Current opinion in infectious diseases
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Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2006
ReviewInfectious diseases of severe weather-related and flood-related natural disasters.
The present review will focus on some of the possible infectious disease consequences of disastrous natural phenomena and severe weather, with a particular emphasis on infections associated with floods and the destruction of infrastructure. ⋯ Weather or flood-related natural disasters may be associated with an increased risk of soft tissue, respiratory, diarrheal, and vector-borne infectious diseases among survivors and responders.
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Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2006
ReviewInfectious diseases emerging from Chinese wet-markets: zoonotic origins of severe respiratory viral infections.
In China, close contacts between humans and food animals have resulted in the transmission of many microbes from animals to humans. The two most notable infectious diseases in recent years are severe acute respiratory syndrome and avian influenza. In this review, these two severe zoonotic viral infections transmitted by the respiratory route, with pandemic potential, are used as models to illustrate the role of Chinese wet-markets in their emergence, amplification and dissemination. ⋯ In Chinese wet-markets, unique epicenters for transmission of potential viral pathogens, new genes may be acquired or existing genes modified through various mechanisms such as genetic reassortment, recombination and mutation. The wet-markets, at closer proximity to humans, with high viral burden or strains of higher transmission efficiency, facilitate transmission of the viruses to humans.