Pneumonic plague, United States Patent 7572449

http://fto.co.za/news
Whether this has anything to do with whats going on in the Ukraine I am not sure but in August there was a patent filed for antibodies against Yersinia Pestis otherwise known as the pneumonic plague.

It was filed by Hill, James (Salisbury, GB) ,Williamson, Ethel Diane (Salisbury, GB) and Titball, Richard William (Salisbury, GE) and the assignee was The Secretary of State for Defense in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB).

A interesting part of the patent is this part:

"Mab 7.3 was administered −4 hours, +24 hours, +48 hours, or +96 hours relative to s.c. Y. pestis challenge. Protection was observed when antibody was given up to 48 hours post-infection. Also, a delayed time to death was observed in the +96 hours treatment group. One of +96 hours treatment group had died prior to antibody administration and the remainder displayed signs of plague indistinguishable from untreated control animals, suggesting that even when symptoms of plague are apparent antibody therapy can delay death. Mice were treated with Mab 7.3 at −4 hours, +24 hours, +48 hours or +60 hours relative to aerosol infection. Protection was seen in groups that received antibody 24 hours and 48 hours after challenge. All mice treated at +60 hours died, but a statistically significant delay in the TTD was observed, compared with untreated animals."

What is more interesting is why was this patent filed in August this year. Maybe its just coincidence but we felt like putting out there so people can decide for themselves.

Police prepare drill for pneumonic plague at Illinois school

The Northwest Herald in Illinois reports citizens infected with a fictitious pneumonic plague will line up outside Lincoln Prairie Elementary School on Saturday to help test the site as a medication dispensary in case of an emergency.

The Lake in the Hills Police Department is carrying out the test as part of a grant from the McHenry County Department of Health for its emergency health plan. In case of a biological terrorist attack or widespread disease outbreak, the site would be able get medicine to the community, Lake in the Hills Chief of Patrol Services David Brey said.

“This is just a functional test of the site,” he said.

The event will use volunteers pretending to have been stricken by the plague to help test the flow of the site, from initial triage through receiving proof of being medicated.

“We picked the plague on purpose so it would have nothing to do with the swine flu,” Brey said.

The test will start at 9 a.m. Saturday at Lincoln Prairie, 500 Harvest Gate, across from Lake in the Hills Village Hall.