Prepography
The Art & Study of Self-Reliance
Top 10 Preparedness Uses of WD-40 (2,106)
Snake Eater – How to Field Dress a Snake (661)
Prepping with Garage Sales (650)
OCOKA – A Key Survival Acronym (640)
Fan of the Ammo Can – Top 10 Uses (587)
Top 10 Preparedness Uses of Mineral Oil (574)
Top 10 Initial Steps to Preparation (501)
Don’t Be ‘That Prepper Guy’ (392)
Prepper SALUTE Report – An Observation and Reporting Tool (361)
Physical Security and the Forms of Protection (306)
Beware the Butt Bomb (275)
Situational Awareness – An Introduction (266)
Smallpox – A Biological Agent
Biological agents are pathogens and toxins derived from nature that target living organisms (humans, animals or vegetation) to kill or incapacitate. Some biological perils are also suitable for weaponization and use in biological warfare, biological terrorism or economic attacks in the case of pathogens targeting agricultural industries. Today’s hyper-connected world is particularly vulnerable to the spread of natural or man-made (or assisted) biological risks. Knowing a pathogen or toxin’s capabilities, symptoms and possible treatments can give you the edge in preventing or knowing when there’s been exposure and should help you seek early treatment from a trained medical professional. Today we look a little more in depth at smallpox.
What is Smallpox: Continue reading
It’s Time for That Once a Year Health Prep
It’s time for that once a year health prep again…I mean the seasonal flu shot. The Army Reserve orders me to ‘take my medicine’ (yes, it’s a lawful order) every year…but I’d get one anyway. In fact, I believe that the flu shot is so important that I pay for all my employees to get their flu shots as well. Many health insurance programs pay for the entire vaccine…but even if you have to pay for it yourself…it’s a cheap prep at about $25. You don’t even have to go to the doctor’s office to get it anymore…you can find a vaccination site near you by searching at www.flu.gov.
The shot (or nasal spray) includes the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) three best guesses of the strains that your body will need help fighting off this year. Here are some additional flu facts from the CDC: Continue reading
Beware the Fair!
With county fair season in full swing there’s evidence of a outbreak of an H1N1 related swine flu that’s transmissible to humans. While this particular flu is currently a relatively mild strain this is a reminder that the flu is a threat year round.
US health officials on Friday warned the public to be careful around pigs after an outbreak of flu among visitors to county fairs.
The virus does not appear to have evolved to the point where it spreads easily among humans, but it does contain a gene from the pandemic H1N1 flu that sickened millions worldwide in 2009 and 2010.
“We are concerned that… may confer the potential for the virus to infect or spread among humans to a greater extent,” said Joseph Bresee, an influenza epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
…Bresee urged people to go to the doctor if they feel flu symptoms after coming into contact with pigs so that public health officials can better track the outbreak.”What we’re really going to be looking for is evidence that the virus has made that change to spread efficiently among humans,” he explained. “So far we haven’t seen that.”
via US officials warn of swine flu outbreak at fairs – Yahoo! News Canada.
…and remember that the any flu is only few mutations away from becoming a pandemic monster like the world experienced in 1918-1919, (~675,000 deaths in the U.S. and up to 50 million deaths worldwide), 1957-1958 (69,800 deaths just in the U.S.), 1968-1969 (~33,800 deaths), 2009-2010 (~8,870 and 18,300 deaths)…just to name a few. Estimates per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
To read more about cross species flu transmission and mutation read this recent article Flu That Leapt From Birds to Seals is Studied for Human Threat from the New York Times
Ebola Breaks Out Again in Uganda
8/2/12 Update: Total of 30 Ebola cases in Uganda now including five from Kibaale prison.
The Ebola virus was first detected in 1976 in the central African nation of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The virus is named after a river in that country. There are five strains of Ebola viruses, all named after the areas where they were found: Zaire, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Bundibugyo and Reston, according to the WHO.
via Ebola outbreak suspected among Uganda prisoners – CNN.com.
I’d forgotten that there was an Ebola strain named after Reston (yes that Reston… in Virginia). Ebola has broken out in the U.S. three times according to the Centers for Disease Control in 1989, 1990 and 1996. Each outbreak took place at a monkey quarantine facility and luckily there no fatalities. As scary as Ebola is… the real fear is that it could mutate into a more contagious pathogen.
