The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 385 (885)

Wastewater surveillance may be the future of disease tracking. It has been used extensively during the coronavirus pandemic and recently helped verify the return of the polio virus. There are hints that the West Nile virus may be resurging, but I have not heard that in conjunction with wastewater sampling.

The Marshall Islands in the Pacific were one of the last places on earth to identify a first case of the then-novel coronavirus. Two travelers tested positive there in October 2020. The islands also recorded no covid cases in 2021. There is a natural barrier to a disease getting started on an island; the coast offers a natural defense. Unfortunately, when a disease gets started, that same coast limits spread and focuses it back to the island's interior. Now, in just over one week, over 4,000 covid cases have arisen in a population of just 60,000.

POTUS had two rounds of covid, and FLOTUS is in her first. She was vacationing in South Carolina when she tested positive and will remain there until she tests negative on two consecutive tests. POTUS was, as might be expected, in close contact with FLOTUS and will now wear a mask for 10 days. He will also be tested more often.

Remember the stimulus payments given earlier in the pandemic? It seems that billions of dollars of that relief aid was stolen. There are about 39,000 ongoing investigations of the two million potentially fraudulent applications. The statute of limitations on some relevant offences has been extended from five years to 10. While I was surprised at the large numbers, that the fraud happened was not surprising. The funds were given out based on the honor system. I mean, no one ever lies on the honor system, do they?

Finally, the FDA is considering basing decisions about authorizing new boosters on studies with mice, not humans. Public opinion on this is split with expert comments ranging from "bizarre" to "something better." Those favoring the switch note that the current vaccines have been tested on so many humans the safety is clear. When I read something like this, my mind immediately jumps to science fiction novels in which something known absolutely to be okay really isn't, and the negative effects take long enough to develop that a very large number of people have already received it. Just my $0.02 worth.