Comments on: Waking the Sleeping Killer: B-Movie Horror, the Plague, and Two Flus

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I'm amazed at the controversy over this. The reason the 1918 killer flu was a killer was because it was a strain humans had never seen before. We've seen the strain, if not this particular example. There are few alive who have antibodies to this flu, but we all have antibodies to the strain. There's no way it would result in a pandemic. Poor health care back then greatly exacerbated this flu.

Recreating the flu from 1918 carried no significant risk. Farming practices in Asia are far, far more dangerous, where humans, pigs, and waterfowl intermingle and have contact with each other's excrement.

The flu was recreated in biosafety labs, where the chance of escaping was minimal. All appropriate precautions were taken at a biosafety level far higher than this flu actually warranted.

Recreating the flu from 1918 helped scientists to learn why it was so dangerous. Fertilized eggs, when exposed to the re-created 1918 flu, died. This confirmed the avian portion of the vector. This experiment could not have been done with DNA segments.

The 1918 flu killed healthy adults, leaving alone children and the elderly. Why? This question still hasn't been answered definitively, and knowing the answer would protect us from a flu with similar properties. On a pandemic level, this type of flu, and not one that kills the weak, should be feared most.

The laboratory techniques were already in existence. This isn't something a terrorist can use anyway. The lab equipment is extreme, and remember that bombers tend to blow themselves up rather often -- and bomb construction is trivial compared to the care required for lethal flu manufacture. Because of a lack of specificity of flu, flu would be a poor choice for a bioweapon. We still don't know enough to create a novel, lethal flu in a lab anyway. Evolution does a much better job on a farm.

They could, they should have, they did, and we're all going to live better because of it.

I was going to blog this, but I'm still waiting for DNS to resolve. Once again, I have DNS envy....

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I didn't say I totatlly agreed with Scott. I just thought he brought up some good points, much like the fictional Dr. Ian Malcolm. If you read the whole monologue, you'll find his mention of the plague-infected rats that vanished without a trace. That kinda spooks me.

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

To further clarify, I found his commentary humorous and the paranoid cynic in me agreed with his assessment, but the science-driven part of me understands the reasons for doing it. It still gives me the willies.

By: John

John — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The 1918 outbreak was also particularly deadly becuase europe was half-starved from the first world war and the end of the war created massive movements of people.

If that strain had broken out in 1900 it wouldn't have had the same devastation.

By: Doctor Life

Doctor Life — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I love Jesus. Excellent ideas. Keep up the good work, my fellow christian.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Interesting. It appears that you have some anti-abortion spam.

I wonder if that's accurate or if I'm just being cynical again…

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I don't know if I'd call it spam, per se. That blog's been served up to me when I use BlogExplosion. It's likely mine was served up to him and he commented on the latest post.