LOL, just my typo when I registered.
'68-'69
Posted on 10/21/2001 10:34:13 AM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
A short primer on viral disease transmission. Many viral diseases are transmitted via fomites:
fomite
SYLLABICATION: fo·mite
PRONUNCIATION: fmt
NOUN: An inanimate object or substance that is capable of transmitting infectious organisms from one individual to another.
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from New Latin fmits, pl. of Latin fmes, tinder, from fovre, to warm. See dhegwh- in Appendix I.
In other words, you touch something, get the virus on your hand, then touch you face, mouth, nose or other mucus membrane.
Candy wrappers would be a perfect fomite because the act of handling the candy wrapper occurs immediately before the contact with the mouth.
In other words, no need to inject anything.
Just a light dusting of smallpox virus in the form or a powder. If done correctly it would be undetectable.
And unlike anthrax, which requires thousands of huge bacterial spores be inhaled into the lungs, relatively few microscopic smallpox viruses would be required. And nasal exposure would be sufficient to cause full blown infection, whereas nasal exposure with anthrax is relatively harmless.
No trick or treating for my kids this year.
News/Current Events
Source: Bergen NJ Record
Published: October 20, 2001 Author: MITCHEL MADDUX and PETER POCHNA
Posted on 10/20/01 11:17 PM Eastern by spycatcher
"We have been advised and we are looking into the incident of a gentleman buying large quantities of candy," said Sandra Carroll, an FBI spokeswoman in Newark.
Carroll declined to identify the purchaser, but indicated that he is in federal custody for immigration law reasons not related to the purchase of the candy.
"I cannot comment on INS detainees," Carroll said.
Carroll said it would be premature to draw conclusions about the purchaser's intent for the candy, which agents had not found by Friday night. She declined to describe the candy.
"We have no evidence or information for us to suspect there is any reason to cancel scheduled events," Carroll said when asked if the FBI had concerns about the safety of Halloween. "However, the public is encouraged to remain alert but calm."
Hackensack police took a report from Costco about the candy purchase at the Hackensack store at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday. The police then contacted the FBI.
"They told us to stay out of it," said Hackensack Police Chief Charles "Ken" Zisa.
Zisa said the FBI had already learned about the purchase. A local Costco manager had reported the incident to corporate headquarters, near Seattle, and had sent a videotape from a store security camera, Zisa said.
An official at Costco's corporate headquarters said Friday night that no one was available to comment on the matter. Another Costco official, who declined to be identified, said such large purchases from the chain of wholesale grocery and household goods stores are not uncommon.
Kerry Gill, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Newark, said he could not discuss the case because of confidentiality policies.
News/Current Events
Source: snopes.com
Published: Oct 20 Author: Snopes.com
Posted on 10/20/01 6:26 PM Eastern by earaiak
No kneejerking allowed. So far it hasn't been unsubstantiated. Check out the snopes site for more info: The Candy Man
My, that's a bit of a sweet tooth you got there.
Where are you getting this from?
That is not what the story said. It said they bought $35,000 worth of candy, not that they returned it. Any store that puts an opened bag of returned candy back on the shelf is begging for a lawsuit. If that candy contained smallpox and hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands died from it, the resulting lawsuit would wipe that store chain off the face of the earth.
Trick-or-treating people you know, who have kids of their own, should be safe. Don't go anywhere else.
Bad news: months.
http://www.domtalk.com/shownotes.html
This link it to a local radio station I listen to once in a while. Read the "Wednesday" notes. The candy was RETURNED. And, I listened to part of the show and it was confirmed that the candy was put back on the shelves after the health department "couldn't see anything wrong with the candy". Let me ask you a question. Would you eat this candy knowing what actually happened?
Ya' think it would be a little overboard if I put some of my wife's red gloss nail polish on their little bayonettes?
So what's the deal?
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