Oregon man contracts Bubonic Plague - International Health Related

Scientists discover way to use cane toad poison against itself
by Richard Noone

IN WHAT could be a possible silver bullet in the war against cane toads, scientists have discovered a way of using the dreaded creature's poison against itself.

By isolating the deadly poison secreted from the parotoid or shoulder glands of dead toads, researchers have been able to develop a powerful bait that can lure cane toad tadpoles into funnel-like traps set in infested waterways.

In a study published today in a scientific journal Sydney University researchers, in collaboration with the University of Queensland, have been able to show how the bait and trapping method virtually eradicated an entire cane toad population from a natural pond.

Importantly, while cane toad tadpoles find the chemical bait irresistible, it repels the tadpoles of native frogs.

Sydney University's School of Biological Sciences professor Rick Shine said the biggest obstacle to getting rid of the introduced and invasive species was that a single clutch laid by a female could contain more than 30,000 eggs.

"This means that even if you catch and kill 99 percent of the adult toads in an area, the few that are left can produce so many offspring that before you know it you are back to where you started just as many cane toads as ever,'' he said.

The lead author of the study said the only way around the problem was to stop the toads from reproducing.

"This is the first powerful tool we have created to control cane toads,'' he said.

"If we can do this, then removing adult toads can make a big difference because there are no new toads being born, to replace the ones we are eliminating.''

Cane toads - Rhinella marina - have had a decimating effect on native species since their introduction in the 1930s during a failed bid to control sugar cane beetles.

They have since spread exponentially throughout much of the northern half of Australia, killing native predators that try to eat them.

Professor Shine said in some local populations of crocodiles, goannas and quolls, more than 95 per cent of the animals were killed within a few months of the toads' arrival.

"A chemical bait created from the toads poison is a real magnet for toad tadpoles,'' he said.

"This is perfect to use in funnel-traps in ponds to catch toad tadpoles. Other native fauna such as fish and insects aren't attracted to this chemical but toad tadpoles are incredibly good at detecting it, and they search for its source as soon as they encounter it.

"When we use this chemical as bait in a funnel-trap we catch thousands of toad tadpoles and almost nothing else.

"In one natural pond, we collected more than 40,000 toad tadpoles in less than a week. And I think we got them all - over the next few weeks, not a single toad emerged from that pond.''

The researchers hope to train people from local toad-busting community groups how to safely collect the poison but said in the meantime even a dead toad inside a funnel-trap could work as an effective bait, without any risky squeezing of poison glands.

"In continuing work with our collaborators at the University of Queensland we are developing an even stronger, safer, and easier-to-use bait,'' Professor Shine said.

"To do this, we will isolate the active agent in the toad’s secretion, and use it in pure form without all of the associated poisons.''

© 2012 News Limited

http://tinyurl.com/8476zdm

Man in critical condition with Plague
by Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

A man hospitalized in Bend is likely suffering from the plague, marking the fifth case in Oregon since 1995.

The unidentified man, who is in his 50s, fell ill several days after being bitten while trying to get a mouse away from a stray cat. The man is now being treated at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, where he was listed in critical condition on Tuesday.

"This can be a serious illness," said Emilio DeBess, Oregon's public health veterinarian. "But it is treatable with antibiotics, and it's also preventable."

The Black Death raged through Europe during the Middle Ages, killing about a third of the population. Today, the disease is rare, but the bacteria have never disappeared.

The man, who lives in rural Crook County, was bitten Saturday, June 2. He developed a fever a few days later. By Friday, June 8, he was so sick that he checked himself into St. Charles Medical Center-Redmond. He was later transferred to the larger facility in Bend.

Karen Yeargain, communicable disease coordinator with Crook County Health Department, said lab tests are being done to confirm whether the man has the plague, but she said he is suffering from classic symptoms.

There's one bacterium that causes the disease -- Yersinia pestis -- but it can develop into three types of illnesses depending on how an individual's body reacts. Initially, the man had swollen lymph nodes -- a sign of bubonic plague -- but now he's showing signs of septicemic plague, when the bacteria multiply in the bloodstream. Symptoms include abdominal pain, bleeding mouth, nose or rectum and dying tissue. The third type is pneumonic plague, which affects the lungs.

