This from a blog discussing the speech at the meeting
http://brenmccnnll.blogspot.com/2006/03/dr.html
Dr. Pianka's talk at the TAS meeting was mostly of the problems humans are causing as we rapidly proliferate around the globe. While what he had to say is way too vast to remember it all, moreover to relay it here in this blog, the bulk of his talk was that he's waiting for the virus that will eventually arise and kill off 90% of human population. In fact, his hope, if you can call it that, is that the ebola virus which attacks humans currently (but only through blood transmission) will mutate with the ebola virus that attacks monkeys airborne to create an airborne ebola virus that attacks humans. He's a radical thinker, that one! I mean, he's basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population!
Worse, the blogger then states
And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he's right.
Humans are far too populous. We've used up our resources, and we're destroying the Earth at an accelerated pace. The more technology we create, the more damage we're capable of doing
The blogger, and many of this guys students are now full converts!
Ebola is 90 per cent lethal in areas where medical services are primitive. Early massive hydration,shock resuscitation and BP pressure support, kidney dialysis support and steroid use would decrease mortality rates considerably...the key, just like in SARS and Bird Flu is to control the immune system to keep it from going into permanent lock-up (which causes the macrophages to literally totally destroy the body while in the process of trying to eliminate the viral invader).
Now one just doesn't find such advanced support in the Congo, or many parts of Asia, or the rainforests of South America!
I understand that those who have survived the disease are permanently immune from it!
