Adopt A Microbe

Astrovirus

2009-07-15T10:05:00.001+08:00

Heyhey
My name is Astrovirus.
Astroviridae is my family.

I have star-like points that gave me my astronomical name.
I move around through fecal-oral transmission.
I love kids, daycare workers and soldiers.
I also like the elderly and people with poor immune systems.
I cause gastroenteritis with diarrhoea, pain and vomiting.
I am milder than my friends Norovirus and Rotavirus.
I won't dehydrate you as much.

Adenoviruses

2009-07-13T17:25:00.001+08:00

Hey, I'm Adenovirus.
I'm from the Adenoviridae family.
I have many special talents.

In the lungs I cause Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
I hang with infants and soldiers.
In the eyes I give you a contagious conjunctivitis.
You can also get 'swimming pool conjunctivitis' from me.
I can cause gastroenteritis, especially in kids.
They have fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

I also like the urinary tract.
I can cause acute haemorrhagic cystitis in boys.
I may play a role in coeliac disease and intersusseption.
Plus I am sometimes seen in myocarditis.

Phew! I'm very busy.

Rotavirus

2009-07-03T05:22:00.000+08:00

Hi
My name is Rotavirus
I'm from the Reoviridae family.

I am the most common cause of gastroenteritis in kids.
I love children under 4 four year old.
I am biggest in the colder seasons.

I cause diarrhoea.
I also give the kids fever, nausea and vomiting.
I'm very common, but don't let that fool you.
My diarrhoea can be severe.
I can kill if I'm not looked after.

Norovirus

2009-06-30T18:57:00.000+08:00

Hi there.
My name is Norovirus
I'm a caliciviridea family virus.
I used to be called Norfolk virus, after visiting the city of Norfolk.

I cause gastroenteritis.
I make people nauseous and sick.

I am passed feaco-orally.
I am also carried in food, especially seafood like oysters.
I am busiest during the winter.
I love places like schools, nursing homes and hospitals.

Influenza: 2009 'Swine' Flu

2009-06-27T09:29:00.000+08:00

Hi, I'm Swine.
Or pig flu.
Or H1N1 Flu.
I'm an H1N1 Type A Influenza virus.

I was first found in humans in Mexico
I started in April.
I am in almost every country now.

I can pass between people.
I am in the news all the time now.
I'm very famous.

Influenza: 2003 Bird flu

2009-05-26T16:01:00.002+08:00

Hi, I'm Bird or Avian flu,
But I'm not the only bird flu!
People called me that when they found me in people.

I was first noticed in 2003, around Thailand.
Many birds were killed to try to stop my spread.
So far, I have been found in about 400 people.
I killed over 200 of them.

I don't usually move from person to person.
Some people think I have started to.

I used to be in the news a lot.
People don't about me as much anymore.

Influenza: 1968 Hong Kong Flu

2009-05-10T18:06:00.000+08:00

Hi, I'm Hong Kong flu.
I started out as my 1957 friend.
In 1968 I went through antigen shift,
I then became H3N2 and spread.
I moved from China to Hong Kong.
I lasted for 2 years.

I was milder than my earlier flu friend.
Not as many people died.
I also came from mixing of human and bird strains.

Influenza: 1957 Asian Flu

2009-05-03T11:43:00.001+08:00

Hi, I'm the H2N2 'Asian Flu'.
I am an Influenza A strain.
I started in Guizhou, China in early 1957.
I moved to Singapore, Hong Kong, and then to the rest of the world.
I hit the US and UK by the end of the year.
I lasted to 1958.

My first wave hit school kids.
My second wave hit the elderly.
I was milder than my 1918 friend,
But I still managed to kill over a million people.
People made a vaccine against me.

I came from antigen shift between wild ducks and people.

Influenza: 1918 Spanish Flu

2009-05-01T11:12:00.005+08:00

I'm the influenza pandemic of 1918.
I was an influenza A virus H1N1 type flu.
I was called Spanish flu when I got to Spain early on.
In Spain I was called 'La Grippe'.

I had H1N1 that one no had seen before,
So no one was immune.
I spread all over the world at the end of WW1.

I went through the soldiers and then the rest of the world.
Some of my brother flu viruses killed the weak, the very young or very old.
I was deadliest to healthy young people.

I lasted for 2 years and killed 40 million people.
That's more than World War 1 and more than the black death!

Influenza: Drift and Shift

2009-05-01T00:38:00.012+08:00

Hi again, Flu here.
We flu viruses change in 2 ways.

The first is called antigen drift.
These are small changes to our Ha and Na pieces.
The old flu vaccines can't find our new looks.
So each year a new vaccine is needed.

The second is called antigen shift.
We jump between animals like birds or pigs.
We get ourselves brand new Ha or Na pieces,
so we look like brand new viruses.
People usually don't have immunity to these new viruses.
This is one of ways we get 'influenza pandemics'

Influenza Virus

2009-05-01T00:35:00.009+08:00

Hi, we are the Influenza Virus, or 'The Flu".
We are part of the Orthomyxoviridae family.
We come in types A, B and C.
We are one of the most well known viruses in the world.

We make you feel groggy and head heavy.
We cause cough, chills, fever, malaise and muscle aches.
We can also cause pneumonia.

We each have two special pieces of proteins.
These are Haemagglutinin (Ha) and Neuraminidase (Na).
Each piece has a number.
You can use these numbers to tell us apart.

We infect people, birds, horses and pigs.

Influenza special

2009-05-01T00:32:00.005+08:00

This humble zoo keeper will be starting some flu-related posts with some special entries over the coming week. Stay tuned.

