holy shit!!

Brotha · Post by **Brotha** » January 15, 2003, 4:27 pm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... Jan15.html

I'm in lubbock, I go to texas tech. This is fucked up...

miir · Post by **miir** » January 15, 2003, 4:29 pm

Good ole Washington Post, only reporting half the story.

Check some other sources:

The official had few details but said the FBI was trying to determine what had happened to the vials at the Texas facility about 330 miles west of Dallas.

"Apparently there are about 30 missing," he said.

But the official emphasized that the plague believed to be in the vials could not be used as a weapon of mass destruction. The vials could possibly kill one person but not a large group of people, he said

Brotha · Post by **Brotha** » January 15, 2003, 4:33 pm

Whew, thanks Miir =p. Hope that's the case...it's the talk of the town at the moment lol. I think this is the first time tech has even been on national tv.

miir · Post by **miir** » January 15, 2003, 4:33 pm

Another prime example of media skewing a story.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 15, 2003, 6:06 pm

Oh no the BUBONIC PLAGUE!

I hope there are no 17th century pilgrims around

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » January 15, 2003, 6:15 pm

Missing Texas Plague Samples Located
53 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press Writer

LUBBOCK, Texas - The FBI (news - web sites) said Wednesday that vials containing samples of lethal plague reported missing from Texas Tech University had been located.

"We have accounted for all those missing vials and we have determined that there is no danger to public safety whatsoever," FBI Agent Lupe Gonzalez said.

He said the vials, about 30 in all, were recovered Wednesday but gave few details. He wouldn't disclose whether they were stolen or merely misplaced, but said a criminal investigation was continuing.

A statement from the university earlier Wednesday had said the vials of plague, being used in a study to improve treatment of plague victims, were reported missing to campus police Tuesday.

The school said the research was being conducted by Dr. Thomas Butler, chief of its infection disease division, who has been studying the plague for more than 25 years. It said officials had thought it was "prudent" to get law enforcement involved because of current concerns about bioterrorism.

In Washington, FBI officials confirmed that they were contacted Tuesday night and dispatched agents to Lubbock to assist local authorities. The CDC also took part in the investigation.

Health officials say 10 to 20 people in the United States contract plague each year. It can be treated with antibiotics, but about one in seven U.S. cases is fatal.

The most infamous plague outbreak, Europe's Black Death, started in 1347, killing 25 million people in Europe and 13 million in the Middle East and China within five years.

Plague — along with anthrax, smallpox and a handful of other deadly agents — is on a short watch list distributed by the federal government, which wants to make sure doctors and hospitals recognize a bioterror attack quickly.

But plague's symptoms can be difficult to spot, as it can resemble the flu.

The form of the disease called bubonic plague is not contagious. But left untreated, it can transform into pneumonic plague, a more dangerous disease that can be spread from person to person.

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Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » January 15, 2003, 7:39 pm

Ya I was going to say I thought bubonic plague was carried by either fleas or ticks on the rats and therefor not a large threat (modern homes have relatively few fleas or ticks or rats).

They would burn the homes and the rats would of course run from the fire....thus going to new homes...actually probably quickening the spread of the disease.

However I didn't know that it turned into pneumonic plague....that's interesting news.

So anyway yet another case of the media blwoing up an event that should have been left private (I doubt it was stolen, the investigation is probably looking into if they were purposefully misplaced to cause embarassment to the facility for housing vials of plague on campus). Even had it been stolen, there was nothing any of us could have done to prevent it...they were already stolen , and if someone was like "hey I got vials of plague wanna see?" you would probably report them to someone anyway.

And yes people are stupid enough to do something like show you vials of plague they stole. In Highschool once a kid I hardly knew (I don't think I knew his name until that day) was like "check this out" and he pulled out a gun in study hall (teacher at her desk) and started showing it to me across the aisle of desks.....apparently someone else he showed it to took him a little more seriously because he was expelled the next day. This was back in 1991....in a small town....not the projects. He was stupid and careless but not hostile, suicidal, or crazy..as far as I could tell..like I said I didn't know his name, I was new to the school and even newer to study hall, I was placed there after an altercation with a teacher that left me banned from my previous class...

Cotto · Post by **Cotto** » January 15, 2003, 8:14 pm

kyoukan type-R wrote:Oh no the BUBONIC PLAGUE!

I hope there are no 17th century pilgrims around

ROFLAMO

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » January 16, 2003, 11:56 am

Isn't New Mexico still considered a Plague State?

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » January 16, 2003, 11:58 am

Boogahz wrote:Isn't New Mexico still considered a Plague State?

Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and Utah as well if I'm not mistaken. All have a few cases a year.