Oct 7: The (H1N5?) Plague begins?

Originally posted by spines
That is a interesting idea.

I don't exactly buy into it, but if you want to sow fear into people/thin the population for whichever nefarious purpose may/may not exist, then a highly contagious disease is a good way.

Kill the people and leave the property/resources, much more effective than a bomb or something equally destructive.

It wouldn't necesarily be a government sponsered outbreak.

In fact I doubt it would be. It's a pretty stupid idea--there are so many variables to viruses, and they mutate very easily. For a virus to be effective enough to kill the enemy it would also risk killing the offensive side. Vaccines are no gurantee of safety, since they are limited by availibility and even then the virus could mutate around them.

reply to post by asmeone2


Ah, my misunderstanding.

But thank you for sparking the interesting thoughts.

More on topic: Instead of it 'coming through' an airport, I would imagine a more devestating course of action would be a disease begining its rotation on a ship.

Many, many ships make their way around the world and we count on them for our current economic/trade system. I would imagine one major port as a spring board would, maybe only immedietly, be a harder thing to control.

Depending how our theoretical disease spreads itself, I would see a major port being 'location zero' as more dangerous then even the busiest airport. Maybe it's the shipping itself, or maybe it's the less sanitized location.

Again, thanks for a good thread.

You may not be far from truth, a month ago a mystery resperatory disease was found in Alaska, they never released the results of the tests.

This smells bad!

www.recombinomics.com...

[edit on 8-10-2008 by Cyberbian]

Kind of off topic: Is your avatar related to the 'Black Death' in some way?

I seem to remember that certain people would wear masks with long, white, beak-like masks to try and filter the air or something else to that degree.

I have been wondering for awhile now (whenever I see a post by you) and with the word 'plague' in the thread title I figured now was good to ask.

[edit on 10/8/0808 by spines]

reply to post by spines



I never thought about ships.

In terms of disease control, I'd imagine they are less strenously evaluated than airports.

Especially if the vector is rodents or insects!

Originally posted by Cyberbian
You may not be far from truth, a month ago a mystery resperatory disease was found in Alaska, they never released the results of the tests.

This smells bad!

www.recombinomics.com...

[edit on 8-10-2008 by Cyberbian]

Wow, thanks, I was just speculating but you have some evidence!

Originally posted by spines
Kind of off topic: Is your avatar related to the 'Black Death' in some way?

I seem to remember that certain people would wear masks with long, white, beak-like masks to try and filter the air or something else to that degree.

I have been wondering for awhile now (whenever I see a post by you) and with the word 'plague' in the thread title I figured now was good to ask.

[edit on 10/8/0808 by spines]

It is a drawing of a Black Plague Doctor.

Usually they were not real doctors--just ordinary citizens who didn't flee the plague--who adopted the duty of confirming suspected plague victim's infections and treating them as best they could.

Although no one understood germs at the time, the precautions that the Plague Doctor's took kept them relatively safe. They touched the victims only with sticks, wore long, waxed robes, gloves, and the masks, which covered all of their mucous membranes. They would put aromatic herbs in the beak to cover the smell of the illness, which also helped kill the germs.

The avatar reflects my interests in herbal medicine and virology, epidemiology, & pathology.

reply to post by asmeone2


You're welcome. I just had to give you that, when I saw your thread.

Your speculation may be a whole lot closer to becoming reality than a lot of peoples predictions. You deserve some credit for that!

But I hope you are just plain wrong. Nothing personal.

I just finished watching "Right at your door". This was a very disturbing yet realistic movie about an event like 9/11 only with dirty bombs in LA where most of the city had to be quarantined. The most interesting thing about it, I can't say without spoiling the ending, but let's just say that it brought life to what we have seen recently in the mock war games scenarios of a biological weapon being unleashed on the public and the reality and consequences of what would happen in real life. I definitely reccomend watching this film, it could save your life.

Originally posted by Cyberbian
reply to post by asmeone2

 

You're welcome. I just had to give you that, when I saw your thread.

Your speculation may be a whole lot closer to becoming reality than a lot of peoples predictions. You deserve some credit for that!

But I hope you are just plain wrong. Nothing personal.

Plagues are cyclical things that strike humanity with pretty reliable regularity. It's like a natural mechanism to prevent overpopulation.

Despite our advances in medicines, by our lifestyle we have definitely set ourselves up to be conquered by the germs, instead of conquering them.

Originally posted by 12.21.12
I just finished watching "Right at your door". This was a very disturbing yet realistic movie about an event like 9/11 only with dirty bombs in LA where most of the city had to be quarantined. The most interesting thing about it, I can't say without spoiling the ending, but let's just say that it brought life to what we have seen recently in the mock war games scenarios of a biological weapon being unleashed on the public and the reality and consequences of what would happen in real life. I definitely reccomend watching this film, it could save your life.

Do you know if it is online anywhere?

Originally posted by asmeone2
Plagues are cyclical things that strike humanity with pretty reliable regularity. It's like a natural mechanism to prevent overpopulation.

Very few people realize that 'the plague' (the same type that devestated Europe) still exists in America and that there are still reported cases. They are mostly on the west coast.

There hasn't been an real 'outbreak' in the US for awhile, but that isn't to say not in recent times. China Town in San Fransisco was hit hard in the early 1900s and the state constantly denied it to the public; out of fear of economic panic, racism and the population of China Town hiding those affected/killed by it out of fear of having their homes destroyed.

Just something to add to the conversation.

I watched a movie last night called The Happening.
There was something released (They assumed by the Gov) that made people disoriented and then kill themselves ....
Was a very strange movie .

reply to post by spines



Classical bubonic plague also still exists in the destert Southwest. There's also a lot of Hantavirus carried by rodents in that area.

Originally posted by Simplynoone
I watched a movie last night called The Happening.
There was something released (They assumed by the Gov) that made people disoriented and then kill themselves ....
Was a very strange movie .

Wasn't it something like the plants were used as vectors to release the virus?

Yes something like that ....

I didnt really get it ...because they never really found out what happened and why or who did it ..it sort of left it for us to figure out ...maybe a part 2 is on the way ...

Do you know if it is online anywhere?

reply to post by asmeone2


It was on ON-Demand I believe it was a Sundance Original by the makers of "A Scanner Darkly"

Another crazy thread for crazy people with nothing better to do.. Bird Flu will not go crazy unless man helps it go that way.. With the economy slowing, the spread of this stuff goes down as people can't afford to move around, plus it's all hype anyway, by a bunch of loser scientists who are trying to make a name for themselves but have no facts. Kind of like stock brokers...

Originally posted by Simplynoone
Yes something like that ....

I didnt really get it ...because they never really found out what happened and why or who did it ..it sort of left it for us to figure out ...maybe a part 2 is on the way ...

That's what I kept hearing abotu the movie... hence why I did not see it...

Originally posted by 12.21.12

Do you know if it is online anywhere?

reply to post by asmeone2

 

It was on ON-Demand I believe it was a Sundance Original by the makers of "A Scanner Darkly"

I quite enjoyed A Scanner Darkly so that is all the more reason to see it now...