalized aches and pain. Complications may include arthritis, heart disease and brain damage.

Q Fever

Q fever is an infectious disease transmitted by sheep and cattle and characterized by high fever, chills and muscle pains. The infection results from inhalation of contaminated particles in the air, and from contact with the vaginal mucus, milk, feces, urine or semen of infected animals. It is considered possibly the most infectious disease in the world, as a human being can be infected by a single bacterium.

Schistosomiasis or Bilhaziasis

Schistosomiasis or snail fever is a tropical disease caused by a fluke worm whose larvae penetrate the skin and invades the circulatory system. It is most commonly found in Asia, Africa, and South America, especially in areas with water that is contaminated with freshwater snails, which may carry the parasite

Typhus

An acute disease caused by a rickettsial microorganism that is transmitted to humans by the bite of certain lice and fleas, and is characterized by high fever, severe headaches and a red rash. Rickettsia is endemic in rodent hosts, including mice and rats, and spreads to humans through mites, fleas and body lice.

Rickettsialpox

This is an infectious disease transmitted by mites which infest mice and characterized by fever, chills, rash, headache and backache but the most distinctive symptom is the rash that breaks out, spanning the infected person’s entire body.

Trichinosis

Trichinosis or trichiniasis is a disease caused by a parasitic worm that eneters the body via undercooked or raw meat especially pork, invading the intestines and muscles and provoking gastro intestinal symptoms initially and muscle stiffness and pain later.

Trichomoniasis

This is a vaginal infection by the trichomonas morganism. It is most common in women and uncircumcised men. For uncircumcised men, the most common site for the infection is the tip of the penis.

Japanese Encephalitis

One of the most prevalent diseases is the Japanese encephalitis. This is a disease caused by the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus. Domestic pigs and wild birds are reservoirs of the virus, transmission to humans may cause severe symptoms. This disease is most prevalent in Southeast Asia and the Far East.

West Nile Virus

West Nile virus is part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses, both found in tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, and domestic rabbits. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito.

Kyasanur Forest Disease

Kyasanur forest disease is a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever endemic to South Asia. The disease was first reported from Kyasanur Forest of Karnataka in India. The reservoir hosts for the disease are porcupines, rats and mice. The vector for disease transmission is a forest tick.

Murray Valley Encephalitis Virus

Murray Valley encephalitis virus is endemic to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. It is the causal agent of Murray Valley encephalitis and in humans can cause permanent neurological disease or death.

This is a mosquito-borne virus that is maintained in a bird-mosquito-bird cycle. Water birds, including herons and cormorants, provide the natural reservoir for Murray Valley encephalitis virus. Human infection occurs only through bites from infected mosquitoes, it cannot be transmitted from person to person.

Lyme disease

Lyme disease or borelliosis is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. The bacteria are transmitted to humans by the bite of infected hard ticks. Early manifestations of infection may include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans.

Yaws

Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin bones, bones and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pertenue.

The disease is transmitted by skin contact with infected individuals or eye gnats, the spirochete entering through an existing cut or similar damage. The largest groups afflicted by yaws are children aged 6 to 10 years in tropical areas of the Americas, Africa, Asia, or Oceania.

Typhoid Fever

Typhoid fever or Yellow Jack is an illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. It is transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces from an infected person.

Famous personalities who have had the disease were Evangelista Torricelli, Wilbur Wright, Abigail Adams – wife of US President John Adams and many others.

Dengue Fever

One of the most notorious diseases killing thousands yearly especially children is Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever. These are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics and Africa. The spread is similar to malaria, but unlike malaria, dengue is often found in urban areas of tropical nations. Dengue is transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti which feeds during the day.

This infectious disease is manifested by a sudden onset of fever, with severe headache, muscle and joint pains (severe pain gives it the name break-bone fever or bonecrusher disease) and rashes. This disease had killed already thousands of people.

Cholera

Cholera is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through the process of ingesting contaminated water or food. In its most severe forms, cholera is one of the most rapidly fatal illnesses known, and a healthy person may become hypotensive within an hour of the onset of symptoms; infected patients may die within three hours if treatment is not provided. There were 7 cholera pandemics from 1816 to 1971 killing thousands of people.

Famous cholera victims include Tchaikovsky, Alexander Dumas, and Charles X of France, Daniel Boone and US President James K. Polk.

Baccillary Dysentery

Bacillary dysentery is an infectious disease of the intestinal tract caused by bacteria of the genus Sigella. It is spread by contact with a patients or carriers or though food or water contaminated by their feces. In most cases it occurs in summer and fall and clinically it can be divided into acute and chronic types. Acute bacillary dysentery has following symptoms: fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, tenesmus and bloody purulent stools. Symptoms of chronic bacillary dysentery are: recurrent or persistent abdominal pain, accompanied with diarrhea, alternation of diarrhea and constipation can also be present. Another sign is intermittent appearance of mucopurulent and blood-stained stools.

Coccidioidomycosis

Coccidioidomycosis or desert fever is a fungal disease caused by Coccidioides immitis. It is endemic in certain parts of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and northwestern Mexico.

Infection is caused by inhalation of the particles. C. immitis is a dimorphic saprophytic organism that grows as a mycelium in the soil and produces a spherule form in the host organism.

The bizarre disease is usually mild, with flu-like symptoms and rashes. Serious complications include severe pneumonia, lung nodules, and disseminated disease, where the fungus spreads throughout the body. The disseminated form of valley fever can devastate the body, causing skin ulcers and abscesses to bone lesions, severe joint pain, heart inflammation, urinary tract problems, meningitis, and death. It has been known to infect humans, dogs, cattle, livestock, llamas, apes, monkeys, kangaroos, wallabies, tigers, bears, badgers, otters and marine mammals.

Psittosis or Parrot Fever

Psittacosis or parrot fever and ornithosis is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by a bacterium and contracted not only from parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels and budgerigars, but also from pigeons, sparrows, ducks, hens, gulls and many other species of bird.

This can be transmitted by inhaling dust from dried bird droppings or by handling infected birds. The symptoms include fever, headache, chills, and loss of appetite, cough, and tiredness. In the most severe cases of parrot fever, the patient develops pneumonia.

Boutonneuse Fever or Mediterranean Spotted Fever

Boutonneuse fever is a fever as a result of a Rickettsial infection caused by the bacterium Rickettsial conorii and transmitted by the dog tick. Boutonneuse fever is endemic in many countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The disease manifests with chills, high fevers, muscular and articular pains, severe headache and photophobia. The location of the bite forms a black crust.

African Tick-bite Fever

African tick-bite fever is a recently rediscovered rickettsiosis of the spotted fever group, is caused by Rickettsia africae, an obligate intracellular, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, transmitted by cattle ticks. This is highly prevalent in Africa and often affects visitors to this region. In patients, this fever manifests as an acute, febrile, and influenza like illness, frequently accompanied by severe headache, prominent neck muscle myalgia, inoculation eschars, and regional lymphadenitis.

Australian Tick Typhus

Australian tick typhus israrely fatal form of typhus caused by the Rickettsia australis, seen in eastern Australia, transmitted by tick bite, and characterized by severe headache and conjunctivitis. Reservoir is in rodents and marsupials.

The abovementioned diseases are really deadly diseases and we should be aware of always. Although it had been said a million times, always remember that “Prevention is by far better than cure.”

For more bizarre diseases and conditions and other related articles – check the ff:

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