Oh yes! I took them to the airport, perhaps they took a plane.
--ApostleRadio
Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
The downfall of the human race will come in small, subtle ways...
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
I don't mean to make light of this, but I'm pretty sure we have effective treatments for the bubonic plague nowadays. That's not to say that this couldn't be bad, but it's not going to wipe out a third of the population of North America either.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
People get plague now and then even today. Don't freak out. We're not going to have a major outbreak and it's not gonna kill (m)anyone.
Pix
(edit: "manyone". I'm going to have to use that word again.)
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I don't know what sort of treatments we have now. I wonder.
New mice-powered biological weapon! Run for the hills!
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Antibiotics. Plague isn't communicable unless it's gone to the pneumonic plague and then it's transmitted by droplets in the air.
mmmmdroplets.
Otherwise, you have to be bitten by a flea that's bitten an infected mouse or rat.
Plague is now treatable, but still kills one out of seven who managed to contract it.
...I also thought the same thing when I read that headline last night. "Did someone say plague?!"
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
What everyone else said. There are fairly effective treatments for plauge, as long as it's caught early enough (I'm guessing that's where the one out of the seven comes in).
I'm far more concerned about the likelihood of a flu pandemic than I am the plague.
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
Nowadays we can effectively stop plague but whats scary is if these mice were stolen. Think of the weapon possibilites.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
My kid goes to school in Newark. Commutes on the train. When I picked him up from the station last night, I told him about the plague mice that have been missing for the past two weeks.
He wasn't that pleased.
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
At least he didn't say, "Well Mom, I have these two pet mice I found that I didn't tell you about..."
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:"Well Mom, I have these two pet mice I found that I didn't tell you about..." [/QB]
That's alright, dear. Bubonic plague isn't contagious. It is one of those non-contagious plagues. You see those all the time.
(actually, this is exactly what I told my kid. He was skeptical.)
Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
I'm disappointed no one as sung the theme song from Pinky and the Brain yet...
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: That's alright, dear. Bubonic plague isn't contagious. It is one of those non-contagious plagues. You see those all the time.
(actually, this is exactly what I told my kid. He was skeptical.)
Actually, bubonic plague *is* contagious, it's just not communicable from person to person. It's vector borne, like typhus, malaria and dengue. And as someone else mentioned, if the organism gets into the blood stream or the lungs, it can turn into pneumonic plague, which is extremely communicable from person to person.
All of our bioterrorism exercises use pneumonic plague as the agent of choice... public health folks are very sensitive about Yersinia Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Eh. I had a friend who got bit by a squirrel while hiking once and had to be treated for bubonic plague. It's kind of endemic in some of CA's mountain areas.
It doesn't scare me as much as rabies. Those shots hurt.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
From what I heard the mice might not be missing after all, I heard that the lab said it's possible they were eaten by other mice.
Fear the mice who eat plague carrying mice, I say.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I think the mention of bubonic plague brings out a visercal reaction in people. The "Holy [expletive of choice], the PLAGUE!"
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Jamie doesn't answer the phone. Jerk. Next time I call, pick up!
Actually, I'm thinking more like "Holy poo, where's the Dark Man in the desert!!"
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Am I the only person here who at first glance, thought the title had the word "plaque" instead and thought we were going to have a thread about dental visits?
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
No Belle, you are not.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
quote:It doesn't scare me as much as rabies. Those shots hurt.
You've had to have rabies shots? Posted by RackhamsRazor (Member # 5254) on :
I don't look forward to getting my rabies shots in a year or two. I heard they are not fun, but, as far as I have been told, they don't give the shot to you in your stomach anymore...just the arm.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Stomach? Last I heard, it was the rump. No, I've never had them. But my cousin did.
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
You get the first one in the rump, or the site of bite. The others go into the arm, usually.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Maybe it was 'cause she was a skinny, tiny girl and this was 13 years ago. Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
I got bionic plague now I'm super human!
nananananananananana
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
Didn't the first instance of biological warfare utilize the bubonic plague? I seem to recall reading about armies catapaulting (sp?) horse corpses with infected fleas on them into cities under seige. Then the inhabitants would get sick and die off until capturing the city went like that <fingersnap>.
Wouldn't it be interesting if those mice were used in the LAST instance of biological warfare [dramatic pause] EVER KNOWN TO THE DYING RACE OF MAN?!?!?!!?
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
... according to medieval medical lore, the stench of rotting bodies was known to transmit infections. So when corpses were used as ammunition, they were no doubt intended as biological weapons.
1340 Attackers hurled dead horses and other animals by catapult at [a]... castle in northern France. The defenders reported that "the stink and the air were so abominable... they could not long endure" and negotiated a truce. [no evidence of plague here really]
1346 During a siege of Caffa, a port on the Black Sea, the attackers suffered an outbreak of plague. Before abandoning their attack, they sent the infected bodies of their comrades over the walls of the city. Fleeing residents carried the disease to Italy, furthering the second major epidemic of "Black Death" in Europe.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by T_Smith: Jamie doesn't answer the phone.
*narrowed eyes* I've noticed this too. Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Call me right now, then.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Sunset is in less than 10 minutes.
Your timing sucks. Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*narrows eyes*
You did that on purpose! You're just lucky I'm not mean enough to call you right now. Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
...where's that angelic smiley...
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
This one? O:)
I think if you tried to use it, it might spontaneously combust. Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
I am with whoever said that a new flu epidemic, or even a huge outbreak of the West Nile Virus is far more frightning. Even more frightning than that would be a new outbreak of the Smallpox. Although, I am not sure that is very likely. The Ebola virus is also a nasty critter, but it has shown itself to burn out quickly because of the fearsness of its attack. Now, if it showed up in a heavily populated area it could take longer to dissipate, but with careful actions it shouldn't spread more than a city or three.
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