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1

fish_whisperer t1_ir01ofh wrote

Everyone take a deep breath. Articles like this are meant to notify the scientific community that surveillance and research needs to be directed towards these viruses, which will hopefully lead to effective future treatments. It isn’t meant to scare the general public.

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Jaded_Prompt_15 t1_ir03m8u wrote

There's always a bunch of viruses that may spillover...

That's why we study them before they do.

The problem is idiots claimed because we were trying to study one before it crossed over, that it somehow caused it to cross over.

It's the modern equivalent of burning a woman for being a witch be ause she was able to tell a drought was coming.

People tend to ignore warnings and then blame the person who warned them

134

fish_whisperer t1_ir0g3m2 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#28,051)

Honestly? Close to zero. That’s not at all how academic research works. People don’t go to school for decades to become experts in a field and capable of doing this kind of research just to follow social media trends.

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Leemour t1_ir0u36i wrote

Replying to fish_whisperer (#27,342)

I remember watching an interview with a virologist and he said that they often go to wild forests, jungles and other uninhabited areas where they are most likely to find new viral mutations. They collect, catalog and study these viruses, so if they spill over to human populations the search for a vaccine/cure would be fast.

IIRC Corona viruses were cataloged decades ago, before COVID, they just had to change some things for higher efficacy and the mRNA technology just made vaccines cheaper to manufacture and we were able to dispense a lot very quickly.

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ALLoftheFancyPants t1_ir15emv wrote

Replying to fish_whisperer (#27,342)

There’s so many zoonotic diseases that could spillover all the time and in increasing likelihood with habitat loss driving increased interaction between animals and humans. That’s like the OG source for the majority of infectious diseases, throughout history. Its definitely scary and should be taken seriously in making policy choices (ie preserve habitats, monitor populations most at risk, etc) but panic helps no one.

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estoka t1_ir16uzk wrote

Replying to fish_whisperer (#28,070)

So the mantra that we've been hearing for the last decade of publish or perish, no longer seems to be applicable? Research is not dictated by popular interests and a need to funding? Interesting.

−8

AppealDouble t1_ir1hzh2 wrote

Replying to estoka (#29,395)

I think you’ll find that articles like these are simply more likely to make headlines now that the world has experienced 2 international human epidemics in 2 years and the fact that this has been a terrible year for avian flu.

15

MukdenMan t1_ir1i4f7 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#28,051)

Researchers don’t do that. People who write articles pick up on actual research and then spin it for an article (although obviously there are good articles written for the general public too).

8

estoka t1_ir1iskc wrote

Replying to MukdenMan (#29,871)

Really? I didn't think it was a stretch after everything this woman has found:

https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/how-a-sharp-eyed-scientist-became-biologys-image-detective

Or this individual :

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-31/on-the-trail-of-dodgy-academic-research/100788052

Or most of psychology:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/08/27/642218377/in-psychology-and-other-social-sciences-many-studies-fail-the-reproducibility-te

Edit: This is one of my current favorites:

https://www.science.org/content/article/potential-fabrication-research-images-threatens-key-theory-alzheimers-disease

−6

MukdenMan t1_ir1jmv0 wrote

Replying to estoka (#29,903)

You didn’t ask if there is misconduct in research (obviously there is). You asked if people are pumping out papers “like this” (implying the paper in the link above is clickbait) because it is good for publicity. The publicity comes from people who write articles for popular media.

In this case, this is just being publicized by a university because it is good for their reputation. CU is not engaged in “clickbait.”

“The authors stress that another pandemic is not imminent, and the public need not be alarmed.” At best you could say that the headline could cause people to draw the wrong conclusions, but the article and the paper it is discussing aren’t an issue.

11

HambdenRose t1_ir1k9av wrote

Replying to estoka (#29,395)

They are publishing but not in the most publicly prominent places. They are publishing in journals that other scientists with similar interests will be reviewing and reading. Most journal articles don't catch the attention of the public.

9

rush-jet t1_ir1lyg1 wrote

When is the world going to grow tf up and realize that humans should be treated the same way other animals are treated when being transported internationally.

Mandated quarantine time. Health inspections / thorough testing, the works.

A world where a virus can go unchecked from africa to nyc in a day is fucked.

11

estoka t1_ir1v7as wrote

Replying to MukdenMan (#29,936)

What I'm saying, by referencing academic misconduct, is that people are willing to go to extreme lengths in order to remain relevant and employed. Why is it such a stretch of the imagination that research budgets would be motivated by public interest? Especially if said research is based on government funding. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

−1

hesperidium-rex t1_ir1yhfx wrote

Replying to estoka (#29,395)

"Publish" means in scientific journals, not on websites. And the mechanisms for funding are incredibly complicated. Research needs to be funded, but what kinds of research is prioritized often depends on the priorities of whoever is funding it - which is rarely the general public. On top of that, many funds are earmarked specifically for certain kinds of research, any many projects are long-lasting endeavours whose funding carries over years or decades.

