Marc Kevin Tan
HEALCAR
October 10, 2018
According to the Worldometers (2018), the number of communicable diseases deaths this
year is 10,031,015 as of 1:39am on the 10th of October and is adding 1 death every second.
Unfortunately, no available data, has been provided by the DOH on deaths because of
communicable diseases this year.
According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) is a respiratory illness caused by a virus called SARS associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV)
SARS-CoV is thought to have passed from animals to humans through close contact like touching,
butchering or eating undercooked meat in parts of southern China.
The main way that SARS seemed to spread was by close proximity person-to-person contact.
The virus that causes SARS is thought to be spread when an infected person talks, coughs or
sneezes small droplets such as saliva or sinuses containing infectious agents into the air. The
droplets in the air may be breathed in by those nearby and that’s how it’ll get transmitted.
Infection may be spread by contact with hands, tissues and other articles soiled by infected nose
and throat discharges. People in very close contact with a sick SARS patient are at most risk.
The symptoms of SARS include high fever, cough, pneumonia, breathing difficulties,
headache, chills, muscle aches, poor appetite, dizziness, diarrhea and sore throat. To prevent
SARS from affecting a person he should stay at home when sick, wash hands with soap and water
and cover the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing.
Monkeypox in Nigeria
On 26 September 2017, WHO was alerted to a suspected outbreak of monkeypox in Yenagoa,
the Local Government Area (LGA) in Bayelsa State, Nigeria (WHO, 2018). The initial cause was
first reported in a family. All of whom developed similar symptoms of fever and generalized skin
rash over a period of four weeks. Epidemiological investigations into the cluster show that all
infected cases had a contact with monkey about a month prior to onset.
From the outbreak from September 2017 through 15 September 2018, a total of 269
suspected cases across 25 states and one territory, including 115 confirmed cases across 16 states
and one territory, have been reported. Seven deaths were recorded, four of which were in
patients with a pre-existing immunocompromised condition. Two health care workers were
among the confirmed cases. The most affected age group is 21–40 years and 79% of the
confirmed cases are males.
In 2018, a total of 76 cases have been reported, 37 are confirmed, one probable and two
deaths. These cases were reported in 14 states and one territory (Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra,
Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau and Rivers and the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT)).
Bird Flu (H5N1)
According to the WHO, H5N1 was first discovered in humans in 1997 and has killed nearly
60% of those infected with the disease. Currently, the virus isn’t known to spread via human-tohuman contact. Still, some experts worry that H5N1 may pose a risk of becoming a pandemic
threat to humans.
Although there are several types of bird flu, H5N1 was the first avian influenza virus to
infect human beings. In 1997 the first infection occurred in Hong Kong. The outbreak was linked
to handling infected poultry. H5N1 occurs naturally in the wild fowls, but it can spread easily to
domestic poultry. The disease is transmitted to humans through contact with infected bird feces,
nasal secretions, or secretions from the mouth or eyes. Consuming properly cooked poultry or
eggs from infected birds doesn’t transmit the bird flu, but eggs should never be served runny.
Meat is considered safe if it has been cooked to an internal temperature of 165ºF (73.9ºC)
References:
Worldometer (2018). Retrieved from http://www.worldometers.info/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/
Healthline (2018). Bird Flu. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/avian-influenza.
World Health Organization (2018). Monkeypox – Nigeria.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/05-october-2018-monkeypox-nigeria/en/.
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