Diseases caught from animals on the increase

[Guest guest]

From the Daily Yomiuri Online/Science

May 02, 2000

 

This absolutely would apply to those who engage in bestiality, which can not

only transfer these diseases from animals to man, but to other animals. At

special risk are animals kept in boarding, kennel and stable situations. This

aspect makes this of interest to my assistant and I since zoophiles and their

activities are absolutely the perfect transference method thru intimate

sexual contact which normal people don't engage in and put the rest of

society at risk with these diseases.

 

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" Diseases caught from animals on the increase around

the world "

Saori Kan Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

 

One after another, new varieties of infectious

diseases have been emerging throughout the world. Some

bring on severe symptoms and result in sudden death,

threatening to wreck havoc in countries in which they

become widespread.

 

Most of the diseases are zoonoses, which means they

naturally spread from animals to humans. One major

factor behind the emergence of these diseases is the

development of remote regions, which has brought

humans into contact with previously unencountered

animals. What is more, illegal trade in wildlife has

brought some infected animals to urban areas. In

Japan, fears are mounting as lethal viruses are

increasingly detected in imported species.

 

By Saori Kan Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer It started

with a fever. One after another, residents in the

rural community of Sungai Nipah outside Kuala Lumpur

fell ill last March. Out of about 250 stricken, more

than 100 died.

 

The diagnosis was encephalitis.

At first, locals suspected Japanese encephalitis

because the disease has cropped up in the area several

times before. But as research by the government and

independent scientists continued, the " culprit " was

identified as an unknown virus.

 

Most of those who fell ill were hog raisers, and prior

to the outbreak there had been reports of pigs dying

mysteriously. Suspecting zoonoses, scientists began

analyzing the regurgitated contents of pigs' stomachs.

In the end, they discovered a new and ferocious virus,

naming it Nipah virus which is capable of infecting

the human brain and destroying nerves.

 

After the Malaysian military slaughtered about 1

million pigs, there were no new reported cases.

Indeed, by April last year, it was thought that the

virus had been effectively wiped out. But much damage

was already done. Aside from the human toll, the

region's all-important hog exporting industry was

dealt a crushing blow.

 

The World Health Organization defines zoonoses as

infectious diseases communicable under natural

conditions between humans and vertebrate animals.

There are more than 200 identified to date. In fact,

most newly emerging infectious diseases discovered

over the past 20 years are zoonoses.

 

The pathogenic organisms constituting zoonoses vary in

size. They range from bacteria and viruses visible

only through an electron microscope to parasites that

grow to several meters.

 

Recently, previously undetected zoonoses, such as a

new strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, have been

attracting media attention. Creutzfeldt-Jakob causes

atrophy of the brain through infectious protein

particles called prions, which are transmitted through

beef contaminated by so-called mad cow disease.

 

However, most of the newly emerging zoonoses that

result in high death rates--including Nipah disease,

Ebola hemorrhagic fever and Lassa fever--are caused by

viruses. Plenty of questions remain concerning

channels of infection for a number of zoonoses,

including

Marburg disease, which is communicable from apes, and

hantavirus syndrome, picked up from mice.

 

A virus is a simple structure, comprising a gene and

protein shell enveloping the gene. Genetic information

is contained in the form of DNA or RNA, but it lacks

the ribosomes necessary to synthesize proteins. It

also

lacks mitochondria, or the cellular organelles found

outside the nucleus that produce energy for the cell

through cellular respiration. As a result, the virus

cannot multiply and has no choice but to parasitize

other creatures' cells.

 

Most viruses live innocuously in the bodies of their

so-called natural hosts--in a sense realizing that to

cause damage to the host is a sure ticket to

destruction. However, when a creature` comes into

contact with a previously unencountered animal, the

new animal effectively becomes an unnatural host.

Viruses transmitted in such cases can be far from

benign.

 

The natural host of the HIV virus that causes AIDS is

a type of chimpanzee living in a specific part of

Africa. It is commonly accepted that the virus spread

from the chimpanzees to humans, becoming the deadly

disease we know today.

 

In the case of influenza, natural hosts are domestic

animals and birds. Experts in relevant countries keep

a watchful eye on domestic animals and exchange

information that is useful for predicting the

prevalence of influenza every year.

 

At the same time, there are exceptions to the rule

that all " unnatural " infections are best avoided. In

1980, the WHO was able to declare the eradication of

the smallpox virus, thanks to the development of a

vaccine that made use of certain characteristics of

the cowpox virus, which resembles the smallpox virus.

Living naturally in cows, the cowpox virus does not

spread to humans.

 

Understanding the risks

The route of transmission of Nipah virus is hard to

trace. Researchers discovered that dogs and goats

living near pig pens were also found to have

contracted the virus. A hog enclosure near where the

first outbreaks were reported had been built close to

a newly

infringed-upon natural forest. As the virus was

subsequently detected in small bats living in caves

near the pig pen, experts think the bats are the

likely sources of the virus. They probably passed it

on to the pigs. Tsuneo Kamiyama, chief of the

zoonoses research room at the Health and Welfare

Ministry's National Institute of Infectious Diseases

in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, said, " Viruses do not

suddenly appear. Infectious diseases emerge as a

result of the fact that human and domestic animals

enter places where pathogenic organisms exist and

encounter them (for the first time). "

 

According to Kamiyama, most of the areas where newly

emerging infectious diseases are prevalent center on

farms built after natural forests are felled.

 

But newly emerging infectious diseases are also

cropping up in urban areas. Last year, 13 people died

in New York City after contracting the West Nile

virus, which uses birds as its natural hosts. It has

been said that birds illegally imported from Africa

for pets are the most likely culprits for the mass

infections that shocked the city.

 

In 1997, a researcher died in Florida after

contracting B virus, one of the herpetoviruses

communicable from apes, from a crab-eating macaque

raised for experimental purposes.

 

There are only 40 known examples of humans being

infected with B virus--but 70 percent of those cases

have resulted in death. In Japan, about 40 percent of

monkeys raised at national universities have tested

positive for the B virus antibody.

 

" All the ape research facilities are aware of the

dangers. More worrying is the fact that ordinary

people are raising apes as pets without knowing the

risks, " said Akio Yamada, a member of a Health and

Welfare Ministry research group studying the B virus.

 

In fact, the new Infectious Disease Law, which took

effect in April last year, made it mandatory for the

first time to inspect imported apes for symptoms of

zoonoses such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever and Marburg

fever. Currently, 53 crab-eating macaques are housed

at an inspection facility designated by the Ibaraki

prefectural government. However, the B virus is not

covered by the new law.

 

Other potential sources of infectious diseases are

raccoons and prairie dogs, which can spread rabies and

other diseases and are routinely sold at pet stores. A

number of pet magazines even publish photographs of

readers kissing their pets. Experts are increasing

warning of the dangers of contracting infections.

 

" Now and in the future, humans will encounter unknown

pathogenic organisms, including various forms of

viruses. Zoonoses are certain to increase, " Kamiyama

warned.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike Rolland

ASAIRS Administrator

Alternate email: rolland_mike

Help stop sexual abuse of animals:

http://welcome.to/legislation

The torches are lit and the people are coming up the hill

 

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