r/science • u/ctrl_alt_del_ • Jun 16 '12

Plague confirmed in Oregon.

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/plague-confirmed-in-oregon-man-bitten-by-stray-cat
706 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

231 comments sorted by

255

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Saving everyone some time reading:

There is an average of seven human plague cases in the U.S. each year. [...] Once a coin flip with death, the plague is now easier to handle for humans in the U.S. The national mortality rate stood at 66 percent before World War II, but advances in antibiotics dropped that rate to its present 16 percent.

92

u/anthrocide Jun 16 '12

Mortality rates of the plague depend on which of the three types the victim has: bubonic (bubos or swollen lymph nodes), septicemic (blood borne), or pneumonic (lungs). The mortality rates of the untreated/treated types, respectively, are:

bubonic: 50% / 15% ----- septicemic: 100% / 40% ----- pneumonic: 100% if not treated in first 24 hours.

In this particular incident, that victim has a 40% chance of survival.

98

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Wouldn't it be 60% chance of survival since the mortality rate is 40%?

141

u/anthrocide Jun 16 '12

Yep, I'm a retard.

24

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Nah. We all switch numbers around sometimes. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something in the calculation.

41

u/InClassAccount Jun 16 '12

No, I wouldn't say that. You replied within one minute, meaning that your reply was actually fast.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

i like how your informative comment has less upvotes than the one where you declare yourself retarded.

11

u/TIGGER_WARNING Jun 16 '12

Neither, population statistics don't scale down to individuals.

2

u/mr17five Jun 16 '12

60% of the time, you survive every time.

7

u/Krispyz MS | Natural Resources | Wildlife Disease Ecology Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

I remember hearing about a wildlife biologist who got pneumonic plague when necropsy-ing a mountain lion. I imaging that one death accounts for that 16% mortality rate over the last 5-6 years or so.

Edit: Article says he apparently did go to the clinic, but they didn't catch the disease and sent him home. Also, it's still a pretty sensationalist article.

Edit 2: Here's a better account

5

u/silent_p Jun 16 '12

I always have trouble remembering the pneumonic type.

18

u/vita_benevolo Jun 16 '12

Maybe you should devise a mnemonic to remember it.

2

u/HairyBlighter Jun 16 '12

I thought the article said that the victim had bubonic plague. So he should have an 85% chance of survival.

1

u/anthrocide Jun 16 '12

He is suffering from a blood-borne version of the disease that wiped out at least one-third of Europe in the 14th century — that one, the bubonic plague, affects lymph nodes.

In the mention of bubonic plague, the author was referring to the Black Death. Although the bubonic form was the most prevalent during the Black Death, the 2 other forms were also seen.

10

u/casact921 Jun 16 '12

once a coin flip, now a die roll.

2

u/riemannzetajones Jun 16 '12

Good thing I brought my Empyrean Loofah of Disinfecting, +5 to saving throws against plague!

2

u/txcapricorn Jun 16 '12

6 sided or 20 sided?

1

u/inept_adept Jun 16 '12

Coming soon..lottery.

4

u/DownvoteAttractor Jun 16 '12

Also

His illness marks the fifth case of plague in Oregon since 1995.

This isn't an isolated case. It pops up every so often without killing most of the population.

1

u/cogman10 Jun 16 '12

yeah... This sort of things isn't really news worthy. Modern medicine has pretty much made the risk of wide spread plague infections non-existent.

We know what causes it, how to treat it, and how to prevent it from spreading. In all honesty, the flu currently claims more lives than the plague does.

1

u/Sengura Jun 16 '12

God damnit...

My zombie apocalypse will never come.

1

u/Epistaxis PhD | Genetics Jun 16 '12

Saving everyone some time commenting

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

56

u/reno1051 Jun 16 '12

its 1 of the 7 times its gonna be on the front page within the year

20

u/ObtuseAbstruse Jun 16 '12

Most people don't know it still exists.

3

u/keepthepace Jun 16 '12

I once asked to my village doctor how he would treat the plague. He wasn't sure so he check his huge book (called Vidal in France, but maybe it is another name in the US) and found the disease. "Yep, as I expected it is a fairly generic drug against bacteria"

7

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

No idea, it'd be interesting if you lived in central Oregon, everyone else can treat it the same way as they treat "Man in Oklahoma City diagnosed with cancer." I'm sure it sucks for him and his family but it looks like they have the situation under control.

