Do domestic pigs suffer from malaria and yellow fever upon getting bitten by mosquitoes?

Question

If so, what are the symptoms? Can the virus be passed on to humans upon consumption and is it related to Nipah Virus?

Answer 1

i have read the previous answers and as you can see there is no firm answer (strong evidence) to certain questions

epidemiology does not indicate that pigs pose a significant risk to humans in 'passing on' any of the problems not answered

in other words there is not a higher incidence of these diseases where there are higher 'incidences' of pigs

a particular risk to health should be seen/measured against the total risk to health in that particular area and a commensurate amount of effort (or worry?) placed on it

for example--a fairly unacknowledged amount of deaths are due to bee stings-for instance far more than due to snakes (except for india etc)--but people worry/fear a lot more about snakes--but you kill snakes and then you complain about rats which vector other diseases

it is a matter of balance

Answer 2

I just read today that humans can pass diseases onto pigs and it's unlikely pigs will pass diseases onto humans.

Answer 3

You asked a very complex question. I'll to give you an answer in parts. First there is no relationship between the Nipah virus and either malaria or yellow fever.

The mode of transmission of the Nipah virus from animal to animal, and from animal to human is uncertain, but appears to require close contact with contaminated tissue or body fluids from infected animals. Nipah antibodies have been detected in pigs, other domestic and wild animals. The role of species other than pigs in transmitting infection to other animals has not yet been determined.

Pigs were the apparent source of infection among most human cases in the Malaysian outbreak of Nipah, but other sources, such as infected dogs and cats, cannot be excluded. Human-to-human transmission of Nipah virus has not been reported.

Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite (Plasmodium falciparum), that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans. Malaria is not a virus. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person

Animals can also get malaria, but animal malaria cannot spread to humans, and human malaria cannot spread to animals.

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhagic illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine. The yellow refers to the jaundice symptoms that affect some patients. Thus the name yellow fever.

Yellow fever occurs in several known animals, all species of monkeys and several small mammals. It has been found in camels, cattle, sheep, and goats. I could find no reference to pigs, but considering all of the other animals I would guess pigs could catch yellow fever as well. It is spread form person to person and from animals to people by the same mosquito that spreads malaria.

Answer 4

My parasitology books have no reference to malaria or yellow fever in pigs.  I texted my vet, he's never seen a case.  Below is a link to a quite exhaustive list of zoonotic infections, "zoonotic" meaning that they can be transferred from animals to humans.  Both malaria and yellow fever are on the list, but neither is transferred by consumption of meat.  I know malaria requires a vector (an intermediate host in which certain physiological changes take place) and I think yellow fever does, too, but I'd have to look it up.

Answer 5

No.

The yellow fever cases are not recorded in domestic oigs.  Although the yellow fever virus has a host relationship with monkeys and small mammles, the relationship with pig as a host is not reported till date,

Similarly the malaria caused in human is not spread to pigs. The similar parasitic infections are reported but the malaria og animals is not spread to humns through the mosquitoes or other insects acting as the zoonotic vectors.

Regarding your third query : The Nipah Virus.

Yes. It was detected as a disease or infection occuring in pigs also. the pigs blood also showed the antibodies to the virus.

The symptoms of yellow fever include :

Symptoms

Once a mosquito has passed the yellow fever virus to a human, the chance of disease developing is about 5-20%. Infection may be fought off by the host's immune system, or may be so mild that it is never identified.

In human hosts who develop the disease yellow fever, there are five distinct stages through which the infection evolves. These have been termed the periods of incubation, invasion, remission, intoxication, and convalescence.

Yellow fever's incubation period (the amount of time between the introduction of the virus into the host and the development of symptoms) is three to six days. During this time, there are generally no symptoms identifiable to the host.

The period of invasion lasts two to five days, and begins with an abrupt onset of symptoms, including fever and chills, intense headache and lower backache, muscle aches, nausea, and extreme exhaustion. The patient's tongue shows a characteristic white, furry coating in the center, surrounded by a swollen, reddened margin. While most other infections that cause a high fever also cause an increased heart rate, yellow fever results in an unusual finding, called *****'s sign. This is the simultaneous occurrence of a high fever with a slowed heart rate. Throughout the period of invasion, there are still live viruses circulating in the patient's blood stream. Therefore, a mosquito can bite the ill patient, acquire the virus, and continue passing it on to others.

The next phase is called the period of remission. The fever falls, and symptoms decrease in severity for several hours to several days. In some patients, this signals the end of the disease; in other patients, this proves only to be the calm before the storm.

The period of intoxication represents the most severe and potentially fatal phase of the illness. During this time, lasting three to nine days, a type of degeneration of the internal organs (specifically the kidneys, liver, and heart) occurs. This fatty degeneration results in what is considered the classic triad of yellow fever symptoms: jaundice, black vomit, and the dumping of protein into the urine. Jaundice causes the whites of the patient's eyes and the patient's skin to take on a distinctive yellow color. This is due to liver damage, and the accumulation of a substance called bilirubin, which is normally processed by a healthy liver. The liver damage also results in a tendency toward bleeding; the patient's vomit appears black due to the presence of blood. Protein, which is normally kept out of the urine by healthy, intact kidneys, appears in the urine due to disruption of the kidney's healthy functioning.

Patients who survive the period of intoxication enter into a relatively short period of convalescence. They recover with no long term effects related to the yellow fever infection. Further, infection with the yellow fever virus results in lifelong immunity against repeated infection with the virus.

The course of yellow fever is complicated in some patients by secondary bacterial infections.

The symptoms of Malaria are :

Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea may also occur. Malaria may cause anaemia and jaundice (yellow colouring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. Infection with one type of malaria, P. falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.

For most people, symptoms begin 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, although a person may feel ill as early as 8 days or up to 1 year later. Two kinds of malaria, P. vivax and P. ovale, can relapse; some parasites can rest in the liver for several months up to 4 years after a person is bitten by an infected mosquito . When these parasites come out of hibernation and begin invading red blood cells, the person will become sick.