Doomsday bugs in plant world?

[saltmarsh]

Changed my mind. Think I'll just go enjoy my garden.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

nano-colloidal silver - If you have it.

Micro-encapsulated calcium ascorbate - If you don't want to get it.

So you are saying you wont get Ebola or will be cured if you use this stuff?

I thought you were pretty much a goner if you so much as even got the virus on your hands.

Worth

[Geezer]

Ebola is a blood borne pathogen. has to get into your bloodstream to get you.
The big problem with this particular bug is the high mortality rate!

Right now, here in Indiana, we are watching out for a virus called Chikungunya. It doesn't help when you see it called "Chicken Fever" in the national media. Chickens have nothing to do with it (and it's not a new soup by Campbell's either!). It's carried by mosquitos, and so far all of our cases have been from people who have travelled to Central America.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Ebola is a blood borne pathogen. has to get into your bloodstream to get you.
The big problem with this particular bug is the high mortality rate!

Your hands have microscopic cuts that the virus can inter.
If it ever goes airborn we are in big trouble.

Worth

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Your hands have microscopic cuts that the virus can inter.
If it ever goes airborn we are in big trouble.

Worth

While I may doubt its ability to get into us through the "microscopic cuts", How many of us out there always have at least one cut, scrape, splinter, etc... .

If it gets to the eyes, nose, mouth it could get in through the mucous membranes.

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Yes, in fact, I'll be attending a conference next week with a couple thousand other scientists that get up and think about this every single day.

Excellent! ...and reassuring

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Geezer

While I may doubt its ability to get into us through the "microscopic cuts", How many of us out there always have at least one cut, scrape, splinter, etc... .

If it gets to the eyes, nose, mouth it could get in through the mucous membranes.

I'm just quoting what a doctor said on the news.
He said if it gets on your hands it can get in the microscopic cuts.
A virus is very small.

I also read to avoid bat meat and bat products.

Worth

[mensplace]

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

Changed my mind. Think I'll just go enjoy my garden.

Your edit then went on to say that such a topic as plant killing microorganisms has nothing to do with tomatoes.

The whole point of the line of inquiry was specifically what threats currently exist that would attack any or all of our agricultural crops. Can you imagine the impact if resistant strains of bacteria or viruses suddenly attacked vital food crops in a world of billions of people. If such exists or is even possible, is there any reason that scientists would be better able to quickly combat ever mutating strains. The speed with which the potato famine occurred killed countless people as they were starving.

It would seem reasonable that if there are so many that cannot be treated among humans, the same could occur in the plant world. Tomatoes may not be the exception. Maybe it's a good thing that few are aware of how many people catch infections and die in hospitals; even at the NIH. There are now MANY resistant strains and even the microorganisms themselves mutate faster than the ability to respond.

[Geezer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I also read to avoid bat meat and bat products.

Worth

Sounds like the reason for my first divorce..........

[Worth1]

There is a whole lot around that potato famine than meets the eye.
Much of it which cannot be discussed here.
As a mater of fact the complete subject on the famine not just the blight itself, goes against the two most important rules here.

In Ireland they have a date or period they call pre famine and post famine.

Plus the potato that ended up with it is called the lumper which they grew almost exclusively.

As for the problems we have with some of the super bacteria now, it is a direct result in man tinkering with it.

The over use of antibiotics and when they are prescribed the whole prescription not being taken.

Then there is segregation of a population.
Plant or animal it is always best to segregate to ward off outbreaks.

In my opinion when a country has an outbreak it should be segregated from the rest of the world.
Sounds cruel but it is what will have to be done.
Anybody in nobody out.

With plants it is the same thing pull the bad plant and the healthy ones around it if they are close.


Worth

[Fusion_power]

The best current example of a plant disease that could explode is late blight. In the native central American range where late blight is found, there are two mating types that can cross in a form of sexual reproduction. Until recently, only one mating type had been found outside the natural range. With the spread of both types, the probability of a new variant being produced becomes a certainty and the possibility it will be off the charts virulent also is very high. In other words, tomatoes and potatoes could be destroyed by a repeat of the Irish potato famine.

