Medically Speaking.....

I've been sick...but happily I survived

2012-10-10T04:22:00.002-07:00

I've been quite unwell for the last couple of weeks. Not hospital admitted, seriously ill type of unwell, just some kind of bug that dragged away every last bit of my energy and filled me not only with an aching that extended from the tips of my hair to my toenails, but with an irresistible urge to sleep, some days for 18-20 hours.

For five days I could barely put one foot in front of the other, quite literally I was barely able to stand up. Getting through the school runs was agonising as my aching body lurched from temperatures so high you could feel the heat radiating from me a good foot away, and shivering bouts so forceful my entire body shook.

The worst has passed now, just a snotty nose and a need to go to bed a couple of hours earlier than I usually would do. So, what was this awful thing that laid me so low? An emerging disease with an unpronounceable name? An exotic disorder not seen before in the UK?

No, it was flu, a common variety I assume as I had no major respiratory issues and I lived to tell the tale.

Unusually for me I am not going to tell you about a new killer strain found in a llama somewhere in the Peruvian mountain's that may be a threat to mankind...none of that today.

What did cross my mind about my brush with this very common ailment was how I would have coped, indeed would I have coped at all if this had happened during or post-collapse?

If I hadn't have been able to turn the heating up and down instantly.
If I had not had paracetamol (acetaminophen) to control my temperature.
If I had HAD to stay awake to ensure the safety of my child and myself.

What would I have done? Well, the heroine in me says I would have pushed it to the back of my mind and carried on regardless. The reality was I was hoping to God there wasn't a house fire as I doubt I would have gotten out. I know we all react differently in life threatening situations, the will to survive is greater than almost anything life can throw at us, but sometimes, just sometimes you find yourself in a situation that makes you wonder, what if?

Threats to our safety in a post-collapse world will come in many forms and we should all endeavour to make sure we don't overlook the common everyday threats whilst preparing for the less common once in a lifetime events. The risk of something such as circulating flu triggering a terminal event, even an indirect one, post-collapse is far higher than it would be under normal circumstances.

Having the over the counter medications that we all store up for such events helps us feel better, they keep us comfortable, but they can't chop the wood, keep the fire going and do the thousands of other things that will be required of us post-event. Those of us that are alone with kids need to think far more closely than those in larger groups about just what our children are capable of to keep things going, even in a rudimentary fashion should we be laid low for a few days.

It's not a pleasant thought imagining a situation where something so simple could undo years of preparation and planning but it's something that should be considered. Relegation of minor tasks to even quite young children is something we seem to have moved away from which in many ways is a negative thing. Giving children small responsibilities fosters independence and in an emergency situation will save vital energy that you can expend on more important issues.

Whilst not advocating slave labour but getting them used to it now will mean things work much more smoothly later on. They will feel 'part of the team' and any skills they are able to accomplish for themselves will put them in good stead for the very uncertain future we all face.

Take care

Lizzie

H5N1 Avian Flu Has Mutated

2012-09-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Avian Flu has started to show signs of resurgence and a new strain, a mutation has appeared in China and Vietnam at roughly the same time. Scientists are working around the clock to find out what the risk to humans may be. At this point the World Heath Organisation are saying they cannot predict its effects on human populations.

Avian flu, H5N1 is carried by wild bird populations around the globe and infects domestic free range poultry who come into contact with infected birds.

Over the last 20 months H5N1 has appeared in wild birds and poultry in countries which had been virus free for several years, These include Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Bulgaria, Romania Nepal and Mongolia. These regions are well spread geographically and at this point it is unknown how it has resurged in such far flung locations within a short space of time.

The new strain is appearing in most parts of Vietnam and could pose a risk to Japan and Korea said Juan Lubroth The chief Veterinary Office to The United Nations. He is calling on all countries to adopt "heightened readiness and surveillance" towards the resurgence of the disease.

Its unclear whether the fresh calls for the authors who have published their research on H5N1 which shows it can transmit easily between ferrets, are the result of the new outbreak and the mutation that has occurred. Ferrets are used in flu virus research as they suffer from and pass on flu viruses in a very similar way to humans.

The scientists have refused to agree to the redactions until they have assurances and a system in place that will allow other scientists working on the virus, access to their papers.

Albert Osterhaus told Science (journal) that he and his team "completely disagreed" with the recommendation of the National Science Advisory Board for Bio-security that the research could allow terrorists to use the research in the manufacture of bio-weapons. Even so his team and those from the University of Wisconsin have very reluctantly agreed to submit revised papers once a system is in place to ensure they are available to the scientific community.

There is no doubt that avian flu is deadly but thus far it has not spread easily between humans, however the study altered the virus allowing it to be easily passed between the ferrets used in the experiments. Those mutations would have "greater potential" to allow the passage of the disease between humans the panel said. The board warned that the lab created version posed an "extremely serious global public health threat"

The NSABB recommended that the general conclusions could be published but that the public version should not include the details that would allow potential bio-terrorists to replicate the work.

The editors at Science and Nature (journal) have said they want a clear plan put into place that would ensure bona fide scientists researching flu viruses would have access to the data before fully redacting the information. This system is at this point still being put into place and the data is currently still widely available.

No comment has yet been made regarding if the mutant strain in the Far East is similar or the same as the mutant strain developed in the lab.

Avian Flu is shed in bird droppings. When those droppings dry, the dust from them is inhaled and it is this that leads to the disease. As stated it is not easily transmitted from person to person and only one definite case, in Egypt has been documented. It usually occurs in areas where poultry and humans live in close proximity to each other. Should that transmissibility improve, and its high mortality rate remain unchanged there is the makings for a pandemic that would rival the 1918-1920 Flu pandemic that wiped out 3% of the worlds population at that time.

Take care

Lizzie

Move Over RFID-Transient Electronics Have Arrived

2012-09-27T12:06:00.001-07:00

A transient electronic chip

Tufts School of Engineering have developed a new electronic technology, transient electronics is its official name, and it just melts away within the body after doing its job.

Testing in the lab has already taken place in areas such as wound healing, temperature sensors, solar cells and a 64 pixel digital camera, though what most of those applications could be used for inside the human body is anyones guess.

Unlike ordinary electronics, which are built to last, transient electronics are not. These small devices are designed to fade away, to dissolve at a pre-set rate leaving no trace in the body.

Silicon, a major component of the devices melts in water anyway, if thin enough, like the nanomembranes used in transient electronics there would be no trace of them within a couple of weeks. To control the speed of the melt scientists use silk which is dissolved and then reformed and it is this alteration of the silk that coats the silicon that enables the melt time to be controlled.

:

Prof Fiorenzo Omenetto

who is quoted as saying:

" Transient electronics offer a robust performance comparable to current devices but they will fully resorb into their environment at a prescribed time ranging from minutes to years"

One likely use is to control wound infection and the devices have been tested on rats, being placed in the wound immediately prior to closure. The wounds heated to a temperature that inhibits the growth of bugs leading to less infection.

John Rogers a mechanical science and engineering professor at the University of Illinois, the man credited with the invention of 'smart fingers' for use by surgeons said other uses were bound to be found for transient electronics such as computer components and mobile phones.

"Imagine the environmental benefits if cell phones for example could just dissolve instead of languishing in landfills for years" He was quoted as saying recently.

We thought RFID chips were bad and now they invent something that can vanish without trace...great. The chance that this technology will be used purely for the good of mankind is zero. There is no reason why with a little tweaking these devices could not be injected into people, they are so small and light they could be swallowed without being noticed. The possibility for misuse of this technology is huge. They want total control and this could give it to them. How small can they make them? small enough to inject into a baby at birth and track them for life? The parents would never even know and being so small, light and transparent the chances of finding it would be next to impossible.

It would be so very simple to add this technology to computers and cell phones that the users would never know their every keystroke and call would be monitored, after all, a slight alteration to its silk jacket could be made so it never self destructs....the possibilities are endless, frighteningly endless.

Take care

Lizzie

When Typhoid Stalks The Suburbs Blame The Government

2012-09-26T03:31:00.000-07:00

Jefferson County in Alabama is the state's most populous county and also its poorest. One of the poorest of those poor areas is Birmingham, Jefferson County's largest city. Here water and sewerage bills have quadrupled in the last 15 years and with combined sewerage and water bills coming in at around $300 a month, this leaves the same amount out of the average social security cheque of $600 a month to cover everything else, food, clothing, and all other utilities. Low paid workers, of which there are many fare no better.

Many people have opted to buy drums of water from petrol stations rather than pay their ever increasing bills. They use these drums of water for drinking, washing and in their portable toilets which can be seen dotting back yards across the area, the modern version of the outhouse. They pay a fee to a sanitation company to remove the waste. It's cheaper than letting the city take care of it.

Jefferson County is in this position because planned work on the sewerage system was estimated to cost $300m but this bill soared to $3.1bn due to construction problems and a series of bond and derivative deals that went bad in the financial turmoil of 2008. The fact that six officials have been found guilty of corruption is no comfort to the residents there who have no running water or mains sewage. To add insult to injury their bills are set to rise 25% a year for the next three years to ensure the project is completed.

" When you look at the amount of debt, and you look at the revenue that is produced from the rate payers, there is no way it is going to come down "
Tony Petelos
Jefferson County Manager

Depriving an ever increasing number of residents of water in a large urban area is literally inviting diseases to take hold there. As food prices continue to rise, and are projected to rise even further, the residents of areas such as this face a stark choice regarding how to spend their money. According to community leaders such as Sheila Tyson people are being pushed to the very limit.

Sheila Tyson community activist

The day is coming when they wont have the $14 to have a company come and empty their portapotty, when that day comes where will this human waste go? It has to go somewhere and faced with a choice of paying for sanitation or feeding their children many will opt for the latter. It's a stark choice, removing either from the equation will lead to ill health.

Each year some 400 people in the US are treated for typhoid fever, most have contracted it whilst travelling to the developing world. Although a severely debilitating disease, deaths listing typhoid as the cause are rare in the United States. Most will survive due to good nutrition, a return to clean drinking water and prompt medical attention. Remove any of these things and typhoid could quite easily get a foothold in the southern states. It is highly contagious and easily passed from person to person. Typhoid is only one of many diseases that are spread due to unsanitary conditions including the inability to wash clothing and bedding on a regular basis as is the case with typhus.

The implications for a reduction in the amount of people who have adequate supplies of clean drinking water and reliable sewerage systems extends way beyond a city where corrupt officials and bad planning has forced this onto the people living there.

Each day more and more people are becoming homeless, living in their cars, under bridges or moving to tent communities outside of city areas. All of these people are finding themselves in the same situation as the people of Jefferson County. Like the residents of Jefferson County they are in this situation because the government chooses to ignore the fact that people can no longer afford to live their lives with the basic necessity of clean water. They are there because the government chose to support the bankers instead of the people. These people see their foreclosed homes decaying in front of their eyes, nobody is living in them, no money has been made by the banks selling them on. Whole families forced out for what? So their homes crumble, get demolished and the government takes the land? Who knows ?

What is known is that living in such conditions is an open invitation for disease. Lots of disease. Typhoid has been used as an example, but that is just one of many diseases that routinely surfaces during economic down turns, after natural disasters and in times of war. History is full of such events. Typhoid, typhus, cholera, dysentery, intestinal worms, hepatitis, gastroenteritis and many, many more all arise from contaminated water and/or lack of adequate sewerage.

Its hard to believe that this is happening in the First World in the twenty-first century but it is. It needs to stop and it needs to stop now before many lives are lost to conditions that are rarely seen outside of the developing nations.

