Smallpox Moosa Mohammed Health Science Technology 3/4/2016 Smallpox Smallpox is a viral and contagious infection that is caused by the Variola Virus. Smallpox is a disease that arose approximately 10,000 years ago in Africa and Southern Asia that spread quickly through the air and eventually spread throughout the whole world. Smallpox is a fatal and dangerous disease that has no cure but does have a vaccination to prevent it. However the vaccination does comes with a few dangerous side effects making this infection something no one wants to have. In addition Smallpox can spread very easily making people more vulnerable to it. Smallpox has had its fair share in the deaths of many people including significant icons throughout …show more content…
Furthermore it is one of the most deadliest and fastest spreading diseases in all of history. As if for now Smallpox is extremely rare making this infection a disease of the past that may or may not make a comeback. Pathophysiology Smallpox is a an infection/ disease that is caused by the Variola virus . Smallpox is an epidemic that spread the variola virus through primarily the air (Gale, 2013) . The Variola virus comes in two different forms in which both have different effects. The first type of the variola virus and the most harmful/ deadliest is the variola major. The second is the variola minor which is not as deadly as the first type but can cause and inflict harm to the body in multiple ways (Gale,2013). Since variola is a type of virus, it conducts the functions of most viruses which is to spread in mass amounts and attach to a host cell. This results in the the organism getting infected with the virus (Gale,2013) . The variola virus spreads quickly making it a highly contagious infection to obtain. The virus is acquired through multiple ways such as airborne, bloodborne and physical touch. The virus can also be acquired by having contact with an object that had previous contact with another infected individual (Gale,2013). …show more content…
It was a disease caused by the Variola virus both type major and minor. It was spread through means of contact such as airborne,bloodborne, and foodborne . Since it was a virus it hacked cells of the body and and reproduced in host cells giving the body terrible effects and symptoms such as permanent red scars/spots , vomiting, fever and colds. It can be tested and confirmed through the use of an electron microscope and through physical findings. . It lasts a duration of couple weeks to a month and during this time makes the person significantly ill. The virus can only spread to humans and has no cure/treatment . However, treatment to improve comfort/condition is available. Prevention can be done through vaccination of avoiding of any contact with an infected individual. Smallpox has been on Earth for hundreds of years and is known to be one of the most deadliest diseases/ epidemics ever experienced by humanity. It kills about thirty percent of all people infected and spreads very quickly as it is highly contagious. Smallpox is known to happen to even some of the most significant icons all throughout history including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Mozart. It's been one of the deadliest diseases to ever spread in this world for the past hundred years which has now been eradicated saving millions of lives every year. Before you end reading this paper
Elizabeth A. Fenn, Pox Americana: the great smallpox epidemic of 1775-82, (New York: Hill and Wang, 2001). Pages, ix, 384, index, bibliography. Review by Samantha Pilcher. Elizabeth A. Fenn is the author of Pox Americana.
The argument that all viruses are deadly is incorrect. In the Hot Zone, Preston explained how Ebola and Marburg caused an epidemic that killed over hundreds of people and animals. In the novel, Preston also mentions smallpox and malaria. Being diseases, there are cures for all of them which overtime will eventually prove to be not deadly. Although hundreds of lives were lost against the virus, there came a cure later on.
It originated in East Africa from monkeys. The monkeys were very sick, but were being sold to people and the virus was passed to humans. This virus kills 25% of its victims. It causes deaths because it attacks the organs which causes extreme bleeding and blood clots. Charles Monet was the first person to contract the disease.
Despite the efforts of the greatest minds in the world, scientists were unable to explain why the virus acted the way it did. These unique characteristics contributed to millions of deaths and the growing fear of the
But the indigenous population fared much worse. Nearly 90% would be eradicated by smallpox. A result of having no immunity to the newly introduced virus.
The Spanish brought smallpox, influenza, measles and a host of other bacteria with them. In the series Guns, Germs, and Steel, the origin of smallpox coming to the Americas is traced back to a slave traveling on a ship to Mexico twelve years before Pizarro reached Carhamarka. The slave was the first to bring small pox to the Americas and within weeks the disease would go on the infect thousands of Natives. This supposedly started the spread of small pox, a pestilence that spreads exponentially. The outbreak reached the Incan empire before Pizarro came.
Not all civilizations had the same domesticated animals and some didn't have any at all, so they never became immune to smallpox.
What is it? The plague is an infectious disease that attacks the body’s organs. It is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis (named after Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin) lives in fleas and causes the Black Plague. These infected fleas would then bite rats, humans, ground squirrels, and prairie dogs. A majority of the infected fleas contained a mutated gene that allowed the bacteria to pass unto rats more efficiently.
The Plague The Plague is a very deadly disease, that has had some very deadly outbreaks in history. The biggest known outbreak of it was in Europe from 1347 to 1351 and is known as the Black Death Plague and the Great Mortality. The Black Death Plague is one of the deadliest known events in history. The Plague comes from the bacteria Yersinia Pestis.
When the European conquest occurred in the early 16th century, the conquerors and Europeans brought conditions that the Americans had never experienced. These conditions included diseases and illnesses that impacted the New World. The population became victims of smallpox, influenza, and other sicknesses. No one in the Americas had ever seen or heard of these infections before that was killing off hundreds and thousands of them. However, even though the diseases impacted the New World negatively, this exchange of viruses became part of the Columbian Exchange.
is widely considered as the second pandemic from the Middle Ages (History-Plague). The bacteria causing this plague, Yersinia pestis, survives and spreads using rodents and their fleas (Transmission-Plague). Which is why this plague that started in 1334 had such a devastating blow. It started in China and spread along trade routes ending in Europe where overall it wiped out at least 60% of the population (History-Plague).
Diagnosing smallpox can be made in several ways; by the signs and symptoms that the person presides with; by withdrawing the variola virus from the persons blood or from the lesions; and from antibodies found in the infected persons blood that reacted to the virus. Diagnosing this virus is made in specific laboratories only where there are suitable means for testing and protecting the laboratory technicians (https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/smallpox/fact_sheet). Treatment The infected person should be isolated and admitted in a room with negative pressure, placing them under respiratory isolation and also contact isolation. Provide supportive measures.
A virus is an infective agent that usually consists of a protein coat with a nucleic acid molecule. Viruses do not reproduce through asexual reproduction. Instead, they attach themselves to the cells in their victim’s body to create more viruses. Over the years, vaccines for certain viruses have been created to help humans combat them. However, for viruses such as Ebola, there have been no drugs approved to cure them.
One of Cortés’ men contracted smallpox from a member of the force from Cuba. That soldier died during the Aztec rebellion, and when his body was looted, an Aztec caught the disease, which spread like wildfire because the Aztec people had no immunity to it. Cortés regrouped and attacked Tenochtitlán in full force in 1521. At that time, the city’s society had crumpled. The Aztecs no longer trusted Montezuma, they were short on food, and the smallpox epidemic was under way.
2. In the present day, how did the virus get to the U.S.? Who or what was the host of the virus? The virus got to the United States by someone buying a money illegally from a biotest facility.