Is a virus alive?

Most Common Virus? The Common cold 200 different viruses that make up the common cold Affects upper respiratory tract (nose, sinuses) Typically 7-10 days between start and finish No cure exists but symptoms are treatable Spanish flu was the most deadly strain and it killed 20 million people in US and Europe and 17 million in India How many deaths per year from colds? 36,000 die of flu related complications

How do viruses spread? A good virus occupies the host just long enough that the host spreads it around it’s environment and into other hosts. Enters through nose, mouth or breaks in skin Progression of symptoms: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/virus-human3.htm

Interesting Fact # 1 Some parasitic wasps lay eggs in caterpillars, where they mature into adult wasps. The wasp eggs contain a virus, encoded in the wasp genome, which prevents the caterpillar from rejecting the eggs.

13 Most Deadly Viruses How many can you name? http://www.ranker.com/list/the-top-13-most-incredible-viruses-on-earth/analise.dubner?page=2

Common Viruses Ebola Causes the Ebola hemorraghic fever 50-90% of infected die Symptoms: fever, throat and muscle pains, headaches. Then nausea, vomitting, diarrhea and decrease function of liver and kidney, hemorrhaging out of eyes and mouth Spread through contact with bodily fluids of an infected animals (monkeys, fruit bats, gorillas, etc) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crBe9D-nos0#aid=P-tg1JG6_uU

How does Ebola work? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6WI0AbB3lk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcsIiqr6Wlw

Your task: Research viruses and how the 8 different criteria for being “alive” applies to them. Write a paragraph which communicates your opinion on whether viruses are alive In this paragraph, specific details about all 8 criteria for being considered alive must be present

Measles Using the following 2 websites answer the questions on the following slides: http://www.cdc.gov/measles/

Measles questions 4. Is the measles a bacteria or a virus? Draw a sketch. 5. Can the measles be treated with antibiotics? Why or why not? 6. What body cells, tissues and systems do the measles affect? 7. How do they spread from person to person? 8. What treatments do the CDC propose? 9. What did you find the most interesting about looking into the measles?