Posted on 09/21/2009 11:55:48 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
CHICAGO (Reuters) Public health officials are investigating the death of a University of Chicago researcher who studied plague bacteria and was found to have the microbe in his blood, university officials said on Monday.
Malcolm Casadaban, who died on September 13, was researching a weakened strain of the plague bacteria Yersinia pestis. Because it is missing key proteins, the strain is not normally harmful to people.
Medical center spokesman John Easton said Casadaban had the laboratory strain of Yersinia pestis in his blood, suggesting he had a form of the infection known as septicemic plague, which can kill even before the symptoms begin.
"This organism has been studied in the lab for 40-plus years. This is the first time this has happened," Kenneth Alexander, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Chicago Medical Center, said in a telephone interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
...and these are the people who are digging up the 1918 flu virus from old graves, because it’s “perfectly safe”.
This is the first time this has happened. Always wonder how many incidents we don’t know about.
Quote from a scientist regarding this.
“We need to find out why a strain of this bacteria killed someone when it’s not supposed to be able to kill someone” (paraphrased)
Uhhh, YA THINK???
"Weakened" <> "harmless". You get something that reproduces as fast as Y. pestis into your bloodstream and you're going to have problems. Fortunately it isn't particularly communicable unless somebody gets into contact with the blood. I'm guessing needle stick, myself. That's taken off a lot of researchers.
Was 0be exposed?
Scary news - plane crashes with vials of viruses aboard
Snippet: .........a small aircraft from a Federal Express feeder carrier has crashed near Winnipeg -- with small amounts of flu and herpes virus aboard. According to the report, Cessna 208 of Edmonton-based Morningstar Air Express crashed on a flight to Thunder Bay, Ontario from Winnipeg when it crashed on railway tracks. Aboard it were six vials of virus samples being transported to Thunder Bay for research purposes. The plane's pilot was killed in the crash. It is believed the vials were destroyed in the crash and did not endanger anybody on the ground, according to an investigator from Canada's Transportation Safety Board. Weather may have been a factor in the crash. ------- Now this should scare the pants off people. Think of a crash where there is no fire and the virus escapes into the air.... yikes!
Sounds as nasty as it is.
Gee, now I know what to get Hussein for Christmas!
Having worked in a biochemistry lab as a tech for three years, culturing and titrating stuff worse than this, I can say with 99% certainty that they guy was careless.
Sorry. Heartless. True.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
or
Smart people do stupid things.
I had a Grad student friend who did field research on Dengi Fever... she wore a custom made medi-alert braclet that explained she was allergic to every possible treatment (Anti-biotics). She really wanted that PHD, luckily she lived to graduate.
Just to clarify, if correctly diagnosed, he died from a blood infection of the pathogen. The bacteria have a scary name, but no worse in many ways that a septicemic “staph” infection.
translation: He had a cut on his hands, arms or face, and broke protocol during his work. The bacteria got in the cut, and into his blood stream. He was septic. He got sick and died.
Another report (most likely the same guy - same date of death, though the original report didn’t have his name).
I am VERY suspicious of WHY they ares studying such awful diseases. Since people don’t have a problem with them today, the only other reason would be to CAUSE them again.
Chicago. A convenient little mini-outbreak could accomplish two things. An emergency (to not go unwasted) AND getting rid of any Chicago would-be tattle-tales about who knows what? I feel sometimes like I am living in a soap opera and the real world just dissolved somehow. Help us all.
The USOC and Michelle Obama want to snag the Olympics for Chicago in 2016.
“Medical center spokesman John Easton said Casadaban had the laboratory strain of Yersinia pestis in his blood, suggesting he had a form of the infection known as septicemic plague, which can kill even before the symptoms begin.”
What a very stupid sentence. The end of symptoms is death.
The symptomatic period may be very brief.. and death rapid.
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