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Originally Posted by Outlaw 1963
Then where are these animals getting these diseases from? I'm just trippin at why they can't just come up with a vaccine like they do for other illnesses.
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Different contagious diseases spread in different ways. Some diseases are spread directly by rodents, but more often, insects act as intermediaries. Most diseases spread by rats and mice are actually carried by the fleas, lice, or ticks that live on the rodents. The way an infection spreads, greatly affects whether it becomes milder over the ages, stays much the same, or gets more virulent.
In my experience with some of my patients, a lot of times some of these viruses/diseases can be difficult to eradicate, because different diseases evolve at different rates. Generally, the fewer genes that are involved, the more rapidly the diseases evolve. Like with viruses, they evolve much faster than bacteria, because they have fewer genes. The fewer the number of genes, the more rapidly an organism can change yet remain functional.
For example, higher organisms have approximately 10,000-50,000 genes, bacteria have about 500-5,000 genes, and viruses have about 3-1,000 genes. So, the fewer genes, the more likely mutations will be tolerated and the faster evolution may occur. So, coming up with a solution is not as easy as you think it should be.