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Scientists identify new lethal virus in Africa

Councilman

Councilman

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This is a serious situation that appears to be much worse than N1N1.


ATLANTA (AP) - Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. The so-called "Lujo" virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.
It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.

"This one is really, really aggressive" he said of the virus.

A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online Thursday on in PLoS Pathogens.

The outbreak started in September, when a female travel agent who lives on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, became ill with a fever-like illness that quickly grew much worse.

She was airlifted to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she died.

A paramedic in Lusaka who treated her also became sick, was transported to Johannesburg and died. The three others infected were health care workers in Johannesburg.

For the whole story.
Scientists identify new lethal virus in Africa
 
While it sounds like a terrible way to die, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Viruses like this or ebola tend to kill people so fast that they don't have time to infect very many other people.
 
Let's hope it remains contained. I read today also that a new form of Malaria was found in Malaysia that is resistant to the current vaccine. Of course as humans are at the top of the food chain, nature finds a predator to get us, unfortunately those predators are microscopic.
 
Councilman said:
This is a serious situation that appears to be much worse than N1N1.


ATLANTA (AP) - Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. The so-called "Lujo" virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.
It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.

"This one is really, really aggressive" he said of the virus.

A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online Thursday on in PLoS Pathogens.

The outbreak started in September, when a female travel agent who lives on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, became ill with a fever-like illness that quickly grew much worse.

She was airlifted to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she died.

A paramedic in Lusaka who treated her also became sick, was transported to Johannesburg and died. The three others infected were health care workers in Johannesburg.

For the whole story.
Scientists identify new lethal virus in Africa
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It's the first hemorhagic arenaviridae. Unusually lethal, which is as pointed out, the saving grace. It "burns" through a population too fast to spread.

The problem with viruses, they're so promiscuous. It's relatively easy for them to swap out DNA or RNA, sometimes just proteins...... There simplicity, their elegance, makes it much easier for viruses to swap out genetic material then bacteria.

The molecular wolves, weeding out the "herd"........
 
The viruses that we should be the most worried about are the ones that are highly contagious and virulent but remain asymptomatic for 4-5 days or more. That's the stuff pandemics are made of.
 
Orius said:
The viruses that we should be the most worried about are the ones that are highly contagious and virulent but remain asymptomatic for 4-5 days or more. That's the stuff pandemics are made of.
Click to expand...

"The RAPE VIRUS", spelled RAPE was discovered in a rediclously large number of terrorists on the continent. News at 6....
 
I think it's time to blowup Africa. ;)
 
American said:
I think it's time to blowup Africa. ;)
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Left alone, it certainly could suffer depopulation to some extent....I watched a few TV shows recently about how little effort they make to prevent STD's, even when we provide the means of prevention, like cheap or free condoms...
 
UtahBill said:
Left alone, it certainly could suffer depopulation to some extent....I watched a few TV shows recently about how little effort they make to prevent STD's, even when we provide the means of prevention, like cheap or free condoms...
Click to expand...

Africa always goes through population changes because of wars and famine etc.
But seeing women generally have 7+ children, they soon replace the lost.
 
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UtahBill said:
Left alone, it certainly could suffer depopulation to some extent....I watched a few TV shows recently about how little effort they make to prevent STD's, even when we provide the means of prevention, like cheap or free condoms...
Click to expand...

Aside from the more developed nations, most of the governments in Africa don't have that much control over their people, either because of lack of infrastructure or simply no man power. Second to that, you have to realize that condoms really need to be in the consciousness of people as they grow up, and a lot of that has to do with the media.

In countries where people are still living subsistence level and don't have daily exposure to imagery or dialogue about birth control, condoms are not second nature like they are (more so) for people in the West.

As for disease in general... it spreads due to lack of development. With development comes hygiene practices, as well as the products to accomplish this. I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say that everyone there is willfully ignorant... a lot of people are simply ignorant, period.
 
Orius said:
Aside from the more developed nations, most of the governments in Africa don't have that much control over their people, either because of lack of infrastructure or simply no man power. Second to that, you have to realize that condoms really need to be in the consciousness of people as they grow up, and a lot of that has to do with the media.

In countries where people are still living subsistence level and don't have daily exposure to imagery or dialogue about birth control, condoms are not second nature like they are (more so) for people in the West.

As for disease in general... it spreads due to lack of development. With development comes hygiene practices, as well as the products to accomplish this. I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say that everyone there is willfully ignorant... a lot of people are simply ignorant, period.
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who is saying that they are willfully ignorant? I am saying that there are many who are willfully practicing unsafe sex in the presence of options to do otherwise....It even happens in developed countries....
 
I am surprised that no one has brought up the possibility of the virus mutating int an air born strain that could be spread world wide in a matter of days by one infected contagious person climbing on a crowded plane then walking through a crowded terminal contaminating untold numbers. It's a real possibility and who's to say that a suicide terrorist couldn't be deliberately infected and spend 24 hours traveling all over just to spread death as wide as possible as fast as possible?
Just a thought.
 
UtahBill said:
who is saying that they are willfully ignorant? I am saying that there are many who are willfully practicing unsafe sex in the presence of options to do otherwise....It even happens in developed countries....
Click to expand...

Though its not as if these "options to do otherwise" are omnipresent
 
tlmorg02 said:
Let's hope it remains contained. I read today also that a new form of Malaria was found in Malaysia that is resistant to the current vaccine. Of course as humans are at the top of the food chain, nature finds a predator to get us, unfortunately those predators are microscopic.
Click to expand...
How is something like this going to be contained?
 
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