Newsflash: Airborne Ebola?

Remember when I cited Ebola as a sign that there was not a loving God? It turns out that it was a lot worse than I thought. Thanks in large part to conspiracy theorists believing that the elite are using human populations in Africa to test out biological weapons, this little gem found its way onto my screen:

"Canadian scientists have shown that the deadliest form of the ebola virus could be transmitted by air between species.

In experiments, they demonstrated that the virus was transmitted from pigs to monkeys without any direct contact between them.

The researchers say they believe that limited airborne transmission might be contributing to the spread of the disease in some parts of Africa. They are concerned that pigs might be a natural host for the lethal infection.

Ebola viruses cause fatal haemorrhagic fevers in humans and many other species of non human primates.

Details of the research were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the infection gets into humans through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs and other bodily fluids from a number of species including chimpanzees, gorillas and forest antelope. 

The fruit bat has long been considered the natural reservoir of the infection. But a growing body of experimental evidence suggests that pigs, both wild and domestic, could be a hidden source of Ebola Zaire - the most deadly form of the virus. 

Now, researchers from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the country's Public Health Agency have shown that pigs infected with this form of Ebola can pass the disease on to macaques without any direct contact between the species. 

In their experiments, the pigs carrying the virus were housed in pens with the monkeys in close proximity but separated by a wire barrier. After eight days, some of the macaques were showing clinical signs typical of ebola and were euthanised. 

One possibility is that the monkeys became infected by inhaling large aerosol droplets produced from the respiratory tracts of the pigs.

“What we suspect is happening is large droplets - they can stay in the air, but not long, they don't go far. But they can be absorbed in the airway.”- Dr. Gary Kobinger, Public Health Agency of Canada." - Source. More there.


So, basically, it turns out that pigs can carry Ebola too, and they might be able to get it through minimal contact with exhaled bodily fluids. Bear in mind that pigs are also very susceptible to respiratory infections.

This is another reason why one should watch where one's meats come from. Pigs can carry a lot of human diseases, not just Ebola, because they are so biologically-similar to humans. We eat them and make medicine out of them. We also ship them everywhere - not all farms are in the U.S. Pigs are already pretty bad environmentally; this is one nasty addition to the damage they can do.

That said, I do wonder why this hasn't been publicized more. Ebola's kind of a big deal.

Creature Feature: Black-and-Rufous-Sengi.

There are very, very few animal "combinations" that have not been done. You can slap almost any animal onto "fish" and there's probably one or two combinations for it. This is a lot rarer with mammals, but "deermouse" is a notable exception. "Elephant shrew" is a strange, almost contradictory name, which it made complete sense to change.

Source.

This is a black-and-rufous sengi (Rhynchocyon petersi). Sengis, also known as elephant shrews, are all native to Africa; there are 16 species total. This one is native to Tanzania and Kenya. Despite its looks, is perfectly capable of eating rodents as well as insects and vegetation. They are not shrews, but have flexible, sensitive noses like elephants, hence the old name.

Elephant shrews are more closely related to elephants than to shrews. They're part of that weird group of mammals called Afrotherians, which, again, has nothing to do with big, poofy hair. Rather, it has to do with elephants, aardvarks, and rodent-like creatures being each other's great, great, greatgreatgreatgreat grandparents, twice removed. It's unbelievable stuff that has been covered several times on this blog.

Source.

The weirdness does not stop at elephant shrews/sengis in general. The black-and-rufous sengi is one of the larger sengis, averaging about a foot long from head to rump. The tail can be up to ten inches long.  It is also one of the more colorful sengis, sporting an attractive red and black coat.They are standouts in a group that's already pretty weird.

The black-and-rufous sengi is also on the "vulnerable" list. This is more due to habitat loss than any other factor. Several zoos have breeding programs, most notably the one in Philedelphia, Pennsylvania. Two brothers are born in the National Zoo in Washington D.C. as well. There's no immediate danger, so we'll be able to enjoy these weird little rascals for a long time to come.



(Plus, THOSE TEETH!)

"They Actually Eat That:" Surstromming.

We've looked at some pretty nasty things on this column. Most of them involve eating animals that we Americans would find unpalatable, but the ultimate point remains the same: Humans will eat anything. There are even humans who put wolves to shame by eating things so rotten that we're pretty sure a wolf would drop dead from the mere odor. Not that anyone's tried, but this one would give the legendary jaws and stomachs of the wild a run for their nonexistent money.

