This disease has more than six names and comes from animals Photo Credits: City News Canada, International Business Times Nigeria Name Brucellosis, also known as Malta fever, Bang’s disease, Crimean fever, Gibraltar fever, Mediterranean fever, and rock fever Transmission A bacterial infection that mainly affects sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, and... read more →
Sep
16
Sep
09
The adult worms that cause this disease can live in the human body for up to 15 years and the disease is the second leading infectious cause of blindness in the world Photo Credits: YouTube, Wikimedia Name River blindness, aka onchocerciasis (the name comes from the fact that people are... read more →
Sep
02
Have you ever heard of snail fever? This disease is second to malaria as the most devastating parasitic disease Photo Credits: Stanford, End.org Name Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia and snail fever Transmission A disease caused by parasitic flatworms known as schistosomes These worms live in freshwater snails and leave... read more →
Sep
01
You may have noticed that we talk a lot about infectious diseases and outbreak preparedness. So what does the word “preparedness” actually mean? The Oxford dictionary definition: pre·par·ed·ness /prəˈper(ə)dnəs/ noun a state of readiness, especially for war Infectious disease outbreaks are not the same as war, but you get the... read more →
Aug
25
This serious intestinal infection can kill within hours if not treated Photo Credits: CBC.ca, Britannica Name Cholera Transmission An infection caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae The bacteria enter the body when people eat food or drink water contaminated with the bacteria Though possible, the disease usually does not spread from... read more →
Aug
19
Leptospirosis is most commonly found in rodent urine and can cause a range of issues from mild flu-like symptoms to severe organ failure Photo Credits: CDC, Scientific American Name Leptospirosis Transmission A disease caused by the spiral/corkscrew-shaped bacteria Leptospira Humans get infected through direct contact with urine from infected animals or... read more →
Aug
12
This common virus mostly affects children under age 5 Photo Credits: Caribbean 360, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Name Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) Transmission A disease caused by the viruses that belong to the Enterovirus group The viruses spread: When someone comes in contact with an infected person’s: saliva, sputum,... read more →
Aug
05
This highly contagious disease has been used as a biological weapon Name Anthrax Transmission A severe infectious disease caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria The bacteria mainly affect wild and domestic plant-eating animals though other types of animals can also contract it Animals become infected when they ingest bacterial spores in contaminated soil,... read more →
Jul
29
This disease kills more people than AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria each year Photo Credits: Washington.edu, FDA.gov Name Viral hepatitis There are five main types of viral hepatitis, but for this post we are focusing on hepatitis B and hepatitis C Transmission Hepatitis B and C are two highly contagious viral... read more →
Jul
22
If you end up in the hospital, beware of this deadly fungal infection Name Candida auris (the word auris is Latin for “ear” as the fungus was first discovered in the ear of a Japanese patient in 2009) Transmission Candida auris is a type of yeast that causes severe, invasive infections throughout the body... read more →