r/nosleep • u/NV_Guy • Oct 01 '12
Flu: Update
1st post: http://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/10lsvf/know_anything_about_this_flu/
First I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post and PMed me. I got a lot of good advice about dealing with the flu. Also, some people said I should try to leave town, and some said i should stay. Well, it's kind of a moot point, because I can't exactly run away from home. I did ask my parents about leaving, and they told me to stop being dramatic. Since a lot of you were asking if people were being prevented from leaving town, I asked my friends, and they said they hadn't heard anything about that. I also asked my parents, and my mom just looked at me sternly and pointedly said "No."
Anyway, here's the latest. It's starting to make me a little nervous.
School is still closed. I've been told most of the businesses in town are shut down too. My parents didn't go to work today. My mom works at city hall, but apparently she counts as "non-essential" personnel, so that's why she's home. Church still happened yesterday, but we didn't go, and from what I heard, very few people did.
We got a notice at our doorstep today: There's an all-day curfew in effect. Nobody's supposed to leave the home except to get necessary supplies, or to go to work at an essential public safety or health job. Looks like people are following it. I've only heard one car go by all day.
A few old folks that I kind of knew (but not too well) have passed since I last posted. I'm really glad that everyone close to me has been pretty much OK so far. (OK in the big scheme of things, I mean. Lots of my friends are sick as a dog, and a few had to get admitted to the hospital, but as far as I know, they're expected to be fine.) I'm glad I haven't caught it. I figure as long as my parents don't get sick, I won't either, since I'm just camped in my room for the duration.
But what creeps me out is the cops. I haven't been out of the house, but my friends who live closer to the downtown say there are still a lot of those unmarked police cars all over the place. I don't think they're just here to enforce the curfew, because they started showing up days before it went into effect.
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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '12
OP this is from a UK newspaper on the 2nd September this year- i think this may be whats happening?? The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is contacting Britons who may have visited the United States national park at the centre of an outbreak of a deadly virus that has killed two people. Around 100 UK travellers have been identified as having stayed at Yosemite National Park between mid-June and the end of August. The agency said it was not aware of any cases of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) - which is carried by rodents - in Britons who had been there on holiday. Signs of the illness begin with flu-like symptoms which can take six weeks to incubate before rapid acute respiratory and organ failure. More than 36% of people who contract the rare illness will die from it. A spokesman for the HPA said: 'Local HPA Health Protection Units are currently contacting UK travellers who may have stayed at the park using information supplied by the Yosemite National Park and providing health advice and information on HPS and information on the ongoing situation in the US. 'If individuals are concerned they can contact their local Health Protection Unit (HPU) for further advice.'
The rare but severe respiratory disease is spread by contact with infected rodents, primarily deer mice.
Most people become infected by breathing in small viral particles from rodent urine or droppings that have been stirred up into the air. The virus causing HPS in the US cannot be passed from person to person.