The crowning achievement of smelly, fermented food is a type of canned fish called surströmming. It is often eaten with "thin bread" and enjoyed with light beers. It is found in Sweden - presumably only in Sweden, as will be discussed later. Specifically, it originates from the High Coast (Hoga Kusten) in northern Sweden, which also has a museum devoted to surströmming. There are several cute origin stories for it, but it probably came about as an alternative to brining.

Surströmming is one of many fermented foods from around the world. When something is fermented, that means it is effectively rotten, having been eaten away by bacteria. The herring in surströmming are left to ferment for a couple of months in slightly-salted barrels before they are put into cans. In this case,  Haloanaerobium bacteria produce CO2, making the can swell up. The reactions going on in the also produce odors similar to vinegar, rotten eggs, and rancid butter. This makes the can an effective stink bomb, as well as being high cuisine.

IT'S GONNA BLOW!

Surströmming is notoriously smelly, even by fermented food standards. It is so smelly that people have been evicted from their apartments without prior notice for spreading it around. The German food critic Wolfgang Fassbender once wrote that "the biggest challenge when eating surströmming is to vomit only after the first bite, as opposed to before." It is largely considered an acquired taste; if that critic's words have any merit, then that taste is hard to acquire. 

Still think surströmming isn't the king of one-whiff repulsion? It is banned on several major airlines, including Air France and British Airways. The reason they gave was that the puffed can was at risk of exploding, covering everything in a fishy mess; they probably just wanted to avoid some drunk Swede opening it in the cabin (no offense to any Swedish members of the audience). It already breaks several international toxicity regulations, and Sweden is constantly buying exceptions for its beloved surströmming. It is apparently popular enough in Sweden to warrant its own party and a lot of political SNAFUs.

Of course, this blog entry may well be proven wrong. Someone will probably come up with a smellier food, although surströmming has a pretty colorful history to beat. At least lutefisk smells like soap.

Creature Feature: Bennu Heron.

Sometimes, it's really hard to tell how a myth got started. Where did mermaids come from, for example? Not all of us are going to buy that sailors were drunk enough to think that manatees were alluring sirens. Luckily, the origins of the Egyptian phoenix, or Bennu, are traceable to a single, extinct species of heron. Fancy that.

The origin of the Bennu is known only from the bones of a large heron species, dubbed Ardea bennuides after the phoenix. Another likely base is the Goliath Heron, even though it looks absolutely nothing like the sketches. Although the bird was indeed around in the age of man, it had an ironically-short lifespan; there are no Bennu Herons in this day and age. 

The mythical Bennu was the archetypal firebird: there was only one in existence, and it was certainly immortal. The sacred stone it perched upon, the ben-ben, was said to have been around since the dawn of creation, thus linking the Bennu with time - a sort of avian sundial. It was even linked to the Nile's flood cycle.More than just an immortal firebird, the Bennu was also thought to be the soul of Ra, the (main) Egyptian sun god. In later times, the simple hieroglyph of the Bennu was used to represent Ra. So, yes, it was a very potent symbol.

Derp.

Unfortunately, much less is known about the Bennu Heron. What we do know is that it was larger than the Goliath Heron. It probably had similar nesting habits to other herons in the area. Although the two-plumed crest of Osiris was likely exaggerated, nearly all drawings of it emphasize the symmetrical plumes. It was likely gray-blue on the top and white on the bottom. Mind, these are all from ancient Egyptian drawings, so it's not like they could go into PhotoShop and take a spin on the color wheel.

This is, for once, not a case of "OMG humans wiped a mythical bird out!" This heron's remains were found in areas dating 2500-2000 BCE in the United Arab Emirates. If it was wiped out by humans, they weren't killing it in any of the modern ways. Nobody knows how it died. For now, its bones have revealed the root of one of the most beloved legends of all time. Let's see if more bits of evidence rise from the ashes.

Until then, however, please have this Moltres. ;)

Bio-Art: The Meatrix.

A while back - like, all the way back in May - I did a huge entry on GreenFest 2012. Although there were several entries that did make it into bio-art spots, surprisingly, The Meatrix was not one of them, even though I bought buttons and everything. Fixing that mistake now!



The Meatrix is a series of short Flash movies detailing where our meat, dairy, and eggs come from. It was made by www.sustainabletable.com and Free Range Studios in the early 2000's, and two and a half more have been made since then. The points made in Food, Inc. are spelled out for you in nice little green bullets at the bottom of the screen. It's Food, Inc., condensed...only it's funny?!

