Plague Can Live Inside Amoebae

Interesting:

The bacteria that cause plague, or the Black Death, could be lying dormant in common soil and water sources, posing a serious public health risk, scientists have warned.

The finding, published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, could explain why plague suddenly re-emerges without warning in countries such as Madagascar and even the United States.

In the middle ages the Black Death swept through Europe, killing an estimated 75 to 200 million people. It is no longer a global threat but the new research may explain its occasional outbreaks across the world…

“The interesting and troubling part of plague, and part of the reason why there are so many unanswered questions, is that it is present in many different environments – from the jungle to the desert and everywhere in between…

The researchers isolated five species of amoebae and then combined them with plague bacteria to see how they would react.

Using a genetically altered strain of plague that glows bright green the scientists observed the amoebae ingesting the plague. They then saw that the plague pathogens were alive and replicating in the amoebae…

Mr Markman warned that his research had worrying implications for bioterrorism.

“Some nefarious agent or actor could easily infect an amoeba and the amoeba could be spread into the water supply or sprayed over a crop field.

Notice how it is all over, but weaken the host, and suddenly you have a pandemic. And once it gets in, it evolves to become more deadly.

I don’t worry about plague in the wild as much. We would shut that down with antibiotics pretty quick. But I do worry that when the SHTF in the Apocalypse, and things heat up between the natives and the Muslims, all it will take is one Muslim with a little bit of training in microbiology to produce something genuinely dangerous.

All it will take is one success from one lone wolf, and history could take a very different turn.

Tell everyone about r/K Theory, because it won’t take much to clean up the herd’s genome