About Flu Pandemics

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Flu pandemics occur when a drastically different strain of the flu virus emerges and passes through humans. These strains are very foreign to the immune system making it hard to naturally fight it off. New strains form in farm animals such as chickens, pigs, and cows. The last flu pandemic, swine flu, happened in 2009 and was caused by pigs. Swine flu killed over 200,000 people. Flu pandemics occur every 10-40 years. New strains constantly form, but only a few are able to pass and spread among humans because animal and human viruses are very different. Researchers are working to find new ways to stop these viruses from spreading.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/64992-how-flu-becomes-pandemic.html

Oregon Kid Diagnosed with Tetanus

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Reza

Tetanus is a bacterial illness that causes severe symptoms. This past week, a boy in Oregon cut his forehead while playing outside. He was patched up, but after a few weeks he began to feel very sick and had a lot of muscle spasms. He was taken to the ER where the doctor diagnosed him with tetanus. This was the first reported case of this disease in Oregon in 30 years. This disease is preventable with a vaccination. However, this child was never vaccinated.

Moral of the story, have your kids vaccinated. Anti-vax isn’t cool.

Advancements in Space Planting for Astronauts

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Reza

Astronauts who work on the International Space Station (ISS) often have to stay in space for 6 months. Astronauts going to Mars have to be in space for up to a year. While in space, astronauts begin to miss their lives on Earth. Lack of fresh food diminishes their appetite and they begin to lose weight. Growing food in space is a psychological need for the astronauts. The challenge of growing plants in space is that there is a lack of nutrients in the air such as nitrogen, a must have for plants. Their is also no gravity which confuses the flow of water and nutrients.

Despite the obstacles, astronauts have managed grow lettuce using lava rock as soil. As a supplement for the missing nutrients, the astronauts grew the plants in a water infused with the nutrients. They are currently working on growing beans. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are working on making high tech planters that control the water, air and nutrients of the plants grown. These sophisticated planters will be essential to the astronaut’s life.

Source: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20190105/High-tech-planters-for-growing-food-in-space.aspx

The Black Death Dates Back to Neolithic Times

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Reza

A plague doctor from 14th century Europe

Archaeologists have found the body of a 20 year old woman who lived in the neolithic times (5,500 years ago) in a large Swedish grave. They found a strain of the plague bacteria Yersinia pestis along her teeth. This was the oldest recorded track of plague bacteria. This strand of bacteria caused pneumonic plague which is much more severe than the bubonic plague that hit Europe in the 14th century.

Other records show that contemporary strains of the plague were found in areas of Ukraine and Romania. During the neolithic era, these areas were densely populated, unsanitary, and in close contact with animals. As a result, the breeding of pathogens contributed to the sudden decline of those populations. The plague rapidly spread in the area of Eurasia 5,700 years back via trade. This lead to a rapid decline in the area called the neolithic decline.

As the population of Europe declined, new groups of people migrated into the region and completely changed the genetic makeup of what Europeans are today.

source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31464-8