Those responsible for the unholy mess that is insidiously enveloping the United States, Europe and the UK should hang their heads in shame, and those officials responsible for so many residents of Jefferson County not having access to running water and sewerage should not only be charged with corruption but with reckless endangerment. The bankers foreclosing on homes that now stand decaying are in the long term going to be partly responsible for the increase in suicides being noted amongst the homeless and those who are pre-empting foreclosure, taking their own lives rather than watch all they have worked for be taken from them.

It's a sad indication at how woefully inadequate our so called leaders are. How far removed they are from the plight of ordinary families trying to live their lives is blatant. The provision of clean, safe drinking water and adequate sewerage should not be for the wealthy alone. The same men and women who are sending billions in aid to developing nations to help ensure that the people have clean safe water are allowing their own people to live without it.

When typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and the rest are running rampant we will all know who to blame.

TYPHOID

Typhoid should not be confused with typhus. Typhus is spread by the faeces of infected lice whereas typhoid is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, which is related to, but not the same as, the salmonella that causes food poisoning.

The Salmonella typhi bacteria are shed in human faeces and poor hand hygiene can lead to the disease being passed on via contaminated surfaces and food. It is possible but uncommon for the bacteria to be shed in urine, and hand hygiene once again can assist in preventing person to person spread.

In areas with poor sanitation and a lack of a secure drinking water source its common for contaminated human waste to get into the water supply and anyone bathing, drinking or washing food in that water, even a good distance away, is going to come into contact with the Salmonella typhi and possibly contract the disease from that contact. Typhoid fever is found throughout the developing world in particular in south and southeast Asia.

In those that suffer from typhoid but do not have medical treatment approximately one in twenty will become a carrier of the disease. They will continue to shed the bacteria in their faces and urine but will show none of the symptoms themselves.

The initial symptoms of typhoid fever occurring during the first week of infection are:

a fever that rises gradually eventually settling at 103-104F (39-40C)
abdominal pain
a dull headache
constipation or diarrhoea
vomiting-more often in children than adults
a dry cough
quite severe mental confusion, not knowing where you are or whats around you for example
a pink skin rash, usually with very few spots, often less than five that are 1-4cm across
a feeling of increasing malaise

Easier said than done without water

During the second week of infection:

all of the above
a swollen abdomen though this may not be blatant
a slower heartbeat than usual

During the third week of infection:

all of the above
loss of appetite
weight loss
physical exhaustion
bouts of foul smelling yellow-green watery diarrhoea
severe swelling of the abdomen
rapid breathing
mental deterioration and in some cases psychosis

During the third week 1 in 10 people will develop serious complications such as internal bleeding which can be severe enough to drop the blood pressure to unsustainable levels leading to the death of the patient.

Treatment

If typhoid fever is diagnosed early, usually taken to mean during the first week of infection most people will be prescribed a 7-14 day course of antibiotics. Some strains have developed resistance to one or more types or classes of antibiotics and therefore combination therapy is often used and this is dependant on where the disease was contracted as different strains respond to different drugs.

During this recovery period rehydration is a top priority and the patient should rest as much as possible and eat small regular meals rather than larger meals less frequently.

Patients diagnosed after the initial week of infection are more than likely going to require hospital treatment. Antibiotics will again be tailored to the strain but will most likely be given IV as will fluids and nutrients.

Regardless of when treatment started about one in twenty people will experience a relapse about a week after the antibiotic therapy is stopped. This second bout is usually much less severe than the first and is of a shorter duration than the original illness. Another course of antibiotics will usually clear the bacteria and ensure no further relapse.

No one who has had treatment for typhoid should handle food until medical tests confirm they have no bacteria left in their system.

Take Care

Lizzie

Could A New Coronavirus and The Hajj lead to a new pandemic?

2012-09-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Coronavirus

A new coronavirus has been confirmed as a novel virus previously unseen in humans. It is similar to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) which between November 2002-July 2003 infected eight and a half thousand people and killed almost 1000 of those people.

A 49 year old man is being treated in London, having been flown in by air ambulance from Qatar. He is being nursed using strict barrier methods and is said to be seriously ill.

The Saudi Ministry of Health has confirmed two other cases, both of whom have since died.

Peter Openshaw of Imperial College London has confirmed the novel status of the virus but feels it is unlikely to become a serious concern. This opinion is at odds with the view of Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory department of the UK Health Protection Agency. He said:

" In the light of the severity of the illness that has been identified in the confirmed cases immediate steps have been taken to ensure that people who have been in contact with the UK case have not been infected , and there is no evidence at this point, that they have"

Coronaviruses are responsible for the common cold and are skilled at mutating, as proved with the SARS outbreak, but it is still to early to say if this novel virus poses a serious threat to the wider population. The World Health Organisation along with individual disease study centres are looking for the answers with some urgency. Already pilgrims have started gathering for the yearly Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which falls almost exactly a month from now, and sees up to 2,000,000 Muslims arriving in Saudi Arabia, adding to the 3/4 million Saudis who make the pilgrimage to one of Islam's most holy sites.

It's to be hoped that Peter Openshaw is right and this novel virus really is no great concern. If he's wrong, given that coronaviruses spread via droplets from coughs and sneezes, over two million pilgrims at Hajj would be the perfect situation for the disease to spread quickly and easily. Returning pilgrims would transfer it to practically every country on the planet in the time it takes a plane to travel from Saudi Arabia.

A novel virus is the last thing needed as the northern hemisphere moves towards the flu season. Viruses can live for an extended amount of time on hard surfaces such as elevator buttons, hand rails, telephones and door handles and care should be taken if this virus does prove to be spreading amongst the population to avoid contamination.

These precautions are applicable to any droplet spread infection including the common cold. Other than direct infection from airborne droplets the easiest way to become contaminated is from your own fingers or those of your children. this is also the way most gastrointestinal illnesses make their way from one person to another.

wash your hands
stand with you back to anyone openly coughing and sneezing
wash your hands
use your knuckle rather than fingertip on lift buttons
wash your hands
get into the habit of not touching your face when out and about
wash your hands
cough or sneeze into the crook of you elbow and encourage others to do the same

wash your hands as soon as you enter your home/hotel/workplace
carry and use hand sanitising spray and anti-bacterial wipes
wash your hands
do not use or allow your children to use open to air drinking straws when out
wash your hands
wipe the rims of glasses and cups when eating out
wash your hands
be aware of keyboards,TV remotes, telephone keypads and door handles they are rarely cleaned properly
wash your hands
wear a scarf around your nose and mouth in crowded situations such as trains
money is dirty, never touch your mouth or nose after handling it
wash your hands
on exiting public washrooms pull the very top or very bottom of the grab handle, everyone goes for the centre so try to avoid it. Once outside wipe you hands on a baby wipe.

take care

lizzie

FDA Confirms High Levels of Arsenic in Rice

2012-09-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

Today New Scientist reported that consumer tests on 200 rice products have shown that 24 products on sale on supermarket shelves across the country are contaminated with arsenic to levels more than 5 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per serving.

Inorganic arsenic is found in igneous and sedimentary rock and leaches into the ground water, it is more dangerous than organic arsenic that passes easily though the body with little absorption taking place. Inorganic arsenic is cumulative and is far more readily absorbed than organic arsenic.

The FDA repeated the tests in their own labs and came to the same conclusions.

Rice is prone to the accumulation of arsenic due to the water-logged, low oxygen environment it is grown in. Silica present in the soil, something rice requires to grow well, and arsenic appear similar to the rice plant so they soak up as much of it as they can, something easily done in a paddy field. These fields are often terraced on the side of steep hills made of igneous and sedimentary rock, many more are found in valleys where run off from the surrounding mountains keeps the fields knee deep in water.

More than a billion people on the Asian sub-continent are thought to be at risk from arsenic poisoning their drinking water.

Although the FDA have limits to the amount of arsenic that is allowed in drinking water there is no regulation about the amount allowed in food. In fact only China has regulations regarding the amount of arsenic allowed in food. That limit is set at 150 ppb (parts per billion)

Brian Jackson, an environmental analytical chemist from Dartmouth Collage New Hampshire says that not all of this arsenic is in a form that can be absorbed by the body, and although arsenic is a known carcinogenic the levels described should not be a problem as long as it is not ingested on a daily basis.

Arsenic cannot be destroyed, the cooking process does not remove it from food, neither does soaking or washing the contaminated product.

Arsenic, the one time favourite of poisoners kills quickly when ingested in large doses, with symptoms occurring in as little as 30 minutes. Arsenic is cumulative, it builds up in the body tissues and can even be detected years after death by taking a sample of hair from the corpse.

The initial stage of arsenic poisoning would show as confusion and headaches with occasional vomiting. As the arsenic levels build the early symptoms worsen and haematuria (blood in the urine) would become noticeable. There will be more hair in the hairbrush each morning as hair loss increases. Non-specific stomach pains will start increasing in severity as the arsenic levels in the body increase and seizures will occur. The onset of kidney failure and liver disease mark the beginning of the end for the sufferer and coma and death will follow in quick succession if the ingestion of arsenic continues.

The World Health Organisation recommends that the highest level of arsenic in drinking water should be no greater than 0.01mg per litre of water. (10 ppb). Its interesting then to note that the average arsenic level in rice grown in the USA is 260ppb and this is allowed. Considering the carcinogenic nature of arsenic is this somehow connected with the huge surge in cancers seen in the first world over the last 30 years?

What about other products made with rice, cereal and grain bars, breakfast cereal, rice flour, meal replacement products and a whole host of gluten free products made with rice instead of wheat, are we to assume that they are also contaminated?

These findings with have major ramifications for anyone who eats rice on a regular basis and may affect those who store rice against future hard times in a significant manner. Rice along with beans and pulses such as lentils and split peas are amongst the mainstays of the preppers pantry and will form a large part of their diet when the stores are empty or they can no longer afford to buy food as they do now.

" most people are not eating the same diet everyday"

Brian Jackson is quoted as saying.

Well Mr Jackson, with people having to buy cheaper and cheaper food, and with people having to 'pad out' their food with rice products in order to feed their families you may indeed see people consuming rice on a daily basis. What will their long term fate be?

Take care

Lizzie

Aisha's story - Bacterial Meningitis

2012-09-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

Aisha was 13 years old and a skilled musician. One of those rare children who was truly talented, enough that she was tipped to be the Vanessa May or Nigel Kennedy of the 21st century. A violinist with flair and who played with a passion that showed her deep love of music.

She came home from school one evening feeling unwell and was a little pale. She never told her mother she had come up in a rash earlier in the day. She ate nothing, drank a few sips of water and fell asleep on the sofa.. Her mother noticed the rash on the back of her daughters hand, rolled up the girls sleeve and saw it extended all the way up her arm.

She had a leaflet regarding meningitis and the rash that sometimes comes with it and fetched a glass from the kitchen. She rolled it over the rash and saw it didn't blanch from the pressure, it stayed the same purple/red colour. Aisha never stirred even though she was burning up and the glass was cold. Her mother immediately called an ambulance.

A mere 20 minutes later her daughter was in A&E, a tube down her throat to protect her airway and two drips running into her, one for hydration and the other antibiotics. Although the test results weren't back the doctors knew what the problem was, Aisha had bacterial meningitis.

Within the hour she was in ITU on full ventilatory support, her fingers were swollen and turning a dark blue/purple colour as the infection took hold, the antibiotics were increased but the child's condition was worsening the rash was on her trunk, left arm and both legs, though not as severely as it was on her right arm. That evening her parents signed the consent form to amputate Aisha's right hand. Over the next four days they signed many more consent forms, and on day six they signed the one that would mean their daughter, if she lived would be a quadruple amputee, she had lost both arms and legs to the disease.

For the next seven months Aisha endured dozens of general anaesthetics so that her dressings could be changed. Each time we appeared to take her to theatre she would cry and scream begging us to leave her in peace and let her die, the pain after the dressing changes was intense even with morphine on board. There were times I admit I thought maybe she was right, but we pressed on anyway.

