'Meteorite' Crash Breeds Mass Hysteria
Andrea Thompson

SPACE.com

On what started as a normal Saturday night one week ago, residents of a small, remote Peruvian town saw a bright light streak across the sky, heard a resounding bang and suddenly found themselves at the center of a media frenzy.

Initial suspicions of an airplane crash quickly spiraled into widespread reports that a meteorite had plummeted to Earth and left a smoking, boiling crater whose supposedly noxious fumes were reported to have sickened curious locals who went to peer at the hole.

Despite doubts expressed by geologists that the crater was actually caused by a meteorite and firm explanations that a meteorite would not even emit fumes and that the "sickness" was likely a case of mass hysteria, numerous onlookers far and wide were fascinated by the idea that this event could be some real-life "Andromeda Strain" (the 1969 novel by Michael Crichton), where a mysterious rock falling to Earth from outerspace made anyone who went near it ill.

So what is it about things falling from the sky that fills us with such fear that we can make ourselves sick with panic?

Mass hysteria

Media reports of the number of locals afflicted by a "mysterious disease"--with symptoms such as nausea, headaches and sore throats--after visiting the crater figured in every news article about the Aug. 15 event, with some reporting that as many as 600 people had fallen ill.

But doctors who visited the site told the Associated Press they found no evidence that the crater had actually sickened such a large number of people.

If noxious fumes did emanate from the crater, they were most likely the result of a hydrothermal explosion that could have actually formed the crater, or were released from the ground when the meteorite struck, if in fact one did, according to many geologists.

Arsenic is found in the subsoil in that area of Peru and often contaminates the drinking water there, according to Peruvian geologists quoted on Sept. 21 by National Geographic News. Arsenic fumes released from the crater could have sickened locals who went to look, said one geologist who examined the site.

Some health officials suggest that the symptoms described by the locals, the large number of people reporting symptoms, and the apparently rapid spread have all the hallmarks of a case of mass hysteria.

"Those who say they are affected are the product of a collective psychosis," Jorge Lopez Tejada, health department chief in Puno, the nearest city, told the Los Angeles Times.

This psychosis could have begun as a result of fear of the meteorite and the mysterious "disease" on the part of the residents and spread as official and media reports seemed to confirm it and give it credence.

"The Peruvian event seems to be a rare case where we may be witnessing collective anxiety that is approaching near hysteria," said Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist at John Moores University in England. "The major[ity] of the affected Peruvian town hinted that some of the mass anxiety is due to fear of imminent impacts and psychological stress which is not surprising given the premature speculation and media hype."

Fear of outer space

Fear of a meteorite impact is nothing new--humans have long looked to the heavens with a wary eye.

"The fear of cosmic disaster, in particular cometary impacts, has existed in all cultures for millennia," Peiser told SPACE.com

But the space age revealed just how many dangers, including comets, meteors, asteroids, and cosmic rays, await us in the final frontier.

"Only since the late 20th century, humankind has become aware of the risk posed by asteroids and comets," Peiser said. "Unfortunately, this risk has been wildly exaggerated by popular culture."

Our curiosity and fear of impact events has increased their coverage by the world media, Peiser says, which in turn has increased the number of meteorite impact reports, even when the evidence doesn't point that way.

"In recent years, there have been numerous cases where alleged meteorite falls were linked to mysterious explosions on the ground--only to be proven wrong," Peiser said. "One of the main reasons for the significant increase of such claims is almost certainly due to the growing media interest in the cosmic impact risk. It is part of human nature-- and extremely tempting for the news media--to hype any event that initially looks mysterious."

While this fear is normal and understandable, it's been blown out of proportion so that the public thinks that impact risks are higher than they are, Peiser argues.

"Most people are simply not aware that we are making enormous progress in finding and identifying the population of Near Earth Objects and that the impact risk is thus diminishing year by year," Peiser said.

And when meteorites have struck, they have never carried any hint of some mysterious space disease.

"I don't know of any known record of a meteorite landing that emitted odors so noxious that people got sick from it," said geologist Larry Grossman of the University of Chicago.

So much for the Andromeda Strain.

 

While they're fairly certain this is only some sort of "mass psychosis" they need to definitely be sure to investigate any possible health outcome.  I think it truly IS possible for there to be some sort of heavy metal poisoning, like arsenic, as stated as possibility.  I also, however, understand how the populace in general panics when something happens and then believe themselves to be sick in a manner attributable to something in their environment.  This happens today, still, to some degree!  I'll keep updating as I get updates.  Have a great day!

 

Eight More Confirmed with Ebola in the Congo

Eight more cases of Ebola have been identified in Congo, raising to 17 the number of people confirmed to have contracted the deadly illness, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The cases were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters in Geneva.

The outbreak in Congo is the first major resurgence of Ebola in years.

At least 170 people have died — though only six were confirmed to have had Ebola — in the affected region of Kasai Occidental over the past four months, and more than 400 have fallen ill, Chaib said.

