Trump administration cut funding to study hantavirus(www.scientificamerican.com)
16 pointsby solid_fuel4 hours ago3 comments
  • Bender4 hours ago
    Surely there are more common diseases that could better utilize the funding. We are also in a war time economy so I would not expect the government to fund anything that is not a weapon unless we are wanting to weaponize Hantavirus.

    There are very rare but occasional outbreaks in places where mice and rats breed uncontrolled. Public parks mostly in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico where the rental cabins are not occupied for part of the season. The rodents take over the cabins and then humans show up and get infected. Hantavirus is very rare. There have been less than a few hundred cases in the last few decades. There is a rare strain of Hanta in South America has has a 40-50% fatality rate but in most strains the fatality rate is 20% to 40%. It is also very rare in South America and Africa.

    If that ship has been overtaken by rodents infected with Hanta then quarantine the ship, eliminate the rodents and sanitize the ship. Or capture all the mice and release them into the underground missile cities.

    • gnabgib4 hours ago
      Outbreaks are rare because hantavirus[0] comes from rodents, so you might be unlucky and get it - but you can't share it with others.

      There is, however, one far more dangerous form.. called Andes Virus[1] (notice where the ship started its journey) Andes-hanta can be spread person-to-person. Dangerous in close-quarters, probably a bad region to start a cruise from.

      [0]: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html

      [1]: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html

      • Bender4 hours ago
        I think the key is close quarters transmission is required for ANDV. It requires people to share a bed or have close proximity. This is primarily a threat to family members which means it is much easier to contain than say COVID. This should in theory be easier to track and isolate than monkey-pox. It could however be a threat to other people in a hospital so they may have to dedicate a wing of a hospital to these people. They would know who was on the ship and could follow their path. I am not suggesting it is not a threat but I think it's being blown out of proportion.
        • gnabgib3 hours ago
          It is much worse than that - not airborne, but touching the same surfaces: KLM flight attendant hospitalized after contact with hantavirus (33 points, 13 hours ago, 22 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48048121
          • Bender3 hours ago
            I think that aligns with what I said. It's a path that can be traced. Not a fun exercise by any means but I think it's doable by the CDC. They and the WHO train for this all the time.
            • gnabgib3 hours ago
              It can be traced as well as airborne? Not easily, not perfectly. One attendant (so far) - they didn't even know she was sick at the time (long gestation). Not whomever cleaned the plane later, took the seat beside hers, checked her boarding pass, checked/retrieved her luggage, used the pass-printing machine right after her, got in the same cab she took to the airport as she got out, held the same escalator railing, held the same transit bar, pressed the same open door buttons, used the same cubicle in the washroom.
              • Bender3 hours ago
                It can be traced as well as airborne?

                I believe so, yes. AFAIK it is only transmissible via the airborne vector from rodents to humans. Human to human requires physical contact based on my limited reading on the topic.

    • solid_fuel4 hours ago
      We are not in a wartime economy, what are you talking about?
      • Bender4 hours ago
        We are at war with Iran, indirectly at war with Russia and likely about to be at war with Cuba and indirectly with China. Automotive plants in the US are about to be converted to make military vehicles and weapons. Oddly enough this is barely being covered. The framework is being put in place to reinstate the draft. All of the "peace talks" with Iran have been stalling tactics by both sides. Their plan is to wait until Trump loses the mid-terms and is impeached and that may not be the end of it. The war with Iran could potentially drag on for decades and could impact resource distribution world wide. I would expect fuel rationing to start in July or August. At some point afterwards grocery stores will somehow limit purchases. The corporate news will cover these things at some point.
        • i_love_retros3 hours ago
          Pointlessly attacking Iran doesn't really make it a war. It's just Trump doing whatever netenyahoo tells him to do and Iran not being too bothered. Not really a war. Trump could stop anytime.

          As for Russia, hardly at war with them either. Trump is Putin's bitch.

          So basically what the fuck are you talking about?

          • Bender3 hours ago
            Regardless of who is president next the war with Iran will continue. I would absolutely love to be wrong. This has been in the planning for a very long time and he just happened to be the first one to assist Israel. We could speculate why, probably some level of narcissism and wanting to be in history books but the reason won't matter. It's too late, the deep state will not let anyone back out after a taste of funding.

            If you would like some deeper discussion on the topic there is a halfway decent talk from Professor Jiang on DOAC. [1] He had many of the same predictions I had mentioned here on HN some time back which nobody here agreed with and they have all come true. We are just getting started in this quagmire.

            Don't let Fox news mislead people into thinking that air strikes will do anything to end this.

            [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTJGr78-zyw [video][2 hours, 11 minutes]

  • AmazingEveryDay4 hours ago
    Something about the social media hantavirus engagement seems a bit inorganic, certainly on reddit and also here.
    • soupspaces2 hours ago
      Earlier this year it seemed to me to have been happening with silver and it matched with a price hike. Which caused which?