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submitted 4 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world
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[-] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 13 points 4 months ago

Serious question, because I’m not an immunologist: didn’t we eradicate polio? How do we keep finding it in weird places every once in a while? Is it actually just that good at surviving in adverse, ex vivo conditions?

[-] piecat@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago

There's plenty of infectious agents that can just lay dormant almost indefinitely.

There's major concern about viruses coming from the melting permafrost in regions like Siberia.

If you want to hear something even more terrifying, prions can last about indefinitely. Chronic wasting disease in deer is particularly bad because a deer might die and its remains will decompose into the earth. But vegetation will later grow, and some of those prions will have contaminated the new vegetation. A new deer will get infected by eating that vegetation, even years later.

[-] FarFarAway@startrek.website 14 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Technically, it's never been proven that deer can contract CWD from the ingestion of plants. Although, apparently mice and hamsters can.

But, prions suck. Even bleach won't kill these bastards.

Hell, although there's no real, strong evidence to suggest it actually has made the jump, and research has shown it would be really difficult, its probably not impossible. If you ENTERTAIN the stories about the people suspected of possibly contracting CWD, it's even more scary. (Yes, I know the study does more to disprove human infection, than not, but it does a good job of outline suspected cases)

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this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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