The fate of the eleven remaining confirmed cases is unknown, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said.

Some of the cases have tested negative for Ebola, but positive for other diseases like shigella — a diarrhea-like disease — or typhoid. Some of the patients have improved after being given antibiotics, which would have no impact on Ebola, WHO experts said.

According to WHO the so-called "Zaire strain" of Ebola kills over 80 percent of those infected through massive blood loss, and has no cure or treatment. It is spread through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person, or objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions.

Congo's last major Ebola outbreak struck in Kikwit in 1995, killing 245 people. Kikwit is about 185 miles from the site of the current outbreak.

WHO says more than 1,000 people have died of Ebola since the virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and Congo. Primates, hunted by many central Africans for food, can carry the virus.

  Also:

Germs taken to space come back deadlier

I'll update as updates are available on the Ebola outbreak.  Have a wonderful day!! 

The first signs of autumn are upon us.  It was COLD this morning in central Ohio! I actually had to bundle up my kids :)  The leaves are starting to turn slowly and I've got my autumn respiratory bug--yep, Fall is coming!  Now on to today's interesting disease news:

 

Unknown-Peru

 

Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village

 

 

Ebola outbreak confirmed in DR Congo: WHO  What a horrible way to lose your life.  Let's hope that the health care workers in the region do their jobs properly and are able to prevent spread.  I will post updates as they come. Wish I were there.

 

Bacterial Meningitis: Ohio

Clinton elementary Columbus schoolteacher dies of meningitis

Friday,  September 7, 2007 3:35 AM

By and Matthew Marx

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Teresa Anne Smoak, 57, taught in the Columbus schools for 35 years. This was to have been her last year.

Clinton Elementary students went home yesterday with letters sharing the sad news of a teacher's death and information on meningitis.

Teresa Anne Smoak died Tuesday of meningococcal meningitis, said Franklin County Coroner Brad Lewis. It's an inflammation of the spinal cord and brain caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis.

Smoak, 57, went to the emergency room at the Ohio State University Medical Center with a fever, Lewis said last night. Tests run by Lewis' office confirmed that she died of meningitis.

The school's Web site says Smoak was a fifth-grade science and social-studies teacher. She had worked for Columbus schools for 35 years, 28 of those at Clinton.

"You never met a nicer person. All you would have to say was her name and people would smile," said Kim Driscoll, who said Smoak taught two of her three children at Clinton. "There was never a time that you would look at that woman and she wouldn't have a smile on her face.

"You just loved being in her presence."

Driscoll, whose daughter, Kate, now 17, and son Timothy, 10, both were taught social studies by Smoak, said her children were devastated by her death.

"She was such a gem. I am just very saddened by it," Driscoll said. "This was her final year of teaching. She was looking very forward to being retired."

There's little risk to students or other faculty members, said Assistant Columbus Health Commissioner Debbie Coleman.

Health officials know of no related cases of meningitis and are working with people who might have been in close contact with Smoak, she said.

Meningitis is spread through close contact such as kissing, sharing a beverage or sharing a cigarette.

Symptoms include high fever, headache, stiff neck, confusion, nausea, vomiting, exhaustion and a rash.

Meningitis can result in brain damage, hearing loss, learning disability, organ failure, loss of limbs or death. It comes on quickly and must be caught early to be adequately treated.

Columbus schools found out about the death yesterday and quickly worked to notify students, parents and staff members, said district spokesman Jeff Warner.

In the letter sent home with students, the district and health department told parents to contact their family doctors if their children develop symptoms during the next few weeks.

The school system is doing extra cleaning to provide an "extra level of insurance and comfort," although that was not considered necessary by health officials, Warner said.

mcrane@dispatch.com

mmarx@dispatch.com

Copyright © 2007, The Columbus Dispatch

 

 

   

 

Bird flu could have become worldwide pandemic: study

By Jeff Waters

Posted Fri Aug 31, 2007 9:19pm AEST
Updated Fri Aug 31, 2007 9:23pm AEST

A new study by a US university has apparently confirmed for the first time that bird flu has been transmitted from human to human.

It is the nightmare possibility that health authorities have been fearing ever since the disease first appeared.

It happened in Indonesia last year and reveals the world only narrowly avoided a global bird flu pandemic.

Researchers from the University of Washington have studied the case of a woman on the Indonesian island of Sumatra who caught the H5N1 bird flu virus from poultry in May last year.

Professor Ira Longini, who led the research, says they have confirmed that not only did she pass the virus on to her 10-year-old nephew, it was then transmitted to other relatives.

Seven of eight family members who caught the disease were soon dead.

"This proves there is person-to-person transmission in this case, in that setting, in Indonesia, northern Sumatra," he said.

Professor Longini says this shows there is a serious threat of a bird flu pandemic.