Her family were amazing. A quiet Muslim family, dad was a car mechanic and mom a cleaner, she had an older brother and a younger sister still in education. They knew by doing this they would be their daughters carers for life, in their culture it was most unlikely she would marry and have children. No man would want a quadruple amputee as a wife. They changed where they worshipped rather than listen to the Imam refer to Aisha as worthless.

Aisha is 31 next month, and each year writes to the team who looked after her during what she refers to as " the incident" Each letter ends with " thanks for not listening to me"

She is married now, and the mother of two very beautiful children. Her husband is a doctor and is both Muslim and able bodied. She met him at a friends birthday party, and theirs is a love match rather than an arranged marriage. Aisha is a part-time music teacher and works with amputee children and their families as a counsellor.

So what was it that robbed Aisha if her limbs and is there anything that can be done about it?

Meningitis presents in both viral and bacterial forms. Viral meningitis predominantly affects children and adolescents and is most commonly caused by either Coxsackie virus or Echovirus, both which circulate in schools on a regular basis. It can be caused in some cases by a flare up of herpes, by mumps and measles and very rarely by flaviviruses. In over 99% of cases it is a mild condition from which victims recover without medical treatment and often it is not known that they even had the disease.

Human echovirus

In a very tiny number of cases flaviviruses will be the cause and this can lead to encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that does require speedy medical intervention in order to save the patient.

The symptoms of viral meningitis in well over 99% of cases are a sore throat, slight fever, cold like symptoms and a general feeling of being unwell. Flaviviruses that cause viral meningitis cause symptoms more akin to those listed in bacterial meningitis but it does not respond to antibiotics due to its viral nature.

Bacterial meningitis is a fast moving disease that requires medical intervention without delay. It can occur with or without meningococcal septicaemia.

Neisseria meningitidis occurs naturally in the throats of about 10% of the population and only becomes a problem when the amount of the bug carried increases or it is passed to someone who does not carry it and therefore has no immunity to it.

Neisseria meningitidis

5% of those with bacterial meningitis will die and 20% of those with meningococcal septicaemia will die, but this rises to over 50% if the patient suffers septic shock before medical aid is available. (UK figures) the contacts of patients in both groups will need antibiotic cover.

The symptoms are many and vary with age and the condition suffered from. I have included a checklist that can be printed to make sure all symptoms are accounted for. This information is taken from the Meningitis Research Trust website.

Meningitis - Symptom Checklist

The following are possible symptoms of meningitis or septicaemia. But note: not all symptoms may occur. For example, the classic symptoms of neck stiffness and rash may not occur. See below for other possible symptoms. If you suspect meningitis or septicaemia - get medical help immediately.

What are meningitis and septicaemia?

Meningitis is an inflammation of the lining that covers the brain and spinal cord (the meninges). It is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection.
Septicaemia is an infection of the blood with bacteria (blood poisoning). If bacteria multiply and release toxins (poisons) into the blood, it can can cause serious illness.

Meningitis and septicaemia are separate diseases. However, the most common cause of bacterial meningitis (the meningococcus) often causes septicaemia at the same time.

Common early warning symptoms

Many children who are developing meningitis or septicaemia have nonspecific symptoms such as just feeling or looking generally unwell. These symptoms may include having a high temperature, being more tired than usual and feeling sick.

However, three symptoms that commonly develop early on - often before the more classic symptoms listed later - are:

Leg pains - which can become severe and prevent a child from standing or walking.
Cold hands or feet - even if the child has a high temperature.
Pale, dusky or blue colour of the skin around the lips.

Rash - commonly occurs, but not always

A typical rash is common with meningococcal infection. The rash is red or purple. Small spots develop at first and may occur in groups anywhere on the body. They often grow to become blotchy and look like little bruises. One or two may develop at first, but many may then appear in different parts of the body.

The spots/blotches do not fade when pressed (unlike many other rashes). To check for this place a clear glass firmly on one of the spots or blotches. If the spot/blotch does not fade and you can still see it through the glass, get medical help immediately.

The rash is a sign of septicaemia. It may not occur with meningitis alone. Note: a rash does not occur in all cases of meningitis and septicaemia but can be quite characteristic when it does occur.

Other symptoms that may occur in babies include:

Excessive crying - often high-pitched or moaning and different to their usual cry.
Fast breathing, or unusual patterns of breathing.
Fever - but the baby may not look hot and the skin may look pale or blotchy, or turn blue. The hands and feet may feel cold. The baby may shiver.
Will not take feeds - sometimes repeated vomiting.
Being irritable - especially when picked up and handled.
Drowsiness or sleepiness - does not wake easily.
A bulging fontanelle sometimes develops. The fontanelle is the soft spot on the baby's head.
Jerky movements may occur and the body may appear stiff. Sometimes the opposite occurs and the body appears quite floppy. Convulsions (fits) sometimes develop.

Other symptoms that may occur in older children and adults include:

Fever and shivering - however, the hands and feet often feel cold.
Stiff neck - cannot bend the neck forward.
Headache - which can become severe.
Fast breathing.
Aches and pains in muscles or joints - the pains can become quite severe.
The skin may look pale or blotchy, or turn blue.
Dislike of bright lights - will shut eyes and turn away from the light.
Drowsiness or confusion - may appear vacant.
Repeated vomiting. Sometimes abdominal pain and diarrhoea.

The course of symptoms

The symptoms often develop quickly, over a few hours or so. The symptoms can occur in any order, and not all may occur. Sometimes symptoms develop more slowly, over a few days. The symptoms may suggest a less serious illness at first. For example, fever, headaches, and vomiting are common with many viral illnesses such as flu. Therefore, even if you think it was flu to start with, if symptoms become worse then it may be meningitis or septicaemia.

Examples of meningococcal septicaemia rash

Take care

Lizzie

A Taste of Doomsday

2012-09-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

We all have a different vision of out worst case scenario might be. A major earthquake, war, economic collapse, a super volcano maybe, or an EMP or meteor strike might be what's on your mind.

How realistic are we in our expectations of what life would be like if we were permanently disconnected?

Regardless of what we feel is our personal nemesis, the big one for many is a total grid down situation, and some of the above can lead to that. Regardless of what caused it living in an off grid world, for most of us, is our worst nightmare. We have over the last two hundred years become so used to the convenience that electricity offers us, the lifestyles in enables us to lead, that life without it is unimaginable. Yes we all have our pioneer moments where we long for the less complicated days of yesteryear but the reality is that we have become so dependant on this invisible magic that flows into our homes we would be totally lost without it.

In a recent 30 hour power cut it was initially great, the tv sat quietly in a corner, the driveway got weeded, we played board games, I started a book that I had been meaning to get around to for two years, it was great....for a while. The phones were working and the electricity company called to say they hoped the problem would be fixed by the following evening. THE FOLLOWING EVENING! THE FOLLOWING EVENING! I was aghast, two days without a shower? I was furious, and this you should remember was a local thing, the phones worked, well they did after I crawled around in the loft to find my old phone rather than the nice sleek black ones I have scattered around the house that rely on a base unit plugged into mains electricity to work, the water worked and my gas hob worked so boiling water and stove top cooking were still okay and my car was functioning.

Snarling and muttering that it was a good job it wasn't winter I pulled out candles and torches slammed a saucepan on the hob to boil water for a cup of tea and then phoned all my friends and family outside of the area to tell them about my dire situation.

My youngest was on a sleepover that had been pre-arranged that night so no worries about night lights or moans about tv/the Wii/stereo not working so that was a blessing. The dog just carried on being a dog, totally clueless about my plight, mans/womans best friend my arse, she didn't care one way or the other.

Dinner was simple, no choices to make really, chicken salad using up what was in the fridge rather than letting it waste, I was after all facing upwards of 24 hours without electricity. I took the dog for a longer than usual walk, and spoke to a woman I had no clue lived three doors away, she too had decided to weed the drive. She was all electric and concerned about getting a hot meal for her two kids.

That's when it happened. I was about to offer help, having a gas hob I could heat something up for her when something in my head pinged. "at least it's not winter" I said brightly. " cereal for dinner will be a novelty" and off I went with the dog. I felt awful not offering to help but the fact was I didn't know this person. I didn't want her in my home, possibly seeing my preps, knowing I had a gas supply and a big dog who looked vicious and barked at strangers approaching the house but was actually totally stupid and has about as much chance of biting you as a toothless hamster. OPSEC was a priority and I had managed to maintain it on this occasion.

Being naturally helpful it was difficult not to offer to help, but me and mine come first. For all I know she could have had half a dozen brothers who in the future would be barging into my home invited or not and depriving my child of food...or worse. I decided I had done the right thing.

That afternoon I went to the 24 hour Tesco to stock up on some extras, funny how what started off as a major issue had morphed into a minor issue but in doing so had made me think more about real emergencies. I got back with the new supplies and spent the evening swapping them with stuff from upstairs that I had had for longer. This is one job that is easier when the child is not around. Her going to school and asking friends if their mommy's kept bags of rice in the bedroom cupboard would not be good.

By early evening stock rotation had been accomplished, cupboards wiped out and organised and I had a plan of what I was going to do the next day. I went to bed after reading for a couple of hours, it gets hard when the last of the natural light has gone, and woke after an excellent nights sleep which was possibly due to the room being totally dark with the all the lamps out along the street.

By the time the power came back on dusk was approaching and the entire house had been cleaned. Tiles wiped down in the kitchen and bathroom, wardrobes sorted the lot. Half an hour with the vacuum when the power came back on was all it needed to say genuinely that the house was in pretty good shape.

House cleaning is a pretty mind numbing task but it gave me a good deal of time to think about what life would be like if we were talking about 30 days without power, or even 30 weeks, months or years. The adaptions I would have to make would be huge. It highlighted areas I am lacking in, things I need to resolve in order to cope better should it ever occur. Most of all it made me realise that whilst stocking food, water and other essentials is of prime importance it is not the only thing that matters. Having back up plans and the right mindset will along with the stored food and water make sure I have the best outcome I can should my nemesis decide to stay permanently instead of just paying me a short visit.

Take care

DR Congo Ebola Outbreak Doubles in Size

2012-09-13T05:26:00.003-07:00

The Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has doubled the number of victims in a week. The world health organisation have admitted the outbreak is not yet under control. 31 people are now infected with the hemorrhagic virus.

The Bundibugyo strain is different to the be which infected Uganda a few weeks ago and doctors say they are unrelated even though they are less that 60 miles apart.

There are five known strains of Ebola:

* Ebola Zaire: 80-90 % fatal.

* Ebola Sudan: 50% fatal

* Ebola Bundibugyo: 25% fatal

* Ebola Cote d'Ivoire: only 2 cases recorded, both survived

* Ebola Reston: no known human cases so far

Ebola Reston primarily affects primates and pigs. Five Filipinos have been found with antibodies to Reston in their system - they all work with pigs.

The natural reservoir for Ebola has not at this point been discovered, but based on other viral haemorrhagic diseases it is likely to be either bats, primates, rodents or insects.

Ebola is classified as a filovirus and it appears as filaments under the microscope. It can be passed from human to human via blood, bodily fluids and in some cases respiratory secretions. It has an incubation period of 4-16 days which can make isolating victims difficult due to the time period that has elapsed after exposure.

The symptoms are harsh and come on very suddenly. Fever, severe headaches and muscle aches that cannot be relieved are rapidly followed by almost total loss of appetite.

Within a few days the virus causes disseminated intravascular coagulation, an odd condition marked by blood clots in the internal organs and haemorrhages elsewhere.

