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Article #185Re: CDC Issues Pfiesteria-related Notice (TheChesapeakeBay.com)
From: Mike
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 00:00
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 00:00
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Wait a second...how is this any different than usual? ;) klaatu wrote: > > "Brian Raines (TheChesapeakeBay.com)" wrote: > > > > Possible Estuary-Associated Syndrome (PEAS) > > Centers for Disease Control Pfiesteria-related Notice Issued > > > > A federal health agency has told the nation's doctors to watch for > > problems that could be associated with Pfiesteria, the microorganism > > blamed for sickening Chesapeake Bay watermen two years ago. The alert > > from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was not prompted by > > a specific public health concern - it comes as warmer, drier weather > > arrives to make conditions ripe for Pfiesteria piscicida. > > Hrm - and it does indeed look as if we're in for a repeat of last year's > weather pattern, La Ni~a notwithstanding. And in fact, we may get even more > dry weather than we got last year. > > Okay, just to be a science-fiction-y sort of guy, I will indulge in some > wacky prophecy. (a rehash and update of a story written in 1992) > > Well, basically, I predict that for no particular reason, _pfisteria_ will > not only infest eastern-shore estuaries of the Chesapeake, but will also > infest, and intensely-so, the tidal Potomac and Patuxent rivers, from which > the Greater Washington Metropolitan Region draws its water supply. > Marylanders will of course remain mostly unaffected, due to the effective > and competent efforts of the WSSC, but the District's poorly-maintained > water supply will become infested with a chlorine-resistant strain of > _pfisteria_, which will of course cause everyone in the District to develop > colonic colonies of the Cell from Hell, which has at least 17 major > life-cycle forms, most of which do not produce neurotoxins. > > At this point my prophetic vision becomes rather vague, but seems to center > around a strong suspicion that as people overheat at July 4th, due to > insufficient consumption of beer on the Mall (due to annoying Park Service > regulations), the internal _pfisteria_ colonies will undergo a sea-change > into neurotoxin-emitting forms, causing everyone in the city of Washington > to forget where they live, or for that matter that they should go home. With > their short-term memories suppressed to the point where they live entirely > for the moment, mobs of forgetful people will wander the streets of their > capital, convincing the entire world that we've gone not only barking-mad, > but certifiably and televisably so. > > Georgetown will become swarmed with people who are obsessed with wearing the > latest fashions, which they will be totally unable to remember and must thus > mob to the trendy stores to gawk at mannequins. On "K" Street NW, lawyers > will forlornly flock the streets, begging people to give _them_ their > business cards so that they will know who they are. And in upper NW, bereft > of their memories, citizens will start a campaign drive to re-elect Marion > Barry... > > > > > Find out more at the URL: > > http://TheChesapeakeBay.com/cdc_pfiesteria_peas_notice.shtml > > > > Brian Raines > > -- > "We look through a glass but darkly: > What we see is more colored by our beliefs, > than what we believe is colored by what we see." > "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be > purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" - P. Henry -- ---------- Reply to coram@interzone.com... ---------- --
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X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 10a9ce,1f49e9799f3af18 X-Google-Attributes: gid10a9ce,public X-Google-Thread: fb785,1f49e9799f3af18 X-Google-Attributes: gidfb785,public X-Google-Thread: 101049,1f49e9799f3af18 X-Google-Attributes: gid101049,public From: Mike <windmill@spinning.in.the.breeze> Subject: Re: CDC Issues Pfiesteria-related Notice (TheChesapeakeBay.com) Date: 1999/05/21 Message-ID: <3745F0C3.282A5CD0@spinning.in.the.breeze> X-Deja-AN: 480717993 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <7i14c5$u5q$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <374533A4.C63AE249@clark.net> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: 21 May 1999 07:57:45 -0500, 208.206.113.151 MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: va.general,balt.general,dc.general