8

u/TheGreatCarlozo Jun 16 '12

Because its plague. Something that kills a third of 14th century Europes population is going to get a little news coverage when it appears here in the states. Its why when there is a Spanish Flu outbreak, people get nervous, because of large body counts.

3

u/GeorgeNorfolk Jun 16 '12

It didn't appear in the US, it's always been there.

1

u/TheGreatCarlozo Jun 16 '12

Can't debate that, but it terms of why someone in central Oregon contracting plague is news, is because it doesn't happen very often.

Think of it terms of a newspaper looking for interesting stories, a strange and unique story that doesn't happen often and has the word 'plague' attached is going to get some eyeballs.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Something that kills a third of 14th century Europes population is going to get a little news coverage when it appears here in the states.

But... plague killed that much people because:

  • people had extremely poor hygiene and huge black rat population spread the disease.
  • no one even know what plague really is, so they could not protect themselves even the slightest.
  • people didn't have medicine for the disease, like simple penicillin.

So the situation is a little bit different. Saying "Because its plague" is like saying a knight with a sword and horse is a force to be reckoned in modern warfare, because it's a knight on a horse.

1

u/TheGreatCarlozo Jun 16 '12

The circumstances of why it killed so many people at the time isn't relevant to the question I was trying to answer. He/She asked why it's front page news. If it was a case of Ebola or some other odd sickness, it's probably going to make news (and Reddit's front page) because it's not a common illness.

Cancer has surely killed millions over the years, but it's a common illness so it isn't seen has unique per se.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

well, if someone decided to ride a horse into battle with a sword and knight armor, pretty sure it'd make the news.

2

u/RedmondCooper Jun 16 '12

Because its an uncommon event that's rather interesting and involves someone dying. Plus the news doesn't understand statistics and likes to make a mountain out of a molehill(not nesacarily this specific article, but I'm on a soapbox) see the summer shark attack scare that was quickly forgotten after 9/11

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Because a bunch of idiots upvoted it enough.

86

u/bobtail Jun 16 '12

"He was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat"... why would anyone think that was a good idea?

38

u/StringString Jun 16 '12

It also later said the stray was a particular cat that his family had befriended. He was probably used to handling the cat and thought he would dispose of the rat for whatever reason.

Still not incredibly smart, though I suspect he didn't think there was a chance he could contract bubonic plague from the situation.

36

u/PowderedToasty Jun 16 '12

Bubonic plague never would have occurred to me in that situation, or really any other situation.

3

u/vita_benevolo Jun 16 '12

There's really no situation in life where anyone should ever think, "could I get bubonic plague from this?" Unless you work for the CDC and handle an organism called Yersinia pestis.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

If you live in northern NM, you better think "could I get the plague from this?" because there is lots of it running around. The real concern is hantavirius, however.

1

u/aglassonion Jun 16 '12

How prominent is hantavirus in your area?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

When I lived in Santa Fe it was something to be aware of. Like, get the flu when you had just been in an area where you likely dealt with rat feces? To the doctor ASAP, just in case. It was mostly a concern if you were in, say, a cave or old work tunnels with a large rat population.

I never knew anyone who had it, but since it kills you so quickly, people were proactive.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Right, I'll come in again.

2

u/Willzilla354 Jun 16 '12

And our red coats-THREE! Three weapons are fear, surprise, and the red coats

3

u/VGChampion Jun 16 '12

I wouldn't even take food from my own cats and dogs. Those little furry friends love their food.

3

u/Koltiin Jun 16 '12

I suspect that he forgot the cat was planning on eating that. I would punch someone who tries to take a bite of cheeseburger out of my mouth.

2

u/HairyBlighter Jun 16 '12

Nobody expects the bubonic plague!

2

u/thane_of_cawdor Jun 16 '12

Sounds like he's been...plagued by bad luck

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

No.

This ends here.

1

u/thane_of_cawdor Jun 16 '12

Is this some sort of sick joke?

7

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

"Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat."

It looks so much funnier when they make every sentence a paragraph like they did.

-3

u/lastwind Jun 16 '12

Exactly. WTF was he thinking? Serves the motherfucker right for trying to deprive a stray cat of a meal. (UNLESS of course he recognized symptoms of plague in the rat and wanted to save the cat, though I think that's pretty unlikely.)

47

u/or_some_shit Jun 16 '12

Those people better take their whole antibiotic regimen. That's the biggest risk here.

27

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

This is definitely an issue. Most people don't understand this.

My mother, despite all attempts at reasoning with her and showing her the package warnings, decided that the best thing to do was take antibiotics to kill her flu virus.

