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Did Mosquito Bite Defeat Alexander?
Sunspot net ^
| 12-13-2003
| Heather Dewar
Posted on 12/13/2003 5:54:51 PM PST by blam
Did mosquito bite defeat Alexander?
Virus: An epidemiologist believes dying ravens are a sign that West Nile killed the Greek emperor.
By Heather Dewar
Sun Staff
Originally published December 13, 2003
When Alexander the Great stood at the gates of Babylon in 323 B.C., the story goes, a flight of ravens fell dead at his feet.
It was a bad omen, according to the soothsayers. Within two weeks the conqueror of an empire that stretched from Greece to India was dead, at age 32, of a mysterious illness.
Doctors and historians have speculated for centuries about the cause of this battle-hardened warrior's death. In 1998 two University of Maryland Medical Center physicians said he probably died of typhoid, which can cause the chills, fever, abdominal pain and delirium that Alexander suffered.
(Excerpt) Read more at sunspot.net ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alexander; bite; defeat; mosquito
1
posted on
12/13/2003 5:54:51 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
2
posted on
12/13/2003 5:57:18 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
Interesting!
Myth and legend so often based on fact!
3
posted on
12/13/2003 5:58:49 PM PST
by
tet68
To: blam
Mosquitoes can kill
Even a great Emperor.
Thank God for Yard Guard.
4
posted on
12/13/2003 6:01:05 PM PST
by
WinOne4TheGipper
(I'm only replying in haikus today.)
To: blam
I seem to remember reading that he was wounded in the thigh by a spear and the wound infected resulting in his death.
5
posted on
12/13/2003 6:01:28 PM PST
by
AEMILIUS PAULUS
(Further, the statement assumed)
To: blam
...there's a skeeter on my p*t*r KNOCK IT OFF!, there's a skeeter on my p*t*r KNOCK IT OFF!, there's a skeeter on my p*t*r, there's a skeeter on my p*t*r, there's a skeeter on my p*t*r KNOCK IT OFF!,
we regret any inconvience you may have had, We now return you to your regular program already in progress.
6
posted on
12/13/2003 6:01:49 PM PST
by
Khurkris
(Ranger On...)
To: Khurkris
Warning! Some swelling MAY occur. Pack infested area in ice.
7
posted on
12/13/2003 6:03:39 PM PST
by
tet68
To: blam
Mosquitos just suck, I mean it they really suck.
8
posted on
12/13/2003 6:12:46 PM PST
by
TexasTransplant
("I hate rude behavior in a man, I won't tolerate it" Captain Woodrow F. Call)
To: blam
Dang it Blam I missed the perfect opportunity to float my new Tagline.
9
posted on
12/13/2003 6:15:40 PM PST
by
TexasTransplant
(What we need is Anti-Viagra for the Government, now thats some spam I will read!)
To: blam
What about any of the other equine encphalitis diseases which also kill birds? [Eastern equine encephalitis, western equine enchaphalitis, St. Louis equine encephalitis, Venezuelean equine encephalitis, for example.] What about other diseases which can affect birds and man?
Looks to me like this guy had a little too much spare time on his hands.
To: blam
But today, across the Potomac, the Virginia Health Department's chief epidemiologist says those dying ravens weren't omens, but clues. Alexander may have been history's most famous victim of West Nile virus, John Marr claims.
So Silent Spring missed it.
11
posted on
12/13/2003 6:24:35 PM PST
by
gitmo
(Who is John Galt?)
To: blam
didn't he take it up the butt? perhaps he died of an ancient form of AIDS.
To: blam
....a flight of ravens fell dead at his feet...,[which] was a bad omen, according to the soothsayersI'd say a bunch of big black birds falling out of the sky next to you would be a bad deal in any context!
13
posted on
12/13/2003 6:52:46 PM PST
by
expatpat
To: expatpat
"I'd say a bunch of big black birds falling out of the sky next to you would be a bad deal in any context!"
Probably beats having them falling into you, depending upon the size of the birds.
To: blam
btt
15
posted on
12/13/2003 7:10:52 PM PST
by
mel
To: blam
bttfl
16
posted on
12/13/2003 7:21:02 PM PST
by
Cacique
To: blam
Moabites, Edomites, Mosquitobites. . . .
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