Killer germ: First outbreak of 'rare' microbe: - WHO

[BlueStateSaint]

I saw something alluding to this somewhere on CC, but I can't remember where.  Anyway, three Americans have the damned thing.

Killer germ: First outbreak of 'rare' microbe: - WHO

Fecha: 02/06/2011
 
AFP

The strain of a lethal bacteria that has killed 18 people in Europe is "very rare" and had never been seen in an outbreak form before, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

"This strain isolated from cases in the infection outbreak in Germany has never been seen in an outbreak before," Gregory Hartl, the WHO spokesman, said.

"It has been seen in sporadic cases and is very rare," he added.

The European Union's watchdog for disease prevention said Thursday that lab tests had identified the strain of a lethal E. coli germ that had caused an amplifying food scare.

In a statement, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the "causative agent" was a member of a group of bacterial strains called Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, or STEC.

Here's the first link:

http://wires.univision.com/english/article/2011-06-02/killer-germ-first-outbreak-of

And:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110603/ts_nm/us_ecoli

And:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110602/ts_alt_afp/germanyspainfooddiseasehealthus_20110602192514

And:

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Killer-germ-antibiotic-afpsg-3204878075.html?x=0

I guess this is a great promo for growing your own food, eh?

[IassaFTots]

I didn't see any details on the US deaths, did you? 

[BlueStateSaint]

I didn't see any details on the US deaths, did you? 

There are none--yet.  This bug seems to be super-resistant to antibiotics, and it's described as "highly contagious and infectious."  Which means that it'll wind up here, most likely, if only because of today's air travel.

[Thor]

Something kind of stinks......

Alexion treating Europe's E coli victims
By Gregory Seay

gseay@HartfordBusiness.com
05/31/11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cheshire says its six-figure drug developed to treat sufferers of a rare form of anemia is being distributed free to treat victims of the E coli epidemic sweeping Germany, a regulatory filing shows.

Alexion reports Tuesday in its 8-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that its German subsidiary has been deluged with physician requests for eculizumab -- branded as Soliris -- to treat patients suffering from Shiga-toxin producing E. coli hemolytic uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS).

The ailment is a potentially life-threatening outcome of Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infections in which blood cells are infected and can cause kidney failure, Alexion said. The E coli outbreak has killed at least a dozen people and sickened hundreds more on the continent.

Alexion stressed in its filing that eculizumab is not approved for the treatment of STEC-HUS in Germany or elsewhere. Soliris, however, is cleared there to treat the rare genetic disease called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH.

Meantime, the drug maker said it is supplying Soliris at no charge to physicians who request it for STEC-HUS patients. Normally, Soliris costs patients and their insurers about $300,000 to $400,000 a year.

Alexion's altruistic bent could ultimately benefit the company in other ways.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news18747.html




Did Alexion manufacture this "hybrid"??

[JohnnyReb]

Anybody know the where abouts of that female "bug" doctor from Iraq? I think someone called her Dr. Death. Could be a Muslim test run.....Hey DUmmies.

[vesta111]

Anybody know the where abouts of that female "bug" doctor from Iraq? I think someone called her Dr. Death. Could be a Muslim test run.....Hey DUmmies.

How do you spell Tuskegee, the expermints done on black victims of syphilis and some prisoners without the disease that were sure to get it from the experiments.

What to say about Kellogg's Cereal company  that by government dictate placed God know what into the breakfast food of an Orphanage in Mass. in the 1950's. This did not come to light until the 1990's and received a few weeks of publicity's Outrage, just another day.

As I raved about Dr. Kevorkian and like minded scientists that feel that to kill off 100,00 people for the benefit of 2 million people is no big deal, then it is a short step to the candy shop for those intellectuals that feel we need to depopulate earth by 500,000,000 to insure the existence of humans on earth.

Johnny, none of this surprises me, these new out of the blue diseases are not natural, nothing known to man so far. 