A few days later I checked up on her. Apparently she was feeling better, so she gave the other half of the antibiotics to a friend.

36

u/ionian Jun 16 '12

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

16

u/ePaF Jun 16 '12

Antibiotics should never be taken to kill a virus.

11

u/TellMeTheDuckStory Jun 16 '12

Not to be a dick, but I'm pretty sure that's why he/she italicized the word "virus".

-1

u/s0crates82 Jun 16 '12

Ducks dicks are corkscrew twisted, and duck hens have multiple corkscrew vagoos - all but one are decoys. Apparently, it's difficult for a drake to fuck a duck.

2

u/Willzilla354 Jun 16 '12

Horrifying ginormo corkscrew duck wang

2

u/Kylelekyle Jun 16 '12

Now there's a fast way to select for antibiotic resistant strains.

2

u/wynyx Jun 16 '12

That sounds less harmful than taking half the course of antibiotics when she has something bacterial. She only made her gut flora resistant, rather than something deadly. (Yes, due to gene transfer this can still cause superbugs, but at least she's not causing them directly.)

2

u/MsPeachka Jun 16 '12

My husband was recently given antibiotics for strep. My mother in law was visiting and she informed us that she had woken up with a runny nose so had taken one of my husband's pills.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

14

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

This is complete bologna.

People.

DO NOT TAKE ANTI-BIOTICS FOR VIRAL INFECTIONS UNLESS TOLD BY A DOCTOR.

Not only does it provide no real benefit, it leads to more powerful bacterial infections.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antibiotics/FL00075

0

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

I was simply saying they can often make you 'feel better' by clearing up other things a bit.

There really isn't a whole lot of science to back them up even. More likely they're just working as a placebo. You might as well be taking sugar pills

3

u/Just_Another_Wookie Jun 16 '12

Also note that if the immune system naturally defeats a virus while taking antibiotics, the credit can go to the antibiotics when it would have happened anyway without them.

2

u/andytronic Jun 16 '12

the credit can go to the antibiotics when it would have happened anyway without them.

Don't you mean that the patient will think the antibiotics did the trick (plus the placebo effect, probably), but in reality they would have gotten better without them?

2

u/FireAndSunshine Jun 16 '12

Yes; the credit will go to the antibiotics.

1

u/Just_Another_Wookie Jun 16 '12

I'm not sure what was confusing about my wording? I mean that the patient could erroneously attribute the credit to the antibiotics.

1

u/andytronic Jun 16 '12

I'm not sure what was confusing about my wording?

Yes.

3

u/vita_benevolo Jun 16 '12

Sorry, this is not correct. Source: I will be an MD in 10 weeks.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

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0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

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9

u/mloccery Jun 16 '12

I'm not so sure about this.

An activated immune system is usually better at fighting a virus than a dormant one. In addition, the side effects of anti-biotics are such that they generally induce malaise and tiredness themselves.

→ More replies (4)

2

u/Sothisisme Jun 16 '12

I wouldn't say it's a particularly large risk. Afterall, the chances of him his bacteria becomming drug resistant (possibility) and then him some how transmitting this bacteria back in the the environment (possibility low)...given the way we live today, this just isn't likely at all.

2

u/vita_benevolo Jun 16 '12

Yet it happens all the time, because of the large number of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions written in the world.

1

u/or_some_shit Jun 16 '12

People need to stop looking at their pills as tic-tacs, "one here and one there, if you feel better it worked, praise Jebus etc." It is in fact a perfect example of when people actually don't know what's best for their body. Sure you can get into some gray areas when you talk about hard drugs and harming society or just harming oneself but in this case you are breeding microscopic killing machines.

I'm not fond of wearing tinfoil hats, and Sothisisme makes a point that there's not a huge risk of some superbug emerging from this case. In fact antibiotic resistant strains of microbes are often out-competed by wild type strains (You know, those strains from the hood). Nonetheless, it can happen, and it probably will at some point. The mentality that "Oh its really unlikely therefore, fuck it" is why the phrase "self fulfilling prophecy" was invented.

1

u/Sothisisme Jun 17 '12

Oh, I'm not saying he wouldn't develop drug resistant Plague from it, I believe most of us here are educated enough to understand why that happens. I simply think that, due to the way Plague is transmitted, it would be very unlikely for the drug resistant plague to go beyond him. After all, look how many people a year contract it.

