The Worlds Fight Against Microbes Essay -- Research Papers Science Bi

The Worlds Fight Against MicrobesMany infectious affections that were nearly eradicated from theindustrialized world, and pertly emerging diseases ar now breaking aside all overthe world due to the misuse of medicines, such as antibiotics and antivirals,the destruction of our environment, and shortsighted political action and/orinaction.Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a group of diseases caused by viruses fromfour distinct families of viruses filoviruses, arenaviruses, flaviviruses, andbunyaviruses. The usual hosts for most of these viruses are rodents orarthropods, and in some viruses, such as the Ebola virus, the natural host isnot known. All forms of viral hemorrhagic fever begin with fever and muscleaches, and depending on the particular virus, the disease can progress until thepatient becomes oddmently ill with respiratory problems, severe bleeding, kidneyproblems, and shock. The severity of these diseases can range from a mildillness to death (CDC I).The Ebola virus is a mem ber of a family of RNA (ribonucleic acid)viruses known as filoviruses. When these viruses are magnified several thousandtimes by an electron microscope they confound a bun in the oven the appearance of long filaments orthreads. Filoviruses can cause hemorrhagic fever in humans and animals, andbecause of this they are extremely hazardous. Laboratory studies of theseviruses must be carried out in special maximum containment facilities, such asthe Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia and the United StatesArmy Medical Research Institute of infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), at FortDetrick in Frederick, Maryland (CDC I,II).The Ebola hemorrhagic fever in humans is a severe, systemic illnesscaused by infection with Ebola virus. There are four subtypes of Ebola virus(Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Ivory Coast, and Ebola-Reston), which are notjust variations of a single virus, but four distinct viruses. Three of thesesubtypes are known to cause disease in humans, and they a re the Zaire, Sudan,and Ivory Coast subtypes. Out of all the different viral hemorrhagic feversknown to occur in humans , those caused by filoviruses have been associated withthe highest case-fatality rates. These rates can be as high as 90 percent forepidemics of hemorrhagic fever caused by Ebola-Zaire virus. No vaccine exists toprotect from... ... still a bacterium can kill a whale ... Such is the adaptability andversatility of microorganisms as compared with humans and other so calledhigher organisms, that they will doubtless breed to colonise and alter theface of the Earth long after we and the rest of our cohabitants have left thestage forever. Microbes, not macrobes, rule the world.- Bernard Dixon,1994Works CitedCDC(I).Ebola Virus haemorrhagic Fever General Information.http//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/virlfv/ebolainf.htm1996, November 20.CDC(II). Filoviruses in Nonhuman Primates Overview of the Investigation inTexas. http//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/virlfvr/ebola528.htm1 996,November 20.Garrett, Laurie. The Coming Plague. Farrar, Straus. and Giroux New York, 1994.Mosbys Medical, Mursing, and Allied Health Dictionary 4th Ed. .Mosby-Year Book, Inc. St.Louis,1994.Preston, Richard. The raging Zone. Random House Inc. New York, 1994.Roizman, Bernard. Infectious Diseases in an Age of Change. National AcademyPress Washington,D.C., 1995.Top, Franklin H. . Communicable and Infectious Diseases. C.V. Mosby CompanySt.Louis, 1964.