"Cheese", the bactterial weapon of the ages.

Guardian (UK) ^ | 10.21.02 | unknown

[scouse]

Oct. 18 — Bacteria found in a 2,000-year-old piece of cheese could be the final evidence that this food was a continuous source of infectious disease in the ancient Roman world.

According to a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Infection, a tiny piece of cheese containing disease bacteria was carbonized in the volcanic eruption that one night in late August, 79 A.D. covered Pompeii and the nearby towns of Herculaneum and Stabiae with nine to 20 feet of hot ash and pumice.

About 250 people fled to the beach, trying in vain to escape the molten lava and boiling mud pouring down Mount Vesuvius. They died from extreme thermal shock, wrapped in a 750-degree Fahrenheit cloud. The intense heat and rapid cooling of the mud has left their bones in a remarkable state of preservation, allowing in-depth medical studies.

"Several fugitives of Herculaneum presented typical vertebral lesions caused by brucellosis, a disease of the joints caused by infection with the Brucella melitensis bacterium. Actually, nearly one in five inhabitants suffered from this disease," Luigi Capasso, of the State University G. d'Annunzio in Chieti, Italy, told Discovery News.

Also known as Malta fever, brucellosis is an infection caused by any of several species of the coccobacillus Brucella. It can be passed to humans through contact with infected animals or contaminated milk and milk products. Though rarely fatal in humans, it causes chronic flu-like symptoms: waves of fever, chills, sweating, fatigue, arthritis and weakness.

The remainder of story can be accessed at adress posted

[scouse]

Now you realize why Clinton bombed the milk factory in Iraq.

[mewzilla]

Behold the power of cheese!

[MeekOneGOP]

[scouse]

Wrong addres given, should be "http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20021014/cheese.html" from the Discovery channel.

[leadhead]

How many comments 'till the Moose shows up?

[ikka]

So the cheese slowed them down.

Note however that the 750 F cloud probably is what killed them.

[Navy Patriot]

All your cheese are belong to us.

[mewzilla]

Ah, but which Moose?

[chindog]

A moose bit my sister.

[babaloo999]

I once heard about a moose that was trained to sign complicated insurance forms, and it could mix concrete.

[MeekOneGOP]

How many comments 'till the Moose shows up?

LOL ! I predict it will come on #11.....

[Sally II]

I can see a whole new ad for California Cheese:

Why there so many nutty Liberals in California:
It's the cheese

Seriously, though. I'm a big fan of cheese. And the stronger the better. Favorite cheeses: Cambizola and Tilsit. Yummmmmm!

[DB]

The link takes one to "Archaeologists split hairs over first arrivals"

No more cheese...

[GnL]

Cheesehead bump (Go Packers!)

[TheLion]

A Democrat getting a hand out from big government?

[1234]

DEAD LINK!!

[Maximum Leader]

That's Doctor Moose to you.
:o)

[tet68]

Don't forget the mites in that mighty weapon.

Cheese Mites!! Eat hearty.

[TheLion]

Yuk!