Eight Diseases You Can Catch From Your Neighbors

As hard as it may be to believe, you can "catch" one form of cancer from your neighbors. Even worse, nearby buildings can harbor deadly infections for which there are no effective treatments, and diseases that can be prevented by vaccinations can still be passed along if people aren't vaccinated. Let's take a look at 10 community-acquired infections that may be lurking in your neighborhood.

The Cancer You Can Catch From Your Neighbors

Legions of Legionella Sufferers

Influenza

Flu is a world-wide problem. The influenza virus is temperature-sensitive. It survives in cool but hot or cold air. In climates where there are four seasons, the virus goes around during the transition from fall to winter and during the transition from winter to spring. In cooler, mountainous, tropical areas, such as Ethiopia or Costa Rica, flu can be transmitted all year round.

READ Flu Season Survival Guide: 10 Easy Steps to Avoid Cold and Flu

Up to 20 percent of people in flu-prone areas come down with the disease every year. However, up to 30 percent of people who are not sick enough to show symptoms are sick enough to spread the disease. Sneezing can spread the virus on tiny droplets of phlegm and saliva up to 6 feet (2 meters) away, and the virus can survive on some surfaces up to 24 hours. If you don't want to get your flu shots, you must be very careful about washing hands and cleaning surfaces throughout the whole flu season.

Five More Diseases You Can Catch From Your Neighbors

A surprisingly deadly disease often follows infection with influenza:

Bacterial Pneumonia

Botulism

Listeriosis

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous species of bacteria that thrives in hard-to-clean places. Found in dirt, dust, and the digestive tracts of cows, sheep, goats, and horses (and their manures), this bacteria grows at temperatures of 32°F to 113°F (0°-45°C). It is also resistant to salt and acidity. Listeria bacteria cause mild symptoms in most people, but they can be deadly to the unborn. Pregnant women are up to 20 times more likely than other adults to contract this disease from contaminated food. In North America, these bacteria are most often transmitted in Mexican-style string cheese. All over the world, they are found in unpasteurized milk stored under unsanitary conditions. Not all unpasteurized milk contains Listeria bacteria, but occasionally some unpasteurized milk does.

READ Stomach Virus: Vomiting and Diarrhea Treatment

Norovirus

Human Plague

Human plague, also known as the Black Death, once killed one-quarter to one-third of the population of the earth in a single epidemic. Spread by fleas that are carried on mice and rats, just one Yersinia pestis bacterium entering the body is enough to cause the infection. About 20 percent of people are partially or completely immune to the disease (they have other problems, since it is an inability to use the vitamin folic acid that protects against plague), but within 4 to 6 days of contact the infection can cause severe swelling of the lymph glands, sepsis, pneumonia, and gangrene of the fingers and toes that moves up the limbs, from which the term "black death" comes.

If you live in a part of the world where plague still occurs (including some parts of the United States), it is important to avoid contact with fleas, especially during the summer, and to keep mice and rats out of all parts of your home.