Study uncovers a lethal secret of 1918 influenza virus

Eurekalert ^ | 01/17/07 | University of Wisconsin-Madison

[southland]

BTTT

[piasa]

Most govs don't want to use something so communicable because it will eventually blowback big time on their own populations. That's why anthrax is such a good choice- the offense controls the exposure since the stuff doesn't pass person to person. Some govs like to make a sort of biosoup with more than one pathogen to make it hard to treat.

It's also more practical to focus on something which will disable an enemy swiftly, but not kill them outright... the better to overload an enemy's resources. If victims die swiftly, then their care is not so prolonged... if they die slowly or are made too ill to function well for a long time, they become a vast drain on the target society and so making the target easier to fight. Some suicide cult might be much more interested, though... either the great Iranian cult of Amaddogonjihad or somewhwat smaller groups like Aum Shinkryo [sp.?]... neither would be too concerned about having such a disease make its way back to their own population.

[MarkL]

So they recreated the 1918 strain in a lab?

And infected primates with it.

Somehow I feel a great disquiet, a distinct unease, about the prospect of a test tube somewhere labeled "1918 Influenza".

There are a number of labs here in the US, and around the world, that have some of the deadliest bacterial and viral infectious samples. Including various strains of marberg, ebola, influenza, hanta, and even smallpox, as well as botulin and anthrax. I believe that here in the US, they've got them at the NIH and USAMRID at Ft Detrick.

That was the theme behind Steven King's "The Stand," where a particularly nasty strain of influenze escapes from one of the labs.

Mark

[MarkL]

Well all of you, at least. I am immune so I got that going for me.

Is that you, East Texas?

Mark

[go-dubya-04]

That is a brilliant scientific analysis. Thanks so much for clearing that up. Boy, those damn scientists not giving us the easy answer to solving a centuries old problem. Must be Big Pharma keeping the little guy down. I will look for your article in the next issue of Lancet or JAMA.

[WIladyconservative]

Somehow I feel a great disquiet, a distinct unease, about the prospect of a test tube somewhere labeled "1918 Influenza".

I hear ya . . .and I live in Wisconsin!

[Bones75]

"I've tried giving him some Robitussin but it doesn't seem to be working."

Didn't you read on the label Robitussin bottle where it says "Not for use on Candaian monkeys"? :-)