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The bestselling fictional thriller, The New Reality, predicted the coronavirus prior to its lethal outbreak in 2020. In addition, the novel cites how the virus was inadvertently unleashed onto the planet by a bunch of unsuspecting scientists. What hits home with this story is that the COVID-19 virus started not far from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Some say it was a coincidence or mere fluke. However, if there were ever a virus to attempt weaponizing, it would be the coronavirus. As the common cold is caused by this virus 1/3 of the time, it would be an effective method to transmit an untreatable illness that could potentially cause mass hysteria and death.
The New Reality also goes on to predict the world-wide economic and political ramifications of such an illness. Whenever such a contagion is unleashed onto the planet, there will definitely be economic crisis that ensues. The question is how severe will the economic hit to the world’s economy, and will the world be financially prepared for this economic crisis. The answer at this point with the coronavirus is unknown. However, predictions are made in this novel that will both surprise and entertain the reader.
To summarize the novel:
In the year 2080, a deadly virus similar the CORONAVIRUS is inadvertently released upon the planet. Facing financial ruin and catastrophic loss of life, the world’s nations turn to acclaimed neuroscientist Alex Pella and NIH expert Marissa Ambrosia. Assembling a team of experts, the scientists begin an international search for the cure while fighting off a foreign elite military unit sent to stop them at all costs. Guided by a code concealed within the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the scientists must traverse ancient lands and solve a biblical riddle in their quest to save humanity from its eminent destruction. Drawing from both our nation’s politically charged environment and the worldwide economic crisis, The New Reality follows Alex Pella on a journey that projects a frightening path for human existence in the twenty-first century.
Pick up your copy of this must read best-seller today.
As the CDC confirms the first case of Ebola here in the USA, many concerns instantly arise with this revelation. First, why are we allowing ANY people flying from ANY Ebola pandemic areas return to or visit the USA? Are we looking for trouble? Is this not an insane policy? Plus, we are still not sure how contagious the virus actually is. Though the CDC claims that an infected person cannot transmit Ebola unless symptomatic, how did all those healthcare workers wearing biohazard suits contract the illness? Obviously, our knowledge of the virus is certainly lacking. Has the virus mutated? Has it become more easily transmittable?
Plus, why are all those on board the same plane as the Ebola patient NOT being notified that they are at a potential risk of having the disease? How about also telling those at the airport where the man landed they could also potentially be at risk? Is that not the right thing to do? Are all those this man came in contact with now spreading the Ebola virus across the globe? Where did all those people who flew over on the same plane as him, breathing the same recycled stale air, go? Did they fly across the country or even across the world?
Why is our government more concerned about bombing Syria than protecting American citizens? Are their flawed policies with regard to foreign travel not placing the entire country at risk of contracting Ebola? How many people must die before they do something? The answer is, we will soon find out.
I write this blog not as medical fact but as speculation. However, one must question if the new strain of Enterovirus EV-D68 could somehow be connected to the 112% increase in illegal unaccompanied minors and their dispersion around the country.
We do know that the first American case of this this virus was in California in 1962. However, it has rarely been reported since that time. With school now back in session, children are presenting in alarming numbers with this virus. Usually only causing mild upper respiratory and flu-like symptoms, the virus can lead to severe respiratory difficulties requiring ICU level care. Though the CDC has only confirmed 97 cases thus far, a vast majority of children who contracted the virus are being undiagnosed or simply written off as having an asthma attack or as acquiring a benign viral infection.
Dr. Marc Seigal, medical director and professor of medicine at Langone Medical Center wrote, “As many as 50,000 children, mostly from Central American countries… are not being detained for the purpose of identifying illness, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement relying on self-report of symptoms, and many have already been sent to other states, where disease can spread.”
Making matters worse, these unaccompanied minors who are now in our public school system interacting with American children are not being adequately immunized or even tested for communicable disease prior to entering the classroom. We have already witnessed the spread of measles, pneumonia and scabies (amongst others illnesses) between these unaccompanied minors. Is this what American children also have to look forward to upon entering the classroom this school year? Why should Obama or the rest of Congress care? All their kids are in private schools.
Though I write this blog as speculation, it is a valid question to ask. Through the lax medical testing and shipping of these illegal child immigrants across the country, are we exposing our children unnecessarily to unwanted health risks. The bigger question is, if EV-D68 is not being transmitted through these unaccompanied minors, what disease down the line could be?
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What you need to know about Ebola
As the Ebola virus has reached humanitarian crisis status in Western Africa, many people are still unsure what exactly this disease is or why it is important.
The Ebola virus starts with flu-like symptoms on average up to 2 weeks after contracting the disease. It then progresses to muscle aches, joint pains, fevers, chills, sore throat and a rash. Later and more progressive stages of the virus can cause confusion, coma, multi-organ failure and hemorrhage. Plus, with a mortality rate of 50-90%, the disease is extremely deadly.
Fortunately, the Ebola virus is not spread like the common cold. However, those that come in contact with any secretions or blood of an infected victim are at risk of contracting it.
What makes this outbreak in Western Africa frightening, especially Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, is that it has effected more people than any other Ebola outbreak in history. Since March, there have been 1,201 cases of Ebola and 672 deaths just in these three countries. Liberia has become so overwhelmed they declared a humanitarian crisis and state they are unable to keep track of the virus any longer. Plus, Ebola has recently been brought to Lagos in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous city by a 40 year-old Liberian civil servant who did not know that he was infected.
