Re: Will the Plague return to save us?
- From: "Peter Jason" <pj@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:03:33 +1000
The danger is kinetics. A long latency
between infection and symptoms would be
devastating, especially in the world's most
populous regions.
And imagine the result if HIV could be spread
by mosquitoes and fleas.
"J Antero" <ae@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:MSWOh.16304$PL.888@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This "immune to antibiotics" superbugs idea
used to hold more promise for solving human
overpopulation, before science started
getting expertise at tampering with genetic
codes.
My guess is that before bacteria and
viruses can return the favor to the human
race, geneticists and immunologists are
going to figure something out that negates
normal evolutionary strengthening of the
bugs to a really dangerous point.
"Peter Jason" <pj@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message
news:euhcgl$1cv9$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Just when you thought of depairing at the
state of the world, with all the genocide,
the Muslims, the burgeoning populations,
the welfare states, the illegal migrants,
irritating cross & bottom posters, the
poor trees being chopped down, that
devil-gas CO2, lawyers, ignorance and
poverty; be assuaged.
A glimmer of hope has emerged in the form
of the incipient return of the Black
Death!
Yes, just as in Medieval times, the great
cleansing hand of God will sweep it all
away all the ephemera, and leave the world
clean and empty for we better sort to
bustle in.
Just as in the Great Extinctions of the
distant past, the world is ready for that
fresh start.
Soon the rats with their attendant
starving fleas will be dancing in the
streets - like ageing rock stars - and the
work will begin.
About time! O bliss.
Please read on......
******
A small piece of DNA that helps bacteria
commonly found in US meat and poultry
resist several antibiotics has also been
found in the plague bacillus Yersinia
pestis, gene sequence researchers report.
The ability to resist many of the
antibiotics used against plague has been
found so far in only a single case of the
disease in Madagascar. But because the
same ability is present in other kinds of
bacteria from a broad range of livestock,
antibiotic resistance could potentially
spread to other Y. pestis and also other
bacterial pathogens. In a paper published
in the new journal PLoS ONE, the authors
say this possibility "represents a
significant public health concern."
Genetic ability to disable antibiotics,
including multidrug resistance (MDR)
sequences, is carried on plasmids, small
circles of DNA that are passed easily
between bacteria. In this study, the same
MDR plasmids found in the Y. pestis from
Madagascar were also present in bacteria
such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli
found in retail samples of beef, pork,
chicken, and turkey from several US
states.
"What we've done is revealed a mechanism
for the acquisition of multidrug
resistance in Y. pestis. Obviously, this
is an event that might have serious human
health consequences. But the sequencing
work we've done has given us a way to
monitor this plasmid in future," says
senior author Jacques Ravel of The
Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in
Rockville, MD.
"The fact that we found a plasmid usually
found in Salmonella in Y. pestis is a big
problem. It also raises a question about
how this happened, how it went from one to
the other. But that's a question we cannot
answer in this paper," Ravel notes. He
urges a new monitoring program to track
MDR in Y. pestis.
MDR Salmonella and E. coli have been found
in droppings from wild geese, raising the
possibility that wild animals might be
able to spread MDR far beyond the
livestock where it originated, Ravel
notes.
"When we identified the first Y. pestis
strain resistant to multiple antibiotics,
we warned that if this type of strain
spreads or emerges again, it would pose a
serious health problem" says co-author
Elisabeth Carniel, head of the Yersinia
Research Unit at the Institut Pasteur in
Paris. "The discovery that the
multiresistance plasmid acquired by the
plague bacillus is widespread in
environmental bacteria reinforces this
warning".
There have been many plague epidemics in
human history, and Y. pestis is believed
to have killed an estimated 200 million
people. Plague is now regarded as a
re-emerging disease, with small outbreaks
all over the world. Because plague is
often fatal, Y. pestis is a potential
agent for bioterrorism. There is no
vaccine, but antibiotics are useful for
treatment and for preventing the disease's
spread. The researchers observe, "Our data
imply that high levels of MDR in the
causative agent of plague may rapidly
evolve naturally, and present a vital
biomedical, public health, and biodefense
threat."
****
Rats invade Joburg suburbs
By SANDRA SHEPPARD
JOHANNESBURG - Rats are becoming a common
sight in the streets of Ferndale and
Blairgowrie in Randburg, as they scuttle
from properties and townhouses.
In the past, these rodents were associated
with filth and refuse. They were common in
slums and the informal settlements. Now,
according to Yvette Pallent of Property
Matters Gauteng, rats have invaded the
suburbs.
"We manage several properties in the
greater Johannesburg area, including five
in Randburg. In every one of these
properties we have been invaded by rats
that are causing problems for our tenants.
"Not only are they unhygienic, but they
live in the rubbish outside homes. I
believe Pikitup is to blame for this
because they often leave full dumpsters
and bins in the street for weeks and even
months."
Rampant development has also caused rat
holes to be exposed and the rats to run
riot, she said.
DA councillor Alison van der Molen said:
"Pikitup ... cannot take full blame for
the rat problem. There are residents and
businesses who do not manage their waste
as they should.
"Pikitup and Environmental Health cannot
single-handedly address this problem. The
community also needs to assist in taking
predator-friendly, pest control measures."
From 1987 to 2003 in Southern Africa,
about 2 421 people died of the plague each
year. About 90% of all bubonic plague
cases occur in southern Africa. - CNS.
*****
.
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