‘Mutant ticks’ overwhelming hospitals in Siberia

7newsAU ^ | 1 June 2020 8:55 pm

[BenLurkin]

“Mutant ticks are attacking - this is not a tabloid headline but a fact,” reported Zvezda, the Russian defence ministry’s newspaper.

The mutant ticks have been found in several regions of Siberia.

They combine the “worst qualities” of two common types of Russian tick - Ixodes persulcatus, the taiga tick, and the “malicious” Pavlovsky or Far Eastern tick.

They attack people in both long and short grass.

A “large number inter-species hybrids” which produce “fertile offspring” have invaded Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions, said Dr Nina Tikhunova, of the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Novosibirsk.

This mutant “is capable of carrying infectious agents associated with both parent species”.

Many cities say they have no stocks of immunoglobulin to treat sufferers, or only enough for children.

Khabarovsk region says it is has run out of immunoglobulin and encephalitis vaccine.

New supplies are only expected in July, with people urged to stay home.

[polymuser]

[BipolarBob]

I got mutant snakes. They’re a hybrid that nobody has seen before. It’s a rattled headed copper moccasin.

[heartwood]

Aaaaaaaaaaagh

Thank you soooooo much

[rlmorel]

LOL...snakes....why does it always have to be snakes?

I actually like snakes and find them interesting, but I treat even small ones with respect because I got bit by one once when I grabbed it as a kid. It wasn’t poisonous, but I got a little row of needle sized teeth marks...

I can’t imagine getting bitten by a pit viper of some kind with those effing huge hollow teeth...:(

[Lurker]

“I’m still waiting for Blood Sucking Monkeys from West Mifflin, PA.”

Biden is from Scranton.

L

[fella]

Look up weaponized ticks and Lyme disease.

[TigersEye]

Liberals. They’re everywhere!

[TigersEye]

Northern or Southern? It makes a big difference.

[UnwashedPeasant]

[polymuser]

Lyme Disease is very interesting indeed...what it is and how it may have come to be.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I’m still waiting for Blood Sucking Monkeys from West Mifflin, PA.

I've lived there. You're about 20 years too late.

[rlmorel]

We need Flamethrower Squirrels more than ever!

On rooftops with the Roof Koreans!

[LostInBayport]

They look like they mean bidness!

[polymuser]

8^)

[TigersEye]

I welcome our new Korean flamethrower squirrel overlords.

That little dude is awesome!

[rlmorel]

I thought you might like this thread I just started:

Building the Perfect Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder (Ex-NASA Scientist Mark Rober)