Now, how it can affect you. First, the disease may take 2 weeks to show symptoms. Thus, a newly infected person could fly out of Western Africa (like previously mentioned) and into any of the world’s densely packed cities without ever knowing that he or she was infected. From there, the disease could spread rapidly and exponentially.
Also, not as well publicized on the news is that a jet carrying two infected Americans from West Africa will be returning to the United States so that the victims can receive care there. It is not certain where they will arrive, but the importance of the story is that we are importing an incurable disease into our country. Though the CDC has many incurable diseases they work on every day in the labs and there are numerous incurable diseases already in our country, do we need to risk the potential of having one more?
Indeed, the virus is just one plane ride away. Though the chances of a vast Ebola pandemic seems unlikely by in professional opinion, I must ask this one question: Are we prepared for the possibility of the next pandemic when it comes?
For a great medical/political thriller that projects the future of such an outbreak, please read the best selling novel, The New Reality. http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Reality-Stephen-Martino/dp/1611530741/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1396311308&sr=1-1
The surge of illegal immigrants across the border has caused a humanitarian crisis and possibly a medical one also. Worse yet, Breitbart Texas states that just in 2013, 36,000 convicted criminals were among those illegal immigrants released into US territory. And the number is growing. In 2013, the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley sector arrested 154,453 immigrants in 2013, which is a marked increase from 97,762 in 2012- and these tallies are just a small fraction of those crossing the border.
The biggest question is where are the illegal immigrants going, and what diseases can they potentially be spreading to American citizens? Border Patrol agent, Chris Cabrera states that many of these illegals are carrying contagious illnesses with them when they enter the states. He states, “There’s been an outbreak of scabies that’s been going on for the past month. We are (also) starting to see chicken pox, MRSA staph infections, we are starting to see different viruses.”
Plus, Cabrera also admitted that these diseases are “contagious. We are transporting people to different parts of the state and different parts of the country. Just the fact we are exposed to it, and so is everyone here in south Texas, it’s a great concern to us.” Governor Brewer of Arizona recently chastised the federal government for bussing and flying these illegals to her state without her consent. My question is, where else are the feds transporting them without our knowledge?
The Department of Homeland Security states that they are screening all the illegal immigrants in custody. However, as border patrol agents admit, those with infectious and contagious illness are still being placed into the general population. Plus, the bigger concern are all those illegals that were not caught or evaluated by the Department of Homeland Security. What could they be spreading into our country that has gone undocumented?
Senator Cruz openly admonishes Obama and his administration for this crisis. He said, “We need a president who is willing to uphold the law,” Cruz said. “On issue after issue the Obama Administration has openly ignored, defied, and unilaterally tried to change the law. Just a few months before the last election the president illegally and unconstitutionally granted amnesty to some 800,000 people illegally. If the president wants to change federal immigration laws, the Constitution lays out a way to do so–you go and make your case to Congress and you convince Congress to change the laws…unfortunately for President Obama, following the Constitutional structure is apparently too cumbersome. One of the consequences were seeing on the border is a humanitarian crisis that is a direct consequence of Obama’s lawlessness.”
Will this massive increase in illegal immigrants instigated by the failure of the Obama administration to uphold the law cause unintended medical consequences in our country. As our health system becomes decimated through government interference, could we handle the possibility of a new, emerging medical crisis? Only time will tell.
A newly discovered virus has made headlines recently in the news. Called the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), it is a cousin of the better known coronavirus, SARS. Two recent studies have proven that camels are infected by this MERS virus and that humans who contracted the disease also had the exact same version of the virus in their bloodstream.
To paraphrase a recent article in the BBC by Matt McGrath: However, the lead author of that report, Dr. Thomas Briese from Columbia University in New York, believes that there are many unanswered questions about the disease. He points to the fact that if camels were the sole route of infection, then the illness should be more prevalent among those who work with or are in close contact with the animals. Plus, there have been a small number of cases of people dying from MERS who have no known relationship with camels. “We do have these sporadic cases where there is no known exposure to known cases and we question where do they catch the virus. In some cases there was animal contact or camel contact but in others not, so there is no clear definitive picture yet.”
Dr Briese says that other species, including goats and sheep, have been tested but haven’t shown antibodies indicating exposure. In addition, the disease in camels is far more widespread than previously thought, with significant reservoirs in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tunisia. Ironically, there have been no reports of people dying from the respiratory infection in these areas.
This unexplained fact, noted Dr. Briese, is making research question if a MERS viral reservoir could be found in domestic pets such as cats and dogs. “We are looking into or are trying to look into are cats, dogs – where there is more intimate contact – and any other wild species we can get serum from that we are not currently getting.”
The real question is if an animal viral reservoir is now even needed for the spread of the disease. There is one hypothesis that the virus subtly mutated and became transmissible from camels to humans. Once this occurred, the main contagious source of the disease became human to human contact—as evidenced by the recent case of a hospital worker in the United States. Again, another important question emerges. Will the virus hypothetically mutate again and make human to human transmission easier? Fortunately, researchers are looking into this problem right now, and hopefully MERS will prove nothing more than a fleeting news story.
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Second US Case of MERS
