the Centrist

As many biblical enthusiasts approached the millennium stories of the “End Times” abounded. The “Left Behind Series” series is still popular and NBC tried a miniseries on ‘Revelations’. The fear many of us have about these impending times is that so many things predicted thousands of years go have come together (Israel in the land, the wall built around Israel, weather patterns, earthquakes, etc.). Perhaps the most feared aspect of the prophetic books of scripture is the 7 years referred to in Daniel as the last “week” and in Revelations as the “tribulation period”. It is the time in which we see the Wrath of God poured out on the earth. Whether you ‘buy’ into that concept or not is not as important as the four existing diseases which could easily make one of those prophecies come true … in the very near future. The Forth Seal in the 6th Chapter of Revelations warns of the ‘ashen horse signifying famine and pestilence’. There are presently four viruses meandering the planet that could make that horse ‘pale’ in comparison.
The first may be the most dangerous because it is air born in birds. That is why the White house has given it so much attention. It is the Avian Virus better known as the Bird Flu. The virus is referred to officially and specifically in scientific circles as “H5N1″. It had been contained to South East Asia, but has broken through to Eastern Europe. It is only a matter when, not if, it comes to the Americas. The disease is relentless as it attacks virtually all parts of the body. Last spring he World Heath Organization (WHO) confirmed at least 55 cases with 42 deaths. The virus is feared because the H-5 bug may borrow DNA from the H-3 bug (current human flu virus) and attack humans on a heretofore unheard of scale. H5 has done this in the recent past. In Hong Kong 18 people got infected and six died in 1998 when H5 and H3 ‘got together’. It was only because it was immediately isolated and contained that the disease was controlled. Furthermore, the presence of the virus in feces suggests it could be spread from person to person, in its present stage – especially in crowded and unsanitary conditions. But most of the recorded cases have been due to direct contact with infected birds (mainly chickens). There have been several recent occurrence of H5 in the United States but so far none were the dangerous H5N1. In each instance the infected flocks of chickens or turkeys were culled.
1. Flu pandemics are not new to humanity. There were three in the last century. They were: the Spanish Flu (H-1) in 1918-19 which was the worst killing 50 million world wide; the Asian flu (H2) killed as many as 3 million world wide in1957-58; and the Hong Kong Flu (H3) was responsible for 34,000 American deaths alone in 1968-69. The H3 virus is still active and the cause of last years flu, it is also the strand contained in the flu vaccine.
Another concern is the H2. The H2 strand has not been seen ‘publically’ since the early seventies, neither has it been included in the vaccines. Yet the H2 virus was recently included in an validation identification test sent to nearly 5,000 laboratories around the world by Meridian Bioscience Inc. of Cincinnati. The obvious concern for the immediate future is the threat of possible terrorist activity i.e. suicide missions to spread this diseases to Western Nations. Since the H2 virus was sent in those test kits to both Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
The third virus is all to familiar, the HIV AIDS virus. The fear is that it has mutated and become much more efficient. There are cases now on record from last fall in which the infected person moved from HIV infection to full blown AIDS within months. Making matters worse was that all but one drug in the HIV armamentaria were ineffective. This virus is already pandemic in much of Africa, weakening immune systems and making the next virus an even greater concern.
The Ebola Virus and Marburg Virus have been found only in Africa and make up the forth group. They are the deadliest on the planet. Both are closely related and cause similar disease … hemorrhagic fever. Along with an extremely high fever, the patient succumbs to profuse and dramatic bleeding from all orifices. We see this aspect featured in sci-fi films and unfortunately the movies are based on fact. Both viruses are spread via contact with bodily fluids … any bodily fluid. At least 200 cases of Marburg Disease were reported last winter from Angola. Of the 200 cases, 184 have died. According to Joseph Farah (WorldNet daily) “reports suggest the numbers are much higher in remote areas. Diplomats were not allowed to travel into suspect Ebola areas.” The high incidence of AIDS along with this previous outbreak make for a bleak winter in Angola.
These four viruses … let alone diseases such as Mad Cow Disease and encephalitis … have given credibility and a sober new look at old prophecies in the scripture.