Viral Diseases

Bacteriophage Mu or phage Mu is a temperate bacteriophage, a type of virus that infects bacteria. It has an icosahedral head, a contractile tail and 6 tail fibres. It uses DNA-based transposition to integrate its genome into the genome of the host cell that it is infecting. It contains double-stranded DNA.

Marburg virus or simply Marburg is the common name for the genus of viruses Marburgvirus, which contains one species, Lake Victoria Marburgvirus. The virus causes the disease Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever (MHF), also referred to as Marburg Virus Disease, and previously also known as green monkey disease due to its primate origin.

Avian influenza is also known as bird flu. It is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. These viruses occur naturally among wild birds worldwide in their intestines, but they do not get sick . It is very contagious among birds including domestic birds eg. chickens, ducks & turkeys and kill them. Virus are excreted from infected birds in their saliva, nasal secretions, & feces. Birds including domestic ones become infected through direct contact with other infected poultry, or through contact with infected surfaces (such as dirt or cages) or materials (such as water or feed).

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease caused by the arbovirus Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), which is a member of the Nairovirus genus (family Bunyaviridae).

Coxsackieviruses belongs to a group of viruses called enteroviruses. Coxsackieviruses were first isolated in suckling mice from the faeces of two children suffering from a poliomyelitis-like syndrome in the town of Coxsackie, New York.

The Arenaviridae are a family of viruses whose members are generally associated with rodent-transmitted disease in humans. Arenaviruses are round, oval, or pleomorphic with a range in size between 100 to 130 nm. They are enveloped particles, and the envelop contains club-shaped projections at its surface.

Mumps is an acute but usually mild viral infection of childhood, characterized by swollen and inflamed salivary glands (most often the parotids). Less often the virus attacks the pancreas, ovaries, testes, and other organs. Mump virus is a highly contagious paramyxovirus that is commonly transmitted in respiratory droplets.

Orthomyxoviruses (influenza A, B, and C viruses) are enveloped viruses that contain single-stranded RNA in a helical array of nucleoprotein. Inserted in the lipid envelop are two glycoproteins- the hemagglutinin (HA) and the neuraminidase (NA).

All of these are the viral symptoms.

The flu, medically known as influenza, is a common infection of the respiratory tract, including the nose, throat, bronchial tubes and lungs. The flu is caused by a virus and is very contagious. The effects of the flu can vary from mild to severe to life-threatening, depending on the type of flu and individual factors, such as age, general health status, and coexisting conditions, such as renal failure.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis, or LCM, is a rodent-borne viral infectious disease that presents as aseptic meningitis (inflammation of the membrane, or meninges, that surrounds the brain and spinal cord), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), or meningoencephalitis (inflammation of both the brain and meninges).

All of the above viral diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was first isolated in 1956 by Morris and co-workers who named it “chimpanzee coryza agent”. Shortly thereafter, Chanock and co-workers confirmed that the agent was able to cause respiratory illness in humans. Respiratory syncytial virus measures from 121 to 300 nm. It has an RNA genome, and like all members of the paramyxovirus family, the envelop exhibits spokes of glycoprotein.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral infectious disease involving the central nervous system. The disease most often manifests as meningitis, encephalitis, or meningoencephalitis. Although TBE is most commonly recognized as a neurological disorder, mild fever can also occur.

Rabies remains as one of the most feared zoonotic diseases in the world. In humans it is a lethal encephalitis. Carnivores, such as the dog, wolf, fox, and skunk, are the principal reservoirs, but the infection extends to bats and to some domesticated animals, such as cattle, goats, and swine. The infectious agent is transmitted to humans through contaminated saliva introduced into the wound of a bite.

Viral meningitis, also known as aseptic or non-bacterial meningitis, is an inflammation of the covering on the brain and spinal cord. The most common viral source is the enteroviruses, or common intestinal viruses, group. Direct contact with an infected person through respiratory secretions or fecal material is the main source of spreading of viral meningitis.

Dengue fever also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic morbilliform skin rash.

All are the members of the family Flaviviridae .

Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is a disease caused by the rubella virus. The name rubella is derived from the Latin, meaning little red. Rubella is also known as German measles because the disease was first described by German physicians in the mid-eighteenth century.

Adenoviruses are medium-sized (90-100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) icosahedral viruses composed of a nucleocapsid and a double-stranded linear DNA genome.

All of the above are the cattle diseases.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic rabbits, crocodiles and alligators.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large double-stranded DNA virus which replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells and is the only member of the Asfarviridae family. In common with other viral haemorrhagic fevers, the main target cells for replication are those of monocyte, macrophage lineage.

Pseudorabies is a viral disease in swine that is endemic in most parts of the world. It is caused by porcine herpesvirus 1, which is also called pseudorabies virus (PRV) or suid herpesvirus-1 (SHV-1) and is also known as Aujeszky's disease, and in cattle as mad itch.

The Liliaceae contains 13 genera and about 400 herb species. Many of these plants adorn our gardens and walkways. Tulips are in the genus Tulipa. This family has been split several times. Liliaceae used to be a large family including many Lily-like species. It used to contain many families that were lily-like. They included garlic, onions, asparagus, amaryllis, and agavaes. Today, the family is relatively small.