Thoughts Out Of Season

The novel coronavirus, aka MERS-CoV has claimed  the life of a Frenchman who contracted the  virus while visiting Saudi Arabia. He also passed on the infection to his roommate at the hospital he was being treated at. No word on the condition of the roommate as of yet. So far of the 40 confirmed infections there  have been 20 deaths. A 50% mortality rate. horrifying! In earlier times, prior to travel by train and especially train such a disease could take many months to reach across oceans and infect those far away. Not anymore. Someone who has just contracted the virus but is not showing any symptoms can hop a flight and be in many different countries in hours before becoming sick infecting everyone along the line. As another example, look at Haiti where conditions are still a whole level below horrible following the 2010 earthquake (I was there following the earthquake. Conditions in Hell must not be  much worse). Just imagine over a million people still living in ...

It appears the world is starting to take notice of the novel coronavisus or as it ha s been named MERS- CoV. this is a virus that belongs to the same family as the virus that causes the common cold with a difference: the common cold doesn't kill 50% of the people it infects. The virus attacks the respiratory system leading to severe lung injury, shock, kidney failure and, in many cases , death. Most of the cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia. There has been at least 2 cases where the virus has been passed from human to human; 2 hospital employees caught it from a patient in Saudi Arabia and the roommate of a man infected in Saudi Arabia with the disease. This is looking to be an extremely bad winter coming up. Once the cold forces everyone inside to  escape the freezing temperatures you will see cases of this virus and the H7N9 Avian Flu begin to skyrocket. And add along the yearly flu virus the catastrophic potential of worldwide sickness and possible death become a reality....

As all eyes have been concentrated on the Avian Flu Virus H7N9 along comes another virus, Coronavirus that has burst onto the scene. Arising in the Middle East it has now spread to Europe. It is highly deadly so far killing 50 percent of those infected. It attacks the respiratory system with a viciousness that leads to other organ failure such as the kidneys. Unlike H7N9 which many believe is transmitted directly from animals there have been confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission such as a patient in North London who came down with the virus while visiting the Middle East and transmitted it to another patient sharing his room while being treated in London. This is a virus that is related to the infamous SARS virus that infected more than 8000 people and killed 800 several years ago in China. This virus is believed to have originated in bats and has somehow crossed over and mutated into a state where it is able to infect humans. It is similar to the H7N9 virus in that it has not...