B I K E R S C L U B ® | www.bikersclub.in
ISSUE 04 | APRIL 2020
The virus is not transmitted from one person to
another, rather, people contract the disease from
exposure to the dropping of infected mice.
Previously, a different hantavirus caused an outbreak
in the early 1950s, during the Korean War, according
to a 2010 paper in the journal Clinical Microbiology
Reviews. More than 3,000 troops became infected,
and about 12% of them died.
While the virus was new to Western medicine when it
was discovered in the U.S., researchers realized later
that Navajo medical traditions describe a similar
illness, and linked the disease to mice.
Influenza
During a typical flu season, up to 500,000 people
worldwide will die from the illness, according to WHO.
But occasionally, when a new flu strain emerges, a
pandemic results with a faster spread of disease and,
often, higher mortality rates.
The most deadly flu pandemic, sometimes called the
Spanish flu, began in 1918 and sickened up to 40% of
the world's population, killing an estimated 50 million
people.
"I think that it is possible that something like the 1918
flu outbreak could occur again," Muhlberger said. "If a
new influenza strain found its way in the human
population, and could be transmitted easily between
humans, and caused severe illness, we would have a
big problem.
Dengue
Dengue virus first appeared in the 1950s in the
Philippines and Thailand and has since spread
throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the
globe. Up to 40% of the world's population now lives
in areas where dengue is endemic, and the disease-
with the mosquitoes that carry it- is likely to spread
farther as the world warms.
Dengue sickens 50 to 100 million people a year,
according to WHO. Although the mortality rate for
dengue fever is lower than some other viruses, at
2.5%, the virus can cause an Ebola-like disease called
dengue hemorrhagic fever, and that condition has a
mortality rate of 20% if left untreated.
"We really need to think more about dengue virus
because it is a real threat to us."
A vaccine for Dengue was approved in 2019 by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in children
9-16 years old living in areas where dengue is
common and with a confirmed history of virus
infection, according to the CDC. In some countries, an
approved vaccine is available for those 9-45 years old,
but again, recipients must have contracted a
confirmed case of dengue in the past. Those who
have not caught the virus before could be put at risk
of developing severe dengue if given the vaccine.
Rotavirus
Two vaccines are now available to protect children
from rotavirus, the leading cause of severe diarrheal
illness among babies and young children. The virus
can spread rapidly, through what researchers call the
faecal-oral route (meaning that small particles of
faeces end up being consumed).
Although children in the developed world rarely die
from rotavirus infection, the disease is a killer in the
developing world, where rehydration treatments are
not widely available.
The WHO estimates that worldwide, 453,000 children
younger than age 5 died from rotavirus infection in
2008. But countries that have introduced the vaccine
have reported sharp declines in rotavirus
hospitalization and deaths.
SARS-CoV
The virus that causes a severe acute respiratory
syndrome, or SARS, first appeared in 2002 in the
Guangdong province of southern China, according to
the WHO. The virus likely emerged in bats, initially,
then hopped into nocturnal mammals called civets
before finally infecting humans. After triggering an
outbreak in China, SARS spread to 26 countries
around the world, infecting more than 8000 people
and killing more than 770 over the course of two
years.
The disease causes fever, chills and body aches, and
often progresses to pneumonia, a severe condition in
which the lungs become inflamed and fill with pus.
SARS has an estimated mortality rate of 9.6%, and as
of yet, has no approved treatment or vaccine.
However, no new cases of SARS have been reported
since the early 2000s, according to the CDC.