A New Deadly Virus has been Discovered

As of May 30th, this SARS-like virus has caused the deaths of 49 people. It first started in Saudi Arabia, but now has been spotted in other areas as well. It spread when individuals started visiting affected areas and later flying back to their native place, unaware that they were infected. It is related to SARS because it acts like a cold virus and attacks the respiratory system, but scientists have decided to name it Middle East Respiratory Symptom Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV. Symptoms include things such as a fever and a cough, but can take up to 9 to 12 days to show. This disease is more serious than the bird flu, and is spreading rapidly. The number of deaths has almost doubled in only one day.

Although this disease might never reach the U.S., it is still very alarming to me. It is killing people rapidly, and only taking less than 24 hours to kill them. I believe people should have stricter rules when allowing possible infected travellers to travel. They can’t take any chances when other countries might get infected as well. I think that this new disease is horrible, and that scientists should start finding a cure right away. At this rate, how many people do you think will be gone in a month? Too many, that’s for sure.

-Catie Schaffer

Delving into DNA Discoveries

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One week ago, if you asked a scientist how our DNA works, they might’ve said that 98% of it is inactive, or “junk.” The other 2% contains our genomes, which contain the blueprints of who we are. This past Wednesday, however, some 500 scientists published new research indicating that at least 80% of our DNA is active; a startling contrast that is already rewriting textbooks everywhere.

What is DNA? DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, is the road map for our bodies. It’s kind of like a control board, similar to a long series of switches flicking on and off. DNA consists of 4 chemical bases; adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The order of the series of 3,000,000 units of these 4 chemicals is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, or simply the person next to you. Every cell in your body contains the same strand of DNA, usually located in the nucleus of each cell.

Personally, I think this is a remarkable discovery. Part of what was discovered through this research was how disease works and what’s going on to cause it. Now, I’m not talking about the common cold or a virus. I’m talking about some of the leading killers in our country; heart disease, diabetes, even cancer. While no one is sure when this new information will turn into treatments and even cures, one thing everyone is sure of is that this is a remarkable discovery in the world of science everywhere.

~Claire Stover

Flying Infection

     The West Nile Virus is a virus that can cause fever, headache, muscle ache, skin rash, paralysis of an arm or leg, (and sometimes) inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, though it’s true that “four of five people infected with the virus show no symptoms,” (Shannon Pettypiece, “West Nile Outbreak May Be Deadliest in U.S. History”).  It usually is dispersed from birds to humans by mosquitoes. According to recent news, the West Nile fatality rate is expected to be the highest on record this year. U.S. officials have said that “the number of fatalities increased 36 percent in the past week to 118 people,”(Shannon Pettypiece, “West Nile Outbreak May Be Deadliest in U.S. History”). Though the disease has not necessarily become deadlier, there is an increase in cases of infection. This may be because of warmer temperatures and a change in bird populations. The most concentrated areas of this virus are in Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Michigan. The article I read warned that with a continuation of warm weather, a continuation of transmission of the infection will occur.

     Too me, West Nile seems like it’s too potentially harmful to ignore. I know, it’s very annoying to put on some bug spray everytime you go outside, but to me the peace of mind is worth it. You are bound to see some kind of flying bug, when you enter the outdoors. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you don’t need to worry about getting this deadly disease every time you see one? For those of you that don’t worry about getting this virus, I have been in your shoes. Before I looked more into the topic, the only thing that came to mind when getting bitten by a mosquito was that I’d probably be getting an itchy bug bite. I think that people need to be more informed about the possible dangers of West Nile, so that they are more careful. This will probably in turn reduce the amount of cases in humans. So that only leaves the question, what will you do to protect yourself from getting West Nile? And if you do, will you help others be informed as well?

~Abby Klimowicz