Mystery Illness Thread (press Conference @ 1pm est.)

15 March 2003 | KickRightRudder

[KickRightRudder]

MSNBC reports mystery illness in Asia-kills every one infected so far. Hundreds more infected. Airlner to Toronto with infected man has been quarentined-- all passengers.

CDC is "EXTREMELY concerned". If these hundreds who are infected die in the next couple of days, we might have the beginnings of a panic. After sophisticated test doctors don't know what it is. Like flu or Pnemonia symptoms, except everybody dies. Press conference at 1pm.

[Lady Jag]

Thanks, I'll check out your links.

[Carry_Okie]

Guangdong province, which adjoins Hong Kong in China, reported 305 cases by mid-February, including 5 deaths.

Hardly universally fatal, especially considering the capability of Chinese hospitals (my wife has toured several).

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I don't think anyone would take wild speculation (which is all it was) that far...then again, it's happened before.

[ken5050]

Tin foil hat trhy-on alert...If at the start of the Iraq war, we're concerned about airline security, and we'd like to shut down incomingflights into the US for a few days, until the war is over, WITHOUT causing a panic and bankrupting the airlines..well, a medical quarantine for a few days might be the ticket.......if so, then

[jacquej]

I was being partly sarcastic, Scott. But, if I remember right, China isn't exactly on our side in the UN... so, I think it is not beyond the pale to wonder which biological wmd could cause similar sypmtoms. Of course, we needn't draw any dire conclusions prematurely...

[diamond6]

Thats what I was thinking too!

[RightWhale]

Just the thing to do with a contagious disease, get on an international flight.

Especially hot epidemics burn themselves out quickly so they don't spread, so goes the theory. However, if the carriers are travelling anyway, such as during WW I or during the Crusades, flu or Black Death can spread all over. Will the public cry out if anyone with symptoms is booted from an international or even a commuter flight? Who knows what the famous epidemiologists on the Ninth Circuit Court will decide.

[KickRightRudder]

Feel free to flame me if I have over hyped this. I should know better than to listen to MSNBC news.

[Domestic Church]

"and authorities have specifically stated they do not believe the outbreak is terrorism related."

Otherwise they are saying it possibly is germ warfare but they want to keep the lid on that info. Note the Doc who treated this guy in Hanoi just had to immediately come to NY!

[Boundless]

> Maybe this CDC press conf. will shed some light.

And for some historical context on flu mortality rates,
here's a quote re the 1918 "Spanish" flu epidemic that
killed between 20,000,000 and 40,000,000 people before
it wound down.

"The disease was also exceptionally severe, with mortality
rates of over 2.5% among the infected, compared to less
than 0.1% in other influenza epidemics. Some isolated
populations had mortality rates greater than 70%."

Flu virus varies from flu season to flu season. It is
fully expected that eventually we'll get another one
as nasty as the 1918. This could be it. No bio-terrorism
explanation is necessary, although had it started in a
suspicious target locale like Israel, the question would
need to be raised.

[birdwoman]

But where is this news conference?? It is almost 1:30 now.

[Dog Gone]

Deadly flu, global killer

• 1918, Spanish flu: Hit up to 40 per cent of world population, and killed over 20 million people. Many people died very quickly, while others died of complications such as pneumonia.

• 1957, Asian flu: This virus was identified more quickly, due to advances in science, but not before killing 1 million people.

• 1968, Hongkong flu: Was fatal mainly to the old - those over the age of 65 were its main victims. It claimed about 800,000 lives.

• 1997, Bird flu: The avian virus crossed over into humans, killing six people and prompting the government to slaughter all 1.4 million chickens in Hongkong, and triggering worldwide alarm. Some scientists believe it is only a matter of time before a similar pandemic recurs, as the flu virus is capable of mutating to avoid immune system defences and vaccines deployed against it.

[per loin]

I'm unsure of how firm our public health laws are, and having the Ninth interpreting them could be a disaster.

So far I count this thing as being in eight or nine countries, which seems too high a number given the limited number of total cases.

[Dane]

Note the Doc who treated this guy in Hanoi just had to immediately come to NY!

Actually the doc who was taken off the plane in Frankfurt was from Singapore and was one of the doctors treating the SARS syndrome cases in Singapore.

I beleive he was in NY for a pharmecutical conference.

[maestro]

This could solve,...."The Social Security Problem"...?....is this 'flu',...called, "Saddam's Bug"...?

Terrible thoughts!

:-(

[per loin]

But where is this news conference?? It is almost 1:30 now.

Perhaps the staff is loading pallets of Ensure onto their boats.

[null and void]

But where is this news conference?? It is almost 1:30 now.

They're too sick to come to the phone right now...

[Chancellor Palpatine]

That was my thought. Creepy.

[Carry_Okie]

Feel free to flame me if I have over hyped this. I should know better than to listen to MSNBC news.

Oh, you look to be counducting sufficient self-flagellation at this point. We've all done this one at least once. It's a good lesson: A suspicion of fear-mongering is a healthy thing in dealing with the mass-mediots.

[null and void]

"and authorities have specifically stated they do not believe the outbreak is terrorism related."

From the same people who said flt 587 wasn't terrorism before the fires in Rockaway were even out...