- ProMED, the International Society for Infectious Diseases
yesterday reported that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) microbe
has been identified as a virus in the Paramyxoviridae family. Professor
John Tam of the Department of Microbiology at the Chinese University, said
the virus was detected by electron microscopy. Asked if the virus was curable,
Tam said they still needed to monitor individual patients before they could
conclude that the virus was curable. SARS is an atypical pneumonia that
rapidly attacks lung tissue and first showed up, according to most reports,
in February 2003 when 305 people became ill in Guangdong Province, China.
-
- However, further research shows that this is not absolutely
true, as it appears the Paramyxoviridae virus which could infect humans
was originally discovered some five years ago. It also throws up a strange
coincidence that has linkages with the "unusual" death of a prominent
microbiologist.
-
- In December 2001 I published an article entitled The
Very Mysterious Deaths Of Five Microbiologists (www.rense.com/general18/five.htm).
One of the deaths involved a skilled microbiologist named Set Van Nguyen.
On December 14th, Van Nguyen was killed at the Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation's animal diseases facility in Geelong,
Australia. The microbiologist had worked for 15 years at the facility.
Victoria Police said: "Set Van Nguyen, 44, appeared to have died after
entering an airlock into a storage laboratory filled with nitrogen. His
body was found when his wife became worried after he failed to return from
work. He was killed after entering a low temperature storage area where
biological samples were kept. He did not know the room was full of deadly
gas which had leaked from a liquid nitrogen cooling system. Unable to breathe,
Mr. Nguyen collapsed and died."
-
- Van Nguyen's death was one of possibly twenty one fatalities
involving microbiologists in a five month period between the end of 2001
and the beginning of 2002, including the death of Dr. Steven Mostow, nicknamed
Dr. Flu, in an air crash in March 2002.
-
- So what's the connection, if indeed there is one, and
what has this to do with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, only yesterday
identified as a virus in the Paramyxoviridae family? Well, try this for
starters.
-
- In Australia at the beginning of 1998, a group of microbiologists
announced the discovery of a new virus, a member of the Paramyxoviridae
family of viruses, which could be passed from animals to humans. In their
report (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol4no2/philbey.htm) the microbiologists
said: "Viruses in the family Paramyxoviridae have been associated
with new diseases in a variety of species, including humans, throughout
the world. We have isolated an apparently new virus in the family Paramyxoviridae
from stillborn piglets with abnormalities of the brain, spinal cord, and
skeleton at a commercial piggery with 2,600 sows in New South Wales, Australia.
Serologic studies indicate that at least two humans exposed to affected
pigs have been infected with the virus, possibly with resultant illness,
and that fruit bats are a potential source of infection. A large breeding
colony of gray-headed fruit bats (Pteropus poliocephalus), as well as little
red fruit bats (P. scapulatus), roosts within 200 metres of the affected
piggery from October to April."
-
- So, it seems that a virus of the Paramyxoviridae family
that could infect humans was discovered over five years ago, but where's
the coincidence in all this. Well, the microbiologists that first reported
the discovery of the virus in 1998 where Peter W. Daniels, Allan R. Gould,
and Alex D. Hyatt. All of them worked for the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation's animal diseases facility in Geelong,
Australia. That's the same place where Set Van Nguyen died, and the same
organisation where, as the journal Nature announced in January 2002:
-
- "Australian scientists, Dr Ron Jackson and Dr Ian
Ramshaw, accidentally created an astonishingly virulent strain of mousepox,
a cousin of smallpox, among laboratory mice. They realised that if similar
genetic manipulation was carried out on smallpox, an unstoppable killer
could be unleashed."
-
- ©Copyright Ian Gurney 2003. This article can be
reproduced or redistributed when the following is included: Ian Gurney
is the author of "The Cassandra Prophecy-Armageddon Approaches"
(www.caspro.com)
-
- Ian Gurney welcomes your comments at: info@caspro.com
-
-
- From Patricia Doyle, PhD
- dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com
- 3-19-3
-
- Hello Ian - I had written about the emerging/mutating
paramyxoviruses a year or so ago. I think that this is something with
which the medical/scientific community should be concerned. Paramyxoviruses
infect everything from plants, to snakes to animals to humans.
-
- The newest memebers of the group are Hendra, (infects
horses,) Nipah virus and now a NipahLIKE (measles encephalitis) Virus then
in 2000, we learned of Tioman. Like Nipah, Tioman is also vectored by fruitbats.
-
- There is also a parapneumonia virus which, I believe
this latest outbreak may be some sort of sibling to. Metapneumona virus
and many others appear to be emerging. When a newly discovered virus like
Nipah, mutates it is time for worry. Nipah was first discovered in 1999
in Malaysia where it killed one hundered people and caused the destruction
of thousands of pigs. When a new virus like Nipah mutates a few years
later, it tells me that it is very unstable.
-
- The good news is that I believe this A-typical pneumonia
virus is not as virulent as the flu. It appears that it spreads via noscomial
contact such as we see doctor-to-patient. It also spreads in families.
It does not seem to be very airborne.
-
- I hope and pray that the outbreak will be controlled
soon. I had been concerned that the outbreak was a revival of the Spanish
1918 flu. As you may know, there were a couple of expeditions to exhume
tissue containing live H1N1 Spanish Flu virus. I know that the expedition
to Alaska was successful and did bring back live virus (albeit I do not
know the condition of the virus i.e. if it would still infect.)
-
- I was very much against such an expedition. I have
been researching Chinese research and have been unable to find any expedition
to retreve live Spanish Flu virus. So, that is some good news.
-
- I do think that the news stories regrding this outbreak
is missing the point. I feel that they are concentrating on the outbreak
and missing the point about the emerging and mutating of so many paramyxoviruses.
There was even a mutation of measles and, also mumps virus over the past
two years. One must ask WHY? Will paramyxoviruses mutate into a virulent
strain that would cause a pandemic? Will they mutate so deadly as to kill
70% of the infected, as we see with Ebola? My concern is WHY are paramyxoviruses
emerging and mutating? They, unlike other viral families, infected the
widest range of life on earth, i.e. plants to animals, snakes, humans etc
etc.
-
- I will post your article. BTW that was a very interesting
addition re the microbiologists and Dr. Nguyen's CSIRO lab. Excellent.
-
- Patricia
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/emergingdiseases/index.shtml
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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