Violent vomiting and diarrhoea both containing blood and mucus arrive next and are accompanied by a severe sore throat and conjunctivitis.

A maculopapular rash (discoloured raised skin eruptions) appears on the trunk, rapidly spreading to the limbs and head. This precedes the final stage of the disease.

Prior to death, spontaneous haemorrhages occur, causing the body to bleed from every orifice and any wounds or injection sites that are present. Once the bleeding has begun death usually follows quickly from either haemorrhagic shock (blood loss) or renal failure.

There is no known treatment for any strain of Ebola at this point in time. Currently care is mostly palliative and is aimed at keeping the patient as comfortable as possible. Intervention for those cases caught early enough is keeping electrolytes balanced and giving infusions of blood and plasma to try and control the bleeding.

Nursing Ebola patients should ideally be carried out in full biohazard suits as this is the only way to totally avoid contamination from a patient who is vomiting, bleeding and has no bowel control. If these suits are not available strict barrier nursing methods should be employed. This includes:

* Disposable surgical gowns

* Face masks with visors

* Two pairs of latex gloves worn at the same time

* All hair covered in a disposable cap

* Rubber boots

All organic waste from Ebola patients should be handled wearing biohazard suits if possible. This waste, as well as inorganic materials such as bedding, clothes, towels and soiled mattresses, should be incinerated as soon as possible.

Dozens of flights a day bring home those who have vacationed in Uganda, where wildlife is abundant and people coming here from Uganda and DR Congo to visit friends and family, or returning from work, medical or missionary trips to the area, all have a possibility of transferring Ebola out of Africa. We should all hope and pray that the only things they bring back are photographs, memories and gifts.

Chagas Disease - A Slow Burning Emergency

2012-09-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Reduviid bug

Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is on the increase in the Continental United States. Endemic in the poor areas of Central and South America it is thought to have originally entered the country via immigration.

It's carried by reduviid bugs that carry the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and these bugs live in animal nests, under porches, under concrete, in dog kennels and bedding, chicken houses and coops, in brush and between rocky structures as well as in the walls of adobe houses and under tree bark. These bugs tend to bite people on the face and are sometimes called kissing bugs.

Trypanosoma cruzi

In endemic areas the disease is usually contracted directly from the bug bite. In non-endemic areas such as the continental United States it can be contracted from blood transfusion, organ donation or congenitally from mother to child during pregnancy. Only rarely is Chagas contracted through eating uncooked infected food.

It is estimated that between 8-11 million people are infected with Chagas and the vast majority of them do not know even know it.

Chagas has two phases. The acute phase comes first. The onset of the disease often has no symptoms at all. Those cases that do show symptoms may have nothing more than a raised red area around the bite site. On occasions one eye swells and there is a general feeling of malaise. These things pass off relatively quickly, within a few weeks, and the condition goes into remission for up to 20 years.

The chronic phrase starts with constipation and digestive problems, abdominal pain and some difficulty in swallowing. If left untreated 30% of Chagas sufferers will have heart and digestive problems severe enough to cause death

Medical testing of those with chronic Chagas will reveal cardiomyopathy, enlarged liver and spleen, enlarged lymph nodes, heart arrythmias and tachycardia.

It can be treated with two drugs Benznidazole and Nifurtimox both of which are anti parasitic drugs. The treatment itself however is not without side effects. Both drugs can cause:

* headaches/dizziness

* loss of appetite

* weight loss

* sleeping problems

* skin rashes

Doctors have to measure the seriousness of the condition from the test results against the side effects of the drug as some sufferers, particularly those aged over 50 may have worse side effects from the treatment than the issues the Chagas is causing.

There is a much higher incidence of Chagas amongst those people who live in poverty, in sub-standard housing, and previously most people in the United States who have the disease had either brought it with them when they relocated from an endemic area, or had been infected whilst visiting an endemic area. This is changing however, prompting some commentators to refer to Chagas as the 'New Aids' of the Americas. There were always some cases of Chagas in the US where the infection was contracted within the United States but they were uncommon, now however more and more doctors are reporting huge upticks in the numbers of cases coming through their offices

A small tent community in woodland New Jersey

With poverty increasing across the globe and more people experiencing homelessness and living in areas and conditions that favour the Reduviid bugs that cause Chagas it has the possibility of becoming a slow burn emergency, the extent of which may not be known for two decades.

Take care

Lizzie

Has The Lone Star Tick Been Genetically Modified?

2012-09-10T08:44:00.001-07:00

Lone Star Tick

Ticks have been around a long, long time. Their bites itch like hell and they can in some cases cause infections. Some people may be allergic to their bites.

In June of 2012 doctors in Virginia started getting an influx of patients who break out in hives, fierce, burning ferociously intractable itchy hives within 3-4 hours of eating eat beef pork or lamb. They are unaffected by chicken and turkey.

University of Virginia

These people, numbering upwards of 1000 come from all walks of life, they are a wide variety of ages and encompass men, women and children. The only thing they all have in common is that they have all been bitten by a lone star tick, Amblyomma americanus to give it it's proper name just prior to developing their meat allergy.

Researchers at the University of Virginia have no idea why this has only recently started to happen. Although they have come across patients who are allergic to the tick bites none have ever come across patients who develop an allergy to something else due to the bite.

All that they have discovered so far is that a reaction to the saliva of the tick causes a rise in alpha-gel, a sugar found in red meat rises after a single tick bite but the delay of several hours between eating the meat and developing the hives is causing problems with the research.

They admit they cannot find a reason why the ticks should suddenly start affecting people like this. They also admit that like most allergy sufferers those with this condition stop eating meat almost immediately to avoid the intense irritation caused by it.

How convenient for those who want reduce the amount greenhouse gases produced by livestock on the planet that this should occur.

How convenient for those scientists worried about decreasing water levels if cattle were slaughtered because nobody ate meat anymore. A cow drinks 7-10% of its own body weight in water each day.

How convenient for companies like Monsanto if crops replaced meat as the first world's only food source.

How convenient for government that people stop eating meat of their own accord especially when they are stopping people from growing food in their own gardens.

Just sayin'

Take care

Lone Star Tick is Implicated in Yet ANOTHER New Virus

2012-09-10T07:31:00.001-07:00

lone star tick

Tests have concluded that an entirely new virus has been found in Missouri. Two farmers, the only confirmed cases so far both recovered but were seriously ill and required hospitalisation. One man, Robert Wonderly still suffers from the after effects of the disease two years after contracting it.

The cases, which are independent of each other were though to be ehrliciosis, a bacterial disease but when antibiotics failed to cause any form of improvement in the men's conditions microscopy and cultures confirmed it wasn't ehrliciosis or any other disease previously seen.

The closest match to a known disease was to that of SFTS ( severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome) which was discovered in China last year and has a 12% mortality rate. Thrombocytopenia causes a profound drop in platelets which are used for clotting. This results in bleeding , either internally or into the skin which presents as profuse bruising. Both men had very low platelets, but neither suffered bleeding and this in itself is considered odd by the doctors.

The CDC have named it Heartland virus and their department for viral pathogens have confirmed its novel status. Whilst acknowledging that it is similar to other phleboviuses there are enough differences in the proteins present to classify it as a new species.

Although almost sure that it is indeed a tick borne virus researchers have spent almost two years catching ticks and taking blood samples from the population and the animals in the area it was found. It is most likely the Amblyomma americanum or the lone star tick is the one most likely involved in passing the virus to humans as this tick is the most prevalent in the area. This tick is reddish brown in colour, is the size of a sesame seed and had a cream patch, resembling a star in the centre of its back. This tick like many others will happily feed from humans as well as dogs, deer and many other wild and domestic animals.

To date no ticks carrying the virus have been isolated. It is also not known if the disease can be passed from person to person, though that was not the case with the first two victims, or if it could prove fatal in some people.

Researchers now plan to use blood samples stored from patients they were unable to make a definitive diagnosis on in an attempt to see if any of those patients had Heartlands. This will also give them an idea of the numbers suffering from it and the geographic spread of the disease. Doctors are concerned that as the symptoms of Heartlands are so general and could be attributed to many causes, the prevalence in the population may well be much higher than previously thought.

Symptoms

* general fatigue worsening with time

* fever

* loss of appetite

* diarrhoea

* muscle aches

* thrombocytopenia ( may present as bruising)

Details of the treatment regimen for the disease have not been released at this time. If treatment of other viral conditions with those symptoms are anything to go by it will most likely consist of rehydration therapy, fever reduction, pain relief, blood transfusion if required and ventilatory support if required.

Doctors advise avoiding tick bites in the first place by using repellents containing 20% DEET.

Details of the virus and research into it can be found in the August 2012 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The lone star tick has also recently been sited as the cause of a strange allergy in Virginia. People bitten by it have found themselves unable to eat red meat. Researchers say they have logged over 1000 cases of people who have been bitten by the tick no longer being able to eat red meat. Those affected break out in hives that burn and itch intensively 3-4 hours after consuming beef, pork or lamb. Chicken and turkey do not affect them at all. Scientists have no idea why this is occurring and research is ongoing at this time.

Take care

Project Paperclip: Mother of MK-ULTRA

2012-09-09T01:27:00.000-07:00

Immediately after WW11 ended the United States and Russia started searching for German military and scientific secrets. They were not only looking for designs of new aircraft, weapons and rockets, but for the men and women that designed them, as well as the scientists who worked in the fields of chemistry medicine and physics. they regarded the scientists as the people who had brought Germany close to winning the war.

The first problem occurred when the first batch of rounded up scientists arrived in the United States. It was blatant they knew more, much more than they had been given credit for. The original idea had been to interview them, debrief them and then send them back to Germany, but on finding out the extent of the knowledge they held this was out of the question. the were simply far to valuable to let go.

The War Department decided they would keep these men and women in the United states and learn from them in order to update and perfect techniques hitherto unknown or unsuccessful. As stated, this was a problem because US law expressly forbade official members of the Nazi party to live and work in the United States and most of the people in the group were Nazis. The President, Harry Truman, was convinced these scientists could not only help the United States get back on its feet after the war, but that they would put the USA on a path that would enable them to become a technological and scientific superpower.

Otto Hahn

In September 1946 Project Paperclip was sanctioned by Truman. This allowed selected scientists to be brought into the US and although Truman stated that none of them should be Nazi Party members all of those in authority knew that it would be impossible to find scientists with the knowledge the United States wanted that weren't members of the forbidden party. As a paper exercise all of the dossiers on those scientists The Joint Intelligence Agency wanted to stay were sent to the Department of Justice, who predictably refused visas to all of those on the list on the grounds that they were 'ardent Nazis' The then director of the Intelligence agency Bosquet Wev felt that they were more of a security risk if they were sent back than they would be if they stayed. With the full knowledge of the CIA director, Allen Dulles the files of the scientists were rewritten with no mention of their Nazi Party affiliation.

At some point Allen Dulles met with the leading Nazi Intelligence leader Reinhart Gehlen and over a period of months Gehlen gave Dulles intelligence that he could have only dreamed of. Dulles delivered this to the CIA who used it to set up the projects that later morphed into MK-ULTRA, OPERATION MIDNIGHT CLIMAX and ARTICHOKE.

Allen Dulles

By 1955 over 750 German scientists has US citizenship and most held high status positions within the American scientific community. Not only had these people held Nazi Party membership but some were formally members of the Gestapo. Amongst those given residency were doctors and scientists who had conducted experiments on humans in concentration camps.

Some of those given citizenship were:

Kurt Blome who experimented with bubonic plague on prisoners of war. He was hired by the US Army Chemical Core two months after being aquitted at Nuremberg. This aqittal came even though he had admitted publically to taking part in human experimentation.

