It’s been a minute since I read that but I remember there was a lab down the street from me in Virginia where a monkey infected with Ebola or something similar got loose. I don’t think it ever escaped the building but I’m pretty sure there’s a lab scene in the book that was based off this event. I remember trying to imagine a plague in suburban Virginia…
It did in fact escape, but we got lucky. The escaped strain can't properly infect humans, so we are only carriers. It's very deadly to monkeys, which has been a recurring problem as it continues to circulate.
The Hot Zone is a TV series as well. The first season covers Ebola in Reston, Virginia like the book. The second season covers the post 9/11 anthrax attacks.
I suspect COVID killed any interest in renewing the show because it was "silently" cancelled.
Not really. It will make it spread into Ukraine way faster than it would otherwise.
I am not an expert, but I seem to recall reading about how WW1 raging in Europe is one of the reason the Spanish flu was so deadly in 1919. Helped it spread across the globe quicker.
Russian military sanitation is … not great. If the Russians release a plague it will likely have similar casualty ratios as everything else the Russians try. Russian military doctrine for centuries has rested on two principles: there are huge numbers of Russian peasants, and the Tsar is willing to spend as many of their lives as necessary.
I read somewhere it spread from Ft. Riley Kansas. Not saying a pig farms nearby wasn't the origin, there are usually a lot of strip clubs outside bases.
It was called Spanish Flu because Spain was reporting on their pandemic numbers, but other countries were not due to the world war and they didn’t want to broadcast that entire regimens were sick and not combat ready.
Basically the winter prior to 1919 was incredibly brutal, and a contingent of soldiers in Kansas were essentially locked in all winter, missing their intended ship out date. They were hit with a nasty flu while packed in, and when the spring came, they were shipped out, likely carrying some still sick people. This brought it to Europe, and from there it continued to spread around, causing the pandemic.
That’s the most complete theory of its origin as of now.
I heard the reason it became known as the Spanish flu because, as a neutral country, they were the first ones to report having cases. It originated in the U.S and was likely in other countries before Spain as well, but most countries were suppressing that news for propaganda reasons.
Imagine being France, and after centuries of military dominance in Europe, including like six times Napoleon bodied virtually every country in Europe single handedly.
And then because of WW2 and Vietnam, you’re known as the cheese eating surrender monkeys.
I seem to remember that as well. Some overcrowded U.S. Army training base in Kansas is thought to be the original hotspot, but it wasn't as deadly until it mutated for a few months. And iirc, the Allies didn't want to blame each other and epidemiology wasn't as advanced back then, so somehow they decided to blame Spain.
It wasn't a matter of blame -- Spain was neutral in the war and wasn't censoring their news, so the biggest early media coverage in the 1918 flu was from Spain.
I'm sure it started out as bird flu in chickens, then a pig fucked a chicken or something then some Spanish redneck shagged the pig. Which made it mutate like fuck. Then I think Gwyneth Paltrow spread it to Europe or something (or so I heard)...
As you can see, I'm a part-time virus and know my shit.
yes, it came out of a US Army training base in Kansas, and named after Spain cuz they were the only ones reporting true numbers (or really the only numbers) cuz everyone else was side-eyeing each other and not wanting to give away how much of their armies were now dead
Exactly right. I stated this as a fun fact that I was mostly sure about further down in the thread — and the number of people who have said it separately gives me total confidence that I was correct.
Edit: the part about not reporting for propaganda/opsec reasons…
Yeah in the days before international flight it still spread across the globe. I know here in the U.S. it was traced back to Kanasas were returning G.I.s we demobilzed before being sent home.
Russia is like fully 1/6 of all the land mass on the earth. It’s unimaginably huge but that’s mostly because it’s also unimaginably empty (for human purposes). The climate in siberia is EXTREME. like 100 degree (F) summers and -50F winters.
Yes, they did. And no, they don't. It's just like any other biolab aimed at threat reduction and countering, not producing. They are Ukrainian owned and focus of diagnosing diseases, outbreaks, and securing dangerous pathogens from the soviet era. They have these in a lot of places, not just Ukraine. Republicans just let Russian propganda lead them. They still get lead by them. Like a dog on a leash.
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u/Dottsterisk 7h ago
The movie is called Outbreak and I know the scene you’re talking about.