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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.'"
Someone to build a better mousetrap!
Some settling may occur during posting.
... just as soon as we capture the last of these rage infected monkeys.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Not so hushed now, is it?
In any case, they're just mice... Don't Panic.
If they're "infected wqith a deadly plague," perhaps they simply died?
"'You have more security at a McDonald's than at some of these facilities.'"
Given what they serve at McDonalds, thats probably a good thing. I'd rather take my chances with the mice.
Just build a McDonald's at each of these facilities... Boom! You have your security, and the burger joint has a fresh supply of ingredients on hand.
We're talking about New Jersey. I could understand being concerned if it was somewhere else, but New Jersey? This probably improves the environment and air quality there.
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)
Three plagued mice, come on everybody sing along....... Three plagued mice.....
I heard that they ran off with the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails with carving knife.
At least now we know that if something goes wrong, FEMA knows what to do.
Yot are we gonna do tonight, Brain? Try to take over the world?
No, Pinky. We are going to try to find a pharmacy and cure this <hack> damn cough!
www.eFax.com are spammers
That's nothing. The bubonic plague is actually relatively common (as plagues go) in New Mexico... Those mice are probably on a cross country trip to join their brethren.
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not.
The Dead Collector: He isn't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
The Dead Collector: Well, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I don't want to go on the cart.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, don't be such a baby.
The Dead Collector: I can't take him.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I feel fine.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, do me a favor.
The Dead Collector: I can't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
The Dead Collector: I promised I'd be at the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, when's your next round?
The Dead Collector: Thursday.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I think I'll go for a walk.
Large Man with Dead Body: You're not fooling anyone, you know. Isn't there anything you could do?
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I feel happy. I feel happy.
[the Dead Collector glances up and down the street furtively, then silences the Body with his a whack of his club]
Large Man with Dead Body: Ah, thank you very much.
The Dead Collector: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
Large Man with Dead Body: Right.
The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
How many labs were flooded during Katrina? How many of those were doing research of this type? What, you can't answer that? Point is, nobody knows WHAT people will be exposed to down there. Three rats with Plague is nothing compared with what could be unleashed.
The bubonic plague is treatable with antibiotics as long as you treat it fairly soon.
And this is NOT like it's something that we've wiped out completely and would annihilate mankind if it reappeared -- actually there are still between 1000 and 3000 cases every year, including some in North America.
So yeah -- if you live near where the mice escaped and you come down with a nasty flu (and those, uh, buboes), you should make sure you get it checked out immediately... but it's no disaster.
McDonalds security is no laughing matter.
Consider, for example, the international fugitive known as the "Hamburglar".
Nobody seems to care much.
http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/openspace/nature/pdog_ plague.htm
Maybe I could sell prairie dogs on ebay to dim terrorists, been looking to supplement my income.
Man, you really need that seminar!
I find it hard to believe the line about the security, it seems like it's been put there to add impact to an otherwise not that important story. I work in university labs, granted not with things like the plague, but anywhere animal use takes place there is pretty good security. This is perhaps not a result of the dangers of the animals escaping but rather to stop animal-rights activists from getting in. Yes, it could be better, but the McDonalds quote is just flamebait IMHO.
Probably like this...
Guy in white coat: "Can I get some mice? And some Bubonic plague? And funding?"
Lab Director: "Sure. Just make sure you don't repeat the whole Rhesus Monkey - ebola thing that you did in Congo back in '79"
Guy in white coat: "These mice will never escape! I'll put them in a bigger cardboard box this time!"
blah blah blah
For these mice might have fled to Russia to join the civilization of rats reported to exist somewhere in the Urals. Now, just imagine what will happen if these rats start using these mice as suicide terrorists...
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
It's not as dangerous as you might think - yersinia pestis has not been eradicated by any means. There are still problems with it in rodent populations - for instance, Boulder County, CO has had a problem with it just this summer in the groundhog population.
The route of transmission to humans is
rodent > flea > human
(if it turns into pneumonia in a human it can be passed human to human, otherwise not).
Since fleas aren't nearly the problem they were in the middle ages, and we don't have travelers trekking on foot (and picking up fleas) through areas that have a high incidence of yersinia pestis in the rodent population, it just doesn't spread as quickly as it used to. There still end up being a few cases of bubonic plague every year in the US, but it doesn't have the opportunity to spread the way it used to.
Denver Isuzu Suzuki
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
Plague is not that uncommon in the southwestern US. Doctors (at least in areas where plague is endemic) are aware of the signs and symptoms of plague and plague can be successfully treated with garden variety antibiotics, including tetracycline.
One of my neighbors got the plague. He's like one of the three people on the planet that somehow managed to catch the bubonic plague that year. What shitty luck.