Arthur Rudolph was the director of a factory that used forced labour and saw 20,000 people die from beatings and starvation. He designed the rockets used for the Apollo programme and fled back to Germany in 1984 when his war record came to light.

Werner Von Braun designed the V2 rocket that pummelled England. He became NASA's associate administrator in 1970 after working for some time at the Marshall Space Flight Centre and achieved minor celebrity status as one of Walt Disneys experts on World of Tomorrow.

The list goes on and on and on.

Project Paperclip was retired in 1957, not because of any feelings of wrongdoing, but because Germany objected to the US using taking its scientists and preventing it as a nation from developing its own scientific skills.

Allen Dulles went on to open a lab at McGill University Montreal Canada. The operation was headed by Dr Ewan Cameron, a psychiatrist. A man who had served at the Nuremberg Trials and who had full knowledge of what many of the German scientists had been involved in.

The Allan Memorial Institute McGill University location of Cameron's lab

Cameron conducted experiments that came right out of the notes made by Nazi scientists. He confirmed some of the results, and extended some of the experiments using different drugs than were available in Nazi Germany during the war. Electro ' therapy' was used, as was sleep deprivation, memory implantation, memory eradication and drug induced thought modification. Psychotropic drug were admisistered to men and women in the armed forces and experiments conducted to test radiation thresholds of unsuspecting individuals. It was at this point, having concluded that many of the techniques worked that MK-ULTRA was born, closely followed by MK-DELTA, MK-SEARCH, MK-OFTEN and MK-NAOMI.

These projects carried on unabated into the 70's before being closed down. In 1973, knowing that the end was near for the project the then director of the CIA Richard Helms ordered all files related to the project, and it's sub-projects which are estimated to be about 150 in total to be destroyed. In 1977 a request under The Freedom of Information Act lead to Senate hearings later that same year after more than 20,000 documents relating to the MK projects were discovered. The last of the information regarding MK and it's sub-projects was declassified in 2001 but due to the amount of information Helms ordered destroyed makes it impossible to know exactly what was done and by whom.

So what if anything replaced MK-ULTRA and it's siblings?

Officially the answer is nothing, and of course the Government would never lie would they?

Look around you. Often things are safest when hidden in plain sight. With an estimated 116 University campuses, at least two in most states and more in some, all having some form of government paid research lab, government psychologists and psychiatrists working on those same campuses and facilities such as Plum Island, the CDC, Fort Detrick and the Behavioural Science Unit at Quantico, not to mention what the CIA is up to on foreign soil it has to be considered that updated versions of these experiments continue to this day.

Map showing bio safety level 4 labs in the United States

There will never be transparency regarding these things, not in the USA, the UK, or any other country you care to mention. All of them are trying to keep their edge in an increasingly chaotic world. We the public are often the guinea pigs for these experiments without our even knowing it.

Within the last 20 years evidence has proved that the military has tested biological agents on its own personnel on numerous occasions.

The CDC has admitted that 1500 babies were given unlicensed vaccines as an experimental procedure without their parents giving consent.

Lassa Virus

Un-named biological substances released into the Boston and Chicago subway systems supposedly to test sensors.

I am sure there are dozens if not hundreds more examples like these.

Just as Project Paperclip morphed into the MK group of projects it is entirely possible that the reason behind the experiments has also morphed.

With so many of the global elite intertwined with politicians and policy makers are the descendants of MK-ULTRA being used not only to keep the USA at the forefront of biological, psychological and chemical development but to further the aims of the eugenisists who favour Agenda 21?

Bio-seal training for mass casualty events

How easy it would be to wipe out hundreds of thousands of people and blame it on some distant adversary. They have the technology and they have the capability to do it.

Are the individuals shooting up movie theatres and eating the faces off their victims people for whom the experiments did not quite work? Or conversely did the experiments work and their behaviour was exactly what was expected of them? We will probably never know.

There are more questions than answers at this point, and it looks set to remain that way for the foreseeable future. One thing that is an absolute certainty though is that whatever is going on behind the closed doors of the labs it is unlikely to be for the good of the masses of ' useless eaters' and far more likely to be of benefit to those who consider themselves to be the global elite.

Take care

Lizzie

Bibliography

Blowback,American Recruitment of Nazi's and it's Effects on the Cold War

Simpson C. Grove Press 1988

Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazi's. Proctor R.

Harvard University Press 1988

Project Paperclip: Dark Side of the Moon www.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/magazine/4443934.stm

Mengele-The Complete Story. Poser G.L. & Ware G.

Cooper Square Press 2000

Caduceus in Saigon. Evans B.

Hutchinson Camp & Co Ltd 1968

Social Nudging - the way of the future

2012-09-07T03:49:00.001-07:00

Professor Lord Krebs

Professor Lord Krebs, president of the British Science Association has spoken at the British Science Festival in Aberdeen Scotland. In part of his speech he said the following:

....better interaction between previously disparate disciplines in order to find ways to persuade society to change its ways. Understanding will only be achieved in my opinion by bringing together disciplines that haven't necessarily worked together, like neuroscience, sociology, behavioural economics, behavioural psychology and evolutionary biology."

So, the chief scientist, the president of the British Science Association, not only thinks that social nudging is acceptable but that it should be stepped up in order to make us perform in the ways required by the government.

Krebs went on to use examples of where social nudging has worked, in reducing the percentage of smokers in the population and by the majority of people wearing seat belts. He says that social nudging is not the answer for everything and feels in the case of "hard problems like obesity and over consumption of resources" then regulations and taxes should be used alongside it.

This interests me. So, how will they enforce this regarding obesity. Get to the checkout, get weighed and get charged a tax for every pound overweight you are?

No, better yet, the crap police will be on every checkout, if you are over weight they take all the treats and crap out of the trolly...public removal of crap, that might work.

Our powers are being eroded day by day by TPTB. More and more we are required to function within the parameters set down by the state but I believe this is more about the kids than the adults. They will grow up seeing government involved in every aspect of their lives and it will appear normal. The invasive initiatives that are there to 'help us' will be something they have grown up with, and if we are not careful, they will not question.

My 7 year old comes home from school really het up about man causing global warming, how the planet is going to flood when the sea levels rise, where will we live etc. scare the shit out of them when they are young enough and they will be compliant when they are older, after all they have spent 15 years being brainwashed.

Telling her that mommy actually thinks man-made global warming is a crock of shit may not help too much at her age but I have sown the seeds by telling her she needs to look at these things herself and she should not believe everything she hears. She's a bright kid and I would love to have seen her teachers face when she was asked why the world was warmer than it is now before there were people.

This goes on all the time in our schools and not just about global warming. The children are the future and we owe it to them to teach them to question and ask and discover things for themselves.

Lord Krebs throwing his not inconsiderable scientific weight behind government sanctioned mind modification of the populace does not I fear bode well for the future of our children. It's an attempt at putting another nail in the coffin for free thinkers who think that freedom and choice go hand in hand.

take care

lizzie

Anthrax Island

2012-09-05T06:18:00.002-07:00

Fearful that German forces would attempt to use bio weapons against mainland Britain scientists elected a small island, Gruinard, half a mile of the coast of Scotland, to test the effects of anthrax, which at that time would have been the weapon of choice.

The flock of sheep put there to test the effects started to die within three days of the endospores being released. Whilst entirely successful in proving how deadly inhaling anthrax spores could be it also left the entire island contaminated for almost 50 years.

A four year clear up started in 1986 which saw 280 tonnes of formaldehyde, diluted in 2000 tonnes of seawater saturating the island. Topsoil was removed from the 520 acre site and taken for disposal in sealed containers. Sheep were then allowed to graze freely on Gruinard to prove conclusively it was safe. On April 24th 1990 the warning signs were removed and Gruinard was no longer considered out of bounds.

A leading archaeologist cast doubt on this when he publically stated that he and members of his team had found anthrax spores on digs that had survived for hundreds of years. He said:

" I would not go walking on Gruinard.....it is a very resilient and deadly disease."

Indeed it is. Experts in biological warfare circles estimate that 3 million people would be killed if just 220 pounds of anthrax were to be released over a large metropolitan area.

As recently as three weeks ago anthrax was once again in the news. 50 head of cattle on a ranch in Logan County Colorado died within a week of each other. Tests have confirmed that at least one of them died from anthrax and tests on the rest of the carcasses are continuing at this time.

There are several strains of anthrax. Vollum which was used in the Gruinard experiments is particularly virulent. Vollum 1B was more recently used by UK and US bio weapons programmes. It was isolated from William A Boyles a scientist who died in 1951 after contracting anthrax a the US Army Biological Warfare Laboratory in Maryland. The US postal attacks in 2001 was also a virulent form, the Ames strain.

There are three forms of anthrax infection. Cutaneous, gastrointestinal and inhalational.

Cutaneous anthrax

Cutaneous anthrax often infects those who work with animals that carry anthrax in their systems. It used to be called Woolsorters Disease but can occur after repeated contact with hides and furs as well as wool. Anyone working with the carcasses of infected animals can contract the condition. It causes boils that turn black as the condition progresses. These lesions are painless unless the skin around them breaks down and the sores usually start as a reddish raised bump about seven days after exposure. The patients lymph glands may also swell

Gastrointestinal anthrax

This is caused by ingestion of anthrax infected food or drink. Anthrax occurs naturally in some animals and eating undercooked meat from an infected animal can give rise to the condition. The symptoms include, nausea, vomiting which may become bloody as the disease progresses, fever, general malaise,severe diarrhoea which may be bloody, sore throat, difficulty swallowing and a swollen neck.

Inhalational anthrax

This is the most dangerous of all and the death rate is between 75-90% depending on how fast medical treatment is sought and how aggressive that treatment is. It starts with flu like symptoms and a feeling of weight on the chest. This rapidly progresses to a high fever, breathing difficulties, shock and in many cases meningitis, which carries grave risks in its own right.

Anthrax is not contagious from person to person though bodily fluids from an infected person usually contain the spores in quantities high enough to infect the person handling them. With this in mind strict barrier nursing methods should be employed when looking after anthrax patients. Excreta and soiled bedding and towels etc should be sealed. Burial does not kill anthrax spores. Cremation and incineration are the most suitable methods of disposal.

The treatment for anthrax infection is a 60 day course of antibiotics. Usually Ciprofloxicillin, penicillin or doxycycline.

Please note that none of the cycline anti biotics are suitable for storage. They become more toxic the further past their expiry date they go. Ingestion of out of date cycline anti biotics can lead to kidney failure and death.

In 2002 the first anthrax vaccine was developed in the UK. Since then several others have become available. Currently they are given to those serving in the military and research workers that may be prone to accidental contamination.

In the US a Congressional Research Services Report states that 10 million doses of anthrax vaccine is available for civilian use. It is stored in the Strategic National Stockpile facility although the CDC site nor the Department of Homeland Security sites say where that is located. There is no published data regarding how much vaccine the UK has on hand. It is stored at the Porton Down Reseach facility in Wiltshire Uk.

Although a vaccine is available and coverage with anti biotics is effective in the early stages weaponised anthrax could still cause millions of deaths if released due to the symptoms of inhalational anthrax infection not being immediately apparent, and the need for the anti biotics to be given early on in the disease. The vaccine, whilst available will do nothing sitting in a shed somewhere. It needs to be out of the shed and in the people for it to do any good. The vaccine is fine for those not living where the anthrax was released, they can take it pre-emptively but for those on the spot it will be useless.

10 million doses for a country with over 339 million people, enough for a tiny percentage of the population to be vaccinated in the event of an emergency, it might be sensible to up production a bit.

I dare say the situation in the UK is no better. The drugs certainly work in the same way, and as with the US a stockpile is not protecting the people. Allowing the people to have the vaccine if they want it is protecting the people. I think many, in both countries would say no if offered, and I can see why they would do that, but once again, as with most things, the element of choice has been removed.

