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.
