Zombie virus that liquifies Caterpillars.

by **wee drop o' bush** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 3:01 am

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... aterpillar
I found this National Geographic article & thought I'd share.

It is somewhat disconcerting that such viruses exist, I've just finished reading 'Patient Zero'.

I am glad this Baculovirus is incapable of infecting & then liquifying warm blooded animals, just invertebrates. Though I do wonder what sort of virus theoretically could result in the same symptoms in primates?

by **Dr Jekell** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:01 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrotizing_fasciitis

by **wee drop o' bush** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:39 am

Dr Jekell wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrotizing_fasciitis

Thanks for the links, I read them & they're fascinating but to the best of my knowledge neither Ebola or NF cause behaviour in the infected person specific to the purpose of spreading the infection?

Sneezing, coughing etc could loosely be categorised as a sort of behaviour I suppose but not like a caterpillar staying at the top of the tree denying it's corporeal needs.
IMHO YMMV

by **Dr Jekell** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:43 am

If I read the article right it is just one particular gene in the Caterpillar virus that causes that behavior.

Imagine if some idiot decided it would be a good idea to pair that gene with the Ebola virus?

by **wee drop o' bush** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:49 am

Dr Jekell wrote:If I read the article right it is just one particular gene in the Caterpillar virus that causes that behavior.

Imagine if some idiot decided it would be a good idea to pair that gene with the Ebola virus?

you're right!
There would be carnage

It is kinda freaky though when you think of that poor caterpillar being dissolved from the inside out as it's insides turn into the infectious pathogen.

by **shrapnel** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:04 am

Splice in a little toxoplasmosis, then. :twisted:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis#Biological_modifications_of_the_host

by **Thrawn** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:01 pm

Where I live in Minnesota every year we spray stuff that is supposed to kill the gypsy moths because they are such a problem. I just picked up the paper today and saw the article and it was titled "Scientist isolate the zombie gene...in caterpillars". At first I was concerned about the zombie gene, then I was concerned that they might think it's a good idea to use such a virus to kill them off. I just don't want the sprayer planes coming over my house with that crap.

by **wee drop o' bush** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:01 am

Thrawn wrote:Where I live in Minnesota every year we spray stuff that is supposed to kill the gypsy moths because they are such a problem. I just picked up the paper today and saw the article and it was titled "Scientist isolate the zombie gene...in caterpillars". At first I was concerned about the zombie gene, then I was concerned that they might think it's a good idea to use such a virus to kill them off. I just don't want the sprayer planes coming over my house with that crap.

Eek! I'm sure you don't!

by **wee drop o' bush** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:03 am

shrapnel wrote:Splice in a little toxoplasmosis, then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis#Biological_modifications_of_the_host

now this shit is getting scary!

by **MOONDOG** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:39 pm

The rabies virus is really deadly so what it were to infect a brain eating amoeba? Three people died so far this year in the U.S. from brain eating amoebas.

by **Electricity** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:48 pm

Salt disolves slugs..

by **wee drop o' bush** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:53 pm

MOONDOG wrote:The rabies virus is really deadly so what it were to infect a brain eating amoeba? Three people died so far this year in the U.S. from brain eating amoebas.

Have you got any links?

by **Str8Shooter** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:26 pm

wee drop o' bush wrote:
MOONDOG wrote:The rabies virus is really deadly so what it were to infect a brain eating amoeba? Three people died so far this year in the U.S. from brain eating amoebas.

Have you got any links?

Here's what I found
http://www.webmd.com/news/20110818/brai ... amoeba-faq
Here in S. FL there's a lot of ponds and lakes that you are not allowed to swim in because of the potential of these amoebas being present.

by **raptor** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:36 pm

MOONDOG wrote:The rabies virus is really deadly so what it were to infect a brain eating amoeba? Three people died so far this year in the U.S. from brain eating amoebas.

Rabies as a biological weapon is really a pretty scary thing as it is. Rabies can infect any mammal. It has been known to be transmitted in an aerosol from (albeit under very unusual circumstances (one in a cave with a lot of bats and the others in a lab setting where the virus was being studied). It has been transmitted to cows and the milk produced by the cow transmitted rabies. Raid horses have also transmitted the virus by biting.

It is already endemic in the US (stay away from raccoons, skunks and bats) although it is still rare in humans in the US (generally only one case per year is reported) it is 99.999% fatal if left untreated or not recognized in timely.

by **wee drop o' bush** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:39 pm

Str8Shooter wrote:
wee drop o' bush wrote:
MOONDOG wrote:The rabies virus is really deadly so what it were to infect a brain eating amoeba? Three people died so far this year in the U.S. from brain eating amoebas.

Have you got any links?

Here's what I found
http://www.webmd.com/news/20110818/brai ... amoeba-faq
Here in S. FL there's a lot of ponds and lakes that you are not allowed to swim in because of the potential of these amoebas being present.

That's interesting thanks

There's a lot of weird stuff out there in nature!

by **wee drop o' bush** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:41 pm

Raptor thankfully N. Ireland is Rabies free. It's a horrible disease!

by **ZackAttacker93** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 8:35 pm

This is a really good thread with tons of good reads! I'm amazed at the Caterpillar thing, i've never even heard of that before now! And i agree, I think worst case scenario would be exactly as others were saying, combining the genes of that virus with ebola, or rabies. And then perfecting it to infect humans. If such a thing existed, i'm almost positive some country somewhere would use this as a biological warfare weapon to infect a population to prove a point, think they could contain it but they couldn't, and then bingo, zombie apocalypse begins. Scary stuff for sure.

by **wee drop o' bush** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:58 am

Zack' you should read Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry. It's fiction about bio terrorism using a Zombie virus/prion hybrid, makes these links all the more thought provoking

by **ZackAttacker93** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:34 pm

Woah that sounds like a really good read! I'm gonna pick it up for sure. Why have i never heard of this book before now?! Ahahaha im really missing out, the only books i read are zombie related! :lol:

by **AUA** » Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:05 pm

Human behavior is complicated shit. That's all I have to say about the prospects of a parasite heavily influencing human behavior.

Also, Contagion.