Mice infected with deadly plague are missing in N.J.

[Lori Price CLG]

Mice infected with deadly plague are missing in N.J.

Authorities are searching for three mice infected with bubonic plague that disappeared from a research laboratory about two weeks ago.

<snip>

The mice went missing from the lab of the Public Health Research Institute, which is located on the UMDNJ campus and conducts bioterrorism research for the federal government.

(Oh, I'm sure they'll emerge in a Blue state pretty soon.)

Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

[lovuian]

1. This is expected Bioterrorism the next thing to hit us.

Things coming at us in threes!!!

[Lori Price CLG]

4. Yes, Rove needs a Weapon of Mass Distraction to cover for...

Halliburton's contract to 'rebuild' the Gulf due to the levee breaches.

Lori Price

[me b zola]

40. And a reason to impose martial law.

[Lori Price CLG]

72. Yes, and wait until the Bush bioterror team fires up the bird flu...

quarantines and camps.

Bush's Project 'Bio-Shield' already has received billions of dollars, but the pharma-terrorists (and Blackwater USA and other 'security' contractors) will soon get a whole lot more.

Lori Price

[sattahipdeep]

41. psych 101 keep em off guard (New Oraq)

Allbaugh Ed Rogers Haley Barbour Neil Bremer

Then there was the Allbaugh Company through which he represents
Halliburton's KBR as well as military-industrial powerhouse Northrop
Grumman. Finally, there was New Bridge Strategies, LLC, where he
serves as chairman and director. New Bridge Strategies bills itself as
"a unique company that was created specifically with the aim of
assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of business
opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the US-led
war in Iraq".

Not surprisingly, the firm's vice chairman and director, Ed Rogers
(who, during the "2004 campaign cycle ... made over 150 live TV news
appearances defending and promoting the Bush administration"),
also serves as vice chairman of the consulting firm Barbour, Griffith &
Rogers, Inc (which he founded with Haley Barbour, now the governor
of storm-battered Mississippi); New Bridge's director, Lanny Griffith,
who serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Barbour, Griffith &
Rogers, "was national chairman for the Bush/Cheney entertainment
task force and coordinated entertainment for the 2001 Bush
Inaugural".

He was, typically enough, one of the 2004 Bush campaign's
"Rangers" - an elite group of fundraisers, each of whom was
responsible for gathering up more than $200,000 for the president;
while New Bridge Strategies' advisory board member Jamal Daniel is
"a principal with Crest Investment Company" - a firm co-chaired by the
president's younger brother Neil.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GI15Ak01.html

[Blue_Tires]

2. disappeared or stolen?

they obviously modeled their security after Los Alamos

[triguy46]

55. Don't blame the mice!!!

its the fleas that bite the mice that then bite the man, etc...

[KyndCulture]

3. People of NJ get more cats! nt.

[420inTN]

36. I think I heard something in the radio about cats being found with plague.

:shrug:

[Lorien]

5. Neo-con end timers trying to fulfill prophecy?

I don't put anything past them any more.

[undergroundpanther]

23. I think they ARE

Because too many people do not want to live under biblical law.

That is what helioprojectors are for.Can make 3d interactive holograms

[Zynx]

6. Bubonic plague is nothing with antiboitcs

Not that big of a concern, actually.

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. You assume (mistakenly)

That the infected mice were infected with a "wild" strain of the bacillus.

Who is to say that the strain wasn't an engineered variety fixed with the same super resistance genes that have been popping up (presumably from natural selection) in Staph, E. coli, tuberculosis and other diseases? Or that it isn't one to which mice (as biological carriers) are mainly immune but which is virulent to humans? Or that it is plague at all and not really something far more dreadful?

I don't mean to display a tin-foil hat, but those scenarios are ones that have been discussed to death as being very likely directions of American research in to biological weapons of mass destruction.

[Zynx]

14. Engineering bacteria is rather massively difficult.

People tend to read way too much very loose science fiction on "weaponized" diseases.

Weaponization usually just entails making it more easily dispersed, like with weaponized anthrax spores. The disease itself is not changed in the slightest.

It's MASSIVELY more plausible that this is just a normal strain, tin-foil aside.

