Originally published at: Hantavirus, Ebola and Our Dark New Era of Virus Conspiracy Theories - TPM – Talking Points Memo
In Rough Edges, Mike Rothschild writes about fringe groups, conspiracy theories and how the Internet broke our brains. This column is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. Before COVID-19 had reached the United States in significant numbers, there were countless conspiracy theories about what it “really” was and who was behind it. The “infodemic”…
Frist!
Is this article contagious? Nobody has commented but me.
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It only has 16 views, as of 10pm est.
And charlatans on the internet making wild conspiracy pronouncements and in the next breath selling snake oil supplements, 5 gal buckets of “survival mac and cheese” and other tin foil accessories is sadly not new.
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What’s with the poor fact-checking in this article? Andes hantavirus doesn’t have “a much shorter incubation period” than COVID, it has a much longer one (4 to 42 days, with a median of 18 days). (Neither is there clear evidence that it’s “much more difficult to transmit,” and indeed there’s some evidence against, but that’s at least not definite—but it would still be more appropriate to note that this is not definite.) With that kind of incubation period there’s also no way to know yet whether or not the outbreak will reach beyond the ship.
Ironic for an article about disinformation to also contain disinformation.
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Unfortunately, the somewhat overblown media response to hantavirus may make people complacent to news of the much more serious threat of the current Ebola spread.
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Depends on which expert you consult.
I believe that the experience we have with these outbreaks is highly contingent. For me, when someone says Hanta Virus, I immediately think Four Corners, although it seems to have a wider provenience given the Yosemite outbreak. Andean Hanta virus is another matter, a different vector than the relatively widespread deer mouse. I do not anticipate that the incubation period to be well understood given we lack sufficient events over time to allow parameterization or characterize changes in rate of infection due to mutations. Minor quibble. Covid is highly mutable, and it is also not clear which strain is being referred to.
Rodent to human mediated transfer would seem more difficult that human to human, especially upon a cruise ship. That is where the mystery lies, and that is where I am looking for to be answered. We have already seen what havoc Covid had upon cruise ships, it may just be that vacationing in this manner anticipated Laurie Garret’s book.
The incubation period is definitively established as being much longer than COVID, regardless of its precise length (WHO and a couple of other sources actually note that the maximum is 8 weeks rather than 6, though this appears to be rare). The article is wrong + the risk of uncontrolled spread with that kind of incubation period remains seriously alarming, even if the news cycle has already forgotten about it.
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i first read about this virus from a HIILERMANN book..i do read a lot..i have never travelled in the SW, so it was interesting., since i live in FLORIDA and we have ticks, mosquitoes and roaches,plus many more biting insects,roaches don’t bite but they do spread disease..
lol, speaking of snake-oil..that video of RFK was the funniest thing i’v seen in a long time. anyonr who has been around snakes knows the those tiny black snakes are fake… you can buy them in any tourist store..i see live ones every day when walking my dog…i guess OZ could have borrowed them from a kid who has them as pets..my kids did..a fully dressed, shirt and tie guy, picking up a tiny black snake would be laughed at here.
Kennedy is a dangerous quack and should be behind bars.
During Covid we had a functioning CDC lead by respected scientists. Now we have a mob of grifters and quacks lead by RFK jr. and Dr. Oz. God help us if a virus gets loose in America.
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before trumpf, i actually believed info i read on line.now i scrutinise every thing to get the scource and then google the scource; i,m sort of old, so i actually know about most diseases that we have to cope with..thats why i am thoroughly vaxxed; RFK is a fool of the worse kind, so its every one for hemsleves..i do not trust a person i the current admin..fools and liars.
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