UN Warns of Worldwide Threat from Killer Pneumonia

reuters.com ^ | Sat March 15, 2003 11:21 AM ET | Richard Waddington

[Aaron0617]

Is this the ends times or what? (If I was religous that is).

A Prime Minister assasinated this week, Elizabeth Smart returns from the dead, preparing for a possible war next week and now a new incurable pneumonia from Asia.

It seems rather ominous, but I think we'll survive. (maybe)

[Maeve]

We need to shut down the airlines right now.

[greasepaint]

In a related story, American Airlines, NYSE symbol: AMR,
is planning to add a non-pneumonia section to
its aircraft.

[MindBender26]

There is a great book on this issue: "The Cobra Event."

[Robert_Paulson2]

What exactly would an assymetrical biological attack look like?

[Barnacle]

I'll worry about this when it starts killing Americans who haven't traveled abroad, in American hospitals.

I regret that your patience may soon be rewarded.

[bonesmccoy]

It would appear initially as a few cases of unusual disease, probably respiratory. Initial cases would eventually succumb in a few days due to lack of diagnostics.

The index cases are then identified and ring quarantine occurs in order to limit contagion.

IMHO, ring quarantine is an idiotic idea and these reports prove so. Air travel is so easy that movement is a piece of cake. Unless you start limiting movement of people, you can't limit spread of the disease.

[bonesmccoy]

Tom/Jim

I wonder if it's starting.

- Bones

[Barnacle]

How contagious could this really be, its only infected about 155 people in CHINA.

That number could be 15,500 tomorrow.

[Mo1]

Some 155 other passengers who had been due to change planes or stay in Frankfurt were placed in quarantine there, while the remaining 85 passengers and 20 crew on the Singapore Airlines flight continued their journey, German officials said.

They quarantine the whole plane?? .. WOW

[Jim Noble]

>>We need to shut down the airlines right now<<

Unquestionably correct.

Zero chance-wouldn't be prudent.

[bonesmccoy]

a one week incubation period suggests viral response. IgM takes one week to begin to appear in sufficient quantities to flag a biochemical assay.

[TomB]

I wonder if it's starting.

LOL. I was just about to ping you and aruanan and ask the same thing.

Honestly, I think not. But I'll be interested to hear how this develops in the next 24-36 hours.

[bonesmccoy]

should we start a thread like the one we did on Columbia?

We can search for info on this thing and stay technical.

[bonesmccoy]

we're not getting very good info from CDC.
Hell, I went to their website and that lousy good-for-nothing announcement gave NO clinical data and NO case report.

What good is that?

[Phredd23]

I sincerely hope the UN passes a resolution before this thing gets out of hand.....

[bonesmccoy]

The lamers in the US federal gov't who keep depending on the UN to make up their minds should retire.

[mrb1960]

Ok all you armchair experts, I wanna know.

Could this be some type of bio-terrorism???

[Destro]

No--it is an outbreak.