🚀 go-pugleaf

On 2011-07-27 19:16:45 +0000, DonH said:

> "DonH" <donlhumphries@bigpond.com> wrote in message 
> news:fz5Rp.8088$aH5.3825@viwinnwfe02.internal.bigpond.com...
>> Why are most fruit bats immune to this virus (and most chimps immune to AIDS)?
>> Presumably their bodies have built up general immunity over time - much 
>> as those Aborigines who did not die from measles when colonialists 
>> first landed.
>> An American snake-handler died of old age recently (at 100), after 
>> years of being bitten by his beloved snakes - he even deliberately 
>> injected himself, to build up immunity.
>> A hendra anti-virus serum is being produced by researchers, but is a 
>> few years away from being guaranteed safe to use.
>> Meantime, keep horses away from bats, if possible.
>> 
> 
> # Well, it now seems a family dog (kelpie?) has contracted the virus, 
> with no obvious bad effect, as presence of the virus was only detected 
> after deliberate testing.
>     What is the "instinctive" reaction of the Authorities?  The dog 
> must be "put down".
>     Maybe.  But if the dog shrugs off the disease isn't that a good 
> thing? The more immunity spreads, the better?

Dog may not even be susceptible to the virus … but the bad news is that 
humans and horses are.

Think Tyhoid Mary if you need a further illustration ...

Me? I'd keep the pooch in isolation, test it periodically to see what 
happens to the virus, and if the virus doesn't go away and the dog is 
still unaffected … waste every hound in Queensland.           :)