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Old 03-22-2019, 02:17 PM   #5
wvaherp
Quote:
Originally Posted by WebSlave View Post
Reading about these infections prions is a real trip. A very scary trip too.
  1. They are not alive, so they cannot be killed.
  2. It is extremely difficult to destroy them. Cooking meat does nothing to them.
  3. Once you get them, tough luck on you, because there is no cure for them.
  4. They are tough to detect, with some blood tests only being developed VERY recently. But see #3 and think about what it means if you are diagnosed as being infected.
  5. They are usually spread in meat products that are eaten. See #4 and think about what the chances are that ALL meat you eat has been tested.

Sleep well tonight.

Agreed... This particular prion disease is pretty scary. Especially since the vector seems to be a something that can't be readily controlled like it was with "mad cow" or "scrapie" (the consumption of specific organs and tissue from infected animals). Instead it seems to be spreading through fecal material and bodily fluids and can also be found in muscle tissue. It is correct that it's not new (I believe it was discovered in 1960's), but the more recent spread of it makes me think something in it's whole dynamic might have changed.

Based on some of the things I've read on it and some other fairly recent discoveries about other diseases, I'm really curious if there's an undiscovered viral component to this. Not that it would be easy to treat, but at least we have limited means to fight viruses. These prions seem like you could just about use them for insulating tiles on a space shuttle without hurting them!

I'm not a biologist or virologist or any other "ologist" so I could easily be (and probably am) wrong on any of these points, but these are my thoughts after looking into things...