Emerging viruses Flashcards
Rhinovirus C has been around for?
~8000 years
When did we learn about rhinovirus C?
2006
Why did it take so long for us to identify rhinovirus C?
Could not propagate it in cell culture
Did not know it required the CDHR3 cadherin receptor
Newly emerging viruses are better known as?
Newly detected viruses
What will increase the number of newly detected viruses?
Improvements in technology and diagnosis
How can newly evolved viruses emerge?
Through mutation
Through recombination and reassortment
Why is a one health approach important?
As 6/10 of infectious diseases in humans are spread by animals. There is a holism, the health of humans and animals is interconnected
What is required for a newly emerged zoonotic virus?
Species jump
Needs to overcome the host range barrier
Why is pandemic influenza relatively infrequently?
Due to the host range barrier
What is the host range barrier?
The barrier which must be overcome to allow transmission in other species
The strength of the host range barrier determines?
The strength of the host range barrier determines the likelihood that the virus will spread from the host species to a new host species
Why do viruses emerge?
- Human activity
- Economic situation
- Health of the country- malnutrition
- Changes in farming practices
- Changes in land use
- Ecological changes: Introduction of a new species, loss of a predator, increased geographical range
- Climate change
- International travel
- International trade
- Failure of public health programmes
- Contamination of water/food supplies
- Invasion
- Pathogen evolution
- Changes in human/societal demographics
What limits emerging viruses?
- Receptor specificity
- Tropism
- Host range barrier
- Natural immunity
- Cross protection e.g. cowpox can protect from smallpox. The pox viruses are morphologically indistinguishable but are immunologically similar which allows cross protection
Why are emerging viruses so virulent?
- No co-evolution with the new host. There is often an imbalance between the viral immunomodulators and host effectors
- Host population is immunologically naive
- There is no active attenuation of the virus. As the virus exists in a reservoir population it does not rely on human-to-human transmission. It does not need to become less virulent to facilitate its transmission as it can ‘spillover’ into human populations. Survival of the virus is not dependent on transmission between humans.
What is pathogenesis?
Qualitative description of disease. It is mechanism by which the virus causes disease. The process by which disease is caused
What is virulence?
It is quantitative, it is non-scalar and relative. It is the extent of disease caused
How can virulence be measured?
- Fever, the temperature caused
- Weightloss
- Mortality
- Morbidity
Why is virulence important to study?
The more we know the more we can predict the virulence of emerging diseases
How does direct transmission impact virulence?
Leads to decreased virulence
Why does direct transmission lead to decreased virulence?
Due to the transmission-mortality tradeoff
How does environmental transmission impact virulence?
Waterborne transmission is associated with increased virulence
Sit and wait transmission is associated with increased virulence
Environmental transmission does not rely on?
Host motility
Example of a bacteria which relies on sit and wait transmission?
Anthrax
Bacillus anthracis
Anthrax is caused by?
Bacillus anthracis
Example of a highly virulent bacteria spread by water?
Cholera
How does vectored transmission impact virulence?
Associated with increased virulence
How does vertical transmission impact virulence?
Associated with decreased virulence
Virus example spread by direct transmission?
1950s myxoma virus released in Southern Australia
Had an initial fatality rate of 99%
Fatality rate reduced to 50%
Eventually the rabbit population recovered
Virus example spread by vector transmission?
Rabbit haemorrhagic virus
Rabbit haemorrhagic virus is spread by?
Blowflies
Which disease became more virulent due to imperfect vaccination?
Marek’s disease
What is perfect vaccination?
Perfect vaccination prevents an individual becoming infected and spreading the disease
What is imperfect vaccination?
This reduces the symptoms of disease and mortality associated; however, the vaccinated individuals can still transmit the virus