Freedom is about choice and increasingly, particularly on matters relating to our health we are not given any. It seems odd that this comes from the same group of people who lambaste parents who choose not to pump their children full of vaccinations, that they are not out there encouraging everyone and his dog to have the injection.

Take care

Lizzie

The Birds of Plum Island

2012-09-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Plum Island. First a bit of history.....

Plum Island is situated off the North East coast of Long Island in New York State. It
has an area of some 830 acres. It was allocated to the US Department of Agriculture in 1954 for the establishment of a research centre to study foot and mouth disease in cattle.

In 1994 dead bird specimens were found outside, open to air at the facility and in 1995 the Department of Agriculture was fined $111,000 for storing hazardous chemicals in an insecure fashion at the facility.

In 2000 an application was made to upgrade the facility into a bio safety level 4 centre studying human as well as animal diseases but persistent activism against this plan saw the Congress backtrack and the application was reconsidered.

Having an annual budget of more than $16,000,000 ostensibly to study foot and mouth disease, it was decided in late 2002 to transfer the facility from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Homeland Security.

Plum Island has its own fire department, water treatment plant, power plant and security and access to the island is limited to a government two ferryboat stations, one at Orient Point on Long Island and the other at Old Saybrook Connecticut.

As an animal disease research centre any wild animals on the island are shot on sight, birds however are not. Not only are they tolerated, they are encouraged, indeed the Audubon Society has declared the island as an important bird area, and as such Osprey nests have been provided there. Bluebird boxes and kestrel houses have also been provided. The centre is listed as studying more than 40 foreign animal diseases including those requiring level 3 bio safety status. Their freezers hold samples of zoonotic diseases, diseases that can be past from animals to humans.

A book, Lab 257 by Michael C. Carroll phD, has alleged that three infectious disease outbreaks originated on the island. Duck plague in 1967, Lyme Disease in 1975 ....Lyme is actually an area in Connecticut local to Old Saybrook ferry terminal, and West Nile Virus in 1999. The allegations have been vehemently denied by the government.

Birds, just like the ones being encouraged to nest on Plum Island are known vectors of zoonotic diseases. The most serious ones are:

Yesinia pestis ( bubonic plague)

West Nile Virus

Lyme Disease ( yes from birds)

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (ditto)

Cilibacillosis

Histoplasmosis

Avian flu H5N1

Avian tuberculosis

Campylobacteriosis

Cryptococcosis

Chamydiosis

Giardiasis

Cryptosporidosis

New Castle Disease

Salmonellosis

Sarcocystis

So, this facility, run by the Department of Homeland Security, a facility that has flouted the rules so blatantly in the past that Hilary Clinton recommended that Congress look at what goes on there, is storing and working with zoonotic diseases whilst at the same time encouraging birds that can carry numerous zoonotic diseases to congregate at the site. Birds that can fly hundreds or even thousands of miles, birds that often show no signs of the disease they are carrying. That's sounds sensible....not.

What's even more interesting is that the government looked at the possibility of selling the island as a means of helping reduce the US national debt. The value of the island was estimated to be in the region of $80,000,000 - $150,000,000. On looking closely at the plan it was decided that the CLEAN UP costs would be so high that selling the island would raise barely any money at all and the idea was scrapped in February 2012.

If a facility is run well, with the guidelines adhered to diligently what in Gods name could possibly cost more than $80,000,000 to clean up?

Take care

Lizzie

CDC: "We are in the midst of one of the worst outbreaks of West Nile Virus the USA has ever seen"

2012-08-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Figures released by the CD. On august 22 reveal that there have been 1118 reported cases of West Nile Virus, a three fold increase in the normal levels for this time of year. Of those cases reported, half have been inTexas where 21 of the 41 recorded deaths have also taken place. The rest of the cases are split between, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Of these 1118 case 629 have been serious cases that have progressed, becoming neuro-invasive. Lyle R Petersen the Director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at the CDC gave a briefing during which he said:

" We are in the midst of one of the worst outbreaks of West Nile Virus the USA has ever seen" Petersen, who contracted the disease himself in 2003 went on to say that anyone who survives the condition has life-long immunity from the disease.

WHAT IS IT?

Officially is is one of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex viruses of the family Flaviviridae. As stated it is a virus and it is spread by mosquitoes of the genus culex, particularly culex Pipiens and it is maintained by vertical transmission (adult to egg). This is not the genus of mosquito that spread malaria. Birds are the natural reservoir of the disease and mosquitoes pick it up by feeding on infected birds. They then pass it through their bite to other animals and humans.

The United States is so far unique in that the virus is highly pathogenic to its birds with the crow family being particularly susceptible although it has been found in 250 species of birds, all who were dead or dying.

In Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa morbidity and mortality in the birds is rarely found, they appear healthy.

It can also be spread by contact with infected blood from other animals, and rarely through blood transfusion, organ transplantation and pregnancy.

SYMPTOMS

* high temperature 101.4*F (38*C)

* headache

* backache

* muscle aches

* sore throat

* nausea

* vomiting

* diarrhoea

* swollen lymph glands in the neck

* rash on stomach back and chest

These symptoms usually appear 3-15 days after infection occurs. The more serious, neuro-invasive cases show the above symptoms and in addition may present with:

* sore eyes

* disorientation

* shaking

* seizures/fits/convulsions

* stupor/coma

* muscle weakness

These symptoms usually precede encephalitis, meningitis or paralysis. People over the age of 50 are more likely to develop the serious form of the disease than are younger people.

TREATMENT

there is no specific treatment for West Nile Virus. As a virus antibiotics have no effect. The milder form usually clears of its own accord within a few days to a few weeks and there are rarely any lasting effects after recovery. The more serious cases do not have such a good prognosis and although people do recover it is possible they may be left with brain damage from encephalitis and meningitis can lead to meningococcal septicaemia with the resultant loss of one or more limbs. Very severe cases can lead to death through either of the above conditions. Medical care is IV infusions to maintain hydration, IV antibiotics if secondary infection is suspected and ventilatory support as required.

AVOIDANCE

* decent mosquito repellant containing DEET

* long sleeves and long trousers

* screens on windows and doors

* citronella or other bug repellant candles

* draining of stagnant water and un-used swimming pools

* community spraying to prevent mosquitoes breeding

The fact that only 1 in 150 people usually develop the severe form of the disease, but in this outbreak more than half have developed it, is the reason the authorities are spraying with such vigour in an attempt to control the spread of the disease. One report, from the BBC suggests they are spraying a substance called DUET, based on extract of chrysanthemum which is not harmful to animals and humans but deadly to mosquitoes. I have found no other mention of DUET so I cannot verify that this is indeed the substance being sprayed.

Take care

Lizzie

Chemical weapons and indications of release

2012-08-19T15:44:00.001-07:00

Tonight something strange happened. This article was gone, missing in action, removed...who knows? Well its back, and thanks to a fellow Brit called Paul, some superb additional information has been added, the practical indications of chemical release. Thanks Paul.

On June 27th 1994 the Aum Shinriko cult drove to a residential area of Matsumoto and using a computer system remotely released a cloud of Sarin gas. Their targets were three judges that lived in the area, and they were using it as a trial run for an attack they were planning. 7 people died in the Matsumoto attack, and hundreds were sickened. Nine months later on March 20th 1995 five members of the cult boarded underground trains in Tokyo. They placed plastic bags of liquid Sarin on the floors, pierced them with sharpened umbrella tips and left the trains. As the liquid evaporated into gas people started feeling ill, stuck down with nausea and vomiting, uncontrollable trembling, foaming at the mouth and convulsions 13 people died and over 3800 were injured, hundreds of them permanently.

Aum Shinrikyo had business holdings worth an estimated $1.5bn including a plant able to manufacture chemical agents. There was evidence of experiments with Q fever, botulin toxins, Ebola and anthrax as well as Sarin.

Sarin like many chemical agents cripples the nervous system and causes a myriad of symptoms from those listed above to bleeding from the nose and mouth, paralysis, coma and death. In its liquid form the amount of liquid that can fit on a pinhead can kill an adult but considerably more is needed when it evaporates into gas.

Mustard gas was used extensively during WWl, and has been used since. Saddam Hussein was reputed to have used it against his own people, and it is believed that upto 100,000 US troops may have been exposed to it during the Gulf conflicts. Many doctors feel it is the cause of the illness known as Gulf war syndrome.

Unless you receive a large dose of mustard gas, which is also known as blister agent, you will not notice any immediate effects. Depending on the dose, at some point between a few hours to a couple of days red spots will appear on the skin, these will quickly turn into yellow blisters which are painful. If the agent has been inhaled blisters will form in the airways, on occasions closing them completely causing the victim to suffocate. In those that do not perish within a few days from massive exposure broncho-pneumonia usually results, causing death by secondary infection. Low dose exposure causes minor to moderate health issues over a protracted period of time, often years where respiratory tract linings have been damaged, or eyesight affected. Given the range of symptoms it is easy to see why many regard it as the cause of illness in soldiers returning from the Gulf. Eye irritation, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, repeated respiratory infections,fevers, recurrent fevers and blindness can all result from exposure to this agent.

Cyanide causes histotoxic hypoxia. It prevents the cells of a living organism from taking up and utilising the oxygen available to it. Cellular respiration ceases and organ shut down follows ending in complete respiratory arrest. Cyanide has several forms, but the three most common ones are hydrogen cyanide gas, and the crystalline forms, potassium and sodium cyanide. Exposure cause shortness of breath rapidly followed by seizure, coma and death.

VX is a nerve agent developed at Porton Down chemical weapons research centre, Wiltshire England in 1952. It is normally found in a liquid state. The film ‘The Rock’ starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage showed it as a green liquid in glass spheres. In actual fact it is an odourless amber coloured liquid. It’s not volatile, it’s odourless but it has excellent adhesive qualities and is all but impossible to remove from the item it has come into contact with. This makes it very viable as a strategic weapon. Should a military base be contaminated with VX the base is effectively out of use until the VX degrades, which takes a long time as it has an evaporation rate about the same as motor oil. It is absorbed through the skin, takes an hour or so to work and will see the victim drooling, sweating excessively and suffering eye pain and rapid breathing. This leads to paralysis, respiratory failure and death. In its gaseous form it kills rapidly, often without time for the symptoms to develop. The gas is heavier than air and if ever there were an alert regarding it the safest thing to do is get to high ground. If you were unfortunate enough to get VX liquid on you and it is on your clothes rather than your skin the CDC give the following advice “remove your clothes carefully by cutting them off and place in a plastic bag which should be sealed.” what I will say is don’t take clothes off over your head as inhaling any at all is a death sentence.

The antidote for VX poisoning is atropine. VX binds to enzymes in the body effectively cutting off the nervous system. Atropine removes it from the enzymes but to do so has be be injected directly into the heart, it won’t work any other way.

The USA, Russia and France are the only nations recorded as having VX in their possession. The UK gave theirs to the US in return for a thermonuclear device back in the fifties….no I am not kidding.

Mustard gas, sarin and cyanide is held by many countries including Syria and others in the Middle East. It’s to be hoped that they feel having them is a good enough deterrent and that using them would result in retaliatory action that would most likely lead us very quickly into global warfare.

NEWS REPORTS 24th July 2012 Report that Syria has stocks of VX and will use it’s chemical arsenal against external attackers. This is the first time I have found mention of Syria or any country other than the United States, Russia and France being mentioned as having supplies of VX. Anyone fancy a slice of false flag with breakfast?

Practical Indications of a Chemical Release

Signs of a chemical release can include smoke or a peculiar odour on the air like (but not limited to) Garlic, Mustard, Geraniums, Burnt almonds, Bleach, and Mown hay.

