People in the west usually ask me "Why you guys don't eat pigs/pork?"
My usual answer: "You are what you eat
."
But here is one more good reason why you shouldn't………….. you wont find out till you read it all……..
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
The Bubonic Plague.
Just mention the name and you will send shivers down
the spine of many people.
There is no doubt that this disease was deadly. Deadly
and gruesome to watch.
The death rate was 90% for those exposed to the
bacterium. It was transmitted by the fleas from infected
Old English black rats. The symptoms were clear:
swollen lymph nodes (buboes, hence the name), high
fever, and delirium. In the worst case, the lungs became
infected and the pneumonic form was spread from
person to person by coughing, sneezing, or simply
talking.
From the time of infection to death was less than one
week.
There were three major epidemics - in the 6th, 14th,
and 17th centuries.
The death toll was 137 million victims.
As a result, the plague is considered to be the worst
epidemic of all time, but it wasn't (not that we are
downplaying the severity of the plague).
At its worst, the bubonic plague killed 2 million victims
a year.
This is certainly a bad situation, but there is one that is
worse.
The pandemic (an epidemic that is spread worldwide)
that killed at least 25 million people in one year.
A disease that is largely forgotten.
A disease that occurred in the 20th century!
I know what you're thinking - AID's, Syphilis, or the
dreaded Ebola.
All are wrong.
It was the influenza of 1918-1919, right after World
War I (the war killed 9 million men in 4 years)
This was no minor disease - everyone on the planet was
at risk.
And it was started right here in the good old U. S. of
A.
In one year, nearly twenty million cases were reported
in the United States, accounting for almost one million
deaths.
The cause is still unknown, but is believed to have been
a mutated swine virus.
It all started on the morning of March 11, 1918 at
Camp Funston, Kansas.
A company cook named Albert Mitchell reported to
the infirmary with typical flu-like symptoms - a
low-grade fever, mild sore throat, slight headache, and
muscle aches. Bed rest was recommended.
By noon, 107 soldiers were sick.
Within two days, 522 people were sick. Many were
gravely ill with severe pneumonia.
Then reports started coming in from other military bases
around the country.
Thousands of sailors docked off the East Coast were
sick.
Within a week, the influenza was hitting isolated places,
such as the island of Alcatraz.
Whatever the cause, it was clearly airborne.
Within seven days, every state in the Union had been
infected.
Then it spread across the Atlantic.
By April, French troops and civilians were infected.
By mid-April, the disease had spread to China and
Japan.
By May, the virus was spread throughout Africa and
South America.
The actual killer was the pneumonia that accompanied
the infection.
In Philadelphia, 158 out of every 1000 people died.
148 out of 1000 in Baltimore. 109 out of 1000 in
Washington, D. C..
The good news (if there was any) was that the disease
peaked within two to three weeks after showing up in a
given city. It left as quickly as it arrived.
The United States death toll was a total of 850,000
people, making it an area of the world that was least
devastated by this virus.
Sixty percent of the Eskimo population was wiped out
in Nome, Alaska.
80-90% of the Samoan population was infected, many
of the survivors dying from starvation (they lacked the
energy to feed themselves).
Luxury ocean liners from Europe would arrive in New
York with 7% less passengers than they embarked
with. The confined area of the ship was especially
conducive to the spread of the disease.
In the end, 25 million people had died. Some estimates
put the number as high as 37 million.
Eighteen months after the disease appeared, the flu bug
vanished and has never shown up again.
So what happened?
Until recently, no one was really sure. In March of
1997, the news broke that researchers at the Armed
Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D. C. had
isolated genetic material from the virus.
This was no easy task. The living virus is no longer
around. It turns out that while conducting autopsies in
1918, Army doctors had preserved some specimens in
formaldehyde. One of these jars contained the lungs of
a 21 year old soldier that died on September 26,
1918.
Bingo!
The researchers spent nearly two years extracting just
seven percent of the genetic code, but the evidence
gathered has provided a great wealth of information.
It appears that the virus passed from birds to pigs and
then to humans. These are the deadliest of all viruses.
The viruses tend to remain stable in the birds, but
occassionally they infect pigs. Of course, the pig
immune system kicks into action and the virus is forced
to mutate to survive. Both the Asian flu (1957) and the
Hong Kong flu (1968), which were not as deadly,
mutated from pig viruses.
The scary part is that it could happen again - and we're
not prepared for it.
------------------
We are the Taleban! Resistance is Futile!