How bad would this be? Consider that roughly 1/7 of all calories consumed by humans worldwide originate from potato, tomato, pepper, and eggplant.

/me puts a few superbugs in Worth's fruit of the looms to see if he complains first about the bats? or the bugs?

[Geezer]

Back in the 1970's we had a really bad case of corn blight or smut (can't remember which) go through the United States.

The old Soviet Union did extensive biological weapons research with plant diseases to be able to use famine as a tool of war.

The Department of Homeland Security has a list of "Select Agents" that are carefully monitored as to what goes where and how it is discarded in the United States, and there are plant pathogens on this list.
This doesn't make it impossible for the bad guys to get these pathogens or toxins, but it does make it more difficult.

Biodiversity is the key to the problem. There's no telling what will be heading our way, and what variety will be susceptable and what variety will be resistant.

There is only one rule for certain in this equation. "As soon as you build a better mousetrap, nature builds a better mouse".

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Worth1

There is a whole lot around that potato famine than meets the eye.
Much of it which cannot be discussed here.
As a mater of fact the complete subject on the famine not just the blight itself, goes against the two most important rules here.

In Ireland they have a date or period they call pre famine and post famine.

Plus the potato that ended up with it is called the lumper which they grew almost exclusively.

As for the problems we have with some of the super bacteria now, it is a direct result in man tinkering with it.

The over use of antibiotics and when they are prescribed the whole prescription not being taken.

Then there is segregation of a population.
Plant or animal it is always best to segregate to ward off outbreaks.

In my opinion when a country has an outbreak it should be segregated from the rest of the world.
Sounds cruel but it is what will have to be done.
Anybody in nobody out.

With plants it is the same thing pull the bad plant and the healthy ones around it if they are close.


Worth

There's also the low,constant levels of antibiotics put in animal feed to increase weight gain by changing rumen micro flora.
I once purchased three, day old calves from a dairy. The day after I got them they got very sick with diarrhea. The vet hospital cultured e.coli ( don't remember which strain but it was one of the bad), salmonella and rotavirus.
The e.coli and salmonella were resistant to every type of bacteria on their panel. This include tetracyclines, floroquinilones, penicillins and erythromycin family.
Needless to say, I got a call from the health department and got to answer a lot of questions, since they were concerned that the calves would either end up as hamburger or make somebody sick while caring for them.
What scares me is since they came off a big dairy, does that mean drinking the milk from that farm could cause us to be resistant to all sorts of bacteria,too?

[mensplace]

[QUOTE=Geezer;426685]

The old Soviet Union did extensive biological weapons research with plant diseases to be able to use famine as a tool of war.

The Department of Homeland Security has a list of "Select Agents" that are carefully monitored as to what goes where and how it is discarded in the United States, and there are plant pathogens on this list.
This doesn't make it impossible for the bad guys to get these pathogens or toxins, but it does make it more difficult.

QUOTE]

A few I found http://www.frac.info/publication/anh...ogens_2013.pdf

SO, just as in the human/animal world, this is a concern among scientists. In this case, it is not human disease that is the issue, but more one of concern of the potential threat to agriculture. That is, unless any of these could not only lead to famine, but also become transmissible to humans. In our world of international food markets, enhanced transportation, and importation of foods from around the world, I hope those scientist at the symposium referenced previously have more success than the medical field.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

There's also the low,constant levels of antibiotics put in animal feed to increase weight gain by changing rumen micro flora.
I once purchased three, day old calves from a dairy. The day after I got them they got very sick with diarrhea. The vet hospital cultured e.coli ( don't remember which strain but it was one of the bad), salmonella and rotavirus.
The e.coli and salmonella were resistant to every type of bacteria on their panel. This include tetracyclines, floroquinilones, penicillins and erythromycin family.
Needless to say, I got a call from the health department and got to answer a lot of questions, since they were concerned that the calves would either end up as hamburger or make somebody sick while caring for them.
What scares me is since they came off a big dairy, does that mean drinking the milk from that farm could cause us to be resistant to all sorts of bacteria,too?

I bet the manure from that dairy got spread on fields, too, whether at the farm or bagged up for retail sale to consumers. Heavy metals and prescription drug residues don't compost out.