Any IED release will probably seem weak, low yeald, and “smokey”.

People may be having difficulty breathing, eye irritation, losing coordination, nausea, a burning sensation in the nose, throat and lungs. Any of these may be an indicator that an airborne agent is present.Also B.O.L.O. for of dead insects or birds.

A list follows of the most common agents.

1)Symptoms associated with the nerve gases SARIN or VX Gas (no odour).

Headache, runny nose, salivation, pinpoint pupils, difficulty in breathing, tight chest, seizures, convulsions, nausea, and vomiting.

First aid includes:- Remove from the area, treat with Atropine and pralidoxime chloride (2-PAM chloride), diazepam for seizure control

2)Symptoms of blood agents Hydrogen Cyanide and Cyanogen Chloride (smells like burnt almonds).

Cherry red skin/lips, rapid breathing, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, dilated pupils, excessive salivation, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, pulmonary edema, respiratory arrest.

First aid includes:- Remove from the area, pure oxygen, administer a cyanide kit.

3)Symptoms of blister agents Mustard gas (smells of mustard or garlic) and Lewisite (Geraniums).

Red,burning skin, blisters, sore throat, dry cough, pulmonary edema, eye damage, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. Symptoms may be delayed from 2 to 24 hrs.

First aid includes:- Evacuate, wash with with copious water, remove contaminated clothing, support airway and breathing.

4)Symptoms of choking agents Chlorine (smells like Bleach) and Phosgene gas (smells like mown hay).

Eye and airway irritation, dizziness, tightness in chest, pulmonary edema, painful cough, nausea, and a headache.

First aid includes:- Evacuate, remove contaminated clothing, pure oxygen, patient will need plenty of rest.

Take care

Lizzie

Pentagon withdraws Ebola vaccine funding

2012-08-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Two companies leading the search to find a vaccine for Ebola have had their funding suspended by the Pentagon.

Ebola, often described as the most terrifying disease on earth is a hemorrhagic virus that causes internal bleeding, organ failure and death in 90% of cases. A recent small outbreak in Uganda has claimed 16 lives so far.

The main efforts to combat the disease are funded by the US Department of Defence and the National Institute of Health. Several vaccine candidates have been identified and have been effective in animal trials.

Two companies, Sarepta and Tekmira have just begun human clinical trials only to be told to stop work due to funding issues. The order was issued by the Department of Defence. Scientist say that without continued funding it is most unlikely a vaccine will be forthcoming.

Two companies leading the search to find a vaccine for Ebola have had their funding suspended by the Pentagon.

Ebola virus Zaire

Ebola virus Zaire Electron micrograph of Ebola Zaire virus taken at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Gene Olinger, a virologist at the US Army Research Institute at Fort Derrick in Maryland stated:

" with funding I would say there would be a vaccine in 5-7 years, that could triple if the funding goes away"

Larry Zeitlin, from Mapp pharmaceuticals, a small company working on Ebola therapies feels it is unlikely big pharma will get involved and take the research forward. " there is not a huge client base at this point and big pharma like are only interested in big profits, it is the smaller companies that drive products for niche market bio defence" he stated recently.

You can bet you bottom dollar funding will be re-instated if Ebola makes it out of Africa.

Take care

Lizzie

Gene Olinger, a virologist at the US Army Research Institute at Fort Derrick in Maryland stated:

" with funding I would say there would be a vaccine in 5-7 years, that could triple if the funding goes away"

You can bet you bottom dollar funding will be re-instated if Ebola makes it out of Africa.

Take care

Lizzie

Another virus makes a species jump

2012-08-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

Recently two polar bears at a Berlin zoo started foaming at the mouth and having seizures, one of them , Jerka died a week later, the other Lars, survived after several weeks of intensive treatment.

Post-mortem studies on the brain of the dead bear revealed encephalitis, swelling of the brain, caused by a virus found in zebras and it was concluded through further
tests that the virus, never found in bears before was responsible for the polar bears death.

The zebra house at the zoo is 68ft from the polar bear enclosure and none of the keepers care for both groups of animals. None of the feeding apparatus is shared and the zoo has ruled out any other possible cross contamination. They have no idea how the virus got into the polar bears, particularly as none of the zebras at the zoo were known to be suffering from the condition.

Zoos bring together animals from all over the world, animals that would never normally be in close proximity to each other, often they would not even be on the same continent as each other. It is extremely unlikely, in fact nigh on impossible that this would have happened in the wild.

I am not anti-zoo. They play an important role in animal conservation with breeding programmes that hopefully ensure that endangered animals survive in sufficient numbers to carry the species forward. What concerns me is that they have no idea on how Jerka contracted the disease, how it was transmitted to her, until the death of that polar bear they had no idea that the virus could affect polar bears.

With seals in New England recently being found to be a vector for the avian flu virus H3N8, and with so many diseases, such as Ebola, West Nile Virus, novel H1N1 swine flu, Hantavirus and many more zoonotic diseases crossing the species barrier from animal to man could it be that zoos and sanctuaries become the breeding ground for these viruses to jump from one species of animal to another, allowing them to mutate and adapt to their new host before they finally are able to jump the final barrier and cross into humans?

Prof Klaus Osterreider from the Free University Berlin said in an interview with Biology (journal)

"These viruses do not seem to respect boundaries, and in fact we do not know that they have any"

A sobering thought indeed.

Take care

Lizzie

Something Stinks, But It's Not The Raw Milk....

2012-08-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurised or homogenised and prior to 1864 when Louis Pasteur ( 1822-1895) discovered that pasteurisation prevented spoilage raw milk was the norm, and was consumed by all including weaned infants. Even after the process of pasteurisation became more common it was the discovery of germ theory in 1870 by Joseph lister (1827-1912) that started turning people away from raw milk.

Germ theory showed how highly contagious diseases, such as brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis could be controlled via pasteurisation. The process was first used in the USA in 1890. Tests developed since that time have shown that milk can carry not only brucellosis and bovine TB but listeria, salmonella and e.coli 0157.

It should be pointed out that not all raw milk carries these diseases, and some has been found to carry none of them but the fact that most raw milk carries at least some of these diseases even in small amounts has prompted some governments to ban the sale of raw milk and cheeses made with raw milk.

Those in favour of raw milk feel the health benefits and taste of consuming the unadulterated product outweighs the health risk. They also feel that in the pasteurisation process good bacteria as well as bad are destroyed. Those against it say the health benefits are unaltered by pasteurisation and that public safety is paramount.

In the USA the FDA and CDC has ruled raw milk unfit for human consumption though 28 states continue at this point to allow it to be sold, often after obtaining a permit to do so, but not all allow it to be sold for human consumption. The number of states allowed to sell raw milk at all is dropping with 11 more banning the sale of raw milk products since 2000.

Canada banned the sale of raw milk completely in 1991.

Raw milk is widely available throughout Europe, in the UK it is banned in Scotland but allowed to be sold directly by farmers to consumers in England, Ireland and Wales though it does have to carry a warning as to the possible dangers of drinking it.

So, what's the truth, is it safe or is it not?

The answer to that depends entirely on which research and/or studies you read. Those done by farmers and raw milk aficionados say it is safe, those done by the government say it is not.

Working on the KISS principle, maybe, just for once statistics can help.

The CDC record 2 deaths directly attributable to raw milk between 1993-2006. A mean annual death rate of 0.15 per year.

EACH YEAR an average of 100 people die in the United States as a direct result of e.coli 0157 from ground beef.

EACH YEAR an average of 98 people die in the United States from Vibrio contracted by eating oysters and shell fish.

It seems crazy to me that a totally natural substance that has been consumed for thousands of years in its natural state can be banned because it causes 2 deaths in
13 years.

Studies indicate that more people are sickened drinking raw milk than pasteurised milk, and this is a fact, it contains germs and some people are susceptible to those germs but the list of food that contain germs, many of them the same ones that are found in raw milk is huge.

Everything from raspberries to potatoes, and eggs to bean sprouts carry nasties such as e.coli, salmonella, norovirus and cyclospora. Should all such foods be banned we would have very little left to enjoy.

Each of us has to make our own mind up about the food we eat and that really is the point, that choice for many, has been removed. It is strange that when obesity and heart disease kills hundreds of thousands of Americans each year the high fat, empty calorie, processed junk that helps cause their deaths is still sold in stores across the country, and the shop owners that push this junk are free to legally do so, yet a farmer selling raw milk is prosecuted for selling a totally natural product, a product that has caused 2 deaths in 13 years.

This seems totally illogical to me and from my standpoint seems to be more about
erosion of rights than preventing deaths.

Take care

Lizzie

Smallpox and bioterrorism

2012-08-14T14:21:00.002-07:00

Smallpox is a category A biological disease that in the wrong hands could easily become a biological weapon of mass destruction. A single case of smallpox would be considered an emergency caused by intentional release as the disease was confirmed eradicated in December 1979.

The smallpox virus, medically called Variola is still in existance in a lab in the USA and another in Russia. Governments around the world confirm that they hold 90 million doses of smallpox vaccine and the seed virus from which new vaccines can be made-vaccinia virus strain Lister Elstree is stored in level four containment in Bilthoven, Netherlands.

The vaccines stored will be in various stages of degradation and will at some point need replacing. Tests on the vaccines are done every five years to check the efficacy of the drugs, so far vaccines up to 18 years old would still be effective if used.

As with all vaccines complications can occur and the death rate from smallpox vaccine was estimated to be one per million. Those vaccinated many years ago against smallpox may still have a small amount of immunity, possibly enough to prevent death, but not enough t prevent them catching the disease and many of the complications that go with it. These include:

* arthritis and bone infection

* encephalitis

* eye infections

* blindness

* pneumonia

* scarring

* severe bleeding

* skin infections

It was recommended that smallpox inoculations be repeated every 10 years in non-endemic regions and every 3 years in regions where the disease was endemic.

There are two types, and two sub-types of smallpox. Variola Minor as the name suggests is the least problematic and has a death rate of around 1% of those infected. Variola Major has a death rate of around 30% and two sub-types of Variola Major, haemorragic and malignant smallpox, although very, very rare have a death rate of almost 100%.

Smallpox is spread by face to face contact, on clothes and bedding or via aerosolised particles. In lab experiments 90% of the smallpox virus was found to be dead 24 hours after release into a contained atmosphere. Sunlight and heat hastens the demise of the virus.

Due to its long incubation period of 7-17 days, with a mean of 12-14 days smallpox can be in the community for a few days before it is realised there has been a release of the disease. Like many illnesses in the first instance it manifests as would a bad case of flu. The symptoms are:

* general malaise

* fatigue

* headache progressing to severe headache

* fever progressing to high fever

* vomiting

* diarrhoea

* excessive bleeding

* raised pink rash that becomes crusty

Because of the long incubation period epidemics get off to a relatively slow start when compared to most diseases. New waves of victims will occur every 2-3 weeks and the disease will progressively move through a region until their are no hosts left. The last smallpox vaccinations were given to children in 1979 and we are approaching the time when very few on the planet will have even residual immunity. Only those considered to be at risk from smallpox are offered inoculation, currently this is restricted to lab workers who come into contact with the virus. In any outbreak medical workers and the military will be first in line to receive any vaccine on offer.

Monkeypox is also a Variola virus and it has the same symptoms as smallpox though they are much less severe. 1-10% of those contracting monkeypox will die from it. Smallpox vaccine is effective against the virus.

Caring for someone with Variola carries risks of contracting the disease. Strict barrier nursing should be employed and only one person should come into direct contact with the patient. All clothing towels and bedding should be stored in a hard environment such as a lidded bucket for five days to make sure the virus is dead. The items should then be washed in hot water and detergent. Formaldehyde gas was used for the fumigation of homes where smallpox was present decades ago but there is no current advise or protocol in place at this point due to the total eradication of the disease.

There is nothing except inoculation that prevents smallpox and inoculation up to day four after being in contact with the disease can still reduce the severity of the condition. No government has so far gone on record to say how long it would take them to mass produce enough vaccine to inoculate the population of their country. With 90 million vaccine doses in store worldwide, and making a logical assumption that some of them will have degraded since their production lets hope for all our sakes that it doesn't take them too long.

Take care

Lizzie

What would you like with your steak?

2012-08-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Eating beef, juicy, tender and tasty is a joy for carnivores the world over but sadly there is a two out of three chance you are getting far more than meat and micronutrients.

In 1998 the European Union banned the use of hormones in beef cattle production. The Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Related to Public Health identified six hormones, three natural and three synthetic that pose a threat to human health.

The natural hormones are:

* Oestrodial

* Progesterone

* Testosterone

The synthetic hormones are:

* Zeranol

* Trenbolone

* Meglengesterol

Although concern has arisen over the use of these hormones in beef cattle the USA and Canada has continued to use them.

The scientists have issues regarding the residual amount of hormones left in the meat at the point of consumption. These hormones have been implicated in not only the early onset of puberty, particularly in girls, but an increase in levels of breast, prostrate and colon cancers, and in disruption of the reproductive cycle in women of all ages.

Manure produced by growth enhanced cattle contaminates the ground surface and groundwater and this can lead into runoff into, streams, rivers and ultimately the ocean.

Aquatic ecosystems have proved very vulnerable to hormone exposure and such exposure has been shown to affect the gender of fish produced and their reproductive capacity.

It is estimated that of the 35,000,000 beef cattle slaughtered in the United States each year 2/3 of them have been injected with growth hormones to make them grow faster.

In addition, rBGH - recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone is used by many dairy farmers to increase milk production. This hormone is also called Somatatrophin, and it varies from the natural Somatatrophin present in the cow by one amino acid. It is this that has an affect on another hormone within the cow IGF1 and it is the raised IGF1 that stimulates the cow to produce more milk. Although no human issues have been found from rBGH increased IGH1 levels have been linked to prostrate, breast and colo-rectal cancers.

A major issue of giving cows artificial Somatatrophin is that they develope more udder infections, which are treated with antibiotics. Antibiotic resistant bacteria could become a problem, and in turn the worry is that these bacteria may survive pasteurisation and be passed to humans in the milk they drink.

It's no wonder that organic farming, particularly that of animals produced for food, is the fastest growing sector of US agriculture.

Take care

Lizzie

Hard core water conservation post-collapse

2012-08-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

At this point much of the United States is gripped by a drought that is devastating crops and threatening a return to dust bowl conditions over a vast area. There are things other than drought that can cause a massive and rapid reduction in the amount of water we have available to us, or to the majority of us that do not have our own well or reliable natural watersource. Water will be a major problem post-collapse, we all know this and we store water accordingly but we can never, ever have enough stored water to keep us going indefinitely. We are going to have to become very savvy about how we use what we have whilst still trying to maintain enough to drink, bodily hygeine and home cleanliness. This is going to be a major challenge, possibly the biggest challenge we will face in a collapse situation and anything we can do to eek out our supply will be a major boon in what will surely be very difficult times.

We all know the rule of three, three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food. Assuming the air is good enough to breathe water becomes the first thing on the priority list. As much of this precious liquid as possible needs to be saved for drinking so what measures can we employ to make our water last longer and go further?

We all know a good bit about water conservation, showering with a friend, a brick in the toilet cistern and turning off the tap when cleaning out teeth all saves on our usage. I am interested in what we can do when lowering our usage of what comes out of the tap is not enough because nothing is coming from the tap.

Rainwater collection methods usually centre around a water butt collecting what comes off the roof and this is the most effective way of collecting rainwater, but there are other ways. Every drop of rain that lands on your car, the pavement or anywhere else that's not harvested for watering edibles, drinking or washing is wasted. Children's paddling pools should be set upon any ground not used for growing, cheap car washing sponges can be put on shed roofs, brick walls, children's play equipment or anywhere else that will be hit by rain showers and these can be wrung out giving a decent amount to use elsewhere.

People living in low rainfall areas need to be much more mindful of having everything in place for when rain does occur than those of us living where it is pretty much guaranteed on a regular basis. A decent rain storm or even a heavy shower can prove a Godsend if you are ready to collect it in any way you can.

Little of the rainwater that lands on a tree actually waters the roots of that tree, the branches cause it to drip onto the ground some distance from the trunk and as little edible produce is grown in the shadow of a tree again the water is wasted. Plant edibles that like cooler shadier conditions in these areas to make better use of the land and the water that drips from the branches. Small raised beds work well as the soil is often impoverished in these areas. All varieties of lettuce do well in cooler conditions and their soft leaves prefer some shade.

Paper plates and plastic cutlery are often sited as they reduce the amount of water needed for washing up. This can be taken a step further by using dry sand to clean out saucepans and skillets as many people in desert areas do. Dry sand is put into and rubbed around a scraped out pot absorbing liquid and acting as a scourer to remove debris. Cleaning done the pot is left to dry out at which point any sand left behind is easily dusted out.

Removing the trap under the sink and placing a bucket underneath means no water at all is wasted transferring from one receptacle to another. A sponge stuffed up the pipe will filter out any debris. You can do several things with this water:

* Flush the toilet(with bleach added)

* Wash down outdoor areas soiled by pets(with bleach added)

* Water the garden

* Soak heavily soiled clothes to remove the bulk of the dirt(with laundry soap

added)

* Mop hard floors(with bleach added)

Gardening is going to become the mainstay of survival post-collapse. The growing season also tends to be the warmest time of year and much of the water we put on the garden is lost to evaporation. Weep pipes that allow water to constantly seep through their sides reduce this, but not enough in a situation where every drop saved may make the difference between life and death. Watering plants where they need it, under the soil is optimum and this is very easy to achieve cheaply.

Connect a regular hose pipe to a water butt, this can be filled with grey water that has been previously used, or be allowed to fill with rainwater, or even a mixture of both. The hose should then be laid in a trench some six inches deep around the plants you are aiming to water. That done, cut the hose and make small holes on both sides of it, covering the entire length that will be buried. Using a funnel fill the portion of the hose that will be buried with grit and that done block the open end. Put the hose back in the trench and cover with soil. Turning the tap on the butt (slowly)will allow water to be delivered underground, the grit stops the wet soil from getting into the hose and blocking it. This method prevents water being lost to evaporation and significantly reduces the amount used for irrigation.

A similar set up can be used in the centre of a group of fruit bushes or near trees. Dig a hole the size of the large lidded buckets that are often used to store rice and grain in. It should be three inches shallower than the bucket so it stands proud making refilling easier. Make some small holes in the bottom, a heated fine knitting needle works well. Put an inch of grit in the bottom and top that with a couple of inches of damp sand, dry sand would just fall between the grit and leach out. Put the bucket in the hole and fill with water before putting the lid on. The water will slowly seep out keeping the roots watered but saving an immense amount as you have not had to wet the top eighteen inches of soil before it gets to them.

A smaller version of this can be made using soda bottles. Make a hole in the cap, fill with water and invert into a hole in the ground, this supports the bottle as well as getting the water deeper into the soil where the plants can better utilise it.

Much is made on survival programmes of building a solar still to produce clean drinking water, and the principle is great and it works. Problem is is takes up a lot of space, has to be dismantled to get to your half cup of water, and there is more condensate on the underside of the plastic than is in your cup. A soda bottle still is far easier, takes less space, involves no digging and is easy to move around.

Take several soda bottles and cut the bottoms off about four inches up. Set the bottoms aside. Make a few vertical cuts about an inch long from the cut edge of the top section of the soda bottle, this will enable the top to fit easily into the bottom of your still. Put a small container of whatever liquid you are going to evaporate into the bottom of the the soda bottle and then slide the top section into it, making sure the slits you have made go down inside the bottom section so water does not seep through them.

Condensate will run down the inside of the bottle into the reservoir...the bottom section of the soda bottle. Just like any other solar still you are never going to have enough to take a bath but when every drop counts it is a way of getting a drink from dirty water.

Anything you like can go into the central pot to be evaporated, coffee grounds, grey water, rain water even urine will evaporate giving clean drinkable condensate. Larger stills will work using organic matter such as grass, leaves and even faeces, all will produce safe drinkable water that requires no boiling or treatment before consumption. Even water from a not clean stream, or stagnant water you have found can be utilised for a still and this is something that could prove very useful long term in areas that are rain deprived but have sunshine in abundance.

If you are fortunate enough to have trees they too can provide you with drinking water. Strong clear plastic bags, such as large ziplocks slipped onto the end of a leafy branch and duct taped or tied with string to hold them there and seal them will cause a decent amount of water to collect in the bag if left over night. To harvest your water make a small hole in the bag near where it is taped/tied and tip the bag up collecting the water as it trickles out. Fold the bag over the hole and hold the fold closed with a paper clip, taping the hole will rip your bag when you go back to it. The water droplets left on the inside of the bag will act like liquid in the still and will form even more condensate than the tree produces on its own, adding to the amount you collect the next day.

Dew collection may sound ridiculous but it can produce quite a volume of liquid. Most of us have walked through dew covered grass at some point and come out of it wet up to our knees. Laying a sheet or large towel over dew covered grass will collect enough moisture to have a sponge bath. Rolling across the grass and then using the wet towel may be the nearest thing to a shower we can get if the water supply is compromised.

Where water is concerned nothing should be discounted. We need to think laterally regarding its collection in order to procure as much as possible for drinking. Methods of getting clean drinkable water without having to use fuel to boil it before consumption is the optimum as that also may be in short supply.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but just ideas that may help trigger ideas that would work in your own locations. Innovation is going to be key to surviving in a post-collapse society. Thinking about these things now may well save your life in the future.

Take care

Lizzie

Seal flu...the next pandemic?

2012-08-02T01:15:00.001-07:00

H3 N8 has been around for some time in birds, dogs and horses and has posed no threats to humans. Now however that may be set to change.

Scientists trying to discover what has caused the death of 162 harbour seals along the New England coast over the last year have found that they died of pneumonia, caused by a mutated strain of flu virus H3N8.

Professor Ian Lipkin of Columbia University is a renowned virus hunter who helped identify both SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and West Nile Virus. He is both surprised and somewhat alarmed by what her refers to as "a new jump" made by the virus.

There have been mutations in the virus that have enabled it to cause disease and death in the seal population in New England. It is able to bind to the mammalian flu receptors in the seals. Unlike dogs and horses seals carries both avian and mammalian flu receptors, as do pigs. This allows viruses to mutate and evolve in ways that allow it to cause far more severe symptoms in mammals and in ways far more likely to cause serious disease in humans as it has the ability to bind to a protein found in the respiratory tract. It is usually pigs who are the intermediate host in passing avian viruses to humans, it seems seals are even more effective at breeding flu viruses.

Seals live a far wilder life than most pigs, and interact with sea birds on a daily basis. This gives rise to a distinct possibility that seals carry the H5N1 virus, the dreaded avian flu scientists have worried about making the jump from birds to humans. Seals could easily be an intermediate host for H5N1 as well as H3N8 and should these two viruses combine, and swap genetic material, which is how flu viruses mutate and evolve, the potential for a human pandemic increases substantially.

Dr Anne Moscona of Weill Cornell Medical College New York stated:

" We have a new mammalian transmissible virus to which humans have not been exposed. It's a combination of the disease we have not seen before"

Updates will be posted as more information becomes available.

Take care

Lizzie