Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Assignment on an Animal Disease

Anthrax
            Anthrax is a disease that can affect humans (Homo sapiens), dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and livestock (Bos taurus). Humans can be found all over the world, and their function in the environment is huge; Humans affect on the environment has to do with biophysical environments, biodiversity, and the usage of all resources. Humans have changed the world completely in negative and positive ways. Dogs can be found throughout most of the world. Dogs can be kept as pets anywhere in the world, and wild dogs can be found in North America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. House dogs can be harmful to the environment because of their excessive toys and waste, but wild dogs play a very important role in the environment because they are predators, and they help maintain ecosystem health. These wild dogs usually prey on large hooved animals, and their diet depends on where they are found. Livestock includes several animals like deer and goats to guinea pigs and rabbits to horses, pigs and cattle. Livestock can be found all over the world, and the type of livestock depends on the habitat. Livestock uses the greatest amount of agricultural land because of the room that they need to graze and eat. Also, this sector provides an estimated amount of 1 billion people with jobs, and this sector also creates a huge amount of food to be sold and consumed.
            The way that Anthrax works is that there is Anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis) that can live in soil for years and can thus infect grazing livestock, and humans and dogs can consume the meat that comes from the infected livestock. Also, veterinarians, agricultural workers, and people that work with animal hides can contract this through their work. The spores of this bacteria are very resistant to heat and/ or chemicals, and can last in the environment for a very long time. The ways that this disease can affect animals is cutaneous, gastrointestinal, and inhalational. Once the animal is infected, if antibiotics are given very early, it may help. But, it can quickly become fatal. The parts of the body that are affected by Anthrax depend on how you are exposed to it. If you touch it, it affects your skin. If you inhale it, it affects your lungs. And if you ingest it, it will affect your stomach and the surrounding organs.
            I chose this disease to research because it was a disease that I had never heard of before; And when I was looking at the provided sources and I was trying to decide which to choose, Anthrax was on every single database, so I knew that it had a large impact. I feel that these species could have fatal consequences if exposed, so I think this Is an important disease to be knowledgeable about. If there is a large outbreak of Anthrax anywhere, it really can be fatal to large amounts of people and animals. So, it is very crucial to know the clinical signs of it and how to treat it so that it can be treated fast in order to prevent any further spreading of the outbreak.



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