[hallc]

30. Wait a second...

What?
Bacteria are extremely easy to manipulate genetically - throw a plasmid in their media, use some electricity - and bam - you have multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Not to scare people, but if that is what happened, then the normal abx agains Bubonic plague (Tetracycline, gentamycin) may not work against it- and when bubonic plague turns into pneumonic plague (either through systemic routes or through respiratory spread), forgive my french, but we are fucked.

[chaz4jazz]

46. PLAGUE FROM RODENTS MUST HAVE FLEAS TO INFECT

I wrote a MOW "Black Death" (from the book) about an imaginary outbreak of plague in NYC. Researched with epidemiologists, etc. Fleas bite infected rodents (mice in this case) then bite humans passing the disease. Bubonic Plague results, aching in the lower extremities (if bitten on the legs), bulbus (swelling of lymph glands to the size of grapefruits, etc. If the plague reaches the lungs, phuemonic plague results and can then be passed through airborn bacteria (coughing, sneezing, touching, etc.)

Modern antibiotics used as preventatives and cures work very well, EXCEPT in cases of established pneumonic plague - once established, it's usually curtains.

[anotherdrew]

32. It would not be that hard to transfer Resistance to a bacteria

It's called horizontal gene transfer, which bacteria do naturally, even without any help. Also wouldn't be too hard to make an extra deadly version. I have no reason to think that's the case here, but it's certainly possible to do. transferring genes into a bacteria is relatively basic.

However, this doesn't look to be the kind of place that would be doing such research, not at first glance anyway.

Anyone remember Plague Dogs ?

[hallc]

33. Thank you!

Nice to see someone knows what they are talking about.

[cantstandbush]

53. The thing to be concerned about is at what stage in the research were

these mice being used? And what were they testing...an engineered strain or just the regular, run of the mill, deadly plague?

[LisaL]

39. LOL. Engineering bacteria is really easy. It's all a cookbook.

[LibertyorDeath]

12. LOL

" Bubonic plague is nothing with antibiotics"

Ok then which would you like administered first the plague or the antibiotics.

Think weaponized (BP)

[Zynx]

13. Weaponized? How? People tend to have no idea what this word means.

Weaponized usually just means dried and powdered for easy dispersal.

Making bacteria more deadly requires a degree of genetic engineering that doesn't actually exist in the real world.

[hallc]

31. I would be careful what you say...

forgive me for being blunt, but you my friend are not educated in the realm of genetic engineering.

I myself did genetic engineering on bacteria - all you need to do is introduce a plasmid. Not very difficult. You are seriously mistaken.

[sam sarrha]

7. the Plague is endemic to mice and squirrels in California.. no biggie

[sam sarrha]

9. unless it is "Weaponized" .. then that Pita Member gets a "Darwin Award"

[AnneD]

26. in order to get the Darwin award

you have to remove your stupid self from the gene pool....not remove the entire gene pool. It's a survival of the fittest kinda thing....

[kineneb]

68. yup, "Don't pet those cute chipmunks, Mildred,...

you can get the plague." Every year someone goes up in the Serrias and contracts the plague. Fortunately they usually get the bubonic version, not pnumonic (really ugly). Read up on the Black Plague effects in the 14th century, when the disease first went through Eurasia. Modern medicine is fairly good at treating it, once a diagnosis is made. Three mice running around in a city don't stand a chance, no matter what disease they carry.

As I remember from my studies the plague requires a rodent host, usually rats. The fleas on the rodents actually spread the plague to new victims. That is, until it morphs into the pnumonic phase, which can be spread through the air. Camus' "The Plague" has some graphic descriptions of the disease, along with a chapter in Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror".

The fun things you study getting a Medieval Studies minor.

[flakey_foont]

8. Dammit! I told you not to bring your pet snake into work!!

bubonic plague infected mice don't grow on trees, you know

[truthisfreedom]

10. searching for three mice? what a completely ridiculous statement.

NJ authorities actually said that?

i'm searching for three mosquitoes, myself, which apparently escaped out of doors yesterday from my home.

[undergroundpanther]

15. Well chipped mice make it easier

Hunters can track chipped bobcats with GPS.Three mice can be tracked too.Just like a stolen product taken from a store..or a stolen car.

Also remember China culling civit cats awhile back?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3381645.stm
And at first we thought they meant pet CATS..

And here bird flu jumps to pet cats and Who calls for a cull..
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_02_20/en/

How soon people forget.

