If you think H1N1 has been getting a hysterical reaction (not in the ha-ha sense), then wait and see what happens if we get a pathogenic strain of haemorrhagic fever from this little filovirus:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8143823.stm

now *that* could be something to really get worried about (if it mutates that way)

Hi Finewine,
As others have said, love your sterilising the tonsils with bleach. Keeps bacteria away.
I have tried to write this for everyone, I am aware of the topic profesionally but the info is for all, I hope.

Heard this research (your note) a while back and it got some comments going. The EBOLA like viruses, the ones that lead to acute bleeding, seem to be very poor at surival based mutations. They seem to be very lethal. The problem with lethal viruses is that they have a very short life time and cannot mutate as the host is dead. A pig form of EBOLA would be of concern, but if it doesn't wipe out pigs then it might be quite harmless to humans.. Pigs and humans have a very similar HLA system as you know. So presenting viral peptides in pigs and having a succesful outcome may mean good news for humans.

I'm a damned sight more worried about mutations in Malaria together with changes in global climate. We have missed the bus completely on this.

Love and Hics
Cindy

Oh yes Cindy you're quite right - these virii need constant close contact with fresh hosts to survive.  I was really referring to the hysteria that would arise from the general public (mis)perception.  And I agree completely on the malaria concern and dengue too, similar reasons...I can see us having a new strain that's almost completely resistant to any current medications (in fact, didn't we get a new resistant strain break out just recently?)  Now *that* really is scary!

Cheers, by the way

Hi finewine

Thanks.
Like your posts.
I presume you are in the USA. Only because you are going to be in SF on the weekend.

How are containg bubolic plague? because of natural resistance in humans? or wishfull thinking? I know it is endemic in many of your widlife!
We are now getting a lot of TB in Aus from immigrants and are totally unsure of the  impact.
TB was easily treated by antibiotics, it is now increasingly resistant.

TSI are a big problem, people have forgotten about the small things (no pun!!). Chlaymidia is destroying the reproductive life of young Australian women. It is now virtually undetecable without PCR. And guess what!! Few GPs know of this.

Sorry Hun
Going to bed.
Had three days of Gastro
PM me  if you wish; I like your attitude and intelligence

A sick

Cindy

Cindy dear, get well soon...I remember you said on another thread you had a bout of the g.e. two-step

I'm a pommie, just hopefully not a whinging one...hehe!  I'm in the UK usually - just flying to SFO tomorrow on business (nothing like a 10 hour trip in an tubular petri dish, huh?).

Bubonic plague seems to be anecdotally at least rearing its head quite a lot these days.  When you mentioned it, you reminded me that the WHO recently sent an investigator to Libya to check out a suspected outbreak.  I'm hearing of a resurgence in claimed TB cases here too.  You've probably already seen this but if not, you'll find the paper on TB's DNA-mimicing very interesting reading.  To be honest, this is way outside my field, so I found the laymans version more accessible   Sorry!

I didn't know about chlamydia now being undetected by PCR...I don't think there's any reliable alternative test currently available, is there?

It's yet more contemporary supporting evidence for the theory of evolutionary adaption through natural selection (as if any was really needed...sigh).

Nice to know, Cindy.

As soon as I saw Ebola I started to get queasy, only because it seems much more scary. I guess it pays to be educated, I feel much better now.

Cali still gets a case or two of plague a year, mostly from the slopes of the Western Sierra range.

And its good that ebola has a hard time mutating, and its a yuckky way to go, but in the long run influenza has more potential for a worldwide pandemic, and its a matter of when, not if.