DeBess said it's not clear whether the man was bitten by the mouse or by the cat. The feline died, and its body has been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. The cat was abandoned in the man's neighborhood about six years ago and stuck around. Yeargain said the man and his family had a lot of contact with it. He was bitten on the hand.

"Taking a mouse out of a cat's mouth is probably not a good idea," DeBess said.

Plague bacteria are carried by fleas, which typically infest rodents. People can become infected through flea bites or through contact with an infected animal. Some animals, including dogs, that have been exposed to the bacteria carry antibodies but do not get the plague and are not infectious.

DeBess said Oregon has a record of plague cases dating to 1934, with about a case a year and some periods when no cases appear. The prevalence of the disease depends in part on the weather and food supplies. When rodents flourish, so do fleas. That increases the likelihood of infection.

A total of four people in Oregon died from the plague since 1934, DeBess said.

The four people sickened in the past 17 years – one in 1995, two in 2010 and one in 2011 – have recovered.

The man is being treated with antibiotics. Other members of his family have been given a preventative dose, Yeargain said. The disease can be spread among people through bodily fluids.

A plague vaccine exists but is no longer sold in the U.S.

Everyone in Oregon who has fallen ill with the plague since 1934 has lived in a rural setting. But people in urban areas can become infected, too, health officials said.

DeBess said people should be cautious around strays and should not handle wild animals. For example, Northern California has suffered waves of squirrel deaths caused by the plague.

Health officials advise pet owners to protect their cats and dogs against fleas by giving them topical treatments or using a flea collar. The treatments are not 100 percent effective, but they do diminish the chances of pets becoming infected.

© 2012 Oregon Live LLC

[Now consider the survival mechanism of the cane toad.

More powerful predators equipped with much higher tech weaponry easily make short work of the cane toad. However, the more powerful predators that consume cane toads realize soon after their 'easy' victory that they have fallen victim to its 'stealth technology' in the form of a toxic poison secreted from glands in its skin. The predator's easy meal turns out to be its last, while the toad's mate deposits around 30,000 eggs in the nearest watercourse or pond. The sheer force of numbers and its sacrificial tactics, 'easy meal/prey' ensure final victory for the toad.

Now consider the rat population in NYC alone or other carrier resource in the USA and the mind boggles at the simplicity of introducing a rodent borne pathogen into the local population; child's play for pressured nations China and Russia - both nations are expert in bio-warfare and chemical weapons technologies. It would be IMPOSSIBLE for the USA to defend from such an attack, it's just too damn stealthy and easy.

The absurd myth the USA, with its arbitrary 'kill list' president, is able to gallavant around the world invading, mass murdering, occupying and thieving resources without repercussions is about to confront hard REALITY -- it's just too fuckin' easy, you defenseless Yankee doodle dunces, you are WIDE OPEN to such an ATTACK!

Have another read of the two stories and you will draw more interesting parallels. Furthermore, proof of an intentional bio-attack would be almost impossible to obtain after the event, as lethal pathogens exist in the immediate environment!

The most devastating attacks are ALWAYS 'lateral' and simple in orientation -- Russia has always led the US in cyber, bio, and chemical warfare. Prepare to die, assholes!

Of course the above conjectures are merely proof of concept and not intended to be realized; however they do provide evidence that the USA doesn't have a monopoly on sociopaths.]

the 'beauty' of a foreign bio-attack is that Western elites that had the 'Armageddon virus' developed for eugenics purposes would not have vaccinations for an unknown pathogen -- how does that feel Mr Rockefeller?

you just can't control the entire world -- America granted -- an amazing job of social repression and paralysis BUT the WORLD, forget it, assholes!

however, you do have one very slim option available, a simultaneous release of the mutated bird flu virus around the globe -- and hope for the worst.

are we goading you to release -- you better believe it! Either way your fucked. You release or 'we' release, one is untraceable but yours points directly to YOU!

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