So putting out an article that makes the public panic is far from sufficient to get a research grant. To do that, you have to convince the funding agency that you have a project that addresses a specific need of theirs, and you're capable of pulling it off.

7

BabyNapsDaddyGames t1_ir202g6 wrote

Replying to rush-jet (#30,047)

You know that wouldn't go over well with the general populace Look at how so many lost their minds during COVID and sheer amount of toxic mis/disinformation that led to so many needless deaths.

12

slayer991 t1_ir21xfp wrote

On the bright side, I think the tech has advanced and will continue to advance to have answers for the next big virus.

On the other hand, I wonder if people will get vaccinated if the disease causes you to leak blood from all your orifices?

17

Wildfire9 t1_ir24tci wrote

It's the transmission type that we need to look closely at. Ebola is scary, but its not easily spread.

3

Brut-i-cus t1_ir2hqa2 wrote

Replying to slayer991 (#30,798)

Well blood is red which is the old axis condenser idiot favorite so no vaccine then

Any chance getting it will cause you to turn blue? because that would definitely make them want the vaccine

10

ALLoftheFancyPants t1_ir2omht wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#31,109)

I’m not sure how or why you jumped from “increased interaction” to bestiality. Look at Lyme disease, it’s increasing in frequency due to increased habitat (aka deforestation) for ticks in addition more people living in or right near that same habitat. There’s no sex, just existing in the same space, for the overwhelming majority of zoonotic diseases.

8

Goatmanish t1_ir2u44z wrote

Replying to Angry_Millenial26 (#31,890)

You're skipping a step there. It likely came from someone gathering bushmeat (apes in this case) who was bitten or cut while hunting or butchering the infected ape. It's not from eating them.

3

Goatmanish t1_ir2uhze wrote

Replying to Leemour (#28,805)

Human infecting coronaviruses have been known since the 60s, the thing is they mostly cause the common cold (along with literally hundreds of other viruses) so they weren't a cause for concern until SARS.

13

12kdaysinthefire t1_ir2z2ki wrote

Poised how? I hate when articles are worded to sound dreadfully exciting while offering a vague warning about a less than likely scenario.

1

rush-jet t1_ir465dz wrote

Replying to Vivid_Peak16 (#34,309)

It would work the same way it currently does for animals. Quarantines, vaccines, health checks, everything. For example, Google "taking dog overseas". Plenty of countries already employ these protocols for dogs, these same protocols could be used as a basis for a human.

3

Vivid_Peak16 t1_ir46wtj wrote

Replying to rush-jet (#34,341)

There could be an issue with scaling that. For example, 1.5 tons of food are sent via international shipping lanes per person, per year. Quarantine on every cargo ship would be problematic to say the least.

0

Sword_Thain t1_ir4h0tb wrote

Wait till you learn about deer prion disease and its possiblity of spillover to humans because, in Florida, there are colonies of monkeys in the wild.

No real treatment other than digging up soil and cooking it at 1000 degrees for servers hours.

1

Strazdas1 t1_ir4hvo7 wrote

Replying to Leemour (#28,805)

Coranaviruses is not a new grouup of viruses, there were many other cornaviruses and some even had breakouts (though nothing on that scale). Most of them have evolved to low-to-none symptoms which is why we expected this virus to do the same.

2

Strazdas1 t1_ir4hxyy wrote

Replying to Goatmanish (#32,044)

And SARS burned out so fast noone actually developed countermeasures. Even Canada that was more effected and had some medical stocpiles done by law have stopped that after 5 years and therefore wasnt prepared for SARS2.

3

Strazdas1 t1_ir4i8wj wrote

Replying to BabyNapsDaddyGames (#30,702)

Frankly i am more appaled by the terrible job of WHO and CDC that did everything they could not to stop the spread of the disease until it was too late. WHO even refused to declare pandemic when it clearly fit its definition and only begrudgingly did this after countries started declaring it locally.

COVID should have not left eastern asia. Yet when Japanese somehow decided to release known infected people to go whereever they want (diamond princess ship case) CDC decided that no isolation is needed after they were flown back to US.

3

Strazdas1 t1_ir4ih44 wrote

Replying to Sword_Thain (#34,747)

and then cooking the instruments you used to dig the ground up with. and then cooking the human that handled the instruments. because the prions simply wont come off.

2

palox3 t1_ir4o9f0 wrote

if nukes or AI will not extinct us, globalisation certainly will.

1

fish_whisperer t1_ir4rmni wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#34,352)

The researchers published their paper in an academic journal, which is generally only read by other researchers, and is likely so complicated that the average citizen wouldn’t understand it even if they did read it. The linked article is a press release written up by the university—maybe their PR, Communications, or Research department. It’s designed to generate interest in the university.

2