The finding suggests that health officials - now stockpiling millions of doses of the drug to forestall a global outbreak of influenza and buy time to develop and mass produce a vaccine - should also consider other options, according to Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an international authority on influenza and the senior author of the Nature paper.
At least we saw bird flu coming. My biggest disease concern is a mystery illness that starts offing people in large numbers before researchers are able to assess what we're dealing with. And as prehistoric germs for which we have no natural immunity are released into the oceans by melting polar ice, the possibility of a crippling epidemic looms frighteningly closer.
Peter Watts develops a similarly nightmarish scenario in his Rifters novels. In his imagined near-future, overpopulation has driven humanity to leech energy from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. In the process of exploiting the ocean floor, an ancient virus is unleashed and proceeds to decimate the planet despite a last-ditch attempt to sterilize the threat with an underwater nuclear explosion.
The amazing thing about these books is that they make Stephen King's "The Stand" look almost cuddly.
2 comments:
A 'Stand' die off would be an adventure on top of a nightmare. Thats why I think its not going to happen.
SARS, the Hanta virus, monkey pox, E boli, the flesh eating bacteria (my personal fav) none ever seem to take. While the Spanish flu killed more than WWI did even that didnt really dent the global population. Only time the global population has realy gone down in recorded history was during the black death. Since we have sewage systems, hospitals, and lava soap and they didnt Im betting no huge outbrake.
When more folks die from bird flu that drunk drivers let me know.
Ken,
Feel free to keep posting. I won't even think of deleting anything unless it's just plain offensive and dumb, and none of yout posts have been. I think some moderators enjoy a power-rush when they give posters the boot.
Post a Comment