Coronavirus - Is this the killer flu that will wipe us out?
Discussion
JPJPJP said:
Just a routine check. 
Bit late if someone on the plane is infected!
JPJPJP said:
You’d s
t yourself wouldn’t you? Shortly followed by quarantine for suspicion of sickness and diarrhoea 
That does not in Itself explain why China is so often the source of outbreaks of zoonotic viruses of domesticated animals, particularly influenzas.
This kind of thing, though - that is a flu factory if you ask me.
https://www.plantbasednews.org/culture/multi-store...
This kind of thing, though - that is a flu factory if you ask me.
https://www.plantbasednews.org/culture/multi-store...
WHO Twitter
https://twitter.com/WHOWPRO/status/121914529835573...
witterings about 14 healthcare workers being infected
https://twitter.com/hayesluk/status/12192768346609...
Whilst it isn't going away, it isn't anything to get too excited about yet imo
https://twitter.com/WHOWPRO/status/121914529835573...
witterings about 14 healthcare workers being infected
https://twitter.com/hayesluk/status/12192768346609...
Whilst it isn't going away, it isn't anything to get too excited about yet imo
MX5Biologist said:
Weeks later, the scientists at Porton Down figured out it was a case of inhaled anthrax, and the man;s physical fitness, and full works military vaccinations probably saved him.
A very interesting and informative post, thanks - with reference to the above snip, and O/T, how long-lasting are 'full works military vaccinations' likely to be?The emerging threats which are really worrying are the kind that we have seen particularly from Asia, though. That map includes a lot of reports which are of only regional interest. Diseases with arthropod vectors are unlikely to become global pandemics (we could deal with rat fleas, ticks are not common in urban areas, mosquitos are geographically localised, etc). The richness of local wildlife as a reservoir for zoonotic threats is a factor, but the practices which lead to amplification and exposure (like intensive pig and poultry farming and the sale of live food animal) are also relevant.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
ash73 said:
If it wipes out 60% the world would benefit.
I think I can guess at the point you're trying to make, but this kind of apocalyptic mortality rate isn't something to be glib about. If the 60% were to start with your family and friends, would that still be OK? MX5Biologist said:
otolith said:
That does not in Itself explain why China is so often the source of outbreaks of zoonotic viruses of domesticated animals, particularly influenzas.
This kind of thing, though - that is a flu factory if you ask me.
https://www.plantbasednews.org/culture/multi-store...
Your opening sentence though isn't true, even if you perceive it to be, through your reading of the popular press.This kind of thing, though - that is a flu factory if you ask me.
https://www.plantbasednews.org/culture/multi-store...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC49212...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC59605...
Now either Europe, and particularly the UK, is a cess pool of emerging infectious disease, or its a reflection of gold standard disease surveillance systems. As China improves its health service (and it is, rapidly), then it will detect and report more EIDs. Africa isn't reporting much, mostl likely becuase there isn't much of a disease surveillance system in place.
Coronavirus mostly afflects the elderly, and in years gone by, many cases would have been put down to normal increased winter mortality. SARS showed unusual clustering in Canada. MERS showed unusual clustering in Jordan, when in fact, it had probably been knocking off the elderly in the region for a number of years.
I am familar with a death in Scotaland due to inhalational anthrax. Others might be as well. Its an illustration of how disease surveillance works in the UK, in the case of rare infections.
Briefly, an intinerant Buddist carpenter died in hospital after a short unidentified illness, likely an infection of some kind. He was in his 50s, and was in remission for leukaemia, There was a funeral and cremation, and many people from all over Europe were invited to his wake, and were invited to take away keepsakes, for he made many objects of interest, such as traditional musical instruments.
The Scottish Public Health people were puzzled as to what killed this man. Although he had a past history of cancer, his GP thought that presently, he was in fairly decent health. Due to devolution, there is a delay in working with other national agencies. Blood samples were sent to Health England at Porton Down. 3-4 weeks later came the confirmation that the man died of infection due to inhaled anthrax spores. He lived alone on a farm. Anthrax on a farm is not that unusual, but mostly its bovine anthrax, causing a treatable skin infection. The team from Porton Down was despatched to the Scottish borders. Firstly they tried to identify the strain in the farmyard, they could not. They entered the man's house, fully suited up, using an ad hoc set up combining rubber trousers, half suits pulled from their class 4 cabinets,and lots of duct tape; nothing like the movies. They could not find the bacterium in the soft furnishings. They discovered there were bats in the roof, and the question was asked, can bats transmit athrax, could their droppings be a source of infection. Nothing in the literature.
They discovered the man made traditional drums, using goat skins purchased off Ebay. These skins were illegally imported from West Africa. The dead man was English, and his parents lived across the border, where he stored the skins. It was now a complex multi-nation investigation. They searched their house, no sign. Finally, they found he used to hold drum making classes for the local kids in the nearby village hall. There they found the particular strain that killed him. They worried about contamination. How had the man become infected by anthrax from a drum. They set up a rig to simulate a bongo drum being played, to see if playing a drum could aerosolise the spores. It did not, which reassured the locals. They concluded that he was infected while trying to stitch the skins; making holes, tearing/cutting and carrying out close work.
The epilogue to this case was they now needed to recover and decontaminate the keep sakes. They thought about confiscation, but decided that few people would alow treasured items to be seized. So instead, they promised the mourners that, after disinfection, their items would be returned. The only method that would not destroy the items was gamma radiation. No problem, it was thought, there was a company that routinely irradiated crates of food stuffs, no problem. The company declined the work, afraid of damage to its reputation. So Porton Down built facilities, at great expense, to irradiate crate loads of low value items,
A year or two later, in East London, in a flat, a young Spanish man also died, due to an anthrax infection. He also made African style drums, using cheap skins off ebay. Second time round, they didn't even bother to suit up, just scrubbed his walls down with disinfectant, and that was that. The Scottish case taught them a lot. We know from Amerithrax, that the known infectious dose for anthrax is way off (a lot of people were exposed, but few even got ill).
A couple of years ago, a soldier, returning from a family holiday in Florida, fell ill on the flight, and presented at a local hospital in a very poorly state, raised WBCs and other metrics. Broad range antibiotics were administered, rather than hanging around for the blood cultures to come back. The man recovered. Weeks later, the scientists at Porton Down figured out it was a case of inhaled anthrax, and the man;s physical fitness, and full works military vaccinations probably saved him.
Lots of incidents happen every day in the UK. Not all of them are figured out quickly. The press find these stories to be boring, and rarely report on them, unless it was the heroin users dying because of contaminated bone used to cut their drugs, They find it much more exiciting to report on mysterious Chinese illnesses, or Brazilian babies with birth defects.
Not a lot of chat I notice about Justin Bieber's announcement that he had contracted Lyme's Disease. This is a pretty serious illness, and it has crossed the Atlantic. It comes from a tick bite. If detected early, it is easily treatment. But the symptoms are pretty non-specific, a general malaise. If untreated, it can result in paralysis, as happened to a collague of mine, a prominant biologist. My mother was struck down with paraplegia within 72 hours of feeling a bad back; spinal cord infarction due to Staph. spp..
95% of the microbial world is unknown.
Scary but none of it surprised me.
Thanks for taking the time.
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