Terrifying Super Flu Detected In Bats
Just in case you didn’t already think we’re all going to die, science has just given us a new reason to buy a SARS guard and build your panic room. A new strain of flu has been detected in bats, according to Newsday.
“Scientists suspect that some bats caught flu centuries ago and that the virus mutated within the bat population into this new variety. Scientists haven't even been able to grow the new virus in chicken eggs or in human cell culture, as they do with more conventional flu strains.”
And while the risk to humans is unclear, if this is like any of the previous flu pandemics, then… well, we’ve all seen Contagion. It doesn’t end well.
But, just in case you felt safe, the news about the bat flu comes out in the midst of a controversy around the potential release of weaponized bird flu. According to the blog ActivistPost.com:
“The news could not have come at a better time for some scientists who continue to push for a release of the mutated H5N1 bird flu strain, which was mutated 5 times in order to become highly contagious between ferrets – the very animal model used to study human flu infection. Taking attention away from the bird flu release controversy, bat flu may soon become the new focus in the field of potentially threatening viruses.”
Duhn. Duhn. Duuuuuuuhn. The only thing more creepily Hitchcockian than weaponized bird flu? Weaponized bat flu.
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