Feathers Up & American in Paris

#1 Fauna and Humans

An MIT study found that two viruses--H5N1 and H7N9, resident in birds and pigs--are one amino acid away from causing a pandemic flu in humans, when spread thru touch or airborne contact.

Turns out, these flu viruses stem from the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed roughly 50 million people, and are considered descendant strains.

So, can viruses spread from humans back to animals? Think about that the next time you smother your cat.


#2 American in Paris
One year ago, tennis media reported there were few American women on the professional horizon after Serena and Venus Williams. This year, we saw four (4) American women in Round 4 at the French Open (Roland Garros, June 2013).

We also saw Serena Williams (now 31) come back and win the championship 11 years after
winning it for the first time (2002).

Interestingly, the commentator noted how appropriate it felt to hear the American national anthem played at the award ceremony. Probably thinking of that June 1945 award ceremony with General DeGaulle awarding General Eisenhower the Croix de la Liberation at the Arc de Triumph, at the end of the war.
 

Exercises in reality

4/12/13 (to edit)
I am writing this the afternoon after participating in an anthrax exercise at Bradley High School (Cleveland, Tennessee), in which ~1400 students bravely participated along with roughly 200 employees and volunteers from various TN-state agencies, but mostly medical allied fields (RNs, nurse practitioners, nurse assistants, a couple of physicians, a couple of lay people like myself). I am saying the students are brave because of what imploded in me after the experience.

Of course, the atmosphere of role play lightened the atmosphere for me upon arrival at the 7:30 a.m. morning sign-in. But as the experience intensified--the preparation of teams, the set-up of the cafeteria, dispensing the supplies to  exercise participants, the arrival of the students--so did the feeling of "this is for when it's real." Soon after, they dialed up the speed at which things were happening (closer to how it could be real time), that made the next one hour and twenty minutes go by with adrenaline.

It wasn't until well afterward, that I noticed and understood why they call the post-exercise a "hotwash." We were decompressing back in the auditorium, everyone seemed pleasant enough, hearing the team lead observations and praise. But it wasn't until my own drive home that my emotions began to "wash out." I realized, I too, needed to release heat. The memory of those young faces, some who were genuinely panicked at the point (probably because they are closer to that age that hasn't yet developed a psyche to handle "situations"), especially when we had to stick our hand up in the air and say "please wait a minute," while we called in a medical expert to sort out what medications we could give someone who is allergic to the medications (provide names later), was vivid.

Suddenly, the young 14-year-old girl who was representing 42-year-old Adam with a family of 4 and wants to be sure he's getting the right medications for all of them, but can't remember who's allergic and who isn't, became that person. And I began to panic for them, in my car, as it occurred to me what they were dealing with on the other side of the table. I tried to remember if  I looked assuredly back at them, or remained that heady individual on the other side of the table, trying to figure out what to stock the bag with and write on the paper.

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UNTITLED

No even chain
but an association,

A growth,
creates culture.

 

The people bound
within bear the

Deepest inward destiny,
suffused mythology,

Religion and
artistic thought.

 

Essence and kernel
of all history,

The look and space of time.

--JE Carroll Thomsen