Info. from the CDC
Note the red which would lend credence to Ed's post re*: **Thomas R.
Berger* ... camps would move and the people would not have the close
proximity to the infective sources
*RESERVOIR *
The *deer mouse */(Peromyscus maniculatus)/ is the primary reservoir of
the hantavirus that causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the
United States.
*TRANSMISSION*
Infected rodents shed the virus through urine, droppings, and saliva.
HPS is transmitted to humans through a process called *aerosolization*.
Aerosolization occurs when dried materials contaminated by rodent
excreta or saliva are disturbed. Humans become infected by breathing in
these infectious aerosols.
HPS in the United States *cannot* be transmitted from one person to
another.
HPS in the United States is not known to be transmitted by farm animals,
dogs, or cats or from rodents purchased from a pet store.
*RISK*
Anything that puts you in contact with *fresh rodent urine, droppings,
saliva or nesting materials* can place you at risk for infection.
*VIRUS *
Hantaviruses have been shown to be viable in the environment for *2 to
3 days* at normal room temperature. The ultraviolet rays in sunlight
kill hantaviruses.
And from Baylor University Medical Proceedings... for Smallpox It is
likely of no consequence what the natives were eating (Amaranth alone or
good mixtures of foods). Smallpox simply was not in N.A. prior to the
arrival of the Spanish. Not /reduced/ immunity, NO immunity.
The origin of smallpox as a natural disease is lost in prehistory. It is
believed to have appeared around 10,000 BC, at the time of the first
agricultural settlements in northeastern Africa (3
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/#B3>, 4
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9341063>). It seems plausible that
it spread from there to India by means of ancient Egyptian merchants.
The earliest evidence of skin lesions resembling those of smallpox is
found on faces of mummies from the time of the 18th and 20th Egyptian
Dynasties (1570–1085 BC). The mummified head of the Egyptian pharaoh
Ramses V (died 1156 BC) bears evidence of the disease (5
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/#B5>). At the same
time, smallpox has been reported in ancient Asian cultures: smallpox was
described as early as 1122 BC in China and is mentioned in ancient
Sanskrit texts of India.
Smallpox was introduced to Europe sometime between the fifth and seventh
centuries and was frequently epidemic during the Middle Ages. The
disease greatly affected the development of Western civilization. The
first stages of the decline of the Roman Empire (AD 108) coincided with
a large-scale epidemic: the plague of Antonine, which accounted for the
deaths of almost 7 million people (6
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11616517>). The Arab expansion, the
Crusades, and the discovery of the West Indies all contributed to the
spread of the disease.
Unknown in the New World, smallpox was introduced by the Spanish and
Portuguese conquistadors. The disease decimated the local population and
was instrumental in the fall of the empires of the Aztecs and the Incas.
Similarly, on the eastern coast of North America, the disease was
introduced by the early settlers and led to a decline in the native
population.
Darryl
On 11/7/2010 11:02 AM, Christoph Reuss wrote:
>> Could it not be possible that there was something else in the diet that
>> would counter the affects of Amaranth
> Only a rich source of lysine with very little arginine: Swiss Gruyère
> cheese. But the Indians didn't make cheese...
>
>
>> or, genetically, the peoples had
>> developed resistance over the centuries of use?
> Smallpox and Hanta are VIRUS infections...
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
>
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