Category Archives: Viruses, bacteria, plagues, disease

The Yosemite Files: Contagion in Curry Village: Day 19

by funklord

Yosemite’s problems are still coming in, to the tune of thousands a day.  The park is doing the right thing (as if they had a choice) by notifying people worldwide, whom have stayed in their signature series of cabin in Curry Village.  The potentially infected numbers in the thousands.  Apparently the problem has been blamed on a design flaw in the cabins themselves.  Threat of the hantavirus has discouraged people from coming out for their biggest weekend of the summer.  Lots of cancellations.  I don’t understand why Curry Village getting all the blame.  There are rodents all over the park.

My prediction:  Curry Village will become The Turmeric Tents by next summer.

South-West Nile Outbreak: Dallas Edition Day 15

by funklord

I can’t believe this is still going on, but it appears that the West Nile virus is in full outbreak mode.  1,590 cases, 66 deaths, and half of all reported are in Texas.  According to the report, and this still baffles my mind, the hot, dry weather is causing the mosquito boom.  I always thought they bred in old, stagnant water.  This is why I got out of entomology.

In New York, and this is interesting, they are spraying the rich neighborhoods for the pathogen carrying insects.  The Upper West Side is being coated with pesticide that is in such a small dose “It does not pose a threat to humans”, however they are telling everyone to stay inside, and to remove toys and clothes that are outside.  That sounds completely safe to me!

The Yosemite Files: Contagion in Curry Village: Day 13

by funklord

A third camper has died, and there are 2 more unconfirmed reports.  Yosemite still insists this is a “rare”occurrence.  Why now?  Are the rodents migrating?  Why are they deciding now to poop in the cabins?  Is this considered funny in the mouse kingdom?  Did they have cabin reservations?  Is this full-fledged war against humans?  If this is rare, they the park should answer questions  rather than shrugging their shoulders.

Disease Countdown, First Edition

by funklord

For the past 5 weeks, I have been very closely watching the emergence of very strange viruses and diseases that have been effecting a wide range of people, all over the country.  I have documented each one individually, but the list keeps growing.  Here is a short list to get you up to date:

1.  Pertussis – “Whooping Cough”
2.  Fatal rash caused by staph infection
3.  “Flesh Eating Bacteria”, also a staph infection
4.  The Bubonic Plague
5.  Ebola
6.  Capnocytophaga – Woman lost hands and feet from dog saliva
7.  Untreatable Gonorrhea
8.  Kid died from a brain destroying ameoba, found in a lake
9.  West Nile Virus
10.  Hantavirus
11.  Rabies
12.  Typhus

And lucky thirteen is the recent outbreak of…

13.  Legionnaires Disease!  Two guests of the Marriott in downtown Chicago died, and a few others came down with the disease.  While this is not fatal to those with healthy immune systems, it can have up to a 30% mortality rate.  This is the 13th strange outbreak in the past year, and this one happened at a very upscale hotel in downtown Chicago.

Cycle through my “Viruses, Bacteria, Plagues, and Disease” category to follow all the original reports.  I will be updating as more information comes in.

Read the Legionnaires article here.

The Yosemite Files: Contagion in Curry Village: *UPDATE*

by funklord

There has been a second death at the Curry Village in Yosemite.  My report on the first death is here.  According to the article, another person has died, and two others are sick.  20% of the ticks on the rodents are infected, and it has a 33% mortality rate.  That’s incredibly high.  Also they claim that before these events, only 2 other people have been infected since 2000.  You can read the whole thing here.