Strain of "Super Rabies" in the UK and US

Strain of "Super Rabies" in the UK and US

Evolving faster than any other new rabies virus on record, a northern-Arizona rabies strain has mutated to become contagious among skunks and now foxes, experts believe.

The strain looks to be spreading fast, commanding attention from disease researchers across the United States (U.S. map).

news.nationalgeographic.com...
www.cdc.gov...

I was wondering why I had not heard of this more in the tv news, seems pretty intense stuff. I thought it was a joke at first, or some viral marketing, but it seems legit.

Video explaining the situation in London.


Just a latest news stories:
www.bbc.co.uk...
www.google.com...
www.ayrshirepost.net...

Thoughts? anyone got any more information?

Pretty scary.

[edit on 30-7-2010 by GoodLuckCharm]

Super rabies huh? I hope it doesn't make it's way to humans. However, since someone has already been bitten....doesn't seem like a threat...but without the proper medical attention, who knows.



Interesting find, s&f

[edit on 30-7-2010 by SeventhSeal]

woah

There is a big hoohah in the uk at the moment about foxes, after the baby biting incident. I know my old neighbour before he died always fed the foxes, and now he has died my mum has started doing it. Now there is a big backlash against the foxes and i am inclined to agree, for the past 3-4 years the foxes around here have gotten very bold, i remember taking my kids to school and seeing a fox just chilling on someones front garden. i know they are not prone to attacking humans, but im pretty sure there not meant to be known for walking through busy streets going in the middle of the day, so i am not going to rule out they aren't gonna go sick at someone for no reason.

and now they have rabies? no wait, SUPER RABIES?!?!? i didn't sign up for this, and it is all starting to make sense. there are 2 badgers that have stalked this area for years, vicious bastards prone to chasing mates late at night, anyone from the area has had a run in with these vicious beggars, and though i am pretty sure one was killed by a car about 5 years ago, the other is still in action.

badgers that have a track record of attacking humans + foxes that according to public opinion are turning right nasty + super rabies? don't sleep on this one people, i for one am gonna fight back

reply to post by GoodLuckCharm


Probably another bug designed in a biolab and accidently released to the public...

But dont panic, a new vacine will be along shortly at taxpayers expense

reply to post by GoodLuckCharm


I cannot get the youtube link to open. Can you re-post just the link maybe? Thanks Melissa101

Originally posted by Melissa101
reply to post by GoodLuckCharm

 

I cannot get the youtube link to open. Can you re-post just the link maybe? Thanks Melissa101

Whoops. Its fixed now. Here is the link anyway though: www.youtube.com...

Crazy thought in my mind.......could the "medicine" being given is just like a placebo. Euengenics master plan?!

The medical industry could just stop making the med's work. Then claim it is a a super bug.

[edit on 31-7-2010 by DirtyGirl]

this is how zombie movies start!!!!!!!

Hey, whoever posted the comment where the people were feeding wild animals.

Tell them to knock it off. Feeding wild animals causes them to no longer fear humans, plus it is a detriment to the animals as a whole.

I am so sick of idiots in my town feeding deer, it just gets the damn deer coming into the city, causing their deaths and damage to vehicles.

Hey, quit feeding the animals!

Originally posted by virgom129
reply to post by GoodLuckCharm

 

Probably another bug designed in a biolab and accidently released to the public...

But dont panic, a new vacine will be along shortly at taxpayers expense

Wasn't there a story back when they dug up those bodies to get a sample of the Spanish flu virus, under the guise of creating a super vaccine, about them also working on creating a super rabies germ for medical investigation as well?

I know that I have heard of some work being done on creating a super rabies germ quite a while back but I can't remember were I saw it. Maybe someone else will remember.

reply to post by GoodLuckCharm


Great, and I am allergic to the serum based shots for rabies and anti venom.

I saw some crazy stuff on the news recently about rabies, this one guy was trying to helpand this rabid fox just kept jumping him over and over. Check it out:

www.wsbtv.com...

This is just one of many reports on rabid foxes and racoons in the GA area.

Oddly enough, I was doing some research on Rabies today, and came across several news articles of current outbreaks. Heck, in Bali, 100 people have died from a current outbreak! 100 PEOPLE, from Rabies??? In 2010? Insane... Were some other outbreaks in other places, such as India and China, but not that many people.

I can't help but wonder how such a super rabies could leap over into the UK and suddenly infect all the foxes, and am a little bit sceptical of the whole thing really.

Living in a rural(ish) area of the Southdowns we have a lot of foxes around here (and some big cats ) anyway to me it seems the farmers are no longer culling the foxes in the numbers they used to and in turn the ever growing fox population is being pushed out of the countryside and more and more into our towns..

Where I'd normal see 1 or 2 foxes I now see groups of 8 or 10 scavenging.. and they are becoming much braver... the population seems to me to be exploding.

Now I'm not one to buy into traditional fox hunting, but do feel that the population has been allowed to explode so this would happen and perhaps lend a bit of pressure to re-instate fox hunting to deal with the problem, and the notion they have some super rabies kinda reinforces that in my mind. As I've always been taught that bats pose the greatest risk to humans in the UK for transmision of rabies.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


One of the side effects of rabies in foxes is that they tend to become less fearful of man, and are more likely to encroach on populated areas.

I shudder to think about a version of rabies that isn't treatable by the vaccine. That is supposedly one of the reasons many died in Bali, according to a tabloid story, but even that story isn't up anymore, some Russian news site called Pravda. Doubt this is true though, as there would have been something more about that in other news reports I'd think. And what would a Russian newspaper know about Bali?