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Missing Lab Mice Infected With Plague
Buford C Nuzzle-Chunks writes "PhysOrg is reporting that 'The FBI and New Jersey officials have started a hushed but intensive search for three missing lab mice reportedly infected with deadly strains of plague'. The Washington Post says it's not that big a deal, but I was dismayed at the PhysOrg article's quote from Richard Ebright, a Rutgers University microbiologist, about certain federal bio-terrorism labs: 'You have more security at a McDonald's than at some of these facilities.'"
If they're "infected wqith a deadly plague," perhaps they simply died?
It's always nice to see that the people who deal with dangerous biohazard materials are so careful with what they do. I guess you just get complacent after awhile... it happens with everything. It's unfortunate that there aren't better routines and checks in place to be absolutely certain this kind of thing doesn't happen.
;-)
Even if it's no big deal this time, who's to say what could happen in the future if mutant infected lab animals are allowed to roam free?
I store my recipes online (the way nature intended)
As GW would say..."They're doing a great job!"
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
I don't get those PETA/ALF types....
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
On the contrary, plauge spreads from the fleas on rats biting other rats and humans and other animals. I think we have a lot to worry about. Especially with other catastorphies on the horizon like the avian flu. Link that with a lot of AIDS compromised immune systems and all those other people on steroids and other medication that compromises the immune system and we have a unique situatation that has not existed before when pandemics were present.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Umm... Get your stereoypes straight.
The retarded monkey became president.
The rage infected monkey became the leader of the Democratic Party.
Given that plague isn't a rare phenomenon (especially out West), I don't see too much to be concerned about with regards to infected mice running around. Some streptomycin or gentamycin should fix the problem. The article made this sound like it was wild-type Y. pestis, but if it were a hypervirulent type (which they wouldn't indicate), then I would be very concerned. The Soviet Union developed antibiotic-resistant strains of Y. pestis and the Japanese actually used it as a weapon against the Chinese (by dropping infected fleas from airplanes).
Given the tidbits of information that have been published on N. Korea's BW program, I'm sure there are places in the US that study hypervirulent BW agents.
I'm just amazed by the lack of security at this place, which should be BSLIII (the second highest level of containment).
Or be very happy that this will teach the evils of modern antibiotics. Sure people will die. But people will LIVE better afterwards.
This is a complete NON-Story that has its roots in the Patriot Act.
First. As glarvat mentioned, the plaque is everywhere. In NM, my home state, rabbits, prarie dogs, gophers, you name it carry the plaque. So if Osama wants to get ahold of some Yersinia pestis he need look no further than the bushes outside his mud-brick hut in Northwestern Pakistan.
Second. The real reason this is an issue is because of the professor from Texas who had apparently misplaced some samples of the Ames strain of Anthrax, which is commonplace in many labs across the country. Now he's in prison. There are details of the case all over the web, but just like everyone else in every profession, as scientists, we make mistakes, don't take perfect notes, misplace things, lose things, etc.
Given that these mice--and a vial of Ames Anthrax--are not a threat and are widely available using simple techniques all over the globe, the normal response would be to note the discrepancy, tell the boss and continue with your work. Work that--you know--is designed to combat these same bugs and actually do something good for Society.
So in the past, this has surely happend at many labs and there were no problems and there really isn't an threat to the public. Now, the FBI swoops in, asks questions, then tries to catch the professor making a misstatement. Even though the original offense, not taking good enough notes about what happened to the mice, is not a crime, the professor will find himself fired, or in jail, or both.
Mice don't have RFID tags and the need to be moved into new cages 2 or 3 times a week. Although not common, they do get misplaced during cage transfers and or experimental procedures. Unfortunately, this professor will likely lose his job because of a simple mistake.
Welcome to 1984.
If you saw the movie with Robin Williams about a doctor that found a treatment for severly autistic patients that brought them back to full life for awhile until the treatment lost its effect and the went back to an unresponsive state. The same can be seen happening with modern antibiotics. The things it used to treat have evolved past and around those treatments so there are more and more desease resistant strains that we have no cure for. In another hundred years we may end up where we started with just as many pathogens killing us as was the case before antibiotics were invented.
Its our grandchildren that may suffer and die because of our irresponsible use of modern medicine. I know my father had to have 6 operations including 3 leg bypass operations and an artificial knee removed and replaced because a strain of bacteria has become antibiotic resistant because we have miss used that technology. He lost 2 years of his life being essentially bed ridden. So I see both sides, the benefit and the cost. If you don't realize there is a cost for unrestrained behaviour, or if you think that modern medicine cures problems for good you had better do some more research.
My point was that modern medicine with transplant patients and other patients on cortical steroids and related drugs have comprimised immune systems which means if a nasty pandemic occures they are at extremely high risk. The avian flue is an example. Just last night in Nightline they talks about the fact that there is "NO" vacine for it as yet and if it mutates to a human to human transmission we could be looking at an epidemic that would rival the 1918 outbreak of Spanish Flu which if I remember right killed about 200,000 in this country alone. The vacine would take about 6mo to create after the pandemic started and they said that no living human has ever encountered this before so there is not natural immunities build up anywhere. They say about a 50% mortality rate from what they have seen.
In the article they talk about a nasty version of Plague, well if is gets out I think no one living has build up immunity for that either, so we could be in for an interesting year.