A VERY interesting hypothosis on PLAGUE

[NorthernRaider]

[Tartar Horde]

The rate of infection and speed of spreading was the key into discovering the main killer was Pneumonic plague, rather than Bubonic, although both are very bad and will ruin your day.
The old nursery rhyme "A ring a ring of Roses, a pocket full of posies, atishoo, atishoo we all fall down" describes Pneumonic plague quite well. A posie was a scented bundle of herbs people would smell, as the belief was that bad smells carried the plague, also where the word Malaria comes from (bad air). I note this morning that Ebola has now spread to neighbouring countries, and if this little beastie becomes airborne it could be very bad indeed, no known cure and up to 70% fatal, makes the Black death look almost benign. Interestingly the latest outbreak of Ebola has been traced to Bats which are eaten as "bushmeat", Ebola exists naturally in the fruit Bat population without causing any harm to the Bat host.

[NorthernRaider]

Yes the Ebola outbreak is high on my radar as the three effected countries have direct air links to the UK and if they don't contain the outbreak and limit the numbers of infections there could be some serious shit flying around, Its certain monkey species as well as bats that are ebola transmitters. What an awful way to die having your main organs being liquefied as the ebola eats you alive..

[BeardyMan]

Yes, ebola is a very nasty little thing. Efficient though, got to admire it for that.

I know there's no known treatment, but is there anything you can do to avoid getting it in the first place (above and beyond the normal drills for pandemics?)

[bigpaul]

yep, stay out of places that have large populations from the countries affected by this disease....easy, see??

[BeardyMan]

yep, stay out of places that have large populations from the countries affected by this disease....easy, see??

That's standard for any pandemic. I meant is there anything else that can be done. There's no cure for it, but can you kill the disease before you get it? Will my dettol, that kills 99.9% of all germs kill ebola, or is that in the 0.1% that will survive?

[Tartar Horde]

It is truly horrific, apparently you bleed from every orifice, eyes, nose, mouth and other parts before your internal organs exit your arsehole This is very worrying and we should keep an eye on events unfolding in Africa, if this virus mutates and becomes airborne I personally think it would be one the worst events ever to hit humanity.

[NorthernRaider]

There are various strains of Ebola and they appear to mutate often if the media is to be believed, I have heard of three E Niger, E Zaire, E Congo but I bet there are more just waiting to jump to Humans.

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FYI the movie OUTBREAK starring Dustin Hoffman is about Ebola reaching the US of A IIRC.

[Tartar Horde]

On RT this morning: Multinational mining companies pulling staff from Guinea due to Ebola fears.

[Oggydoggy100]

Hi, I have worked on four Plague sites in London, including several 17th Cent. Church Crypts. The dynamics of Y Pestis, or at least the perceived wisdom is this. .
Transmission and mode of action.
Human Yersinia infections most commonly result from the bite of an infected flea or a occasionally an infected mammal, but like most bacterial systemic diseases, the disease may be transmitted through an opening in the skin or by inhaling infectious droplets of moisture from sneezes or coughs. In both cases septicemic plague need not be the result, and in particular, not the initial result, but it occasionally happens that bubonic plague for example leads to infection of the blood, and septicemic plague results. If the bacteria happen to enter the bloodstream rather than the lymph or lungs, they multiply in the blood, causing bacteremia and severe sepsis. In septicemic plague, bacterial endotoxins cause disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), where tiny blood clots form throughout the body, commonly resulting in localised ischemic necrosis, tissue death from lack of circulation and perfusion.
DIC results in depletion of the body's clotting resources, so that it can no longer control bleeding. Consequently, the unclotted blood bleeds into the skin and other organs, leading to red or black patchy rash and to hematemesis (vomiting blood) or hemoptysis (spitting blood). The rash may cause bumps on the skin that look somewhat like insect bites, usually red, sometimes white in the center.
Untreated septicemic plague is almost always fatal. Early treatment with antibiotics reduces the mortality rate to between 4 and 15 percent. Death is almost inevitable if treatment is delayed more than about 24 hours, and some people may even die on the same day they present with the disease.
Septicemic plague is caused by horizontal and direct transmission. Horizontal transmission is the transmitting of a disease from one individual to another regardless of blood relation. Direct transmission occurs from close physical contact with individuals, through common air usage, from direct bite from a flea or an infected rodent. Most common rodents may carry the bacteria and so may Leporidae such as rabbits: