CNN Breaking NEWS. Vials missing from Texas Tech. May contain bubonic plauge.

[Hanpan]

I was just on CNN.com checking out Bush's new plan for university admissions (without quotas) and there was a breaking news banner about some missing vials from Texas Tech. It seems to inidcate one or more of these may contain the bubonic plauge. Anyone have any details?

CNN homepage

Here is a copy of the breaking news banner.

"BREAKING NEWS FBI investigating 35 vials missing from Texas Tech laboratory. City official says some vials contained bubonic plague. Details to come."

There is now a link to the story.

Some exerbs

"There are 35 vials containing samples of the bubonic plague are missing,"

"There have been a number of vials -- 35 is a generally accepted number. They are missing from the health science center. I believe it is inappropriate to characterize them as stolen vials."

"The symptoms are swollen, tender lymph nodes, fever, and extreme exhaustion. Ten to 20 people a year are infected in rural areas of the western United States, while globally there are 1,000 to 3,000 cases a year.

It can be treated with antibiotics, but if it isn't treated promptly, it can cause death. (let's not get too riled up about this.)

About 14 percent of U.S. plague cases are fatal. Millions of Europeans died from bubonic plague in the Middle Ages, when flea-infested rats inhabited homes and workplaces. "

 

[rpc64]

Holy crap. Link?

Edit: Oh, there it is

 

[MacBaine]

Oops... I'll put them back

 

[Kev]

Yay a new thing for everyone to panic about.

 

[Hanpan]

Sorry no real link because other than a brief blurb there is no further information. That is why I was hoping someone might have some insight.

 

[Aceshigh]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
Oops... I'll put them back

LOL

Actually maybe Im wrong but I thought I read somewhere that said the plague wasn't very dangerous with today's medicinal and medical technology, and it would be ineffective used as a weapon. Does anyone have any info on whether this is the case?

 

[pyonir]

i eat bubonic plague for breakfast!

:Q

 

[milagro]

Maybe snoop thought it was the bubonic chronic?

 

[Hanpan]

I believe that is correct. The plauge claimed so many lives in europe mostly because of poor hygiene and relatively dense settlement. Still, one has to wonder what was in the other 34 vials.

 

[vi edit]

You could steal a bunch of prarie dog's from North Eastern Wyoming and Western South Dakota and get the bubonic plauge that way.

 

[bunker]

Taken from the CDC's web site:

Today, modern antibiotics are effective against plague, but if an infected person is not treated promptly, the disease is likely to cause illness or death.

 

[trmiv]

Uh oh, what's Bobby Knight gotten himself into this time?

 

[NakaNaka]

Link to CNN story

Also on the CNN channel. Breaking news. Holy shiznick.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Aceshigh

Originally posted by: MacBaine
Oops... I'll put them back

LOL

Actually maybe Im wrong but I thought I read somewhere that said the plague wasn't very dangerous with today's medicinal and medical technology, and it would be ineffective used as a weapon. Does anyone have any info on whether this is the case?

You're correct. It's not much of a bioweapon by today's standards. Approximately 15% mortality rate when treated.

CDC Plague info page.

EDIT- by comparison, the smallpox mortality rate is more like 30% and even then you'll probably be scarred and possibly even blind.

 

[shiner]

Murphy is driving down the corridor in the Murphmobile, his favorite green go-cart. He's speaking through a megaphone.

Murphy: Attention all personnel. The black death is coming. The black death is coming! The great pestilence is finally upon us! Repent! Repent!

He speeds off down the corridor.

 

[Aceshigh]

Still, if whoever stole these (if they were stolen, and not lost) used them the right way, it could cause panic that would flood our medical system and infrastructure. They could instill fear in some areas and send people running to the doctor or the hospital for every cough and fever.

This is not good news.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Aceshigh
Still, if whoever stole these (if they were stolen, and not lost) used them the right way, it could cause panic that would flood our medical system and infrastructure. They could instill fear in some areas and send people running to the doctor or the hospital for every cough and fever.

This is not good news.

Pretty much the same reason anthrax, despite being a crappy bioweapon, causes such havoc. The name alone scares the crap out of people....they think it's instantly fatal or something.

 

[Anubis]

you do know we can cure teh Plague dont you

 

[NakaNaka]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1
you do know we can cure teh Plague dont you

Do you really want some terrorist, domestic or foreign, getting a hold of it, reproducing it and putting it into the middle of a city? Sure we can cure it through fast treatement in isolated cases. But how can we handle 100,000 people in a city with it?

 

[Hanpan]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1
you do know we can cure teh Plague dont you

Yes I am well aware but initally it was indicated that there might have been other substances in the unaccounted for vials. Furthermore, panic is the goal of terrorists, and most people are not aware that the bubonic plauge is these days not much worse than a nasty flu virus.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: NakaNaka

Originally posted by: TheEvil1
you do know we can cure teh Plague dont you

Do you really want some terrorist, domestic or foreign, getting a hold of it, reproducing it and putting it into the middle of a city? Sure we can cure it through fast treatement in isolated cases. But how can we handle 100,000 people in a city with it?

eh good point

 

[Hammer]

fscking tech

 

[deftron]

The bubonic plague is fairly common in wild rodents ..

Not too hard to find. Some lady in Arizona, I believe, got it from running over a mouse with her lawnmoer.

Anyways, it's not the same as the Black Plague, the famous midieval crisis, which kills you in like 1 day

 

[43st]

Is there an election coming up?

 

[Mill]

This is no suprise to me. Damn Texans!