At least 5 dead in Burundi from a mystery illness: Africa CDC

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Look I’m stupid as hell and it just occurred to me I don’t know how they test for viruses and bacteria. Are they taking samples and just looking at it under a microscope and being like “oh it’s that” or “oh it’s weird”?

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zefy_zef@reddit

Iknow they can sample wastewater to detect pathogen levels. I think it's one of the ways they determine covid spread.

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ramvorg@reddit

Depends on what they are testing for. Different methods for virus vs bacteria vs fungus.

There are various methods like PCR, ELISA, or old fashioned “wipe it on a plate and see what grows”.

PCR - target DNA is amplified (duplicated over and over and over) and each duplicate has a signal molecule attached so it’s easier to “see”. They use a fancy camera that detects specific wavelengths of light emitted by the amplified target DNA sequence.

ELISA - signal molecules added to a sample. They only attach and “activate” to what you are looking for. Think pregnancy test, at home covid strips or drug tests.

My explanation is super simplified. But here are some articles diving into it more

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymerase_chain_reaction

https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/protein-biology/protein-biology-learning-center/protein-biology-resource-library/pierce-protein-methods/overview-elisa.html

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OccultEcologist@reddit

I work in microbial pathology at a hospital, this is a very good response!

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poorat8686@reddit

Thanks for the reply that’s really cool

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dawn_thesis@reddit

this is such a great intro explanation of RT-PCR, nicely done

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KeyCold7216@reddit

You can do that with bacteria. Viruses are far too small to see with an optical microscope.

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03263@reddit

huh that's crazy I knew atoms and some molecules can be too small because wavelength of visible light is just not short enough but I didn't realize virus is on that scale

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somethingwholesomer@reddit

You sound decently smart to me buddy

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YogurtclosetIcy5286@reddit

Turd flu

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Suspicious-Agent8932@reddit

Since we don’t have an active CDC and aren’t part of WHO anymore, EVERYTHING is concerning at this point more than ever. The Planet of the Apes last scenes with the pilot who got on the plane whose nose started bleeding when he got to the terminal, and that visual of his plane reaching its first destination with those red lines spreading as people took connections and he continued flying to his next airport are something I’ll never forget. In 48-72 hours under the correct conditions, an illness could circumnavigate the globe. With no one monitoring here now as the best and brightest minds have been fired, forcibly retired, demoted or are being ignored, we are on our own. I watch foreign news MUCH more now. The news here is unreliable, and deliberately in many cases not reporting the truth of what is going on. So yes, we should all be concerned. Could you imagine that hitting a major African city, then someone flying to Europe or Asia or India, using that first plane peg as a recirculating air incubator? THAT is our reality. Watch foreign news outlets, they are our best news source, and make sure you go through multiple validations of any news you hear.

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ShiKneeBoi@reddit (OP)

What news source do you prefer these days?

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Suspicious-Agent8932@reddit

NHK World.

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ComingInSideways@reddit

I like France 24, but it is mostly EU centric. It does cover Africa well. BBC is larger, but not as good in my opinion.

Honestly getting news from outside your country is really good to get a clear picture of many things. It‘s not like there is no bias, but getting things from a few different angles helps you see it clearer.

I‘ll look at NHK World, thanks.

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randylush@reddit

Terrorists kill 3-4,000 Americans:

Republicans: let’s launch a multi-trillion dollar forever war on the entire Middle East

Pandemic kills hundreds of thousands of Americans, potentially causing long term disability to thousands more:

Republicans: it’s a hoax, China did it, but it doesn’t exist. Fauci did it. Vaccines cause autism. Shut down the CDC. Leave the WHO.

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HeroZero1980@reddit

Not a big deal, one of the poorest areas on earth is unable to instantly identify an illness. Don't let "unknown" in the headline scare you. Illnesses are endemic, and likely related to the wealth of the average Burundi citizen.
No this is not a "we are better than them" post. Burundi is one of the poorest nations on earth, poverty has a litany of dire problems and potential outbreaks of illnesses is one of them. As for potential for quick spreading. It's also one of the least visited countries as well so it's not going to be an instant vector for transmission.

As for the sensationalist headline. Ignore it.

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HeroZero1980@reddit

To every "well ackhually" that needs to post about which labs tested it. Cool, doesn't mean that it's not still in testing and likely scientists will continue to look into it, map it, name it and monitor. A new strain or unique thing is discovered in long term testing far more frequently than we would like to believe. It's undoubtedly awful and tragic for those affected. In the mean time, it's not a really a global concern yet. Now if it was an identified thing in multiple areas than that's worth the "here we go again' panic

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Powerful_Log_796@reddit

The real signal from Covid wasn’t reports of coughing out of wuhan. It was the welding people’s apartment doors shut with them inside and rapidly building a 100 acre medical quarantine complex.

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ProfDoomDoom@reddit

And the problem now is that there's been such a counterswing against infection control since COVID in a lot of the world that we may not get this kind of signal for the next pandemic.

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Powerful_Log_796@reddit

I’d say the information suppression advancements is more of an issue. The destruction of infection control just makes it all the more likely to spread beyond borders

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evermorecoffee@reddit

Yes.

See: screwworm (different issue altogether, but a very good example of what happens -and how fast!- when control measures are stopped)

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Sincerely,

From Canada.

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ZealousMajestic@reddit

RemindMe! -30 days

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ToastMyToe@reddit

Not anything to worry about. These happen every week

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Substantial_Brain917@reddit

No thanks 2026. We got enough shit big dawg