Parvovirus B19

2009-04-27T13:27:00.001+08:00

Hi there.
My name is Parvovirus B19.
I'm from the Parvoviridae family.

I cause Erythema Infectiosum
You can call it slapped cheek, or 5th disease.
I give you fever, muscle ache and lymphadenopathy.
My rash starts on your face and moves to your arms and legs.

When I visit pregnant mothers I can give their babies fetal hydrops.
They get anaemia, oedema and heart failure.

Coronavirus

2009-04-24T13:07:00.000+08:00

Hello.
My name is Coronavirus.
My family is Coronaviridae.

My name means crown.
I was named for the 'crown' around me.
I am a common cause of the common cold.

I am most well known for SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
I start with fever and breathlessness, then pneumonia.
I was first found in China during 2002.
Then to Hong Kong, Singapore Thialand, Vietnam and even Canada.
By 2003 I had mostly disappeared.

I was in the news a lot.

Rhinovirus

2009-04-22T13:03:00.000+08:00

Hello hello!
I'm Rhinovirus.
I am from the family Picornaviridae

You have probably all met me before.
You can call me the common cold.
I am the most common cause the ol' sniffles.

I give you a runny nose, sore throat and cough.
I like the winter months.

enterovirus 71

2009-04-20T09:49:00.001+08:00

Hi, I'm Enterovirus 71.
I'm from the family Picornaviridae.
I am an Enterovirus.
I'm the newest of the new Enteroviruses.

I can be spread in droplets for through poor sanitation.
I cause fever.
I am another common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease.

I can cause neurological disease.
I'm good at aseptic meningitis, encephalitis and polio-like paralysis.
I can be very severe.

Enterovirus 70

2009-04-14T16:59:00.000+08:00

Hi, my name is Enterovirus 70.
I'm from family Picornaviridae.
I'm an Enterovirus, one of the 'newer' Enteroviruses.

I'm known for my acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis.
I spread to eyes from infected contacts like fingers.
You get pain and swelling around the eye,
as well as photophobia, fever and headache.

Sometimes my conjunctivits is followed by paralysis.
After a few weeks I can look just like cousin polio.

poliovirus

2009-04-07T16:00:00.002+08:00

My name is Poliovirus.
I'm an Enterovirus from the family Picornaviridae.
I have 3 serotypes, mostly I give people type 1.

Most most people who get me are asymptomatic.
Then a few more get fever, vomiting, headache and sore throat.

A small proportion get my well-known paralytic polio.
I get into the spine or brain.
In spinal paralysis I affect your arms and legs.
In the brain I cause bulbar paralysis of the respiratory muscles.
Then you need an 'Iron Lung' to breath for you.

Some people spend their whole life in an Iron Lung.

Coxsackie B Virus

2009-04-03T10:00:00.000+08:00

Hi my name if Coxsackie B Virus.
I'm part of the Picornaviridae family.
I am an Enterovirus.

I'm very fond of the heart.
I cause pericarditis, myocarditis and cardiomyopathy.
I give you pleurodina, with chest and abdominal pain, with fever and headache.

Some people think I can causing type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Coxsackie a

2009-03-30T17:00:00.004+08:00

Hi, I'm Coxsackie A Virus.
I'm an Enterovirus.
I'm from the Picornaviridae family.
I'm named after a town in New York where I was first found.

I am the main cause of hand, foot and mouth disease.
Guess where this rash appears?
That's right! Your hands, feet and mouth.

I get into your lungs and respiratory system.
I also cause meningitis, gastro, pericarditis, myocarditis and herpangina.
I can even cause encephalitis if you get into your brain.

Marburg Virus

2009-03-27T13:40:00.000+09:00

My name's Marburg.

I'm a filovirus, like my cousin Ebola.

I am also found in Africa.

Like Ebola, I make you bleed all over.

My name comes from a town in Germany.

I infected some workers there a long time ago.

I was brought there with some Green Monkeys.

Ebola Virus

2009-03-23T13:05:00.000+09:00

Hiya, I'm Ebola!
I'm a filovirus.
Me and my family are very rare.
I am a hook shape.

I get into you through blood and other fluids.
I cause haemorrhagic fever.
I quickly work on turning your organs into a mush.

I live is Africa, though I'd like to travel.
I'm very famous in books and movies.
My name comes from a river in Zaire.

Human Metapneumovirus

2009-03-20T17:13:00.000+09:00

I am Human Metapneumovirus.
I'm the from family Paramyxoviridae.
I am a Pneumovirus.

I was first found in 2001.
I'm big with kids and the elderly.
I am not as well known as my cousin RSV, but I do a lot of the same things that they do.
I cause wheezing and coughing.
My illness is not as severe as my cousin.

Respiratory Syncitial Virus

2009-03-11T17:13:00.000+09:00

I am Respiratory Syncitial Virus.
I am part of the family Paramyxoviridae.

My specialty is brochiolitis in children.
I love kids under 3.
They get wheeze and cough as they try to breath.
I can cause strange sounding coughs.
When severe I give the kids respiratory distress.

Human Parainfluenza Virus

2009-03-09T15:12:00.001+09:00

Hey there fella!
I am Human Parainfluenza Virus.
I'm from the Paramyxoviridae family.
But I'm not like my friend Influenza.

I am the most common cause of croup.
It is also called laryngo-tracheo-bronchitis.
I give kids a loud noise when they breathe in.
This is called stridor.
I also give kids a barking cough.
It sounds like a seal!