From Apr 11, 2014 User ID: 80748559 United States 09/16/2021 01:18 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Check this A brief, terrifying history of viruses escaping from labs: 70s Chinese pandemic was a lab mistake The public health danger posed by potentially pandemic-causing viruses escaping from laboratories has become the subject of considerable discussion, spurred by “gain of function” experiments. The ostensible goal of these experiments—in which researchers manipulate already-dangerous pathogens to create or increase communicability among humans—is to develop tools to monitor the natural emergence of pandemic strains. Opponents, however, warn in a variety of recentresearchpapersthat the risk of laboratory escape of these high-consequence pathogens far outweighs any potential advance. Article content The danger of a manmade pandemic sparked by a laboratory escape is not hypothetical: One occurred in 1977, and it occurred because of concern that a natural pandemic was imminent. Many other laboratory escapes of high-consequence pathogens have occurred, resulting in transmission beyond laboratory personnel. Ironically, these laboratories were working with pathogens to prevent the very outbreaks they ultimately caused. For that reason, the tragic consequences have been called “self-fulfilling prophecies.” The swine flu scare of 1976 and the H1N1 human influenza pandemic of 1977. Human H1N1 influenza virus appeared with the 1918 global pandemic and persisted, slowly accumulating small genetic changes, until 1957, when it appeared to go extinct after the H2N2 pandemic virus appeared. In 1976, H1N1 swine influenza virus struck Fort Dix, N.J., causing 13 hospitalizations and one death. The specter of a reprise of the deadly 1918 pandemic triggered an unprecedented effort to immunize all Americans. No swine H1N1 pandemic materialized, however, and complications of immunization truncated the program after 48 million immunizations, which eventually caused 25 deaths. [ link to nationalpost.com (secure)] |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 80748559 United States 09/16/2021 01:39 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Check this A brief, terrifying history of viruses escaping from labs: 70s Chinese pandemic was a lab mistake To much for yall eh? |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 76066654 United States 09/16/2021 01:52 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Check this A brief, terrifying history of viruses escaping from labs: 70s Chinese pandemic was a lab mistake Yeah I've been noticing this for decades |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 80748559 United States 09/16/2021 03:47 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Check this A brief, terrifying history of viruses escaping from labs: 70s Chinese pandemic was a lab mistake |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 82467052 United States 06/08/2022 06:56 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: Check this A brief, terrifying history of viruses escaping from labs: 70s Chinese pandemic was a lab mistake I'm a year after OP in finding this, but everyone should see this. |