[az chela]

24. Blind???

Are these 3 mice blind and do they run up clocks??They are stuck in a farm house chasing the farmers wife

[AnneD]

29. great minds think alike...az

beat me to the point...

[AnneD]

28. were they blind??????

are there still farms in NJ. This may be a lucky break...

[karynnj]

48. Of course there are farms in the garden state

My town has at least 2.

[Gregorian]

16. The Plague- Now there's a WMD.

That is really really scary shit.

But you know our cavlier Cheerleader would frivolously tempt fate with his little "bring it on" phrase.

This could be a very very bad thing.

[Occulus]

19. Read upthread

It's ver unlikely that the plague these mice were carrying is any more dangerous than the form that we're all familiar with, and antibiotics take care of it quite handily.

I'm not so certain this is as big a threat as we are being led into being afraid of. Bird flu is a far more serious situation.

[triguy46]

17. Someone might have to travel to New Mexico...

to catch some more...

[shadowknows69]

18. a good chunk of my neighborhood has been sick for a week and a half

what are the symptoms exactly?

[AnneD]

35. you have more to fear from the flu..

and in NM, in addition to the plague, they have the haunta virus too. Had an outbreak about 20 mi from us. It's endemic in AZ, NM and has been spreading. EPA came out in moon suits to take care of it-Orkin would have been cheaper and they may be contracted knowing *co.

[pitohui]

51. yes, i know of someone who died of it in the 70s

if you travel to a plague area, he was doing field work in new mexico, and then go home, be sure your doctors know you have been in the field in a plague area

the delay in correct dx was the death sentence for this man, by the time his docs figured out what he had, it was too late to save him

they did not expect to see bubonic plague on the east coast

keep an up-to-date travel diary

[undergroundpanther]

20. A few interesting articles on this theme

Cats plauge scares
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/25/BAGCVECJIT1.DTL
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3320B563-B93E-43B3-8AED-4A197CC810CC
Deadly cat virus
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-0508250257aug25,1,1746503.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorthwest-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[slackmaster]

21. Anyone out there still not like cats?

Cats are our friends, mmmmmmmkay?

[undergroundpanther]

25. They are little furry purry

gods of love, if you ask me.

[patcox2]

27. Actually, the cat-owners will probably get it first.

The cats will catch the flees from the mice they go catch outside, then bring the flees in, and infect their masters. The fleas arte the vector.

Whereas non-cat owners will simply never have contact with mice or fleas.

This is the case in the southwest, where the plague is common in wild mice.

But in the end it doesn't matter, because the plague is, as has been said, both common and relatively harmless.

[slackmaster]

22. Double punch dupe

I blame my "plaque"-infested mouse. (Needs cleaning real bad.)

[Lori Price CLG]

34. No worries - FEMA will be right there w. the quarantines and camps. n/t

[tinfoilinfor2005]

37. Wonder if junior has heard about this?

He could start his speech out tonight with, "I've got some good news and some bad news"...

[MisterP]

38. the good news is, they stowed away on the Heart of Gold...

[MeasureTwice]

42. Is it just me?

or is there something to discuss in the idea that the U.S. goverment has a lab doing reasearch on bioterrorism? shouln't we have labs doing research into ANTI-bioterrorism instead? Aren't we signatory to treaties banning bioterrorism?
Also, you don't need to use genetic engineering to make antibiotic-resistant bacteria, you just need to administer insufficient doses to kill all the bacteria, wait for the population to recover, then repeat.
The resistant strain of E-Coli was created by putting antibiotics in the feed and when one antibiotic stopped working, adding another.

[Lori Price CLG]

43. Exactamundo!! n/t

[patcox2]

44. You can be sure that is what this lab does.

The US would not let a state university to research on developing biological weapons, that would be top secret and happen at Fort Dietrick, MD. This research almost certainly is simply research into what kind of threat might be presented by different agents that a terrorist could get his or her hands on (thats probably why they were studying plague, its common) and how to respond to them.

What I am saying is they don't have to call it an anti-terrorism research lab to be involved in anti-terrorism. That should be kinda obvious.

[earth mom]

45. Kick!

:kick:

[Patsy Stone]

47. Nothing to see here -- move along.

"Federal official said the mice may never be accounted for. Among other things, the rodents may have been stolen, eaten by other lab animals or just misplaced in a paperwork error."

