Influenza: 1957 Asian Flu

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

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

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

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

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

Parvovirus B19

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

mumps

Hello
My name is Mumps.
I'm from the Paramyxoviridae family.

I cause parotitis in kids.
I make the glands in the mouth swell up.
They become sore and tender.

I am good at causing orchitis in boys.
I cause meningitis and encephelitis in the brain, even deafness.
I also like the thyroid gland and pancreas.

You can vaccinate against me.

Measles (Rubeola) virus

Hello my name is Measles.
I am also called Rubeola and 1st disease.
I am part of the Paramyxoviridae family.

I cause a special kind of exanthem, or rash.
My rash starts on your head, then moves down to your chest and then to your legs.
I give you red spots with blue centres inside your mouth.
These are called Koplick spots.
I can also cause subacute sclerosing pan-encephalitis.
This is a disease that shuts down your brain.

I used to be found a lot in kids, but nowadays most kids are vaccinated against me.