African hunters infected by AIDS-like virus

Natoma

Veteran
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4556800/

Here we go again......... :(

The study, which also involved researchers from Cameroon, was published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday. It said the hunters infected by simian foamy virus, SFV, had shown no symptoms of disease. More research is needed to discover if it is harmful to humans or can be passed between them.

Scientists say the AIDS epidemic that emerged in the 1980s was the result of cross-species transmissions of another monkey virus, simian immunodeficiency viruses, or SIV, to people several decades earlier. They based their theory on genetic analyses of the AIDS virus and similar viruses found in chimps.
 
oh fucking jesus...next their leaders will be trying to use this as another antiwestern tool to support their nationalist agendas.


how the hell did they contract a simian virus? were they having sex with monkeys?
 
Didn't you read the article? Bush meat butchers chop up the monkeys and invariably cut themselves. Blood from the dead monkeys mixes with their own and voila. It's how the human race came in contact with Ebola and HIV, among others.
 
Natoma said:
Didn't you read the article? Bush meat butchers chop up the monkeys and invariably cut themselves. Blood from the dead monkeys mixes with their own and voila. It's how the human race came in contact with Ebola and HIV, among others.


when you say "butcher" do you really mean potcher?

Ebola i doubt was a simple fluid transaction.
 
No, I mean butchers. Bush meat is sold on street markets in Africa, and in some markets is chopped up on the fly when you select which cut you want.

Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids. When someone dies of Ebola, it's because of hemorrhaging. It gets so bad that many bleed through their skin. If you get blood on you in an open wound, you can be easily infected. What's saved us thus far from a widespread Ebola outbreak is that it kills so quickly, usually within 7-10 days.

Read up on it. It's a nasty disease. Terrible way to die, and easily transmitted.
 
Natoma said:
No, I mean butchers. Bush meat is sold on street markets in Africa, and in some markets is chopped up on the fly when you select which cut you want.

Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids. When someone dies of Ebola, it's because of hemorrhaging. It gets so bad that many bleed through their skin. If you get blood on you in an open wound, you can be easily infected. What's saved us thus far from a widespread Ebola outbreak is that it kills so quickly, usually within 7-10 days.

Read up on it. It's a nasty disease. Terrible way to die, and easily transmitted.


sounds like a throw back to the 1920's street markets. That would place them 80 years behind wrt produce contamination prevention
 
oh fucking jesus...next their leaders will be trying to use this as another antiwestern tool to support their nationalist agendas.


how the hell did they contract a simian virus? were they having sex with monkeys?
when you say "butcher" do you really mean potcher?

Ebola i doubt was a simple fluid transaction.
sounds like a throw back to the 1920's street markets. That would place them 80 years behind wrt produce contamination prevention

I don't know if you've noticed, but the majority of africa isn't exactly up to par with the west in development yet. Which is also why Africa, along with southern China, are good places to look at if you want to find new diseases.
 
oi said:
I don't know if you've noticed, but the majority of africa isn't exactly up to par with the west in development yet. Which is also why Africa, along with southern China, are good places to look at if you want to find new diseases.

While I don't know much about Virology, I think one would be hardpressed to support your case in that form. AFAIK, before and as the "New World" was colonized, where were the emergent pathogens? Is the Amazon basin really that modernized?

I'd be surprised if there weren't more underlying reasons and mechanics behind the formation of emergent pathogens than just the level of development and economic viability.

Natoma said:
When someone dies of Ebola, it's because of hemorrhaging.

I'm not trying to correct you, but if you're really interested, the vast majority of people infected with a HF don't die of the actual hemorraghing or external blood loss which recieve all the attention. Usually, between the loss of collegen and subsequent organ liquification and your body trying to fight the DIC - you just give up and die of mass shock.
 
I wasn't aware that the HF family of virii specifically attacks the supporting collagen around the organs. I thought it killed by causing the cells to burst, which basically turns you into one big bag of human soup. Either way, I definitely hope I never go out that way, or see someone go out that way. Can't be very pretty, or very pain free.

Nice and peaceful in my sleep when I'm 110 would be nice.
 
Tho we have a good idea where hiv came from (monkeys) we have no idea what the original reservoir for ebola is.
 
Yes, obviously there's more to it than just development. But uh, I don't think you can argue against the fact that viral development doesn't exactly get hindered by the lack of developed sanitation systems, as an example.

Edit: Or actually this came out a bit wrong. It should be more like along the lines of that lack of development helps people get in contact with viruses. Which is what I meant when I said that africa and southern china or good places to discover new diseases.
 
I don't know if you've noticed, but the majority of africa isn't exactly up to par with the west in development yet. Which is also why Africa, along with southern China, are good places to look at if you want to find new diseases.

No, i was completely obvious to the fact africa was behind the west in development...
 
I would say Vince that Oi is partially correct. THe more hosts a virus can infect the more likely hood we will see of it evolving.

Now, the argument wrt to technology and prevention may not be as solid as Oi thinks. Virii are a completely different matter then baterial infections.
 
Legion said:
I would say Vince that Oi is partially correct. THe more hosts a virus can infect the more likely hood we will see of it evolving.

The evolutionary standpoint would seem to be irrelevent in many of these cases. HIV for one evolved primarily as SIV in a non-human population and even when it did cross-over, the rate of mutation is so immense due to the lack of effecient DNApol/reverse transcriptase.

What he's saying now I agree with fully which is why I didn't respond. There's clearly a link between the average percapita wealth of a population and their level of infectious pathogens.

What I didn't agree with and responded to was when he stated that wealth is responcible for the prevelance of emergent pathogens. This has just as much to do with biodiversity, enviroment, and luck as anything else.
 
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