Comparisons between new virus and Plague.

I hope I'm not going to be accused of scaremongering.I don't know if there is any connection between SARS and Plague but I thought it was worth putting up so that other members can research further.This has definately gone beyond the simple flu story first put out.

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- The spread of a deadly but mysterious form of pneumonia has prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to take the rare step of issuing an emergency travel advisory

HEALTH WARNING:
The World Health Organization alerts travelers to be aware of the symptoms, which include:
People presenting after February 1 with a history of fever greater than 38 C (100.4 F) AND one or more respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing AND
One or more of the following:
Close contact with a person who has been diagnosed with SARS. Close contact means having cared for, having lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and body fluids of a person with SARS.
Recent history of travel to areas reporting cases of SARS.
Probable cases are defined as:
A person with chest x-ray findings of pneumonia or Respiratory Distress Syndrome OR
A person with an unexplained respiratory illness resulting in death, with an autopsy examination demonstrating the pathology of Respiratory Distress Syndrome without an identifiable cause.

edition.cnn.com...

Plague as a Biological Weapon

Conclusions, An aerosolized plague weapon could cause fever, cough, chest pain, and hemoptysis with signs consistent with severe pneumonia 1 to 6 days after exposure. Rapid evolution of disease would occur in the 2 to 4 days after symptom onset and would lead to septic shock with high mortality without early treatment. Early treatment and prophylaxis with streptomycin or gentamicin or the tetracycline or fluoroquinolone classes of antimicrobials would be advised

jama.ama-assn.org...

Further imformation about Pneumonic plague.Describe on this site below as a Severe Respiratory Illness.

www.shands.org...

I thought it sounded more like influenza (like in post WW1 Europe). Are influenza and plague related?

John, the symptoms of the two (Pnuemonic plague and SAR) certainly do look the same, don't they? Scary!

Dom, influenza is a virus, where the plague is bacteria.

The thing that concerns me about the situation is that the media and medical officials tend to try to downplay the situation... however the CDC has activated its Emergency Command Center, which to my knowledge it has never done before...

If anyone in the medical/military community has heard anything credible from a USAMRIID source, this would be the time to post such information....

whats concerning me is that this virus is not responding to any antibiotics (well no surprise there) or any anti-viral agents.

So the question is... is it a virus (like influenza) or is it a bacteria (like the plague)?

Having done a quick look on the web I found a site about spanish flu that described the influenza experienced post - WW1 like this... "However, in the summer of 1918, symptoms became much more severe. About a fifth of the victims developed bronchial pneumonia or septicemic blood poisoning. A large percentage of these men died. Others developed heliotrope cyanosis. "

www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk...

I remember a documentary about this quite recently where it was talking about how lucky we are not to have seen this strain of influenza in recent years...

Apparently they have not identified if it is in fact a virus or bacteria... this is in itself very troubling...

Could it be the opening shot of a biowarfare first strike? Could this be one of the fabled Soviet Chaimera diseases that are designed specifically to be impossible to cure?

I know this may not be true, because W.H.O. does not have enough evidents to support it but, do you think that this could be a possible biological attack sprouting from Asia??

TheCatalyst,

Yes, it's possible that this could be a new type of terrorist weapon as I don't put anything past the powers that be. West Nile Virus and Chronic Wasting Disease are two other new forms of trouble.

Any possible correlation?

deleted

Soon...

First case in the UK...

news.bbc.co.uk...

I don't like the look of this one.

and they will blame suposed terrorist for these bio-attacks, for have more reason to continue the campaign with in impunity
And the worst part is that they are spreading the stuff....
well it�s a question of time, now we will see who is on our side and who is on their side

This is very troubling. Heres what CNN says:

The disease, called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), has infected people from China to Canada, with more than 150 new or suspected cases reported in the last week.

Two members of an American-Canadian family died in Canada last week after returning to North America from a holiday in Hong Kong.

U.S. warning
The CDC "is advising persons traveling on non-essential or elective travel to affected areas that they may wish to postpone their trips until further notice," Dr. Julie Gerberding, the agency's director, said in a rare Saturday news conference.

No cases have been confirmed in the United States. But early Saturday, a doctor from Singapore on a flight home from New York was taken off a plane during a stopover in Frankfurt after showing signs of SARS, German and New York City health officials said.

The doctor, who was in New York for a conference, had treated two patients in Singapore with SARS, the New York City Department of Health said.

He attended the conference for only "a few hours," the department said, and had "minimal contact with others" during his two days in the city.

The physician has been hospitalized with a respiratory illness, the health department said.

Also, another person who traveled from the state of Georgia to Canada appears to have been stricken with the illness, Gerberding said.

Asked whether the outbreak could have been caused by terrorism, Gerberding said, "We have to keep an open mind."

Transport authorities, however, are not convinced the matter is anything other than a health issue.

"All information at present indicates this is a public health issue unrelated to any act of terrorism," a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees security on airlines, said

The illness is characterized by fever higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit [39.3 degrees Celsius] and respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing or difficulty breathing.

Doctors are being urged to look for the illness in people who have either been in close contact with someone diagnosed with the disease or who have recently traveled to areas reporting cases of the illness.

Okay, so if it's in Canada already, it shouldnt be long before it rears its ugly head in the US. I have a theory (albeit a dumb one) that North Korea could have possibly done this as a diversionary tactic. I mean, were about to go to war with Iraq, and Korea is next. Korea knows this, so while we are at war with Iraq they create a little diversion so they can get their act together and launch an attack. Okay, thats my stupid theory

I doubt it's a terrorist or WMD attack. It's just unfortunate that this variant has appeared right now. It seems to be highly contagious (lots of doctors/nurses involved in treating people have also fallen ill) and it has a 2-7 day incubation period, which means if you infect 8 people per day, you'll have a massive epidemic within a few weeks.

Fingers crossed that our governments stop looking the other way and start quarantining visitors from Hong Kong with immediate effect. Any word on whether the Canadian case caused any secondary infections?

Hey guys!

Just found some interseting news on the notice board in the labs this morning!

since the Anthrax scare in america, we have been working with close ties to Portna Down, CDC and the USAMRIID.

This flu is sounding more and more like the Spanish Lady? If not, a mutated form of the Russian black market stuff that the CDC knew about!!!

If i find any links to the details i will post it asap!!!

By the way, i've just had my smallpox jag....it hurts like a bitch..but it may be worth while?

keep this post alive...i'll keep posting with any news i can find?

Do you think if it was the Spanish Lady (what a sinister twist to that name ) she'd have been identified by now? I'm not a biologist, so I don't know how long it takes... but that's the scary thing right now. No-one has a clue what this is... :-O

So far 500 cases with 10 fatalities, so that's a 2% fatality rate, but I think that'll rise.