--- In [email protected], Robert <babajii...@...> wrote: > > > > May 28 07:01 PM US/Eastern > By MIKE STOBBE > AP Medical Writer > > > ATLANTA (AP) - Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that > causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. The so-called "Lujo" virus > infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, > but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the > scientists. >
********* The aggressive viruses are not really much of a problem beyond the few unfortunates that catch them, because they kill people too quickly for them to spread to other hosts. Clever viruses like AIDS, which usually do not kill for years, are the problem viruses, as this slow killing enables the virus to spread to other hosts. Bubonic plague (a bacterial disease) killed 1/3 of Europe in the Middle Ages because fleas were vectors for the disease, so it did not matter how quickly humans died (usually 5-7 days), as the fleas would just jump off dead rats and humans and find new targets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague
