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A Google search for “Frio Cave” makes the Uvalde County, Texas destination look like a tourists’ dream. One quickly learns that the cave is home to tens of millions of Mexican free-tailed bats, and that you can sometimes witness the flapping horde streaming out of their dark, dank home just before sunset, clouding the sky in a “once in a lifetime experience.”
But Frio Cave has a darker history that visitors websites don’t mention. More than fifty years ago, two humans contracted rabies while spelunking there.
That humans would get infected with rabies while visiting a bat-infested cave isn’t altogether surprising. Bats are a reservoir for the terrifying disease – 99% fatal to humans once symptoms – like hyperactivity, hallucinations, seizures, and fear of water – develop. A simple bite from one of the millions of bats could have transmitted a lyssavirus that triggers rabies. However, in this instance, the spelunkers apparently weren’t bitten. Rather, it seems they caught the virus from the air itself.
A team of scientists subsequently investigated. They found that rabies virus could be transmitted to animals housed in empty cages within the cave, apparently just via the atmosphere itself. Moreover, the virus was isolated from samples collected via air condensation techniques.
The episode raised a disturbing prospect. Had rabies, the deadliest virus for humankind, gone airborne?
To be clear, it had not, at least not in a manner that would result in ultra-contagious, human-to-human spread. The sheer number of rabies-carrying bats in the cave likely transformed it into a “hot-box” of infection. Rabies remains transmitted almost entirely through bites and scratches from infected animals, and it is rapidly inactivated by sunlight and heat. However, for safety, members of the general public are now only allowed to enter Frio Cave on guided tours that remain near the mouth of the cave.
That doesn’t mean that rabies virus couldn’t mutate to become transmitted through the air. It’s an RNA virus, and these are known to have high mutation rates. Indeed, scientists have found “a vast array of antigenic variants of this pathogen in a wide range of animal hosts and geographic locations.”
Moreover, as two Italian scientists wrote in a 2021 article, “Even single amino acid mutations in the proteins of Rabies virus can considerably alter its biological characteristics, for example increasing its pathogenicity and viral spread in humans, thus making the mutated virus a tangible menace for the entire mankind.”
Another possible route for this to occur would be through a “gain-of-function” experiment, in which researchers employ gene-editing to tweak the rabies virus, making it evade current vaccines and endowing it with the ability to spread through the air like measles or influenza. Gain-of-function research has earned increased public scrutiny of late as there’s a small, outside chance it may have produced SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine, commented on the potential to augment rabies through gain-of-function in a recent Substack post.
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“In the absence of an effective vaccine, it could eliminate humans from the face of the earth. The good news is that no one has tried to make rabies virus more contagious. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not possible or that no one would be willing to try.”
Five Reasons to Believe Trump’s Would-Be Assassins Are Deep State Assets
by JD Rucker
Tinfoil hat time. By no means am I going to convince anyone with this short article that Ryan Wesley Routh (or Thomas Michael Crooks, for that matter) is an asset for the Deep State. That is not the intention because to “prove” it would be as impossible as “proving” anything…
Hurricane Forecasts Poised to Be Spectacularly Overstated, Raising Doubt About Climate Science
by Just The News
Penn State celebrity climate scientist Michael Mann announced in April that his research group’s 2024 North Atlantic season forecast was expecting an “unprecedented” 33 named storms, with a range between 27 and 39. That prediction has turned out to be a dud. With Hurricane Francine hitting the coasts Thursday, the…
Another Attack on President Trump Prompted Prepper Surge
by Sponsored Post
The 2nd attempted assassination of Donald Trump has prompted renewed concerns over the nation’s future. Website traffic on Sunday was higher than it’s been in our history. One does not have to be a Republican to realize that chaos may be in store for us soon. At Prepper All-Naturals, we’re…
DJT’s Attempted Assassin Made 19 Donations to Democrats
by Independent Sentinel
The attempted assassin of Donald J. Trump is Ryan Wesley Routh, who has made 19 donations to Democrats. The donations were to Elizabeth Warren, fake Hispanic Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer, and Tulsi Gabbard. Allegedly, Routh also claimed to have fought in Ukraine in 2022 and supported the war….
Dem Rep. Crockett: MAGA Is a Domestic Threat, Trump Is Stoking Them
by Breitbart
Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside” that MAGA is a domestic threat that former President Donald Trump is stoking them. Crockett said, “Springfield is going through hell, but they are going through hell because the guy who says he wants to be the commander-in-chief is actually bringing…
Sunlight and Clouds, Not CO2, Drive Earth’s Climate, New Study Finds
by The Epoch Times
This year’s summer months were characterized by cold outdoor pools that eagerly welcomed guests, concrete that scorched the soles of bare feet, and popsicles that melted in the relentless, blazing heat. In August, the European Commission’s Copernicus report found that the global average temperature had reached record highs in the…
The Man That Just Tried to Assassinate Donald Trump Has Very Alarming Links to Ukraine
by Michael Snyder
(End of the American Dream)—We are starting to learn more about Ryan Routh’s background, and what we have learned may help to explain why he attempted to shoot Donald Trump. It turns out that Routh is a rabid pro-Ukraine activist. In 2022, he actually traveled to Ukraine to fight in the…
Bill Gates Forecasts Another Global Pandemic ‘Likely’ Within Next 25 Years in Ominous Health Warning
by End Times Headlines
War or another global pandemic, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates is cautioning that, if the world manages to avoid the former, the latter is a very real possibility within the next 25 years. “A lot of unrest” in today’s age could spark a major war, he told CNBC’s “Make It.” “If…
US Foreign Policy Should Defy China, Recognize Taiwan as a Country
by The Gateway Pundit
The U.S., as the world’s most powerful country, should have an independent foreign policy. Currently, the U.S. abides by the One-China policy to appease Beijing. The U.S. should no longer allow Beijing to dictate its foreign policy and should recognize the independence of Taiwan, a high-functioning, multi-party democracy whose citizens…
Florida Will Conduct Investigation Into Trump Assassination Attempt: DeSantis
by Jack Phillips
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday announced the state will launch its own investigation into the apparent assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump earlier in the day. The FBI has said in a statement it is investigating the matter as an assassination attempt, while law enforcement officials said on…
‘Stop This Reckless Escalation’: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tells Biden Not to Authorize Long-Range Missile Attacks on Russian Territory
by The Gateway Pundit
The world is handing on the edge of a major escalation with unpredictable consequences, as Ukraine relentlessly pushes for the US to make decisions that can have unpredictable consequences. All around the world, peace-loving people who can see the danger ahead are cautioning the western NATO powers – notably the…