What can you catch from mosquitoes? Can mosquitoes spread coronavirus?
Hello Everyone. I am going to start out by answering the question ” can mosquitoes spread coronavirus?”. This is a very common question I hear often. To put everyone at ease, there is no evidence that we can contract the coronavirus from a mosquito. The coronavirus is respiratory. It is contained in the lungs. you don’t carry the coronavirus in your blood. There would need to be a live specimen in your blood that could be transferred to a mosquito. Once there it might take days before the mosquito bites someone to transfer the virus.
Here I am going to cover the 10 most spread diseases reported around the world. I try my best to cover the symptoms, risks and locations. There may be something omitted such as a symptom or new location. This information is available through the WHO and CDC, however no information can be 100% accurate since I believe the stats are on the low end. Many people believe they have the flu, when it could be a number of different diseases. I hope that if anything can be taken away from this article it would be prevention. There are a lot of diseases on this planet and many of them have no cure or vaccine once you have contracted it. However there are many steps you can take to protect yourself and there are even some vaccine’s available to prevent not cure. So the motto is: Know Before you Go!
Before jumping in I have to mention Lymphatic Filariasis.
Lymphatic Filariasis is considered globally as a NTD, or neglected tropical disease. It is caused by microscopic, thread like worms. The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body’s fluid balance and fights infections. Lymphatic Filariasis is spread from person to person by mosquitoes.
People with the disease can suffer from lymphedema and elephantiasis and in men, swelling of the scrotum, called hydrocele. Lymphatic filariasis is a leading cause of permanent disability worldwide. Communities often ignore and reject people disfigured by the disease. Affected people usually cannot work due to the disability. This often hurts the family and community.
Like the Heartworms mentioned in another article the threadlike worms will release microfilariae into the blood stream. When a mesquito bites someone infected the microfilariae pass into the mosquito, the mesquito then bites someone else and the microfilaiae is passed along to infect them.
Diagnosis is done with lab work, however microfilariae are nocturnally periodic. which means they only circulate in the blood at night, so collection of the blood sample must be done at the right time during the night. On now to #1
1. Zika Virus
Symptoms and duration– Most people infected with Zika have mild symptoms which may include fever, joint pain, red eyes and a rash. The infection lasts around 5 to 7 days and there is no vaccine.
Risk – The greatest risk may be to pregnant women and their babies. It is linked to microcephaly, a birth defect, that causes small heads and brain damage in newborns. Brazil is currently at about 4000 birth defects. CDC is recommending that pregnant women or those that are planning on conceiving stay away from those areas of the greatest risk.
Location – Most cases can be found in Brazil along with other South and Central American countries, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. A recent surge in cases puts those infected at a rough estimate of about 4 million and shows the areas infected are expanding and the number of those infected is increasing at an alarming rate, so they are keeping a close eye on it. With a couple of cases reported in the U.S. however contracted the virus while out of the country.
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2. Dengue Virus
Symptoms – As with Zika, those infected with Dengue experience headache, fever and a rash, however those infected may also be susceptible to easy bruising, bleeding gums, neasea and vomiting. Occasionally it may lead to hemorrhagic fever, which can be deadly.
Risk – Those that have previously had Dengue are at risk for severe symptoms and complications, therefore the only vaccine approved by the FDA is only for use in children ages 9 to 16 that have had any of the 4 viruses in hopes to prevent them from getting it again.
Location – This virus is also expanding into places popular for tourists like Puerto Rico, the Pacific Islands, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
3. West Nile
Symptoms – Most people who get the West Nile virus won’t have any symptoms, however those that do will experience anything from fever, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting and a rash.
Risk – We must keep a close eye on those that do have symptoms due to rare complications that include Brain infections such as encephalitis or meningitis. There is no vaccine for this disease.
Location – This shows up mainly in Africa, Europe, The Middle East, North America and West Asia. In the U.S.A. It is found in every state except Alaska and Hawaii.
4. Malaria
Symptoms – With Malaria you will experience fever, headache, chills and vomiting with complications that can lead to death. Direct costs associated with Malaria is estimated around 12 billion dollars per year.
Risk – Traveling to where they have a problem it is recommended that you wear long sleeve shirts and sleep under a mosquito net that is treated with insecticide and take anti malaria drugs.
Location – Most cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa, but occasionally it will be found in South America, South Asia. In 2020 around 627,000 people died of Malaria and over 241 million clinical episodes were logged. This is the leading cause of death in developing countries where young children and pregnant women are the groups most affected.
5. Yellow Fever
Symptoms – This disease takes its name from one of its symptoms, jaundice, which can make your skin and eyes look yellowish. Less serious infections will give you a headache, backache, chills, vomiting to severe liver disease with bleeding and yellowing skin (jaundice).
Risk – There is no medicine to treat yellow fever however there is a vaccine that prevents it. So make sure you get one if you travel to the places in Africa and Latin America.
Location – The Yellow fever is also prevalent in subtropical areas like South America and Africa
6. Chikungunya
Symptoms – infections cause fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, rash and/or fatigue. the name is African and refers to the stooped appearance of those that have it due to the pain and fatigue.
Risk – Although most people will recover from this disease, some cases have been known to last months even years.
Location – Mostly found in Asia and India, however it is slowly finding it’s way to Europe and the Americas. Again protection is the best solution.
7. La Crosse Encephalitis
Symptoms – Most people infected with La Crosse (LAC) virus do not have symptoms. For people with symptoms, the time from infected to feeling sick ranges from 5 to 15 days. Symptoms include fever (usually lasting 2-3 days), headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue (tiredness), and lethargy (reduced activity or alertness). Severe neuroinvasive disease (disease affecting the nervous system) occurs most frequently in children under the age of 16 years.
