Swine influenza is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that regularly cause outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Influenza viruses that commonly circulate in swine are called “swine influenza viruses” or “swine flu viruses.” Like human influenza viruses, there are different subtypes and strains of swine influenza viruses.
Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus, a small, non-enveloped hepatotropic virus classified in the genus Hepatovirus within the family Picornaviridae.
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a relatively new and rare neurological disease, classified as a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE).
Smallpox was a systemic disease, officially eradicated since 1979 (WHO), caused by infection with the Variola major virus, whose only reservoir was infected humans.
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a new beta virus strain of an animal coronavirus that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. This novel coronavirus differs from the previously identified coronaviruses such as the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which caused the 2003 SARS outbreaks.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis infection, ranging in severity from a mild illness that lasts only a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness resulting in cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes to humans. The word ‘chikungunya’ means 'that which bends up', an allusion to the posture of the suffering patients. The most common symptom is joint pain.