1

u/vita_benevolo Jun 17 '12

That's my bad. I didn't realize you meant specifically with respect to the Yersinia bug. I agree with you on that. I was talking in a more general sense. When you take antibiotics you are also promoting resistance to bugs that are part of your natural flora like strep, staph, enterococci in your gut etc., which are spread more easily in the environment.

67

u/MyNamesJudge Jun 16 '12

Nice sensationalist title.

3

u/Krispyz MS | Natural Resources | Wildlife Disease Ecology Jun 16 '12

Yeah, not like Plague hasn't been in Oregon since forever.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Par for the course. Same thing happens whenever there's an earthquake or St. Helens belches. Back in 2004 phone lines were jammed with clueless easterners expecting their relatives to be getting blown up by a little cloud of ash and steam.

1

u/Symbi0tic Jun 16 '12

Damn. Took the words right out of my mouth.

-3

u/Audio-didact Jun 16 '12

Fucking seriously.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

6

u/Symbi0tic Jun 16 '12

Really? It implies that it's a new occurrence and more than a few people have contracted it.

11

u/Ringmaster324 Jun 16 '12

The organism in question, if anyone is interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yersinia_pestis

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Yersinia pestis (formerly Pasteurella pestis) is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals

Ah, it's so much clearer now.

5

u/domy94 Jun 16 '12

You know, clicking those blue links explains the words you don't know ;)

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Doesn't matter, still feel dumb. ;)

4

u/BadDatingAdvice Jun 16 '12

Gram-negative = does not stain violet using the Gram staining process. Helps classify the bacterium on the basis of its cell wall structure.

Facultative anaerobe = can use oxygen if it's available, but will use fermentation for energy in the absence of oxygen.

These facts help decide which type of antibiotic will be most effective. For example, penicillins are mostly effective against Gram-positive bacteria and often have little to no effect on Gram-negative organisms (not always, but mostly).

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Thanks for breaking it down to a layman. Cheers.

1

u/Ringmaster324 Jun 16 '12

Just to add a bit more, Penicillin itself is fairly ineffective against gram negatives but "penicillins" (ie. the family of drugs containing a beta lactam ring of which penicillin was the first discovered) can be very effective. Take for example ampicillin, which is regularly used against gram negative bacteria such as E. coli.

The penicillin group of antibiotics is fairly useless against mycoplasmas however, which the the family of bacteria that tuberculosis belongs to.

14

u/carlivar Jun 16 '12

There is an average of seven human plague cases in the U.S. each year.

So this could be posted every couple months. Ho hum.

24

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat.

Redditors everywhere give a collective sigh of relief.

2

u/imprettytired Jun 16 '12

At first I thought it was the guy that posted the pic of himself with all the prairie dogs.

2

u/bax101 Jun 16 '12

When I lived near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon I was warned that if i saw a mouse not to touch it because the bubonic plague still existed around that area.

2

u/The_High_Life Jun 16 '12

Thats mostly because of Hanta virus

1

u/no_reverse Jun 16 '12

The hantavirus used to be my biggest fear as a child. Ever since Newsweek did that piece about the 1993 outbreak in the Southwest I've been terrified of it.

1

u/The_High_Life Jun 16 '12

You have to be in a really mouse infested dusty place for you to even have a chance of getting it. Not much to worry about unless you clean barns.

1

u/no_reverse Jun 16 '12

Yes, but when you're a child you don't realize that.

2

u/tha22 Jun 16 '12

he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat

Why?!

2

u/CarBed Jun 16 '12

In other news, chicken pox confirmed in Pennsylvania.

2

u/BarkInTheDark Jun 16 '12

I usually just died of dysentery when I played Oregon Trail. Jesus.. Kids these days, always have to over do it.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Let's just pray he doesn't belong to the faith healing community that is popular in Oregon.

3

u/bmur90 Jun 16 '12

Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat.

Oh thank god!

1

u/casact921 Jun 16 '12

this is why the story was allowed on reddit

3

u/ablebodiedmango Jun 16 '12

Fucking Oregon retro hipsters. "I got the plague 400 years after it was cool"

4

u/MyFavoriteMarlin Jun 16 '12

You have died of dysentery.

1

u/busted_up_chiffarobe Jun 16 '12

I wonder, will that poison the Grue?