They say this like any one of these is a good excuse. Just lost 'em in the paper pile-up, that's all.

[Lori Price CLG]

49. Right, just like the *millions* of taxpayer dollars that went missing in

Iraq, after the US invasion.
*****

US missing millions in Iraq funds
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/05/06/2003253391

ACCOUNTING MUDDLE: Bad record-keeping and what looks like outright theft of money from the Development Fund for Iraq has US and UN officials asking questions

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , NEW YORK
Friday, May 06, 2005,Page 7
American officials rushing to start small building projects in a large area of Iraq in 2003 and last year did not keep required records on the spending of US$89.4 million in cash and cannot account at all for another US$7.2 million, a federal watchdog reported on Wednesday.

Most of the poorly documented spending appeared to involve incompetence or haste, but in some cases the auditors said they suspected theft.

"We found indications of fraud, V said the report by Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen Jr.

Some cases were referred to a criminal investigations unit of the inspector general's office.

<snip>

Lori Price

[Patsy Stone]

52. Not real good with the clerical stuff are they?

It's "hard work" when you have to keep two sets of books. :puke:

[acmavm]

50. How they gonna find three mice with a two-week lead on these dumb

asses?

[triguy46]

54. Wait a minute, we need an epidmiologist...

It wasn't rats, but fleas!!! It was transmitted by flea bite, we for this to be an issue, the mice will have to propagate and for living conditions to be dark agish, (like in NO), then the fleas to bite you.

Plague happens in the US, so this is really a dog bites man story.

This probably does not mean the world is ending.

[Don1]

56. NY Daily News: Mice infected with deadly plague are missing in N.J.

"NEWARK, N.J. - Authorities are searching for three mice infected with bubonic plague that disappeared from a research laboratory about two weeks ago.
While health experts say the risk to the public is slim to none, the incident highlights ongoing security failures at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

...

If the mice got outside the lab, New Jersey Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs said they would have already died from the disease. Federal official said the mice may never be accounted for."

Right, this is exactly why centuries ago no one had anything to worry about from the plague and it did not spread...because all the rats died from it before they could spread it to the people.

:shrug:

[Robeson]

57. Oh great. That makes me feel good....

...not.

[enigami]

58. So the mice are dead?

what about the fleas feasting on their blood? Does anyone know the rate at which fleas multiply? Because as everybody KNOWS the rats didn't spread the plague it was the fleas. Why am I itching all of a sudden?

[sniffa]

59. indeed

hopefuLLy, the popuLace doesn't have access to googLe, or some simiLar search engine.. for then they'LL Learn that 'bLack death' is spread by bLood feasting bugs (i beLieve ticks and mosquitos can do the trick as weLL) and they may start to worry... maybe not go shopping at the maLL.

[UTUSN]

60. Well DASHCLE & BROKAW Are Gone, So Where Will They Be Shipped To? n/t

[rodeodance]

61. mice running around with bubonic plague are only a little risk????

[rodeodance]

63. good website here on transmission.

http://www.unh.edu/ehs/BS/pamphlets/Yersinia-pestis-fact-sheet.pdf

[Cobalt Violet]

62. The risk to which public. The haves or have nots?

We have two publics.

[mcscajun]

64. Oh, Fuck!

Aren't the toxic chemicals rampant in the eastern part of the state enough?

[neweurope]

65. Bush said two days ago that you have to be prepared

for a biological terrorist attack...

Just why do I have to think of Anthrax?

----------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Miss Chybil]

69. If they were being fed and watered would they still be dead? How

long do mice live with the plague? I thought it was fleas on rodents that transfered the disease, not the rodents themselves? And, do fleas jump on, or off, dead things? What about mosquitoes? This is not good. Another job for FEMA.

[Don1]

71. No.

FEMA is a big government entitlement program. This is a job for Halliburton.

Yay!

:sarcasm:

[Megahurtz]

66. Bitchin'!

:sarcasm:

[Chicago1]

67. I told my mother

and she ALMOST FELL ON THE FLOOR. How scary is this?? Just ridiculous. I can't believe this can happen in this country.

[kestrel91316]

70. I am crossing my fingers that the mice's fleas drowned along with

the mice.

The flea bites spread the plague, unless we are talking about the pneumonic form (spread lung-to-lung, so to speak).

Drowned mice spread no plague.