Sick Rams Used As Ancient Bioweapons

Discovery Channel ^ | Rossella Lorenzi

[Red Badger]

WMD’s in the 14th century BC!.....Weapons of Mammalian Diseases!...........

[samson1097]

Lies, all of it. The White Man used them first to wipe out the Native Americans. My public school teacher told me so. /s

[Ultra Sonic 007]

GGG ping?

Or military history ping?

[CholeraJoe]

A disease lasting 35-40 years, infecting humans and animals, causing fever, disabilities, and death, spreading via rodents aboard ships as well as donkeys, points to Francisella tularensis.

The rodents were merely pack mules for the arthropod vectors. Last time I counted there were 14 or 15 diseases associated with rodents. Absent microbial evidence, two or three of these could be to blame including plague and anthrax.

[null and void]

Hmmmmmm. Infected goats. Middle East.

Is anyone thinking what I’m thinking?

[indcons]

Definitely a MilHist ping...will send it out after I get home today. Thanks, Ultra Sonic 007.

[RichInOC]

My first thought, oddly enough, involved Peter Stormare and a trebuchet. (”You know what ve gonna do nowwwwww?”)

My second thought was...can people catch Creutzfeld-Jakob through sexual contact?

[null and void]

Close. I was wondering if tularemia could be an STD...

[RichInOC]

Nasty. I like that.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"Is anyone thinking what I’m thinking?"





Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

I think so Brain; but we'll never get a monkey to use dental floss.

[Impugn]

My kid contracted Tularemia about a year and a half ago. Was one of only about forty people in the U.S. (at that point) to get it that year (better chance of getting hit by lightning - twice, I figure).

I can tell you it was a nasty, miserable experience. The stuff is so toxic that when they performed surgery on him to drain the nasty junk out of his neck, they had to do it wearing bio-hazard suits. He was on I.V. antibiotics nonstop and probably had to get a new "stick" once or twice a day (kept jamming up). In the end, it was sixteen days in the hospital - fortunately it was A.I. DuPont Childrens'...an excellent outfit.

It happened in June - the outpatient antibiotics they put him on after being discharged kept him inside, though (couldn't be exposed to sunlight). Crappy summer for the boy. Fortunately for him, he was back into shape and spirit by the start of football season (first week of August) and had a tremendous year.

The infectious diseases doctor actually had to report the case to the Department of Homeland Security - it truly is one of the bio-toxins that could be used by terrorists.

I cannot imagine how the ancients would have fared against this disease given the level of medical expertise they likely had. Dreadful.

[Impugn]

Oh, in case you might be wondering how he contracted it, we suspect it was from a tick bite during one of our days at the park.

It is called "rabbit fever" because rabbits can carry the disease. It was a far more common malady when people used to frequently hunt/eat rabbits - if you cut yourself while skinning the rabbit, you could get sick.

The theory is that he got bit by a tick that had recently bit an infected rabbit. No need to worry, however...the odds are tremendously low of getting it.

[Natural Law]

"I was wondering if tularemia could be an STD..."

Only in Scotland.

[null and void]

Scotland is sheep.

These are goats, more a Middle Eastern thang...

[Hardcorps]

New study??? I know I am getting old but I do remember being taught about this while attending Biological/chemical warfare school in 1960. Oh well, studies show that studies show. SF

[Natural Law]

Goats would be Texas

[null and void]

Texas? Don't be silly! There's a reason they call 'em Cowpokes...

[Dr. Sivana]

I thought this was about the St. Louis Rams beat-up offensive line

[SunkenCiv]

One of those topics.

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