UKH

There will be lots of looking back over the past year and intolerably large amounts of post mortems, and "smart" media people being wise after the event.

Instead I would rather look forward and aim to plan in a better way. So what would you suggest for the future? Are there general principles that we can aim to follow?

Don't eat bats or pangolins.

I quite liked how things were before the pandemic and would like to go back.

Apart from Brexit, obv.

I hear there’s a new Ebola outbreak...

Two actually. Good God...

Yes we'd all like that, but the time to get back to that state socially will be quite a long time: And the time to get back to the previous economy, both due to Corona Virus infection and Brexit will be more like 15 years.

I was wondering if we should all aim to be still wearing masks on public transport in 9 months time? Will we still be having to live an isolated life in the most part in 6 months time? Should we individually be aiming to be more careful than instructed by the government, even after lockdown is gradually released?

In other words should we be wary of trusting the government's decisions in the next phase?

With global warming and a million species at risk of extinction? 

Sorry......it was an open goal.

Ebola had a vaccine developed fairly quickly too. At least it kills a good number at source and can be isolated out in a different way.

I just thank goodness that the mutated virus was the Corona virus and not a Parvo virus, which is much tougher to kill off in the environment, and can last outside on surfaces for a long time, and be passed on your feet etc.

I recently heard of something called “alpha gal syndrome” which is an infection caused by a tick bite that makes you violently allergic to red meat.  Genuinely the stuff of nightmares.  I’ll go and read about the Parvo virus and see if it takes meat allergy off my mind.

Go chew on a tick, then you'll be more sure to just be a white meat eater(supposedly better for you) or a vegetarian or even vegan. (I cannot do the latter. I love cheese too much.)

In case you haven’t heard it

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/alpha-gal

Having read the Wikipedia page, I wish I hand't.  

Don't eat animals full stop (see BSE/CJD)

That, or a nice picornavirus that can be blown long distances, even across the sea, with dust storms, e.g. from Northern China to Japan....

When I was still in working virology our favourite horror scenarios were a standard human herpesvirus acquiring the oncogenes from our lab pet, a leukemia inducing monkey herpesvirus, and of course ebeasles: Deadly like Ebola, but transmissible by air and infectious like measles.

In fact, this is probably what measles looked like after the virus jumped over from cows, once dairy farming and living in cities became fashionable. There are old, Mesopotamian documents available where the governor of some town writes to his king that, Crom be praised, the disease decimating his people is "only" the smallpox!

CB

Well I can understand that. It was bad enough when I was a vet student seeing practice, when it moved across from panleukopaenia virus in cats to being canine Parvo virus. 

We were seeing puppies dying of heart failure due to the virus attacking the rapidly dividing cells of the heart.

We were also seeing lots of dogs vomiting blood and passing profuse amounts of bloody diarrhoea. We all felt like leppers, inasmuch as we were worried about passing the virus on, even though we poddled our feet/shoes in hypocholorite etc and washed our hands and arms endlessly. 

The stench was vile. 

Another form, from what I remember affects certain racial groups with sickle cell anaemia. No doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

I have a feeling that there was a program on that on "In our time" with Melvin Bragg, talking of the decimation back in those ancient times.

Do you ever get the feeling Mother Nature is trying to rid herself of an annoying parasite?

AFAIK the only human parvovirus is B19 which causes fifth disease in children and severe anemia in AIDS patients. So, seems entirely plausible that it it also gives trouble for people who have an underlying different kind of anemia, but I do not really know.

CB

Something widespread that makes people allergic to consuming animal products really would be fantastic for the health of the planet, whichever side of the plant-based vs keto diet battle-line you're screaming from. Truly a case of mother nature addressing imbalances.   

It seems likely the contagious disease has been boxing up species that grow too dense and numerous over the aeons.  A fatalist might start to think humanity has just hit that tipping point.

From a personal perspective, I’m thinking the stars it’s happening after we start to see mastery of the biological arts in our grasp.  If covid had hit 25 years ago... !

From a planetary perspective, it’s back to the drawing board for the balance of nature... Ecologically inspired bio terrorism seems ever more possible.

I think it would be something that spreads like mad but only has a delayed effect i.e. you get infected tomorrow but then kills you in 10 years. That way everyone in the world would get it, then you suddenly discover you're going to die a lot earlier than planned. A 'viral cancer' in terms of its effects.

Well this thread has taken a cheery turn!

Should we start talking about meteorites as well?

Please don’t. I’ll be irrevocably lost down a rabbit hole of Preppers blogs by the time the day is out!

I know, wait till it mates with covid!!