COULD IOWA HAVE THE COMBINED H1N1 / EBOLA VIRUS?

Iowa has officially recorded 21 H1N1 deaths. Dr. Gregory Schmunk. Polk County medical examiner, states,” In the autopsy, what we’re seeing is very heavy, wet hemorrhagic lungs, lungs with a lot of blood in them,”
Ebolavirus is tubular in general form. Electron micrographs show long filaments, characteristic of the Filoviridae viral family. The center of the virion is a structure called nucleocapsid, which is formed by the helically-wound viral genomic RNA complexed with the proteins NP, VP35, VP30, and L. Virally-encoded glycoprotein (GP) spikes 10 nm long and 10 nm apart are present on the outer viral envelope of the virion, which is derived from the host cell membrane. Between envelope and nucleocapsid, in the so-called matrix space, the viral proteins VP40 and VP24 are located. Each virion contains one molecule of linear, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, are necessary to transcribe the viral genome into mRNAs, as well as for replication of the viral genome. Endothelial cells, mononuclear phagocytes, and hepatocytes are the main targets of infection. After infection, in a secreted glycoprotein (sGP) the Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP) is synthesized. The GP binds the virus to the endothelial cells lining the interior surface of blood vessels. Blood quickly leaks through the blood vessel leading to hypovolemic shock. The virus has been confirmed to be transmitted through body fluids. Transmission through oral exposure and through conjunctiva exposure is likely, which have been confirmed in non-human primates. Filoviruses are not naturally transmitted by aerosol. They are, however, highly infectious as breathable 0.8-1.2 micron droplets in laboratory conditions, because of this potential route of infection, these viruses have been classified as Category A biological weapons.

Influenza A (H1N1) virus is a subtype of influenza A virus. The virus isolated from patients in the United States was found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses – North American swine influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe – "an unusually mongrelised mix of genetic sequences. The six genes from American swine flu are themselves mixtures of swine flu, bird flu, and human flu viruses. A study conducted in coordination with the University of Michigan Health Service is scheduled for publication in the December 2009 American Journal of Roentgenology warning that H1N1 flu can cause pulmonary embolism, surmised as a leading cause of death in this current pandemic. The study authors suggest physician evaluation via contrast enhanced CT scans for the presence of pulmonary emboli when caring for patients diagnosed with respiratory complications from a "severe" case of the H1N1 flu. Two different types of influenza virus infect a single cell and it can produce a new strain of influenza. This is because the virus genome is split between eight independent pieces of RNA, which allows pieces of RNA from different viruses to mix together and form a novel type of virus as new virus particles are being assembled. This new strain appears to be a result of the reassortment of two swine influenza viruses, one from North America and one from Europe. Analysis found that the hemagglutinin (HA) gene was similar to that of swine flu viruses present in U.S. pigs since 1999, but the neuraminidase (NA) and matrix protein (M) genes resembled versions present in European swine flu isolates.

A/H1N1 is perfectly capable of doing exactly what it is doing all by itself, via the D225G mutation recorded and verified several times already.

Why are people looking for weirdnesses where none exist?

You don't need Ebola to explain it.

reply to post by Violater1


Violater1,

If it is they won't tell us until the vaccines are ready. The timing has to be right.

There is an outbreak of Ebola in Africa currently. Also Dengue in India, rabies and measles in the area around Indonesia. Ukraine is still a hotspot. So I see concern that a messy soup of disease will hit while this pandemic is out there.

I am alarmed that people are dismissing the intensity by explaining it away with CDC, WHO, and MSM accounts. Most emergency room personnel are describing the action as picking up, some overwhelming.
If this is the beginning of the 2nd wave then it should be a bumpy ride. 2010 should open with some dramatic stories and possibly some panic in major cities. Will be interesting to see how we survive.

reply to post by apacheman


Apacheman- I tend to agree with you, in re: Ebola. It's a jungle virus that breaks down rapidly in UV- it does well in multiply-canopied forests. As well, the micrography out of Iowa looks nothing like filovirus to me- however, it is certainly possible, OP, that the SNP mutation from glutamine to lysine changed the thermodynamics of the protein capsids enough to change their tertiary shape under electron miroscopy.

I worry less about tropical diseases and more about an influenza (released accidentally, or on purpose, from a lab), or one that has circled the globe for 5 years and in so doing has gained virulence, ease of contagious transmission, etc., and then, once assembled through natural viral selection, has acquired a mutation that is tiny- a SNP- but one that allows ease of entrance to epithelial cells in its host. Clearly, a virus that can infect quickly, in order to reproduce is going to be more successful, thus it will replicate in its host to continue the entropic passage of it. The mutation is icing on the cake- glycine is essentially a "WELCOME!" sign to epithelial cells- and in inducing viral, rather than bacterial pneumonia, this bugger is living large, as it takes patient days to die from ARDS- no azythromycin will wipe out that pneumonia. So every time the pt coughs, the virus finds new hosts.

One can't help, ultimately, admiring the simplicity of the virus, and the brilliance of Natural Selection; only those viri with the ability to mutate survived. We should all look a little more closely......

Suffice having said all of that, I certainly wish nothing but good health and luck to our Norwegian, Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, S. American friends (and anyone else who has been broad-sided by this one.

Peace and good health to all-
CultureD

People, it's important to understand that viruses of different strains are not capable of re-combining. Their structures are distinct and do not allow it. It would be akin to a rabbit intermixing DNA (RNA in the case of viruses) with a donkey. Both mammals but... Are there dissimilar viruses that can re-combine? Maybe. But I've never heard of one. Most recombination occurs within a specific virus strain as normal mutations evolve. There has been WAY too much speculation and fear-based hyperbole over the H1N1 situation already. Let's not add to it.

I certainly was not suggesting any re-assortment other than in varying strains of flu. I was speaking of opportunistic infections that would- and will- thrive amongst a population weakened by a viral infection- and that in most parts of the world, an underlying infection might render one susceptible to flu, as it did to plague in 14th C Europe.
There was a great influenza outbreak that predated the plague by only a few years- the population had immunities that were so weakened that they could not battle a bacterial infection.

[edit on 26-11-2009 by CultureD]

do you have a link to the source of this info? meaning the 21 deaths from bleeding of the lungs

[edit on 26-11-2009 by OpTiMuS_PrImE]

Originally posted by OpTiMuS_PrImE
do you have a link to the source of this info?

meaning the 21 deaths from bleeding of the lungs

[edit on 26-11-2009 by OpTiMuS_PrImE]

www.examiner.com...
cottontopssandbox.wordpress.com...
www.virology.ws...

[edit on 28-11-2009 by Violater1]