Quote: (07-02-2014 11:34 PM)rekruler Wrote:
Quote: (07-02-2014 07:53 PM)Mentavious Wrote:
There are 4 stages of Biosafety Level when it comes to research labs/hospitals
Level 1.
Your basic college or hospital is at this stage. Dealing with non-pathologic bacteria and some viruses. For those who took mid level biology classes in college this is basically it. For some who did not this all hospitals are at this level. These infections have a cure and are very hard to contract via respiration.
Level 2.
Include small pox, many of the sexual transmitted diseases, the cold virus, and some others that can still be cured. Again..most are hard to contact via respiration. Test are done in a vacuumed hood.
Level 3
A big step up between Level 2 and 3 exist. Mostly because these diseases can directly lead to human death but a cure does exist for them. SARS, West Nile, Yellow Fever, Rabies are some to be named. These are the labs you see in movies where the scientist work in protective gear.
Level 4.
Another big jump. Remember the movie Outbreak (for those in America) with Dennis Hoffman. Many of these viruses can be contracted via respiration, so therefore a suit with an independent oxygen system is needed. Many of these diseases have no cure and the majority of them are fatal. There are only a handful of these and many work with just one agent. Ebola and many other hemorragic diseases are included in this group.
Here in the US it really has not been talked about. As Vicious has stated the fatality rate can be 50% but can go as high as 90% depending on the strain. You'll find that the newest strains are more deadly then others. It's a virus that causes hemorrhaging from all parts of the bodies. This include the lungs and other important body parts. Most people die due to dehydration caused by the destruction of the gastric and renal systems. There in lies the viruses best attack, the bleeding the virus causes is extreme. 90 percent of hospitals are not trained to handle such a deadly disease (Let alone Africa) so that is why you hear many health officials getting sick and transmitting the disease.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it does kill very quickly, spreading the disease needs direct contact, ingestion of fluids, and the incubation period is very quick.
I just hope they can find a way to contain this virus and hopefully it will extinguish itself.
Dude, the smallpox is definitely NOT handled by Level 2 facilities, in fact it's not handled at all. It's a lethal, highly infectious disease that has been completely eradicated decades ago, meaning there is absolutely no resistance to it among the current world population. This is the shit that wiped out the Native Americans, except that in this day and age the whole world is Native American. The smallpox virus exists in only two locations: a lab in the US and one in Russia. These labs are, if anything, Level 4s on steroids.
The Ebola is some epic shit. It's basically a Hollywood disease, a virus that kills in such an inexorable and brutal way that you'd think it was created by a highly imaginative screenplay writer rather than nature. The whole family of hemorrhagic fevers is pretty damn fascinating. The names are epic too: Ebola, the Marburg Virus, Lassa Fever, etc.
Good catch, replace that with measles.
A man is only as faithful as his options-Chris Rock