美国22个州120多名儿童突然感染神秘病毒 且无药可治 2018-10-17 09:59:28 来源: 北青网 北青网讯 美国疾病控制预防中心(CDC)周二透露,在美国,有127例确诊或疑似罕见脊髓灰质炎病例。 美国疾病控制与预防中心国家免疫和呼吸疾病中心主任南希·梅索尼尔(Nancy Messonnier)博士表示,已在22个州确认了62例急性弛缓性脊髓炎(AFM)。 此前,该机构报告说,在16个州有38例确诊病例。 同时,另外65例AFM正在接受调查,其症状类似于普通感冒,影响的儿童平均年龄为4岁。 卫生官员已确定病情是由病毒感染引起的,但他们无法确定与之相关的病毒是何种病毒。 梅索尼尔博士在一次媒体电话会议上说,我们感到很沮丧,我们无法找出病因。 美国疾病预防控制中心周二透露,22个州的62名儿童被诊断出患有急性弛缓性脊髓炎(AFM),其症状与普通感冒相似。 治疗因具体情况而异。在最严重的情况下,当支持呼吸的肌肉变弱时,可能发生呼吸衰竭。明尼苏达州的四个孩子(如下图)可能是该州最早的确诊病例。 AFM是一种罕见但严重的疾病,会影响神经系统。特别是它攻击称为灰质的脊髓区域,导致身体的肌肉和反射减弱。 症状通常在病毒感染后发生,例如肠病毒或西尼罗河病毒,但通常没有发现明确的原因。 患者开始出现流感样症状,包括打喷嚏和咳嗽。这慢慢变成肌肉无力,眼睛移动困难,然后出现类似脊髓灰质炎的症状,包括面部下垂和吞咽困难。 AFM没有具体的治疗方法,通常建议根据具体情况进行干预。 http://news.ynet.com/2018/10/17/1476261t70.html https://www.cdc.gov/features/acute-flaccid-myelitis/index.html 英国科学家预测太阳活动从2020年左右进入极小期,并可能维持很长一段时间。历史上的蒙德极小期和道尔顿极小期,都伴随出现了极寒天气,并出现了霍乱和鼠疫大流行,很可能与这一时期太阳黑子活动减弱,宇宙射线大幅增强有关。从2009年开始,太阳活动不断减弱,进入现代太阳黑子活动极小期,因此全球近些年不断出现了甲流,MERS, H7N9人感染禽流感,埃博拉,寨卡等新发病毒传染病。随着太阳黑子活动的继续减弱, 全球在未来30~50年内会不断出现各种新发病毒传染病,包括流感大流行。全球公共卫生将面临巨大挑战,必须加强监测预警! 详细分析见论文 Sunspot Cycle Minima and Pandemics: The Case for Vigilance?(附件) Sunspot Cycle Minima and Pandemics The Case for Vigilance.pdf 以下为太阳活动进入现代极小期的证据: 太阳活动达到近百年来最弱的时期 科学家预测太阳黑子活动即将进入现代极小期 全球特别是美洲地区宇宙射线正在全面加强 冰河世纪到来?!罕见极寒“杀手”气温袭击北美,全美一片恐慌! https://m.sohu.com/a/215117490_659084/?pvid=000115_3w_a Is a mini ice age on the way? Scientists warn the Sun has 'gone to sleep' and say it could cause temperatures to plunge http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2541599/Is-mini-ice-age-way-Scientists-warn-Sun-gone-sleep-say-cause-temperatures-plunge.html
巴西黄热病毒变异 据新华社里约热内卢5月15日电 (记者赵焱 陈威华)巴西研究人员近日绘制出目前巴西流行的黄热病毒完整基因序列,由此分析出一些基因序列出现了变异。不过研究人员指出,黄热病疫苗对抵御这类变异病毒依然有效。巴西卫生部所属奥斯瓦尔多·克鲁斯基金会的研究人员说,科学界此前还没有记录过这类变异,但黄热病疫苗对抵御这类变异病毒依然有效。参与研究的巴西奥斯瓦尔多·克鲁斯基金会的米尔纳·博纳尔多说:“疫苗肯定还有保护作用,一剂疫苗可以保证到世界任何地方遇到任何种类的黄热病都有效。”从去年12月开始在巴西暴发的黄热病疫情是近几十年来最严重的一次,疫情集中在丛林和农村地区,城市中并未发现疫情。巴西卫生部最近的一次报告说,全国共确诊756例黄热病病例,259人死亡。疫情暴发以来,巴西奥斯瓦尔多·克鲁斯基金会研究人员就开始绘制病毒的基因组序列,首先使用的两份样品来自圣埃斯皮里图州今年2月死于黄热病的猴子。在全面分析后,研究人员发现一些蛋白参与病毒复制,导致病毒基因变异。研究成果刊登在该机构专业医学杂志《奥斯瓦尔多·克鲁斯研究所纪要》上。 http://www.jkb.com.cn/news/overseas/2017/0518/410265.html 中新社圣保罗5月12日电 (记者 莫成雄)当地时间5月12日,巴西卫生部发布新一期通报说,自从去年12月该国爆发黄热病疫情以来至今年5月10日,已确诊756例黄热病病例,其中259人因病死亡。 报告说,巴西卫生部共收到各级卫生部门通报的疑似黄热病病例3175例,已经排除1797例,确诊756例,还有622例待查。目前,巴西全国共有116个市镇发现有黄热病病例。东南部的米纳斯吉拉斯州是黄热病疫情重灾区,已确诊488例。其次是圣埃斯皮里图州,已确诊234例。这两个州死于黄热病的人数是全国最多的。圣保罗州、里约热内卢州和帕拉州也有死亡病例。巴西卫生部表示,目前所有的黄热病确诊病例均发生在农村地区以及部分内陆城镇,特别是森林等植被较密集的地区,大城市还未发现黄热病病例。黄热病是一种由黄热病毒引起的急性传染病,由蚊子叮咬传播,主要在非洲和拉丁美洲热带地区流行。其临床表现包括高热、头痛、黄疸、出血等,严重时可致死亡。黄热病目前尚无特效疗法,但接种疫苗可有效预防感染。(完) http://news.163.com/17/0513/13/CKAQAIG200018AOQ.html 巴西最近的黄热病疫情或与地磁场减弱和宇宙射线增强有关,具体分析见论文: IJCSMB.MS.ID.555636.pdf Weakened geomagnetic field, Cosm ic rays and the Resurgence of Yellow Fever Jiangwen Qu 1 , N.Chandra Wickramasinghe2,3* 1 Department of Infectious Disease Control, Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, China ; 2 Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, UK; 3 Sri Lanka Centre for Astrobiology, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka *Corresponding: N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, E-Mail: ncwick@gmail.com , Tel: +44 (0)2920752146 / +44 (0)7778389243 Abstract The yellow fever outbreak in Brazil pose a serious public health threat. Research on the environmental factors underlying yellow fever virus outbreak epidemiology may provide useful insights into the occurrence of yellow fever outbreak. This study suggested that the lowering of the geomagnetic field