Yes, The Meatrix is funny for a movie series sporting sickness, animal cruelty, and disturbing truths. While being informative, it's witty, cute, and has some funny moments (like a pig flying through the air in slow-mo). They also make a few references to the good ol' Matrix series, so if you're a fan, enjoy.  Just don't enjoy it while eating Mickey D's; that might cause a major guilt trip.

The site for The Meatrix takes things one step further. They have pages where you can look for stores that sell products from local farmers. They really are dedicated to slow food, organic farming, and so forth. It's probably closer than you think. All you have to do is look for and support it.

So I'm doing exactly what the film said: spreading the word. This is already pretty well-known, but after Food Inc., it's good to know that somebody's targeting the younger demographic. This is the film (series) about factory farming that you can show to almost anybody, regardless of how squeamish they tend to be. The message is still the same: we decide what we eat, and you show your support with your dollar.

Creature Feature: Frogspawn.

Corals are pretty strange as far as animals go. Supposedly they're alive and slightly poisonous, but a lot of people treat them like rocks anyways. They make jewelry out of coral, making it effectively the most macabre jewelry ingredient after bones and claws. There are, however, soft-bodied corals...and then there are corals like this:

This coral, Euphylla divisa, goes by the charming common name of "frogspawn." It's native to the Indo-Pacific and can be readily found in the aquarium trade. It's also called the Wall, Octopus, or Honey coral. They're pretty much living acid trips in terms of color possibilities. Y'know, as if crazy tentacles weren't enough to suggest drug use.

Just as a little refresher: Corals are usually made of thousands of teeny-tiny polyps. Said polyps live on the calcified remains of their ancestors. A single "head" of coral is also made up of genetically-identical individuals. It's as if that one church in the Czech Republic was made entirely out of the bones of one, cloned individual. That said, Corsola, you scary.

I live on the bodies of my dead brethren! :D

Frogspawn is still a stony coral, but it has exceptionally-large polyps. These polyps are bubbly, green things that resemble frog or fish eggs, hence the name. The main identifying trait, however, is that the polyp is bifurcated. This distinguishes it from a few other species, most notably grape coral (which has only one, unified tentacle as opposed to split).

There is some concern about over-collection from the wild. Frogspawn is a very common coral in the trade, so there's not much need to get a wild-snagged specimen. They take two years to propagate in the wild. Just make sure that 1) you know how to handle a reef tank and 2) you ask where the corals came from. No need to harm reef systems to look at a living work of art anymore.

TIME FOR ZOMBIES! Thank you, Vice!

For your Saturday and Sunday viewing pleasure, here's a look at a topic that I've brought up numerous times on this blog: Zombies. I love Vice, so if something comes up that fits with this blog of natural goodness, expect a friendly cross-post.

The quest that our favorite druggie is on concerns the "zombie" potion mentioned in Wade Davis's The Serpent and the Rainbow. I have brought it up a few times when detailing tetraodontiform fish (such as fuuuuguuuu) and anything in the nightshade family.

As the documentary explains, our very notion of a zombie comes from Haiti. In The Serpent and the Rainbow, a Haitian shaman, or bokor, created an "undead" servant using a potent cocktail of macabre ingredients. Among those ingredients were datura (which contains scopolamine, the drug known for brainwashing people) and pufferfish poison (which has "risen the dead" several times). These two combined would theoretically make a "zombie" - a "risen corpse" that could be ordered to do a shaman's bidding.

I've made mention of everything in the documentary before. There have been entries on fugu and datura - look them up. Here's a little bit of extra FYI: TTX can also be found in triggerfish, and datura is related to nightshade, "devil's breath," and tomatoes. You will never think of tomatoes the same way again. You're welcome.

Spoiler alert: At the end of this documentary, we learn that the "weapon" Hamilton was given was made of inert substances. When it was taken to a lab for analysis, the powder did not contain any sort of poison except maybe some stuff found in cosmetics. Either this is one hell of a placebo (which I would not put past Haiti) or Vice just got duped. My money is on the latter.

While there is something to be said for a placebo effect, I think it's pretty obvious that Hamilton got trolled. No smart sorcerer/poison maker would allow his claim to fame to be taken back to the U.S. for analysis so easily. Could it still be a con job, even in its native Haiti? Sure. The way Crescent was behaving makes me think that he duped our intrepid reporter on purpose, however. The zombie poison is still out there.