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New Langya virus that may have spilled over from animals infects dozens

An international team of scientists identified a new virus that was likely to have been transmitted to humans after it first infected animals, in another potential zoonotic spillover less than three years into the coronavirus pandemic.

A peer-reviewed study published in the New England Journal of Medicine detailed the discovery of the Langya virus after it was observed in 35 patient samples collected in two eastern Chinese provinces. The researchers — based in China, Singapore and Australia — did not find evidence that the virus transmitted between people, citing in part the small sample size available. But they hypothesized that shrews, small mammals that subsist on insects, could have hosted the virus before it infected humans.

The first Langya virus sample was detected in late 2018 from a farmer in Shandong province who sought treatment for a fever. Over a roughly two-year period, 34 other people were found to have been infected in Shandong and neighboring Henan, with the vast majority being farmers.

Genetic sequencing of the virus subsequently showed that the pathogen is part of the henipavirus family, which has five other known viruses. Two are considered highly virulent and are associated with high case-fatality ratios, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But none of the Langya patients died, the study stated.

Among the 35 patients, 26 were found to be infected only with the Langya virus. All of the 26 had a fever, with around half showing fatigue, decreased white blood cell count and cough. More severe symptoms include impaired kidney and liver functions.





https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08/10/langya-virus-china-shrews-henipavirus/

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COVID is no joke

Quadrouple-vaccinated at COVID-19 STILL kicked my ass. Headache, muscle ache, chest congestion, stuffy head. I think I'm on the mend but exhausted due to lack of sleep. I can only imagine what it was like for the first wave of patients. I hope this bastard never hits me again.

This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion

A 17-year-old girl and her mother have been charged with a series of felonies and misdemeanors after an apparent medication abortion at home in Nebraska. The state’s case relies on evidence from the teenager’s private Facebook messages, obtained directly from Facebook by court order, which show the mother and daughter allegedly bought medication online to induce abortion, and then disposed of the body of the fetus. While the court documents, obtained by Motherboard, allege that the abortion took place before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, they show in shocking detail how abortion could and will be prosecuted in the United States, and how tech companies will be enlisted by law enforcement to help prosecute their cases.....

In June, the state submitted a search warrant to Meta, Facebook's parent company, demanding all private data—including DMs—that the company had for the Burgesses. According to an affidavit submitted along with the search warrant, Ben McBride a detective with the Norfolk, Nebraska Police Division had been investigating the alleged abortion. The family told him that Celeste had unexpectedly "given birth prematurely supposedly to a stillborn child." Celeste "then enacted the help of her mother, Jessica Burgess, and the two of them buried the child together. Both of the Burgess' were telling others they needed to dig the child's body up and then burn it."

McBride's affidavit states explicitly that police exhumed the fetus. "An exact cause [of death] was unknown, but the lungs didn't indicate they'd ever contained any air." A final autopsy report "stated the cause of death was undetermined. The findings were consistent with the fetus being stillborn but the placement of the fetus into a plastic bag raise the possibility of asphyxia due to suffocation."

McBride told the court that law enforcement needed evidence from Facebook in order to determine "whether the baby was stillborn or asphyxiated."

A court approved the search warrant, and Facebook complied with it, according to other court records. The Facebook messages appear to show Celeste and Jessica talking about taking abortion medication.




https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zevd/this-is-the-data-facebook-gave-police-to-prosecute-a-teenager-for-abortion

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How Tesla Lost The Race For Affordable EVs To An Unexpected Rival

In August 2006, before Tesla had built its first electric car, Elon Musk published his first “Master Plan” for the company with a singular goal: transform the environmentally unfriendly auto industry into a friendly one by selling pricey electric cars that would underwrite the development of affordable ones.

“When someone buys the Tesla Roadster sports car, they are actually helping pay for development of the low-cost family car,” Musk wrote.

Tesla has since rolled out four models cheaper than the $98,000 Roadster it started with in 2008, but none have been priced affordably or achieved Musk’s often-repeated goal of becoming a true mass-market brand. Instead, the company has remained focused on cars with luxury prices: Teslas start at about $50,000 and their average selling price is $68,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. That’s well above the $30,000 to $45,000 price range most industry observers think is the sweet spot for “the low-cost family car” Musk envisioned—a sweet spot that one of Tesla’s unlikeliest rivals just hit.

Tesla has now lost the affordable EV race to General Motors, which spurred Tesla’s creation after quitting the electric vehicle business 20 years ago. The Detroit-based automaker will offer its 2023 Bolt hatchback for only $26,600, slashing the previous sticker price by $6,300. The slightly bigger Bolt EUV loaded up with a high-end audio system, camera-based rearview mirror, sunroof and Super Cruise for hands-free highway driving costs just over $34,000. And GM is offering another cheap EV next year: An electric Equinox crossover that gets 300 miles per charge priced from $30,000, which is in line with gasoline-fueled rivals like Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV4.




https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/08/05/how-tesla-lost-the-race-for-affordable-evs-to-an-unexpected-rival/?sh=417be7482acf

Where were House Republicans when Breonna Taylor was murdered?

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