My usual answer: "You are what you eat
."But here is one more good reason why you shouldn't………….. you wont find out till you read it all……..
__________________________________________________ _____________________________
The Bubonic Plague.
Just mention the name and you will send shivers down
the spine of many people.
There is no doubt that this disease was deadly. Deadly
and gruesome to watch.
The death rate was 90% for those exposed to the
bacterium. It was transmitted by the fleas from infected
Old English black rats. The symptoms were clear:
swollen lymph nodes (buboes, hence the name), high
fever, and delirium. In the worst case, the lungs became
infected and the pneumonic form was spread from
person to person by coughing, sneezing, or simply
talking.
From the time of infection to death was less than one
week.
There were three major epidemics - in the 6th, 14th,
and 17th centuries.
The death toll was 137 million victims.
As a result, the plague is considered to be the worst
epidemic of all time, but it wasn't (not that we are
downplaying the severity of the plague).
At its worst, the bubonic plague killed 2 million victims
a year.
This is certainly a bad situation, but there is one that is
worse.
The pandemic (an epidemic that is spread worldwide)
that killed at least 25 million people in one year.
A disease that is largely forgotten.
A disease that occurred in the 20th century!
I know what you're thinking - AID's, Syphilis, or the
dreaded Ebola.
All are wrong.
It was the influenza of 1918-1919, right after World
War I (the war killed 9 million men in 4 years)
This was no minor disease - everyone on the planet was
at risk.
And it was started right here in the good old U. S. of
A.
In one year, nearly twenty million cases were reported
in the United States, accounting for almost one million
deaths.
The cause is still unknown, but is believed to have been
a mutated swine virus.
It all started on the morning of March 11, 1918 at
Camp Funston, Kansas.
A company cook named Albert Mitchell reported to
the infirmary with typical flu-like symptoms - a
low-grade fever, mild sore throat, slight headache, and
muscle aches. Bed rest was recommended.
By noon, 107 soldiers were sick.
Within two days, 522 people were sick. Many were
gravely ill with severe pneumonia.
Then reports started coming in from other military bases
around the country.
Thousands of sailors docked off the East Coast were
sick.
Within a week, the influenza was hitting isolated places,
such as the island of Alcatraz.
Whatever the cause, it was clearly airborne.
Within seven days, every state in the Union had been
infected.
Then it spread across the Atlantic.
By April, French troops and civilians were infected.
By mid-April, the disease had spread to China and
Japan.
By May, the virus was spread throughout Africa and
South America.
The actual killer was the pneumonia that accompanied
the infection.
In Philadelphia, 158 out of every 1000 people died.
148 out of 1000 in Baltimore. 109 out of 1000 in
Washington, D. C..
The good news (if there was any) was that the disease
peaked within two to three weeks after showing up in a
given city. It left as quickly as it arrived.
The United States death toll was a total of 850,000
people, making it an area of the world that was least
devastated by this virus.
Sixty percent of the Eskimo population was wiped out
in Nome, Alaska.
80-90% of the Samoan population was infected, many
of the survivors dying from starvation (they lacked the
energy to feed themselves).
Luxury ocean liners from Europe would arrive in New
York with 7% less passengers than they embarked
with. The confined area of the ship was especially
conducive to the spread of the disease.
In the end, 25 million people had died. Some estimates
put the number as high as 37 million.
Eighteen months after the disease appeared, the flu bug
vanished and has never shown up again.
So what happened?
Until recently, no one was really sure. In March of
1997, the news broke that researchers at the Armed
Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D. C. had
isolated genetic material from the virus.
This was no easy task. The living virus is no longer
around. It turns out that while conducting autopsies in
1918, Army doctors had preserved some specimens in
formaldehyde. One of these jars contained the lungs of
a 21 year old soldier that died on September 26,
1918.
Bingo!
The researchers spent nearly two years extracting just
seven percent of the genetic code, but the evidence
gathered has provided a great wealth of information.
It appears that the virus passed from birds to pigs and
then to humans. These are the deadliest of all viruses.
The viruses tend to remain stable in the birds, but
occassionally they infect pigs. Of course, the pig
immune system kicks into action and the virus is forced
to mutate to survive. Both the Asian flu (1957) and the
Hong Kong flu (1968), which were not as deadly,
mutated from pig viruses.
The scary part is that it could happen again - and we're
not prepared for it.
------------------
We are the Taleban! Resistance is Futile!
…j/k….
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