flu+questions+AT

7.1 (p.122-124) and Avian Flu p. 125
 * 1) Why are viruses not exactly living or nonliving?
 * 2) viruses are chemicals that can be stored away for when they are needed. Once they are needed or active they replicate inside cells and during this time they appear to be alive. viruses are acellular and are not made up of cells. They are obligate parasites and do not live on their own.
 * 3) Give some examples of diseases caused by viruses.
 * 4) Some diseases caused by viruses are, colds, flu, measles, chicken pox, polio, rabies, AIDS, genital warts, and genital herpes.
 * 5) What is the basic structure of a virus? (The two parts and their function)
 * 6) A virus is made up of two parts, an outer capsid and an inner core.
 * 7) The outer capsid is made up of protein units.
 * 8) The inner core contains nucleic acid.
 * 9) Why are viruses like microscopic pirates?
 * 10) they commandeer the metabolic machinery of a host cell.
 * 11) Why are viruses considered parasites?
 * 12) viruses get into a particular and specific host cell because portions of the virus adhere in a lock-and-key manner with a receptor on the host cell's outer surface.
 * 13) Why are viruses considered OBLIGATE parasites?
 * 14) the virus depends on the host cells enzymes and ribosomes for its own reproduction. Virus cells can only grow and survive in a controlled environment. They are unable to live on their own.
 * 15) Why do viruses ALWAYS cause disease?
 * 16) mutations allow the viruses to use a new insect vector. If there is a mutation the virus is able to spread to a new vector and create a disease that the body didn't recognize.
 * 17) The virus always gets inside of a cell and while inside it replicates and eventually kills every cell it lives in.
 * 18) How do viruses "emerge" and "spread" each year? Give examples.
 * 19) in most cases viruses "spread" by going from one place to another place where it has never been before. (Flus strain move from Southeast Asia to the United States each year. West Nile virus is surprising everyone because it has started to emerged in birds and mosquito populations.
 * 20) Some viruses are spread by vectors... usually insects... that carry disease from an infected subject to a healthy subject.
 * 21) A disease can emerge when a mutation allows a virus to use a new and different insect vector.
 * 22) eating meat from in infected animal can transmit a disease (eating brain and nerve tissue from an infected cow will spread Mad Cow disease)
 * 23) What is a virus vector? Give examples,
 * 24) They transmit disease. An insect vector carries a disease from an infected subject to a healthy subject... thus spreading the disease.
 * 25) What is the relationship of bird flu to birds?
 * 26) Bird flu originated from birds. Birds can become infected by coming in contact with the saliva, feces, or mucus of another infected bird.
 * 27) How does bird flu infect humans?
 * 28) People can become infected by coming in close contact with an infected bird. A reason people are coming in contact with infected birds, is because it is now spreading to domesticated birds such as chickens, geese, and ducks.
 * 29) What is a pandemic?
 * 30) A pandemic is a disease that begins to spread worldwide.
 * 31) Why is there fear that bird flu could cause a pandemic?
 * 32) The fear comes from the fact that a person with the flu could come in contact with an infected bird, allowing the two to switch genes and the two flu's would emerge. If the two viruses emerged then this "hybrid bird flu" would be able to spread from person to person by contact. Since there is world travel now it could easily be spread across the world.
 * 33) If the two viruses infect a different species and swap genes in a host species. Pigs are thought to be the potential alternate host species because they are susceptible to both the avian and human flu viruses. If a new hybrid virus forms in pigs then it could easily be passed to the people who work the farm.
 * 34) What action can we take to prevent a bird flu pandemic?
 * 35) There are no known vaccinations for the bird flu. Several drugs are being tested, but have produced mixed results. The problem with the bird flu is that it is constantly evolving. Infected areas have been trying to remove infected birds in efforts to keep them from spreading to humans. It is thought that by eleminating the birds we will be containing the virus and decreasing chances of the virus spreading.