Wait, you're telling me that an authoritarian technocracy opted out of rehabbing the public image of a disease whose name is synonymous with "epidemic?" Say it ain't so, Joe! Full disclosure: I'd rather avoid plague. It's no fun. But as pandemics go it's pretty vulnerable to public health measures. Unlike, say, African Swine Fever. Or Ebola. I dunno. I think everyone grew up fearing plague because all they know is it killed Europe. Since nobody grew up fearing plague because it killed Sandy, nobody has really wrapped their head around it. And I'm willing to blame the Chinese government for a lot of things, but opting not to say "plague ain't that bad, y'all"? No blame.Li’s WeChat social media posting describing the couple was quickly deleted. Meanwhile, the government officially informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the cases, as it was required to do, but only on Nov. 13—after they were already reported by journalists around the world.
Well, I thought the cases of plague were much worse. That's a common idea in my country. We haven't had a case of plague for more than a century or two. That's why we don't know much about the bacteria. And that lack of knowledge causes fear each time we hear about it.
Fer sure. You didn't grow up with a healthy fear of squirrels: Call it "dirty bomb syndrome" - we're most afraid of what we don't understand. The first time someone releases radioisotopes over a major metropolis people will freak the fuck out. The second time? People will realize that they get more background radiation from a flight to Vegas than they do from sharing a room with a gram of uranium.In New Mexico, of approximately 105 species of fleas, 33 have been found plagueinfected. This does not mean they are all equally capable of transmitting the disease. The rock squirrel flea,Oropsylla montana, is the most important plague vector in New Mexico in terms of transmission to humans. The common dog and cat fleas do not transmit plague; however, dogs and cats can transport rodent fleas into the home environment.