NN+7.1+Questions


 * Why are viruses not exactly living or nonliving? **When they are not attached to a living host, they are simply chemicals floating around, but when they are attached to a living host, they will divide within the host.**
 * Give some examples of diseases caused by viruses. **Influenza, AIDS, Genital Warts, small pox, rabies.**
 * What is the basic structure of a virus? (The two parts and their function) **They are not made up of cells, it has an outer capsid made up of proteins, then there is the inner core which is full of nucleic acids.**
 * Why are viruses like microscopic pirates? **They take things from their host cell to survive**
 * Why are viruses considered parasites? **They live off of their host cell, but damage that same host cell.**
 * Why are viruses considered OBLIGATE parasites? **It can only do certain actions based on the type of virus.**
 * Why do viruses ALWAYS cause disease? **Once they have gotten into the cells, the nucleic acids cause all the cells functions to benefit the virus.**
 * How do viruses "emerge" and "spread" each year? Give examples. **They are transfered to new places by birds, mosquitoes, and other animal, for example the West Nile Virus came from Asia to the United States on birds and mosquitoes.**
 * What is a virus vector? Give examples, **A virus vector is something that will transport viruses from one host to another, one example is the mosquito.**
 * What is the relationship of bird flu to birds? **It can infect a bird, but the bird will not show any symptoms.**
 * How does bird flu infect humans? **From handling infected birds, especially if you come in contact with saliva, feces, or mucus from an infected bird.**
 * What is a pandemic? **A disease that is common all over the world**
 * Why is there fear that bird flu could cause a pandemic? **It could merge with a human flu virus, creating a much more fatal and contagious virus.**
 * What action can we take to prevent a bird flu pandemic? **Mostly you can only kill infected birds to prevent the disease spreading.**