Tag: infectious diseases and how to prevent them

Contamination of drinking water sources by sewage can occur from raw sewage overflow, septic tanks, leaking sewer lines, land application of sludge and partially treated waste water. Sewage is a complex mixture and can contain many types of contaminants. The greatest threats posed to water resources arise from contamination by bacteria, nitrates, metals, trace quantities of toxic materials, and salts. Seepage overflow into drinking water sources can cause disease from the ingestion of microorganisms such as E coli, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Hepatitis A, and helminths. Septic tanks are enclosures that store and process wastes by bacterial decomposition. Badly constructed percolation systems may allow water to escape without proper treatment.This water may seep to the land surface, runoff into surface water or flow directly into the water table causing waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea etc.

Airborne diseases are caused by pathogenic microbes small enough to be discharged from an infected person via coughing, sneezing, laughing and close personal contact or aerosolization of the microbe. The discharged microbes remain suspended in the air on dust particles, respiratory and water droplets. Illness is caused when the microbe is inhaled or contacts mucus membranes or when secretions remaining on a surface are touched. Many common infections can spread by airborne transmission at least in some cases, including: anthrax (inhalational), chicken pox, influenza, measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis.

An airborne disease is any disease that is caused by pathogens and transmitted through the air. Potato virus is transmitted by aphids by sticking to aphid mouth parts (stylet). The virus can be acquired from the infected plant within seconds, and transmitted to a healthy plant very fast. It can also be transmitted mechanically by machinery, tools, and damaging plants while walking through the field. Aphids are by far the most efficient means of transmission.

Salmonella bacteria can be found in food products such as raw poultry, eggs, and beef, and sometimes on unwashed fruit. Food prepared on surfaces that previously were in contact with raw meat or meat products can, in turn, become contaminated with the bacteria. This is called cross-contamination.

Explanation: The most common type of enteritis is caused by food poisoning. You get it after ingesting food or water that is contaminated with bacteria.

Mycoplasma mycoides is the causative agent of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), a serious respiratory disease in cattle.

Housefly transmits various diseases like typhoid diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, tuberculosis etc.

Chronic diseases last for a long time, even as much as a lifetime. The chronic diseases have drastic long term effects on patient's health.

Arsenic poisoning is well-documented to cause 'crippling' skeletal deformities, a condition often referred to as arsenicosis, particularly in areas with high groundwater arsenic levels.