strength and a sudden increase of cosmic rays in Mexico in 2015 were associated with the emergence of the yellow fever outbreak in Brazil. Potential mechanisms by which weakened geomagnetic field and cosmic ray activity may influence yellow fever outbreak in humans are discussed. Current and future surveillance efforts should be supported to construct a comprehensive early warning system involving weakened geomagnetic field and cosmic ray activity for detecting future yellow fever outbreaks as early as possible. Whist Brazil is still recovering from the Zika virus outbreak, the south-east of this country has recently been struck by the largest outbreak of Yellow Fever (YF) in Latin Americain many decades. The outbreak, which began in 2016, has rapidly and alarmingly spread eastward, reaching the most populated regions of Brazil where vaccine coverage is inadequate, so raising public health concern about high rates of urban transmission and the spread of YF beyond Brazil’s national borders. Other viral diseases that appeared to flare up in South America roughly at the same time include the arboviruses dengue and chikungunya. Although climate change, and poor hygiene are cited as causes for this sudden resurgence of viral disease, it is possible that a more fundamental reason exists, and its discovery could have a profound effect in determining public health strategy. It is generally known that the Earth's magnetic field acts like a giant invisible bubble that shields the planet from the various mutagens such as solar particles and cosmic rays. Severe disruption of the magnetic field barrier would permit the ingress of damaging cosmic ray particles and also charged viral sized particles from outside the Earth. In the absence of other plausible causes is to such externally induced processes that we may be forced to turn in order to explain the unusual patterns of viral incidence we have witnessed in recent years. The role of cosmic rays in causing genetic changes is well known. It is also known at times of low sunspot activity the Earth’s magnetic field is less able to protect the Earth from energetic cosmic rays, including galactic cosmic rays. One particularly strong effect that has recently come to light is the decrease in the Earth’s magnetic field in the Southern Hemisphere, straddling land masses in South America and Africa. The geomagnetic map shown in Fig. 1 was obtained in 2015 at a time when many of the new pandemics of viral disease which we have discussed actually started sweeping across South America and Africa. We think this is unlikely to be a coincidence. Fig. 1 Intensity geomagnetic field map at 2015.0. Red represents areas where the magnetic field is stronger, while blues show areas where it is weaker. New data released by the European Space Agency (ESA) reveals that our geomagnetic field is weakening by around 5% a year, which is nearly ten times faster than previous estimates 1 . Furthermore, the field is weakening faster in some places than others. For example, the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is a large depression of the Earth's magnetic field strength characterized by values of geomagnetic field intensity around 30% lower than expected for those latitudes and covers a large area in the South Atlantic Ocean and South America. According to the monitoring data of ESA's Swarm satellite, Earth's magnetic poles may be getting ready to flip, and the South Atlantic Anomaly where the field is particularly