Lethal Virus Sample Vanishes From U.S. BioLab

[ciriuslea]

Aaargh, damn you overemotional fearmongerers!

I didn't know UM had that much influence especially seeing as only 10 or so people even bothered to comment, perhaps not on the scale of genocide but its still cause for concern however small when a vial of potentially lethal arenavirus goes missing

[Render]

I didn't know UM had that much influence especially seeing as only 10 or so people even bothered to comment, perhaps not on the scale of genocide but its still cause for concern however small when a vial of potentially lethal arenavirus goes missing

Nope, there is no cause for concern at all here. Unless you're a baby mouse.

[Render]

In fact, if there's any problem going under-reported in all of this, it's that the number of labs built over a decade of expanded interest in biological defense research leads to more potential for human error. That's simple probability--the more highly sensitive labs you have, the more humans you have working in highly sensitive labs, the greater the likelihood one of them will eventually make a mistake. In fact, in protecting ourselves against threats from malice, we have have exposed ourselves to threats from incompetence.

=====================================================

Human error? then they need to train their staff better. There is no room for human error when working with these kind of things.

Unless they mean they can not always trust who they employ not to sell it to someone else! But I can not see them admitting that one!

There will always be human error, until checks and inventory is completely automatised. That's just the way it is.

YOu can bring up the same argument with surgeons, saying they should be trained better then ... but they all make mistakes sometime. It's called being human.

[draugr]

Nope, there is no cause for concern at all here. Unless you're a baby mouse.

Except...It's not about what the virus is, but more that it's missing? If it can go missing, what else can? Think you missed the entire point of it.

Either way, when I read about this a few days ago, the first thought that popped into my head was, "Paging Captain Tripps? Paging Captain Tripps."

No? I'll take my leave, then.

[ciriuslea]

Nope, there is no cause for concern at all here. Unless you're a baby mouse.

I beg to differ but your entitled to your opinion, if that makes me a baby mouse then so be it, the label bothers me none

have a nice weekend btw

[regeneratia]

I believe that it is your interpretation. I didn't pee my pants. Perhaps you don't know what possiblities are. Do you know what probabilities are? If so, then you need to do some more thinking on this. I read the entire article so I know what it said.

I think we have good failsafes. However there is still the issue of the anthrax killer who sent to media and democratic Congressmen anthrax, an incidence that had everyone in DC taking Cipro, and accepting the hugely questionable side-effects of fluoroquinolones. Please consider that while you are making up that list of possibilities.

a

Aaargh, damn you overemotional fearmongerers!

Please Don't Panic: A Texas Biodefense Lab Loses A Vial Of Virus

Terrible news! For baby mice.

Try to be reasonable for a change instead of p***ing your pants because of a sensational headline. Your psychologies are so freaking textbook. It's even written in the article already.

Edited March 30, 2013 by regeneratia

[Helen of Annoy]

All rodents can carry “mouse fever” (literal translation, there’s probably different proper English name for that disease but not to search now, I hope you get me).

Humans contract it by contact with rodent pee – not necessarily direct or noticeable. Some strains can be contracted by inhaling dust in places where infected rodents peed a lot. In short, if you’re doing anything anywhere where rodents live, you might catch it. If rodent population is sick, of course, not every mouse carries it.

It’s a serious disease but most strains are not lethal, unless you’re at death’s door anyway. Much like flu. That’s the “do not panic yet” part.

Now the “do panic now” part:

And much like flu, we’re all just waiting for an idiot to successfully start an artificial epidemic: in 2009 live avian flu virus was discovered in common flu vaccine imported to Czech Republic. If Czechs were not careful, avian flu would do much damage to Central Europe and it would remain unknown it was human error (yeah, right) or deliberate genocide.

This is not fantasy, this is well known and documented case. The company that produced common flu vaccine spiked with live, much more dangerous virus, said it was an error, and there were no consequences. Mind boggles.

So, what it has to do with mice peeing in Texas? Everything.

If the vial was lost or “lost” in the way its contents infects the local rodent population, then the local human population will soon contract it too.

Many people would find out they had rodents run over their food, clothes or merely handrails. Just because you don’t see cat sized rats in your house doesn’t mean you don’t have modest mice peeing in your desk drawer. It did smell funny but before you concluded it’s the mice, you got the newest mouse fever reinforced ^TM and went to the maker.

Now, losing vials of deadly stuff. So they find their way into environment or even into vaccines.

I don’t know which of only three possibilities enrages me more: that the people who work with such dangerous samples are so hilariously dumb they manage to lose or mix up samples; or that security in facilities dealing with deadly disease samples is so epically crappy anyone can sneak in and steal, buy or exchange any vials; or that it was all deliberate and planned.

I think it was deliberate and planned, but why exactly that I wouldn’t know, since psychopathic traits are not dominant in my personality.

Common mouse fever (so, an un-tempered with strain) is not that rare or deadly so I remember we had maybe 4 or 5 people catch it last spring. No one died. People were simply reminded to wash their hands, keep their food in closed containers, air their rooms (dust particles may carry dried up mouse pee with virus), disinfect spaces where they guess mice might have lived, and drop the 5 second rule: if something fell on the floor, either wash it either consider it gone. Since you can’t wash a cigarette, smokers were the most affected with precautionary measures.

Cat-scans were highly recommended too: let cats scan your premises for rodents.

Tempered with strain would be a serious problem, because like I said before, just because we don’t see a rodent doesn’t mean they are not there, scurrying all over everything, spreading the now deadly disease.

*off to wash my hands* damn it, regeneratia, I just got out of one hypochondriac phase and you threw me into next one