The disease is generally spread from an infected bird to a human when the bacteria are inhaled through secretions; dust from feathers or from dried bird droppings. Though person to person transmission has been suggested, it has not been proven so far.

Causes and symptoms

Psittacosis is a very rare disease where only 100 – 200 cases are reported in a year in the US. Bird owners, veterinarians, pet shop employees and people working in poultry processing plants are at an increased risk for the condition. Generally parakeets, parrots and budgerigars trigger the disease; but sometimes, other birds too trigger it.

The symptoms associated with psittacosis generally appear after 4-15 days of exposure. These symptoms include fatigue, fever and chills, chest tightness, dry cough, headache, muscle aches, shortness of breath and joint aches. In rare cases, psittacosis can also lead to pneumonia.

Diagnosis and treatment

The doctor will use a stethoscope to listen to the chest for abnormal lung sounds like crackles and a reduction in breathing sounds. Other tests that may be performed to diagnose psittacosis are antibody titer where the rising of the titer with time indicates an infection, blood gases and a sputum culture. Your doctor may also create a blood culture to grow Chlamydia and diagnose the condition or carry out a CT scan or X-ray of the chest.

Antibiotics are the best treatment for psittacosis, where doxycycline is the first treatment option. Other antibiotics like moxiflacin, tetracycline, erythromycin, azithromycin and rifampin may also be prescribed to treat the condition.

However oral prescription of tetracycline or doxycycline is generally not advised for pregnant women, and for children till their permanent teeth starts growing. This is because the medicine can lead to permanent discoloration of growing teeth.

Possible complications

While the right treatment can lead to a full recovery from psittacosis, there is a chance of some complications arising like heart valve infection, reduced lung functioning because of pneumonia, an inflammation of the liver and brain involvement.

Prevention

It is better to avoid exposure to birds that carry these bacteria, like imported parakeets and parrots.  Moreover, any medical problem that reduces your body immunity increases the risk of psittacosis and should be treated accordingly.

They found seven puppies exposed to the deadly diseases, some say maybe the pups were exposed to an infected animal, such as a raccoon from the wild that may have been rabid. Although the puppies showed n signs of being sick, but one lost its life because of the disease, says a source. The other puppies are now being discussed on, if they should face euthanasia or should they be quarantined altogether. Just because of that one pup which died due to rabies, ten humans who were attending to the litter are now being administered to post exposure prophylaxis treatments, say inside sources.

Although the state law of NC clearly stated that every pet should be vaccinated and kept safe from the deadly disease, pet lovers argue that the litter was too young to be administered a dose for the same. This is something which has now become a source of concern for pet owners who have very young pets at home. Pets, such as cats, ferrets and even dogs as early as 12 weeks can be vaccinates, but they wouldn’t be considered to be safe until the twenty eight weeks of the immunization post the vaccination for rabies is done. This is a period when the pets shouldn’t be exposed to the disease of an animal with it, says a source and that would be the onus of the pet owner and his responsibility to take care of.

The pet owner should ensure his pet is kept inside the house and when outside, he should have a watchful eye on them, abiding the local leash laws laid down by the state. Pets shouldn’t be fed outside since that would attract other animals around who could be rabid. Owners should not feed feral dogs or cats when outside. Garbage cans should be well secured, so that rabid animals don’t wander in for a bite or two, and spre3ad the disease more, says a source.

It is not uncommon to find juvenile pets to be infected with rabies, says a source, however most were still surprised to know that kittens and puppies could be infected and killed with this disease, and says a source. When the pets are grown up big enough to be protected through vaccinations, the owners should take the pets to the nearest vets in the locality and get them their vaccinations administered on time, say vets.

Vets say that rabies shouldn’t be taken lightly, since the disease can kill. The nervous system of the animal gets affected and there is no chance of the animal’s recovery once it has been affected says a source. To get more information on the disease and how you could keep your little one safe, it would be best to speak to the local vet as soon as possible, say vets.

Causes

While plague is basically an animal infection, it can get transmitted to adults by the bite of an infected rat flea. This is why people living in areas where there are many rats and fleas are most susceptible to a plague infection.

Humans also get infected by plague when the Y.pestis bacteria enter their body through a crack in the skin, after having direct contact with the meat or blood of an infected animal. Humans also get infected by breathing in Y.pestis bacteria droplets when in close contact with an infected person and through scratches and bites of infected domestic cats.

This is why hunters, veterinarians and people who hike and camp in regions with many animals infected with plague. Sometimes even domestic cats and dogs spread the disease by bringing infected fleas to the house.

Symptoms

Plague occurs in different forms; bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic, which have various and differing symptoms. Bubonic plague is the most common form where victims develop a high fever, chills, headache, extreme weakness and headache after 2-6 days of the flea bite. Prompt treatment with antibiotics helps cure most cases while with improper treatment, the bacteria spreads to the bloodstream wherein the patient develops septicemic plague.

Septicemic plague is the second most common form of plague with symptoms of nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, severe bleeding problems, sudden bleeding under the skin, blood in urine, scattered bruises and bleeding from nose, mouth and rectum. These bleeding problems can lead to shock, severe breathing difficulties, kidney failure and possibly death. However with the right treatment, most cases survive.