weak has moved steadily westward and weakened further by about 2% 2 . Previous studies have suggested that the mosquito is a sensitive animal to the magnetic field, and the weakening of the magnetic field can increase the mosquito's reproductive speed and density 3 . YF is mostly transmitted to humans by bites from infected Aedes spp, especially Aedes aegypti. The rapid weakening of Earth's magnetic field in the SAA probable speeds up the rapid increase of mosquitoes and promotes the rapid spread of the yellow fever virus. A sharp change of the magnetic field in this region (which includes South America and Brazil) allows cosmic rays, and charged particles to reach lower into the atmosphere. At present, solar activity is now at its most inactive stage in recent 100 years.The sunspot cycle (No.24) that peaked in 2014 showed the lowest sunspot number recorded since 1906 with many consecutive days of very low sunspot numbers in 2016/17 4 . Cosmic rays reach amaximum intensity when the earth's magnetic field is weakening dramatically and the sun is least active. According to the World Data Center for Cosmic Rays (WDCCR), there was a sudden increase of cosmic rays in Mexico in January 2015 and continued throughout the year 5 . The sudden increase of cosmic ray intensity in Mexico (North/South American region) is probably the cause of the ZIKV and YF outbreak. A new study revealed that solar radiation and cosmic rays are physical mutagens of natural genetic mutation/recombination, and can lead to the emergence of some emerging viruses like pandemic influenza 6 . Zika virus outbreak may have been linked to a systematic increase in the flux of cosmic rays and a general decline of sunspot activity 7 . Phylogenetic analysis of two yellow fever virus (YFV) samples collected during the current Brazilian epidemic revealed the 2016/17 epidemic virus is a new genetic lineage 8 . The weakened magnetic field and enhanced cosmic rays both contributed to the severe YFV outbreak. Thus, we make the bold suggestion that a surveillance of both magnetic field, sunspot numbers and cosmic ray activity may serve as a potential warning of future pandemics. Together with other epidemiological data such information might prove to be a useful factor for strategic disease control planning of YFV as well as other pandemic-causing viruses. References 1.Christopher F,NilsO,StavrosK,NicolasG,LarsT. Recent geomagnetic secular variation from Swarm and ground observatoriesas estimated in the CHAOS ‑ 6geomagneticfieldmodel. Earth, Planets and Space .2016;68:112 2.Pavón-Carrasco, F. Javier; De Santis, Angelo. The South Atlantic Anomaly: The Key for a Possible Geomagnetic Reversal.Frontiers in Earth Science.2016;4:40. 3.Pan,H, Liu,X. Apparent Biological Effect of Strong Magnetic Field on Mosquito Egg Hatching. Bioelectromagnetics,2004;25:84–91 4.Wickramasinghe NC, Steele E, Wainwright M, Tokoro G, Fernando M, Qu J. Sunspot Cycle Minima and Pandemics: The Casefor Vigilance? Astrobiol Outreach 2017 ; 5: 159. 5.World Data Center for Cosmic Rays (WDCCR) http://center.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp/WDCCR/allplot1sta.php?st=MEXICO 6.Qu J. Is sunspot activity a factor in influenza pandemics? Rev Med Virol . 2016;26 (5):309-313. 7.Qu J, Wickramasinghe C. Was the Zika virus Outbreak in 2015 Triggered by Cosmic Events?.VirolCurr Res2017;1:102. 8. Myrna C Bonaldo, MarielaMartínez Gómez, Alexandre AC dos SantosFilipe Vieira Santos de Abreu, Anielly Ferreira-de-Brito, RafaellaMoraes de Miranda, Marcia Gonçalves de Castro, Ricardo Lourenço-de-Oliveira. Genome analysis of yellow fever virus of the ongoing outbreak in Brazil reveals polymorphisms. Memórias do InstitutoOswaldo Cruz. 2017;112(6):447-451 Weakened geomagnetic field, Cosmic rays the Resurgence of Yellow Fever https://juniperpublishers.com/ijcsmb/IJCSMB.MS.ID.555636.php