"It could happen and will happen eventually, and this simply confirms this particular H5N1 virus is capable of person-to-person transmission," he said.

"The other thing it says is that we need to be very vigilant to find these clusters, to assess whether there's transmission and to stop transmission as quickly as we can each time they arise.

"We're going to see strains of influenza that are capable of causing pandemics arising, probably avian strains, and that will happen for sure, there's no doubt about it."

Fast-moving disease

Professor Longini says in this case, a pandemic may have been averted because of the quick action of health authorities or, statistically at least, it could have been luck.

He said because the sample group was so small, it was impossible to say how fast the disease could have spread in the workplace or the street.

But he says that in the home, it was a fast mover.

"It had about a one-third chance of transmitting from person to person due to close contact in that household setting," he said.

Other scientists say the research confirms their suspicions about the disease.

Dr Alan Hampson is a member of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Pandemic Taskforce and an adviser to the Australian Government on influenza.

"This study has looked at the dynamics of the spread of the virus in the family environment in Sumatra and has come down with the conclusion that it clearly does show person-to-person transmission," he said.

"We had already believed that that was probably the case and we haven't had confirmation through analysis of the viruses.

"The information relating to those viruses is information that's held in Indonesia, so we haven't seen that, but what we do believe, from people who have seen the information, is that that too indicated that it was person-to-person spread and that the virus was changing as it spread from one person to another, as we would expect it to do."

Dr Hampson says the Sumatra case could have become a pandemic.

"If it had gone further, we do know that the virus is very good at adapting, so while on the one hand it may have to go through a number of steps, if its passage is from one person to another, then that chance is there," he said.

 

Those of you that regularly read my blog know I'm skeptical that avian flu is the only thing we should fear.  In fact, I'm a bit more afraid of swine flu than avian.  HOWEVER, that being said, the fact that there's human transmission in this case means the virus has adapted already to a degree that will cause of problem and may continue to evolve in such a way that we will lost total control.  I will continue to follow this and look for the actual studies.  I want to see it with my own eyes.  If you know where there's a link, let me know.  This is, probably, a good time to update your emergency procedures to the best of your ability.  In the event of another pandemic, panic and chaos are ineviteable, but we can control it to the extent possible by preparation.  Please see the CDC website for tips to prepare yourself, your home and family, and your business fro a pandemic.

 

Common Deer Virus Found in Southern Ohio Cattle Populations

State officials stress outbreak is not a human health concern.

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (Aug. 30, 2007) – Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) officials

today confirmed the discovery of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) -- a common white-tailed

deer virus -- in two Pike County cattle farms. This marks the state’s first-ever case of the virus in

cattle, but officials stress that it poses no threat to human health or to the safety of meat

consumption.

The ODA Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Reynoldsburg confirmed EHD in cattle

populations in southern Ohio. The virus, which has been found in several surrounding states,

occurs annually in deer herds across North America but is less common in cattle. In the Pike

County cattle, officials identified a wild strain of the EHD virus, which will run its course much

like the common flu. In deer, EHD is typically fatal.

Both cattle and deer contract EHD from gnats or biting flies. The virus cannot be spread from

animal to animal or from animal to humans. Insects, however, can contract the virus from

infected deer or cattle and pass it on to surrounding populations. This summer’s drought has

forced animals and insects to common watering spots, increasing the spread of EHD. Typically,

the onset of cold weather suppresses the disease as frosts drives insects into winter inactivity.

Although test results have not confirmed the Southern Ohio deer population has been infected

with EHD, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will continue to monitor and test deer in

this area for the virus.

According to the University of Georgia's annual Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease

Study, EHD is the most common ailment affecting deer in the Eastern United States. Outbreaks

of the disease have occurred in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West

Virginia this year. The most recent Ohio outbreaks occurred in 2003 in Clermont and Brown

counties. The disease is common in portions of the northern Great Plains and the southeastern

United States. It was first identified in 1955 in New Jersey.

Mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope are also susceptible to the disease.

 

I have several comments (you knew I would!).  First of all, this is a common disease among the deer population, not as common among cattle.  They are saying not to worry, that the threat to humans is low.  Generally I agree with that statement.  At this point in time, though, we have a lot of recent history that shows transmission from animals to humans in many different types of cases, especially in cases where there is a lot of interaction between animals and humans (see above!).  While I don't think people are going to start dying from epizootic hemmorhagic fever anytime soon, I think we need to be careful to say there's not a threat to humans from animal diseases.  Recent history bears that out: Avian Flu. . .SARS, anyone?  Monkeypox?  Food for thought. . .

Second, for those of you unaware of Ohio's geography, Pike County is in the southern part of the state.  It's mostly rural.  It borders a lot of other rural counties with farms.  I wonder what the spread of the infection and infection rate could become?  Beyond that, I wonder what the cost could be to farmers who lose crops due to this disease?  It's something to ponder.  Let me know what you think!