I guess it will be bird flu and not nukes after all

[redrumloa]

ANew H5N1 Flu Virus? This Research Should Stop Now

Unfortunately, that feared virus may already exist. Two forms of the virus residing in two laboratories, one in the Netherlands and one in Wisconsin, may be highly contagious and highly deadly in humans, but we have evidence only from a good animal model for influenza viruses. We'll never know if it would be as deadly in humans simply because we cannot infect humans to get the proof.

Those who have been sounding the alarm are among the world leaders in molecular biology, microbiology, virology, public health and microbial genetics. Dr. Paul Keim was quoted in the journal Science in November: "I can't think of another pathogenic organism that is as scary as this one.... I don't think anthrax is scary at all compared to this."

The anthrax connection: Keim is the molecular geneticist who traced the strain used in the 2001 anthrax-letter attack that killed five people, locating it at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, Md.

 

[robert l. bentham]

i think itll be fine blend of a lot of things...

 

[metalman]

2012 Year of the Apocalypse! Yeah!

Only if the swine flu H1N1 doesn't get you first

12 people have died in Oaxaca from H1N1 influenza, and 262 cases have been reported so far this year

of course the H3N2 flu outbreak in Norway is a possibility too

 

[cecilia]

i think itll be fine blend of a lot of things...

like coffee???

 

[robert l. bentham]

like coffee???

i love coffee...

 

[robert l. bentham]

2012 Year of the Apocalypse! Yeah!

Only if the swine flu H1N1 doesn't get you first

12 people have died in Oaxaca from H1N1 influenza, and 262 cases have been reported so far this year

of course the H3N2 flu outbreak in Norway is a possibility too

they're moving "plum island" to the middle of the US food supply. what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Glaucus]

And of course, if a strain naturally comes about in the wild, everyone will be pointing the finger at these labs regardless. Well, the conspiracy theorists will at the very least. That's why openness and transparency are so important.

But this is a really dangerous virus. One thing that makes it extra dangerous is that the flu has a long gestation period. A researcher could become infected and then go home without knowing it. That's why I hope the researchers are quarantined at the lab for at least a week. I'd feel even better if they moved all research to Antarctica. But even that doesn't guarantee anything...

 

[redrumloa]

And of course, if a strain naturally comes about in the wild, everyone will be pointing the finger at these labs regardless. Well, the conspiracy theorists will at the very least. That's why openness and transparency are so important.

Ever heard the term plausible deniability?

How exactly did that military anthrax strain get out in 2001?