Pneumonic plague is very rare which occurs when the Y.pestis bacteria infects lungs to cause pneumonia. Symptoms include chills, chest pain, rapid breathing, cough that brings up blood, headaches and shortness of breath. The disease can lead to death without the right treatment.

Diagnosis and treatment

If plague is suspected, your doctor will first ask if you have travelled to a place where plague occurs, if you have treated an extremely ill pet, had a flea bite, come in contact with a dead animal or if you have been around wild rodents. Then to confirm the diagnosis, blood or other body fluids will be tested for Y. pestis bacteria infection.

Patients suffering from plague have to be hospitalized where staff will take preventive measures to prevent its spread. Antibiotics are administered intravenously while patients with severe bleeding and breathing problems will be treated in an intensive care unit. While bubonic plague subsides within 2-5 days of proper antibiotic treatment, recovery from septicemic and pneumonic plague takes longer.

Researchers extracted DNA from the teeth of plague victims in London 660 years ago to reconstruct the genome of the bacteria that lead to the Black Death. They were surprised to find that the genetic make-up of these bacteria had not changed at all when compared to modern day strains.

This is part of a new era of research into infectious disease where scientists believe that a better understanding of the evolvement of ancient bacteria will give them an insight into how pathogens change and adapt to new infections.

Nits hatch to give lice, which has to be fed within 24 hours, lest they die. They mature in 2-3 weeks’ time and on biting the victim, injects a toxin into the skin to trigger mild irritation and a purpuric spot. While repeated bites lead to sensitization to the toxin, it can lead to more serious inflammations.

Causes

Head lice feeds on the scalp and in rare cases in the eyebrows, beard and eyelashes. They are triggered by overcrowded conditions and poor personal hygiene. They commonly affect children, especially girls and spreads through sharing of combs, hairbrushes, hats and clothes.

Body lice lives in seams of clothes but feeds only on blood. Prolonged wearing of the same clothes, poor personal hygiene and overcrowding can trigger body lice, which is spread through shared clothes and bed sheets.

Pubic lice are found mainly in pubic hair, and can extend to the eyebrows, eyelashes or body hair. It is transmitted through sexual intercourse and contact with infested clothes, towels and bed sheets.

Symptoms

Head lice symptoms include itching, foul-smelling and lusterless hair, excoriation and a rash on the trunk with sensitization. Adult lice then migrate to the scalp to leave oval, gray-white nits on hair shafts.

Body lice produce red papules, and if left untreated, can lead to vertical excoriations and consequent dry, discolored and scaly skin. In severe cases, there may also be fever, headache and malaise with cutaneous symptoms.

Pubic hair produces skin irritation from scratching, and sometimes, there may be small, gray-blue spots on the thighs or upper body.

Diagnosis and treatment

Head lice are found as oval and grayish nits that don’t shake loose like dandruff while body lice occur as characteristic skin lesions and are found on clothing. Pubic nits are attached to pubic hairs and feel coarse and grainy to touch.

Head lice are treated by rubbing permethrin cream rinse into hair and rinsing after 10 minutes. Nits can be removed using a fine-tooth comb dipped in vinegar while washing hair with ordinary shampoo removes encrustations.

Body lice are removed by bathing with soap and water while lice on clothes can be removed by washing them in hot water and ironing or dry-cleaning them. Apply 10% lindane powder on clothes that cannot be washed.

Applying a topical pediculocide helps treat pubic lice while other agents like permetrhin cream and lindane ointment are also prescribed by health care providers. Reinfestation is prevented by washing clothes and bed sheets.

The latest treatment option used for clearing the hair of head lice is a single application 0.9% spinosad, which is derived from soil bacteria. At the end of the trial, there were no lice eggs visible after combing as unlike other topical therapies for lice, spinosad kills nits.

An erection is a complex process involving changes in the muscles, nerves and blood vessels in the penis. The blood is pumped into the penis to become firm, which usually begins when we think about sex and / or when we are stimulated. Sexual stimulation causes a signal travels through the nerves from the spinal cord to the genitals. The blood vessels that supply the penis dilate, so that the blood and the penis becomes enlarged.

About 40% of men over 40 suffer some degree of erectile dysfunction, so if you think you have it, you’re not alone. Some erection problems do not last long or happen often, but if they occur more often, can be a sign that you have erectile dysfunction.

In many cases, erectile dysfunction is caused by a combination of physical and psychological factors. It is important to a proper medical evaluation and that erectile dysfunction can be caused by an underlying physical illness, medication side effects, or be related to psychological issues.

Physical Causes

Vascular diseases:
Diabetes
Cardiovascular Disease
High blood pressure
Renal failure

Post-operative effects:
After prostate surgery, or lower bowel (rectum)

Other diseases:
Prostate Cancer
Neurological diseases, eg., Multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease
Trauma

Side effects of medications
A side effect of another drug

Psychological Causes
Stress
Emotional

If you have erectile dysfunction, is unlikely to go away by itself, so you should talk to your doctor as soon as possible. Talk to your doctor can help you identify and treat your erectile dysfunction, as well as other underlying factors that may be causing.

This section lists a number of diseases and how they can be responsible for erection problems. Men often resign themselves unnecessarily to erection problems as an inevitable part of a disease. If your sex life is important to you, read on to see how you can control the situation.