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SMALL POX AND HALLOWEEN CANDY- A short primer on viral disease transmission
Dr. Brian Kopp (proud2bRC)

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.

Candy man
News/Current Events
Source: snopes.com
Published: Oct 20 Author: Snopes.com
Posted on 10/20/01 6:26 PM Eastern by earaiak

I called the Hackensack location (because I grew sick of the false alarms and rumors) and this information is true. Guys be careful a notice just came to me from someone that works in Costco. 2 Arabic guys bought more than $35,000.00 dollars worth of candy, in Wayne $15,000.00 & in Hackensack $20,0000.00. After they left they found out their Costco i.d was fake, & they paid the whole thing cash. The F.B.I. was notified just be careful with your kids for trick o' treating on Halloween!!! i just thought u wanted to know that. DON"T LET THOSE KIDS GO OUT FOR HALLOWEEN!


No kneejerking allowed. So far it hasn't been unsubstantiated. Check out the snopes site for more info: The Candy Man



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
thanks yatch. my take?... even if you keep the kids home, they'd pick up smallpox
after they go back to school... incubation being over a week. whatcha gonna do?

i don't think it'll be any more dangerous for the little ones this year
than earlier years... as my better half pointed out, even if you
take the kids candy away and replace it with some from the supermarket, how
would you know that you didn't buy some "bad" candy?

as always, i'll walk my small ones through the neighborhood, to the houses
of folks i know... and for the rest of it... can't do much. pray, stay vigilant.

i think if they mess with our kids, it's gonna get very un-pc out.

shoot straight. shoot safe. practice. carry. glock rocks

141 posted on 10/21/2001 4:10:04 PM PDT by glock rocks
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To: proud2bRC
Other Free Republic threads regarding smallpox
142 posted on 10/21/2001 4:14:02 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: glock rocks
even if you keep the kids home, they'd pick up smallpox after they go back to school

At times like this I'm glad we home school...

...but, unless I shut down my podiatry practice and move to the hills to a safe house fully outfitted with a couple months supply, and stay 100% quarantined away from society, we're going to be exposed. I'm not planning on running to the hills.

However, if anyone threatens my children they will meet my friends, H & K:


143 posted on 10/21/2001 4:22:05 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: GeorgeandtheDralgore
Stories like this are adding to the hysteria!
144 posted on 10/21/2001 4:25:32 PM PDT by AZConcervative
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To: Sabertooth
ahhhhhhh excuse me.....avoid HALLOWEEN (pagan holiday) CANDY! That is a great start! SHEEEEESH they have given all of YOU A FRIGGING HEADS UP!

It will be the SNEAKY crap you should all be obsessing over (if you don't have a life and want to waste your time obsessing)...like the gasoline pump handles, patriotic t-shirts hanging on a rack in a large public mall on sale for 50% off(no woman can avoid that!), potatoes lying in a grocery store...get real, the terrorists have another slew of victims....all of you obsessing over a pagan ritual begging for candy...

I guess the "Only thing to fear is fear itself" is wasted on a whole lot of you...

AND let's face facts...just the WHOLE sneakiness of this EVENT has caused more hullabahoo then any poisoning so far...sheesh people...get a grip!

145 posted on 10/21/2001 4:28:05 PM PDT by antivenom
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To: proud2bRC
However, if anyone threatens my children they will meet my friends, H & K:

mmmmm. h&k. good for you, Doctor.

i see we are of a similar mind on this.




146 posted on 10/21/2001 4:34:37 PM PDT by glock rocks
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To: antivenom
Failing again to acknowledge that the FBI has taken people into custody in this case.

SHEEEEESH indeed.

147 posted on 10/21/2001 4:36:15 PM PDT by Sabertooth
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To: rwfromkansas
Your# 97)
Just what would they do w/the candy though? They can't give it out to half the nation's youth?

1. Day Care Centers.
2. Day Care Centers.
3. Day Care Centers.
:-(

148 posted on 10/21/2001 4:38:27 PM PDT by maestro
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To: maestro
1. Old Age Nursing Homes.
2. Old Age Nursing Homes.
3. Old Age Nursing Homes.
:-(
149 posted on 10/21/2001 4:42:54 PM PDT by maestro
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To: Sabertooth
Failing again to acknowledge that the FBI has taken people into custody in this case.

Oh, that makes me feel better. The wonderful Eff Bee Eye. Who will be passing out the tainted candy--Lon Horiuchi?

150 posted on 10/21/2001 4:49:46 PM PDT by Palladin
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
Tonkin, your offer to "taste" the M&M's for CheneyChick reminded me of the old joke about the kid who goes to visit his grandmother in the nursing home. She is sleeping so he sits patiently by her bed. He notices a dish of peanuts on the bedside table and munches on some while waiting. The Grandmother eventually awakens and after visiting a little bit the boy asks his grandmother where she got the peanuts. She says, "oh those, I don't like peanuts so I suck the candy and chocolate off the m&m's and spit out the peanuts"..... (I know, ugh...... lol)
151 posted on 10/21/2001 4:56:45 PM PDT by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA
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To: rwfromkansas
"Just what would they do w/the candy though? They can't give it out to half the nation's youth?"

If you infect enough children, they'll be back at school and highly contagious for two weeks before the disease manifests. Smallpox would roar through the unvaccinated kids in our schools like a forest fire.

