Question

Which diseases have prevaled as leading emerging or re-emerging diseases over the past century and what types of threats have they brought to the world stage. Name 5 diseases and their infectious agents.

Answer 1

5 disease that have been prevailing as leading and emerging or re-emerging diseases over the past centuries are:-

1. Influenza – This is the most common reemerging disease the occurs almost every season and is in general known as flu. The size it is high re-emerging is its ability to change its genetic information and hence become resistant to antibiotics. Due to the change in the genetic sequence the immune system is not able to protect against the virus. It is caused by the influenza virus also called as the H1N1 virus
2. SARS – The SARS is a respiratory illness and is communicable as it travels through air. It is responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome and hence causes difficulty in breathing leading to death. It is caused by the SARS coronovirus and transmitted through close person to person contact
3. Dengue – The dengue is caused by the dengue virus that infects the mosquito and hence transferred by mosquito bite. It is more prevalent in tropical areas and mostly transmitted by the tiger mosquito. There are four species of virus that tends to cause dengue and they spread through Aedes aegypti species of mosquito
4. Malaria – The malaria is caused by parasite and is transmitted to humans by the mosquito bites. It is caused the plasmodium parasite. It is again another re-emerging diseases mostly in the tropical areas and is spread by Anopheles mosquito. As they bite, the parasite start replication and multiplication in the blood
5. Ebola – This is one the recent addition to the emerging infectious disease and is a rare and deadly disease. It is caused by a category of Ebola virus which include many types of species like Zaire ebolavirus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Bombali ebolavirus, Sudan Ebolavirus etc.