Evidently the good news for him is that he's now immune.
The mice are the physical manifestations of superintelligent beings, sent here to weed off certain portions of the population deemed unworthy to perform the necessary calculations of the computer Earth.
--
"Extra Anus Kills Four-Legged Chick" -- Headline
We worked with this about 20 years ago - Pasteurella sp., though this species is similar. It needs incubation at body temperature, outside of that it doesn't do well - IIRC cultures were dead in less than a day out of their ranges, but we autoclaved everything jsut for good measure. Plus we signed a big piece of paper from NIH saying we'd take full responsibility for it all. Some good news is that not all strains are human pathogens. More good news is it doesn't form spores, so dead bacteria is dead bacteria. Plus it responds well to antibiotics. What we call "plague" bacteria are very common in livestock - ag people call it "shipping fever" because it's usually not a problem until you stuff lots of animals in a stock trailer or car and let them breath, scratch and bite each other for a week, and you can have high mortality on arrival. The wild strains of some of these are nearly ubiquitous in rabbits, and more common than you'd think in household and farm animals.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
[thud] [clang]
CART MASTER:
Bring out your dead! [clang]
Bring out your dead! [clang]
Bring out your dead! [clang]
Bring out your dead! [clang]
CUSTOMER:
Here's one.
CART MASTER:
Ninepence.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:
What?
CUSTOMER:
Nothing. Here's your ninepence.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:
'Ere. He says he's not dead!
CUSTOMER:
Yes, he is.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not!
CART MASTER:
He isn't?
CUSTOMER:
Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm getting better!
CUSTOMER:
No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER:
Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
DEAD PERSON:
I don't want to go on the cart!
CUSTOMER:
Oh, don't be such a baby.
CART MASTER:
I can't take him.
DEAD PERSON:
I feel fine!
CUSTOMER:
Well, do us a favour.
CART MASTER:
I can't.
CUSTOMER:
Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
CART MASTER:
No, I've got to go to the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
CUSTOMER:
Well, when's your next round?
CART MASTER:
Thursday.
DEAD PERSON:
I think I'll go for a walk.
CUSTOMER:
You're not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn't there something you can do?
DEAD PERSON: [singing]
I feel happy. I feel happy.
[whop]
CUSTOMER:
Ah, thanks very much.
CART MASTER:
Not at all. See you on Thursday.
CUSTOMER:
Right. All right.
[howl]
[clop clop clop]
Who's that, then?
CART MASTER:
I dunno. Must be a king.
CUSTOMER:
Why?
CART MASTER:
He hasn't got shit all over him.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
The Mass. Nurses Association has the best take I've read.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
I for one welcome our new plague-infested mice overlords!
Best. Webhost. Ever. Dreamhost.
there only carriers of bubonic plague
It's the same bacteria that causes em... it just depends on where you get infected with it. Flesh and lymphatic systems = bubonic, lungs = pneumonic, septicemic = blood.
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
That quote is right on. I work in a BSL 2 lab (fooborne pathogens, like Salmonella, Listeria, E.coliO157:H7, and so forth) for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and I can certainly say that our "security" is laughable at best. We have a security guard posted at the front door to the lab from 9 AM to about 4 PM. Most people arrive at or before 8 AM.
And a quick story about other outstanding security...adjacent to the building where I work is an office of the Department of Homeland Security. About 3 months ago, myself and one of my coworkers, who is about 25 (I'll be 23 in a few days), decided to go up and poke around. We're young lab workers, so we were just in street clothes; in particular, I was wearing a Slayer T-shirt and jean shorts (my professional-looking lab attire). Neither of us had our badges out, and we poked around Homeland Security for a solid 15 mintues. Nobody stopped us, asked to see ID, nor even asked if we worked there.
Yeah, most labs could probably stand to beef up their security.
"It never got weird enough for me." - HST (RIP)
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).
So are these Plague Mice 1/1 creatures which gain +1/+1 for each other Plague Mouse in play?
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.
Now that we know the science behind it we are better armed to control it. Then again, with the right-wing extremists gaining more and more power in the country, pseudo-science (homeopathy, etc) is on the rise, we will probably be back to witch hunts soon, and plaque will rule again.
The plague in rodents is actually very common, and occurs naturally. Here in the town where I live, it's a known fact that many many rodents, a hell of a lot more than 3, carry the plague. Two cats this year were discovered in my town with plague. It's known to be spread all over the county. You don't see me posting stories on slashdot about it.
See:http://www.turnto23.com/news/4883235/detail.ht ml?subid=22100581&qs=1;bp=t
First I saw this stupid story on drudgereport, and tried to explain to some co-workers that it was totally not a danger to anyone, then I see it on slashdot the next day. Sigh. Stay away from my mountain stronghold.
"'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."