Not to hard to jump to chemists that can developer a super germ and at the same and antidote to it.   Let the germ loose and when enough die, fear rises to to a certain level, then realease the antidote to the public, for a huge price.  The Company and the scientists are now haled as hero's for stopping a deadly disease and Billions of dollars are made by the Company that started it all.   

Remember Dr. Christian Bernard who developed the life saving heart transplants.   Some very strange storeys came out of South Africa on how some were not sure the volunteers for his experiments were actually volunteers?????

Who knows what these mad scientists will do, Mary Shelly must have known some interesting people when she wrote Frankenstein.

   






 

[JohnnyReb]

Johnny, none of this surprises me, these new out of the blue diseases are not natural, nothing known to man so far. 

A dozen or so chickens running loose in the yard have no problems with e-coli but shut 20,000 up in a barn and it's a constant problem. As the population grows and millions of people live in close proximity the chance of new diseases  of them increase exponentially.

[vesta111]

A dozen or so chickens running loose in the yard have no problems with e-coli but shut 20,000 up in a barn and it's a constant problem. As the population grows and millions of people live in close proximity the chance of new diseases  of them increase exponentially.

True, sort of. but the diseases are known, come back from the past to haunt us.

As we humans go into million year areas, in the rain forest, cut down the trees and plow the earth, microbes sleeping all these eons get the oxygen and the heat to wake up. 

The thing is, these microbes are not alien, they have relatives that have caused great distress for humans and animals for century's.  We can track these diseases by their DNA, find out where and how the diseases mutated on their own.

Today when the worlds scientists have no idea where new disease has come from, cannot track the disease back to the parent disease, then one has no choice but to wonder if this a MAN made unnatural disease. If this is no mutation of known diseases then it has to be artificial , not a normal progression of mutations-----.

What is the catalyst to cause mutations, we are finding these every day for known diseases. Along comes a disease that no one has ever seen before, it has no DNA markers to show any relationship to any known decease.

A pharmacy company declares they can cure this disease with their drugs that they say is a cure.

Intersting as the disease is only 2-3 weeks old, no scientists knows what the hell it is or how it works yet  some Pharmaceutical Company is shipping drugs to help the afflicted.

Interesting, as for me I intend to cook, or find out how to cook all the stuff I ate in the past raw.

I know how to deep fry Cukes now but have to learn how to cook lettuce with spices.     

[thelaughingman]

I thought the avian bird flu was going to kill us all.  And before that, that flesh-eating thing.

[Doktor Howl]

I thought the avian bird flu was going to kill us all.  And before that, that flesh-eating thing.

Yeah, I'm kind of getting discouraged, too.

[vesta111]

Yeah, I'm kind of getting discouraged, too.

We who do not reside in town homes, small apartments, retirement comunities, have no problem. We can use every bit of dirt or lawn to plant veggies and use as a land scaping tool.   

In the depression people in the city's raised chickens on the flat roof tops of big city's, some places they still do.   Churches are now building comunity gardens to grow food, some towns have set aside areas on vacant lots for people to make a garden.

All good idea except that the amount of food one can plant is most times more expensive and man power to save any money. 

The growing season in the north is short, once the harvest is done there are 9 months of the year we have to buy our food.

I remember as a child living in the Canal Zone of Panama, Mom would go to the military stores for food and the number one rule was on coming home dump the paper bag upside down on the table, never reach into the bag.  The faint smell of Clorox was on all fresh vegetables.   The military would spray fresh vegetables with water and Clorox to make sure it was disinfected.

Today, if you have city sewage no problem, for us with septic tanks we cannot use bleach.

I have a 10 gallon bucket that I fill with ice water and 1/2 cup of bleach and drop fresh produce into it for 15 -20 minutes, remove them and rinse under the tap for 2-5 minutes then dry and store.

The water in the bucket is taken out and dumped on weed patches or areas that cut worms and ants have taken over.    Much better then using nasty chemicals on those areas  Saves problems with the septic system and seems to drive out the moles.

If in doubt, eat a Kosher diet soak all meats to remove the blood add salt and a few drops of Clorox
 
If all this does not work, then you have done all you can do and have no choice but to allow nature to take its course.