Risk – Although seizures are common, death is rare (<1%) and most patients seem to recover completely. Recovery time from severe illness varies and some effects to the central nervous system can persist over time. These can include recurrent seizures, hemiparesis (partial paralysis of one side of the body), and cognitive or behavioral impairments. There is currently no vaccine. The best protection again is preventative.
Location – There are about 65 cases of this virus each year in the U.S. The mosquitoes that carry it bites during the day, usually in the spring through early fall. They live in wooded areas in the upper Midwest, mid-Atlantic, and Southeast.
8. Rift Valley Fever
Symptoms – RVFV has an incubation period of 2-6 days following exposure and can cause several disease syndromes if symptoms do appear. Most people have no symptoms or a mild illness that includes fever, weakness, back pain, and dizziness at the onset of illness. Typically, patients recover within two days to one week, however, a small percentage (8-10%) of people infected with RVFV develop much more severe symptoms.
Risk – when the severe symptoms arise you will see::
- Ocular disease (disease of the eye), which sometimes accompanies the symptoms described above. Lesions on the eyes may occur 1-3 weeks after onset of initial symptoms with patients reporting blurred and decreased vision. For many patients, lesions disappear after 10-12 weeks; however, for those with lesions occurring in the macula (the center of the retina), about half will have permanent vision loss.
- Encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, which can lead to headaches, coma, or seizures. This occurs in less than 1% of patients and presents 1-4 weeks after first symptoms appear. Death from encephalitis in RVF patients is rare, but neurological deficits may be severe and long-lasting.
- Hemorrhagic fever, which occurs in less than 1% of all RVF patients. Symptoms of hemorrhaging may begin with jaundice and other signs of liver impairment, followed by vomiting blood, bloody stool, or bleeding from gums, skin, nose, and injection sites. These symptoms appear 2-4 days after onset of illness. Fatality for those who do develop symptoms of hemorrhagic fever is around 50% and death usually occurs 3-6 days after symptoms start.
RVF causes severe disease in animals that is characterized by fever, weakness, abortions (loss of pregnancy), and a high rate of severe illness and death, particularly among young animals. RVFV infection causes abortion in nearly 100% of livestock pregnancies and most young animals that are infected will die, whereas fatality among adult animals is significantly lower.
Location – Most cases are from Europe, Middle East and Africa. The speed at which we address the virus from identification moving forward has been the main reason we are able to keep the infections low.
9. Jamestown Canyon Virus
Symptoms – Many people infected with Jamestown Canyon virus do not have symptoms. For people with symptoms it can include fever, fatigue, and headache, with some people also having respiratory symptoms such as cough, sore throat, or runny nose. Severe disease can include stiff neck, confusion, loss of coordination, difficulty speaking, or seizures
Risk – Jamestown Canyon virus can cause severe disease, including infection of the brain such as encephalitis or meningitis. Deaths being very rare.
Location – Doctors noticed it for the first time in the 1980s. It’s named for an area near Boulder, CO. There are several types of mosquitoes that are known to carry the disease. Less than 50 cases are reported each year throughout the United States.
10. Snowshoe Hare Virus
Symptoms – The Virus causes headache, dizziness, vomiting, and a rash. Sometimes it leads to inflammation of the brain.
Risk – Can cause severe disease, including infection of the brain such as encephalitis or meningitis. Deaths being very rare.
Location – The first person to catch this lived in Canada in the 1970s, but it now shows up in the U.S
I want to note that there is what is called a California serogroup virus, it is in the genus Orthobunyavirus, family Peribunyaviridae. Members of the family Peribunyaviridae have three segments of negative-sense, single-stranded RNA; the virus particles are spherical or oval, enveloped, and are 90-100 nanometers in diameter.
Source for this information is listed below. Although while researching it all comes together and makes sense, my daughter’s nickname is Bunny. So I look at the genus of the serogroup as the sleeping bunny syndrome, (even though using the correct mattress and pillow should maintain a straight spine and vertebrae). Ortho-buny-a-virus. While I am constantly moving the focus of my research, even though I will remember the orthobunyavirus it is unlikely that I will remember other genus or family names moving forward.
I wanted to note it since other California serogroup viruses found in the United States include California encephalitis virus, La Crosse virus, Snowshoe hare virus, Jamestown Canyon virus and Trivitattus virus. With 3 of them making the top 10 with almost identical symptoms I wanted to reiterate the importance of early identification.
Summing it up
Prevention is the main protection anywhere you go. Being educated on the risk associated with where you are and where you go is the most important factor in prevention. I am going to quote the CDC on the diligence used in Uganda in 2016. I feel there is nothing better than prevention, early detection and isolation to contain outbreaks.
“In March 2016, a male butcher from Kabale District in western Uganda reported to a local hospital with symptoms of headache, fever, fatigue and bleeding, subsequently testing positive for Rift Valley Fever (RVF). CDC sent epidemiologists to the District to assist the Ugandan Ministry of Health with the epidemiological investigation of this small, localized outbreak of 3 confirmed and 2 probable cases. Working with the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and the Uganda Ministry of Health, the CDC team conducted a serologic study in animals and humans and also assessed residents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to RVF. The team collected samples from cows, goats and sheep, and interviewed and tested 650 district residents. A coordinated educational campaign targeting the general population, farmers, herders, and butchers was initiated and informational posters were created targeting these groups. This was the first identification of RVFV in Uganda in 48 years; since that time, at least 10 subsequent outbreaks have been identified in Uganda. Rapid case detection, prompt laboratory testing at UVRI, and presence of pre-trained, well-prepared rapid response teams facilitated rapid containment and control of these outbreaks.”
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD)
