The Tuesday harbinger of doom
Yeah, yeah, so the 'Monday harbinger of doom' is a day late. So what? It ain't the end of the world...
(pause for laugh track)
The trouble with this feature, I'm finding, isn't a lack of material. It's choosing which apocalypse or apocalyptic group (I'm branching out) to feature. And we had strong contenders this week, including (i) the usual constant inflow of data on global warming, (ii) rumours of an impending mass suicide by an FLDS group in Utah (hardly the end of the world for the rest of us, I know, but topical, all the same, as it does seem to be an apocalyptic sect), and (iii) a nice little bit by Bill Moyers on the influence of the Millenarians and associated idiots on US politics. Among others.
Be that as it may, I'm stickin' with my previous theme here, at least through this week, keepin' it to the hard, biological, and real. So this week's harbinger of doom is still the Marburg epidemic in Angola. I give it this honour in recognition of the UNICEF chief commenting it is not yet under control... and the fact that it is now, officially, the worst Marburg ever, with 150 deceased and mourned, 163 cases, and a mortality rate of at least 88 percent.
The good news: it looks like the Luanda cases didn't transmit. And you can just bet there's a whole lotta people mopping the sweat off their brows right now, thinking about that. Looks like the only mercy here, really, is it's got a relatively long incubation, so containment's still feasible.
Still. One awfully unpleasant bug.
(pause for laugh track)
The trouble with this feature, I'm finding, isn't a lack of material. It's choosing which apocalypse or apocalyptic group (I'm branching out) to feature. And we had strong contenders this week, including (i) the usual constant inflow of data on global warming, (ii) rumours of an impending mass suicide by an FLDS group in Utah (hardly the end of the world for the rest of us, I know, but topical, all the same, as it does seem to be an apocalyptic sect), and (iii) a nice little bit by Bill Moyers on the influence of the Millenarians and associated idiots on US politics. Among others.
Be that as it may, I'm stickin' with my previous theme here, at least through this week, keepin' it to the hard, biological, and real. So this week's harbinger of doom is still the Marburg epidemic in Angola. I give it this honour in recognition of the UNICEF chief commenting it is not yet under control... and the fact that it is now, officially, the worst Marburg ever, with 150 deceased and mourned, 163 cases, and a mortality rate of at least 88 percent.
The good news: it looks like the Luanda cases didn't transmit. And you can just bet there's a whole lotta people mopping the sweat off their brows right now, thinking about that. Looks like the only mercy here, really, is it's got a relatively long incubation, so containment's still feasible.
Still. One awfully unpleasant bug.
posted by AJM at 9:48 a.m. (Permanent Link)