最近,美国NASA赚足了眼球, 事件起源于一段在网站上传的、题为“匿名者:美国航天局将宣布发现智慧外星生命”的视频。视频中称,NASA副局长托马斯 楚比兴曾在美国国会听证会上说,“我们的文明即将在宇宙中发现外星生物的证据”。这立刻就成了大新闻,国外诸多媒体纷纷援引报道。 26日,楚比兴不得不通过社交媒体推特澄清:“与一些报道所说的相反,美国宇航局没有事关地外生命的待定宣布。” 而在对视频发布者的账号进行仔细研究后,《华盛顿邮报》认为,这个账号与著名的黑客组织“匿名者”并无关系。 所以,期待与外星人“第一次亲密接触”的小伙伴们,可能还得继续等下去了。 不过,一直在探索,从不忘“搞事”的NASA,向来都是“手中有料,心中不慌”。这不,近日NASA就在网站上发布视频宣布,十几年一度的太阳活动极小期就快来了,这颗离我们最近的恒星即将发生一些变化。 目前,太阳活动正向着低点而行。2014年,太阳黑子的数量曾经达到了相对的峰值,现在,它们正在向低谷滑落,预计将在2019-2020年达到低点。 在太阳活动极小期期间,太阳的磁场减弱,屏蔽星际宇宙射线的能力也相应减弱,因此到达地球的宇宙射线数量将会增加。而这宇宙射线恰恰是导致2015年南美洲寨卡病毒爆发的真正的原因! 没发现外星人 但NASA说太阳即将改变 http://news.163.com/17/0630/14/CO6G7PNO000189A3.html 宇宙射线为什么会导致寨卡病毒爆发?请见本人和英国著名宇宙学家 Chandra Wickramasinghe的 最新论文的分析。 Was the Zika virus outbreak in 2015 triggered by cosmic events? Jiangwen Qu 1 and Chandra Wickramasinghe 2,3 * 1Department of Infectious Disease Control, Tianjin Centers for Disease Controland Prevention, China ; 2 BuckinghamCentre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, UK; 3 Sri LankaCentre for Astrobiology, University ofRuhuna, Sri Lanka *Corresponding: N. Chandra Wickramasinghe, E-Mail: ncwick@gmail.com , Tel: +44 (0)2920752146 / +44 (0)7778389243 Abstract The Zika virus outbreak in 2015 posed a serious public health threat, particularly in view of its association with congenital abnormalities. We point out that this outbreak may have been linked to a systematic increase in the flux of cosmic rays and a general decline of sunspot activity that has been observed over the period 2010-2017. Future surveillance efforts should in our view take account of such events. Keywords: Zika virus,sunspot activity, cosmic rays The rapid spread of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in the Americas and its association withcongenital abnormalities such as microcephaly and Guillain Barré syndrome hasled the World Health Organization to declare an international public healthemergency on 1 February 2016. ZIKV was first detected in Brazil in May 2015 and subsequently in severalcountries of South and Central America and the Caribbean.The cases of microcephaly in Brazil,potentially associated with ZIKV infection, were identified in November 2015. RTPCR analyses on RNA extracted from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes captured fromJanuary to March 2015 in Mexico showedthe presence of ZIKV thus strongly suggesting that the mosquito vectorwas already carrying the virus at the start of 2015 1 . The ZIKV outbreak of2015 was possibly the largest and deadliest since the disease was firstrecognized in 1947, so it is reasonable tosurmise that some special or unusual factors played a role. ZIKV is classified as an arthropod borne, single strandedRNA virus of the Flaviviridaefamily and genus Flavivirus. Mosquitoes, e speciallythe species Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,can be infected by different Zika viruses in nature. The viruses firstreproduce in the mosquito'sintestines, and then enter other tissues through the blood, ultimately multiplyingin the salivary glands from which they can enter the blood of stream of amosquito-bitten victim. With the eventual control