We may have to to add into the mix.. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) into the scen
arios... and this could be the bug that has a 50% lethality rate.

Related Article: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2023/04/425211/could-bird-flu-become-next-pandemic

Originally posted by Tucsoncoyote1:

We may have to to add into the mix.. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) into the scen
arios... and this could be the bug that has a 50% lethality rate.

Related Article: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2023/04/425211/could-bird-flu-become-next-pandemic

i swear, real life makes the most boring sci fi

Originally posted by Frenne Dilley:

I swear, real life makes the most boring sci fi

I tend to agree, as we just came off the COVID-19 issues, and are now forced to realize another dangerous threat.. One that can make exposures so quick, it's not funny....

I'm referring to ... Measles..

That's right, Measles.. you know that "Childhood disease that people talk about.. But Measles for example, are in fact a "Highly Contagious" and Somewhat dangerous virus...


First off let's tart with the teae of exposure... Where some diseases have what is calle a "Reproductive number (R-Number) of 1 or more. The higher the R-Number the more likely the people around you become infected even when you have only one person around...

For Example, Ebola has an R-Number of roughly about 1.18 to 2. and this is because the virus isn't airborne, but you have to become exposed due to actual physical contact with another person's bodily flids..(But it's extremely deadly with Case Fatality rates of up to 70%... Very nasty stuff is you come into contact with someone . (Be Thankful it's not airborne like COVID, or.. The Measles..

Now as for COVID-19, it's got a R-number of around 2.79 which means for every 1 person infected , they can spread the virus to at least 2 (if not 3) people, and it is airborne.. But with a CFR of around 0.99 to 1.04 it's not really dangerous at all, unless you have underlying Immuno Compromised Morbidity (such as Diabetes or even other issues).

But measles? It's the worst of the worst in terms of the R-number and the only thing that comes close is German Measles (Rubella). Because Measles has an R-Number of on average,15. which means for every one person who has it , they can infect up to 15 more people... (Talk about Exponential growth!) But what's worse is the virus is "Airborne, and getting it into your mouth/Throat, Your nose, even your eyes, and odds are, you are infected, or rather "Exposed".

And to give you an idea how fast Measles could spread, take the number 1, multiply that by 15, then do it again, and if no one would be vaccinated, then Measles in as little as 12 contacts with uninfected people, would in theory, take out the entire population of the world. (Some 8 billion of us).

I mean if there was a way to make a measles outbreak with no vaccine and then let it run rampant, Half the world would be infected in just a matter of hours, if not days.., maybe a moth tops..

Oh , and did I tell you measles is "Somewhat" Deadly? No? Considering that measles has a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of around 20-40, that means that the disease is 40% deadly... 40 times worse than COVID ever can be.. And about Half of what Ebola is...

And right now , there's a bunch of measles outbreakss happening around the world. Asia, Europle, even here in the states (with just 64 Cases currently which is more than the 58 we had last year (2023)).

But hey, if someone could do it, Let's see what happens when measles gets loose, and let's see how fast the game responds... After all this is a very "Common" Disease, that could easily kill a large population (Prior to 1963, Measles killed on Average about 2.76 million people.. PER YEAR... (and since it was first detected some 1224 years ago (around the 9thCentury...) Measles could easily be a deadly virus...(Of course if you take that 2.76 miillion and multiply that by 1224, you get 3.8 billion... and that was before 1963, when the vaccine came out..

So yeah, I would request Measles.... it's nasty, it's mean, and if you want to show it to an Anti-vaxxer, this would really show them how fast it can kill...

(Also you should see the after effects... Everything from Seizures, to Encephalitis.. It's a nasty bug who's time to be explored, has come.