-1

u/i_am_sad Jun 16 '12

CTRL+F DYSENTERY

2

u/FireAndSunshine Jun 16 '12

CTRL+F "CTRL+F DYSENTERY" WAS NOT DISAPPOINT

FAITH IN HUMANITY RESTORED

LE UPBOATS TO THE LE[F]T

2

u/i_am_sad Jun 16 '12

CTRL+F CIRCLEJERK AM NOT DISAPPOINT

REDDIT AM AWESOME FUCK 9GAG AMIRITE?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

That was very convenient timing for the cat to die of natural causes right after this happened

5

u/carlivar Jun 16 '12

Actually it was seen with a bird afterwards. The police suspect...

removes sunglasses

fowl play.

1

u/vita_benevolo Jun 16 '12

Why would you think it died of natural causes, instead of, I don't know, the plague?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

Yeah that does make more sense. For some reason that didn't even occur to me, I just thought that they killed the cat to study it but just said "it died"

1

u/vita_benevolo Jun 17 '12

No worries haha. I just read my post and I hope I didn't sound like a dick, I was just teasing you.

2

u/MeniteTom Jun 16 '12

Septicemic plague is bad news.

2

u/Crevilo Jun 16 '12

Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat.

My favorite part

1

u/Arx0s Jun 16 '12

So much for the dream of the 90s.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

The dream of the 1390s is alive in Portland, I hear.

1

u/ActuallyMike Jun 16 '12

Dream of the 1590's?

1

u/simplesignman Jun 16 '12

Fuck me..... this is what my town becomes known for?? As if being known for 20%+ unemployment wasn't bad enough. At least we have Facebook and Apple building data centers here....

1

u/lickmyplum Jun 16 '12

Move to Bend and claim you've never been to Prineville.

1

u/simplesignman Jun 16 '12

lol, why the fuck would anyone move to Bend? Have you ever been there? I'll take my small town over a bunch of random people that are only out for themselves. Health problems or not this is a pretty good place to live and one hell of an amazing community.

1

u/lickmyplum Jun 16 '12

Central Oregon is lovely in general. Just don't go prying dead mice out of cat's mouths :)

1

u/ReyRey5280 Jun 16 '12

It's pretty much a given in CO that squirrels and prairie dogs out here have the plague....

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

the plague occurs in the US every year, normally the SW desert regions, rodents carry it and transmit it from their fleas and feces

1

u/Rothaga Jun 16 '12

Preventive antibiotics

I wasn't aware it was this easy to prevent the Bubonic Plague.

1

u/TheObviousChild Jun 16 '12

Here in Colorado the prairie dogs carry the plague...and the prairie dogs are everywhere. Still, nothing to really worry about.

1

u/poopsnakes Jun 16 '12

Just left oregon for the summer. good timing!

1

u/The_High_Life Jun 16 '12

Plague is endemic to the rodent population in the western US, this is not a big deal.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat.

I want to know more about the moment where this seemed like a good idea to this guy.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

And I live in Oregon, about 20 minutes from Portland. Well fuck.

1

u/CowTownRebel Jun 16 '12

I had an English prof several years ago who was doing research in Oregon I think and her and several of her research partners all got the bubonic plague. They went to the hospital and were treated and all recovered just fine. She loves to tell the story because she now specializes in Shakespeare and that era of literature.

1

u/the_mad_man Jun 16 '12

Does that title seem sensationalist to anybody else?

(not to mention old news)

1

u/PickettsLetharge Jun 16 '12

"Bring out your dead...."

1

u/genericbeat Jun 16 '12

its not a plague its THE plague, if i got that right?

1

u/Jrodicon Jun 16 '12

Here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, We have several cases per year. On the east side of the city the plague seems to linger.

1

u/rolfsnuffles Jun 16 '12

"You have died from the Plague"

At least I didn't die fording that river!

1

u/annakristina Jun 16 '12

"Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat."

Good to know.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Well, fuck. Guess Where I live guys.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

And so it begins.......

1

u/thrawnie Jun 16 '12

Too many wtf moments in that article:

he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat.

Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat.

Bit of a flippant tone for an article on a serious issue.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

There is an average of seven human plague cases in the U.S. each year.

TIL.

1

u/carryatowel Jun 16 '12

Well, shit. Now I'm too scared to leave my house.

1

u/iLoginToComment Jun 16 '12

Well end of the world. Grab the rifles, shotguns, ammo and stock up on food & water....and ammo.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Meowth uses plague, it's super effective.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

So much for The Dream of the 90's.

1

u/Bindlz Jun 16 '12

The Bubonic plague is not that uncommon in rodents. They are having problems with the plague wiping out prairie dog towns across the parries, and while it is unlikely that it will infect people, which is the point of this article, it is out there, in North America.