of the 201 5 ZIKV outbreak, this infectious disease can be expected to remain endemicposing a considerable challenge for the foreseeable future. The globalcommunity will be well served if criteria can be discovered that might help predicta possible future onset and hence minimise the ravages caused by similaroutbreaks in the future. V irus mutation and/orrecombination events are likely to be the main possibilities for the emergence ofenhanced ZIKV disease severity in 2015 , so it is necessary todiscover possible factors that may have led to such events. Arecent study published in the Lancet arguedthat exceptional climatic conditions arising from the strong El Niño event in2015 in North Eastern South America might have contributed, albeit in a poorlydefined way, to the rapid dispersal of ZIKV 2 . It is of interest to note in thiscontext that the primary cause of the 2015/16 El Nino event itself mightpossibly have been linked to solar activity 3 . Recent studies have shown that sunspot numbers and cosmic ray activity can play a role in the emergence of influenza pandemics, e xtremes of sunspotactivity to within plus or minus 1 year being identified as an important riskfactor for influenza pandemics 4 . Thesunspot cycle (No.24) that peaked in 2014 showed the lowest sunspot numbersrecorded since 1906 with a steady weakening trend of solar activity from 1980to the present day (Fig.1). These conditions are ideal for facilitating ingressof high energy galactic cosmic rays which could have mutagenic effects. A systematic increase of cosmic rays in thestratosphere has been recorded throughout the period 2015-2017 alongside withthe general decline of solar activity (Fig.2) Whilst a general decline in sunspot numbers can provide an open gateway for mutagenic cosmicrays, coronal ejections of charged particles from the sun that reach thestratosphere, can additionally set up electric fields (eg the Aurorae) thatbring down extraterrestrial viral-sized particles (including virions) to groundlevel 5,6,7 . It is worth noting that both virion-sized particletransport as well as galactic cosmic rays could be localised with respect totheir points of arrival on the Earth’s surface. Thus an emergence of a new recombinant virus could be a highly localisedevent – for example the start of the new ZIKAV appearing in Mexico. Recombination and reassortment of genesin an endemic virus with compatible new virions are known to occur at highly variable frequencies in RNA viruses for example for Influenza A. Recent genetic studies reveal that ZIKAV inthe 2015 outbreak is probably a recombinant virus 8,9,10 , therecombination involving a component that may have undergone a cosmicray-induced mutation in 2015, and/or a virion arriving from an extraterrestrialsource. In conclusion we make the bold suggestionthat a surveillanceof cosmic ray activity on the ground, stratospheric sampling aswell as monitoring coronal discharges may serve asa potential warning of future pandemics. Such measures combined with otherepidemiological and genetic data might prove a useful factor for strategicdisease-control planning in the case of ZIKV as well as of otherpandemic-causing viruses. 论文链接: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/was-the-zika-virus-outbreak-in-2015-triggered-by-cosmic-events.php?aid=90426 著名宇宙学家 Chandra Wickramasinghe http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/directory/professor-chandra-wickramasinghe/ http://profchandra.org/category/blog/