And those of us with older vaccinations would not necessarily be immune.

152 posted on 10/21/2001 4:59:51 PM PDT by Sabertooth
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To: blam
........ However, I do have one question, Can dogs, cats or birds spread small pox to humans? I have lots of birds around here.

No, dogs, cats or birds cannot spread small pox. It is strictly a human disease.

153 posted on 10/21/2001 5:00:15 PM PDT by nimdoc
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To: nimdoc
"No, dogs, cats or birds cannot spread small pox. It is strictly a human disease."

Thank you. I'm all set then.

154 posted on 10/21/2001 5:05:28 PM PDT by blam
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To: Sabertooth
If you infect enough children, they'll be back at school and highly contagious for two weeks before the disease manifests. Smallpox would roar through the unvaccinated kids in our schools like a forest fire.

Not quite right. Smallpox is not contagious until a rash appears. This is 24-48 hours after the onset of fever, abdominal pain, etc. You are pretty sick before you are contagious.

I am a parent and I can verify that lots of sick, feverish kids get sent to school because no one is home to care for them. Smallpox would spread faster than wildfire.

And those of us with older vaccinations would not necessarily be immune

Booster shots are recommended every 10 years. Us old folks might have a little protection, but don’t count on it. (I got my vaccination, but I guess that I missed out on the boosters.)

155 posted on 10/21/2001 5:13:13 PM PDT by nimdoc
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To: Sabertooth
Biological Warfare Agents

Smallpox (Variola Virus) is a lethal infection caused by the variola virus which has at least two strains, variola major and variola minor.  Cases of smallpox date back over 2000 years, and is the oldest-known human pathogen.  Conquistadors brought the disease from Spain during the 1700s and it was transmitted to tha American Indians, which wiped out over 90% of the population over the next 100 years.  It is believed that Ramses V, the Egyptian pharaoh who died in 1157 B.C., may have had pock marks on his mummified face.  Naturally occuring smallpox was declared erdicated from the earth in 1980 by the World Health Organization (WHO), a branch of the U.N.  The last reported case in the world occured in Somalia in 1977.  Two laboratories in the world still hold the last-known stocks of variola virus: the CDC in Atlanta, and VECTOR in Novizbersk, Russia.  Clandestine stocks could exsist in other parts of the world, but are as yet unknown.  If they do exsist, smallpox could come into the hands of terrorists and be used as a biological weapon.

     Vaccination of civilians in the U.S. was discontinued in the early 1980s, although some military forces vaccinated until 1989 may still retain some immunity.  Children, who are no longer vaccinated, would be at great risk from exposure to smallpox.  The Japanese government considered using smallpox as a biological weapon during World War II and the virus has been considered a threat to U.S. military forces for many years.  Monkeypox and cowpox are closely related to variola and might be genetically manipulated to produce a smallpox-like virus.

     Once exposure to the smallpox virus occurs, the incubation period is approximately 12 days.  Those who may have contacted exposed persons are quarantined for a minimum of 16 to 17 days following the exposure.  Symptoms of smallpox include malaise, fever, rigors, vomiting, headache, and backache, and about 15% of the patients develop delirium (hallucinations).  In approximately 2 to 3 days, an enanthem develops concomitantly with a particular rash on the face, hands, and forearms.  This is followed by eruptions on the lower extremities and  the trunk of the body, which occur over a week's time.  Lesions progress from discolored spots flush with the surface of the skin to raised spots on the skin, and finally to an inflamed swelling containing pus on the skin (skin blisters).  Lesions are more abundant on the extremities and face, which is important in the diagnosis of the disease.  Within 8 to 14 days, scabs form on the skin blisters.  Once the scab falls off, a discolored depression is left behind.  As long as the scabs are in place the patient is considered contagious and should be isolated.


156 posted on 10/21/2001 5:13:57 PM PDT by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: nimdoc
Incubation time for smallpox is 12-14 days
157 posted on 10/21/2001 5:20:27 PM PDT by nimdoc
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To: Paul C. Jesup
They stopped vaccinating children in 1972. Our son was born in 1973 and I wanted to have him vaccinated even though it was no longer required but was told the vaccine was no longer available because smallpox had been "wiped out."

This is scary, folks. Some people are taking this smallpox threat too lightly. Better to be safe than sorry.

158 posted on 10/21/2001 5:26:24 PM PDT by RottiBiz
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To: No_Doll_i
This virus is quite persistent..from Jane's NBC Defence Systems, under Variola Virus, page 16(1998-1999), posted under fair use... "Epidemicity is high, depending on the immunity status of populationand exposure to the disease. The virus is viable in water for several years at 22 to 27øC and isresistant in dry or wet form to very low temperatures. In the drystate it is more resistant than in the wet state. Decontamination canbe effected by exposure to alcohol and acetone for one hour at roomtemperature, but the virus is resistant to some other disinfectants. Moist heat above 78øC and dry heat above 118øC are effective in 10minutes."
159 posted on 10/21/2001 5:33:51 PM PDT by Thisiswhoweare
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To: Thisiswhoweare
Anything there on smallpox decontamination via some form of radiation? UV?
160 posted on 10/21/2001 5:39:49 PM PDT by Sabertooth
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