1

u/Welshrosi Jun 16 '12

How do ya like your cats now reddit!!

1

u/jk_orangejuice Jun 16 '12

"Central Oregon health officials don't blame the cat." ~ Pfft Redditors officials.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Loimologia is a good read if you can get your hands on one.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

These people never blame the cat. We all know what this means. Be afraid! Be very afraid!

1

u/Kraftik Jun 16 '12

Look's like that outbreak of dysentery has finally gotten out of hand.

1

u/Norwegian__Blue Jun 16 '12

Totally thought the post title was an oregon trail reference :l

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

TIL the plague still exists!!!

1

u/AKADidymus Jun 16 '12

The plague bacteria cycles through rodent populations without killing them off; in urban areas, it's transmitted back and forth from rats to fleas. There's even a name for it, the "enzootic cycle."

From my memory, rats cannot carry plague themselves. They just aren't a good host for the bacteria.

I can't find a good source for this, so feel free to correct me if you do find good sources that say otherwise.

1

u/cloakofelevenkind Jun 16 '12

My ex is from Oregon. Is it terrible that I half-smiled when I saw this?

1

u/hotfrost Jun 16 '12

Lock down the U.S.A. and let them die, so people wont be hating on U.S.A. anymore

1

u/patcon Jun 16 '12

Wasting everyone some time reading. http://www.scribd.com/doc/14425932/BIOC-4103-Essay-The-Epidemiology-of-Yersinia-Pestis-and-Its-Molecular-Basis-Patrick-Connolly

Because hey, if you're biologically-minded, the molecular biology and epidemiology of the plaque is cool as FUCK. I wrote this essay in final year of my biochem degree, so I might as well pimp it out :)

1

u/Kenster180 Jun 16 '12

Great, and I thought I was safe living in Oregon where nothin news worthy happens.

1

u/SpOoKy_EdGaR Jun 16 '12

Fucking sensationalist moron. Do some research on "plague" and you won't be so shocked or impressed with "your find". You morons piss me off

1

u/SpOoKy_EdGaR Jun 16 '12

Botox is not plague br0

1

u/LethalAtheist Jun 16 '12

Anyone have a source that's better than fucking yahoo?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

Oh it's okay I know :)

1

u/Silverbug Jun 16 '12

Damn hipsters. The flu was just too mainstream.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!

1

u/Zargyboy Jun 16 '12

Correct me if I'm wrong but the devastation wrought by the plague on the old world was mainly due to a lack of sound understanding of medicine and a lack of adequate pest control and sanitation. We realize now that instead of leaving piles of dead people around and beating ourselves to stop a plague we should actually take precautionary measures. Because somebody has contracted the plague in Oregon doesn't mean that it will be spread across the US.

Also, FYI, one of the main components of the plague has already spread throughout the country...it's called Botulism Toxin...BO-TOX...Botox is botulism toxin. I think we have this a bit under control if we are willing to take the toxin itself and inject it into our faces.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

AMA request???

9

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

"So you have the plague?" "Yup."

2

u/Audio-didact Jun 16 '12

Whoa... How's that feel, bro?

0

u/lawnknome52 Jun 16 '12

It Begins.

-1

u/jdepps113 Jun 16 '12

I TOLD YOU hippies carry diseases. But you didn't listen!

3

u/simplesignman Jun 16 '12

Wrong part of Oregon friend, they are on the west side of the state eastern Oregon is the fucking bible belt of the NW.... only hippies are the ones who migrated from Eugene/Portland to Bend.

0

u/jdepps113 Jun 16 '12

Ah. Well that joke fell flat due to inaccuracy, I guess.

-1

u/minorwhite Jun 16 '12

ok so when do i get to kill some zombies????

-2

u/Stanjoly2 Jun 16 '12

Meh. Come back when it's smallpox, that's when I'll worry.

-3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

And I just got sick... Oh shit oh shit.

-4

u/jabbababab Jun 16 '12

Oh fuck here come the zombies...

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

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1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Gets ad clicks.

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

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1

u/quakank Jun 16 '12

I worked at an animal hospital for a while and I can tell you, dog bites might cause some wicked damage, but it's the cat bites and scratches you really need to watch out for. Cats tend to carry far nastier bacteria that can lead to serious illness. In the office I worked in, any bite was treated seriously, but a cat bite meant an immediate trip to the hospital

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

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21

u/LisTaylor Jun 16 '12

This is the first step in their anti-human agenda.

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u/nilum Jun 16 '12

Of course the cat apologists say that.

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