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It's beginning to look like the malevolent designer, flushed with success at designing the zika virus to cause microcephaly in babies whose mothers became infected during pregnancy, then spreading it from Africa to South America, has now moved to the next level.
From the work done by a Japanese team of researchers from National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, it looks like a slight tweaking of the design means that the strain of zika now spreading to North America is more virulent. The malevolent designer is planning something a little special for the southern states of the USA.
Their work was published open access in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases yesterday. The accompanying press release explains:
Over recent years, Zika virus (ZIKV) has spread eastward from Africa and Asia, leading to an epidemic in the Americas. Now, researchers comparing American, Pacific and Southeast Asian subtypes of the virus in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have concluded that the American-subtype strain has the highest ability to grow both in vitro and in vivo.
ZIKV is a Flaviviridae family virus carried by infected Aedes mosquitos. It was first isolated in Uganda in the mid-twentieth century but has since spread to Micronesia, Oceania, and most recently South America, Central America, North America and the Caribbean. The strains in each area, however, are distinct; genetic analyses have shown three subtypes -- American, Pacific and Southeast Asian. Previous research has suggested that these subtypes differ in their infectious profiles.
[...]
The PRVABC59 and ChibaS36 strains had significantly higher growth ability than NIID123 in multiple types of isolated cells, with the American strain having the highest growth potential. Moreover, two weeks post-infection, the amount of infectious particles and viral RNA in the genital tracts of male mice was lowest in those animals infected with the NIID123 strain. At 6 weeks post-infection, there was more testis damage in the mice infected with the American PRVABC59 stain.
I am of course, presenting this from the point of view of someone who believes in intelligent design and who believes the intelligent designer is the Christian God. Such a god would know exactly what its designs would do and designs them to do precisely what they do, nothing more and nothing less.
It should follow that believers in intelligent design will believe the American strain of the zika virus is intended to do more harm or harm more American babies. Tweet
Yea, Yahweh moves in mysterious ways. Mere humans cannot comprehend his infinite wisdom. Mayhap we are being punished for our transgressions? I must confess that I'm a wretched sinner and truly deserved of divine retribution. However, I believe that Yahweh is the product of a barbaric bronze age tribe. Originally conceived as a warrior storm god replete with a consort (Asherah). Thus, by historical luck and flux and the fanatical endeavour of the apostle Paul the West became Christian. I wonder how many Christians have read the old testament in its entirety? I have and it is one of the reasons I'm an atheist.
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