Formerly DT: COVID-19 - Featuring Lots of Politics, now CR because political talk not going away

[Brisketexan 104628]

1 minute ago, XYZ said:

There’s talk of a surge in cases in South Korea, but I’m not seeing it on worldometers.

A "surge" in South Korea is literally a handful -- like a couple dozen.  We are on different worlds.

[Brisketexan 104628]

And, as for universities, I think the short answer is that even to the extent that they have anything figured out, they don't have it figured out yet.  My daughter just got this note from her Canadian university.  The short version: they're building a fall academic plan that will be mostly online, with options for certain things being in-person as the situation continues to unfold.

Quote

I write today with a view to sharing information that I hope will provide clarity and reassurance about academic planning for the months ahead. In this regard, there are two main points I wish to make, both pertaining to the Fall 2020 term.

First, I want to stress that regardless of COVID-19 circumstances this September, McGill will be delivering its academic programs and courses throughout the Fall term and we will start our term as scheduled. Indeed, I look forward, with great enthusiasm and excitement, to welcoming to our University all newly admitted and returning undergraduate and graduate students this Fall. To allow our students to begin and continue their academic path no matter where they are in September, our courses will be offered primarily through remote delivery platforms. Students and their families can be assured we are planning for robust and high-quality teaching even if the modes of delivery will be modified for this term.

Second, I recognize that student life at McGill is about engagement in both academic and non-academic settings. Therefore, as our situation evolves, and as public health restrictions on social gathering are lifted, we will examine possibilities for on-campus student life and learning activities, which will respect careful safety protocols. These may include activities such as small classroom-based seminars, conferences, tutorials, workshops, or reading groups as well as various campus life and engagement activities. Keeping health and safety as our primordial consideration, we will be actively exploring opportunities that will allow those students who are in Montreal to be able to convene together to learn and to engage socially, given how crucial this is to the university experience. For those students who cannot be in Montreal in the Fall term, we will aim to replicate virtually these activities to allow maximum participation by all.

Our commitment is to allow new students to initiate, and returning students to continue without interruption, their respective program of study principally through remote learning platforms. At the same time, my team and I are working assiduously to create opportunities for students’ extracurricular engagement – through both formats that are remotely and, when possible and safe, in person – this Fall.

Pretty much what I expected, and what I expect for most universities.  We're still 3.5 months out from the start of school, so a lot can still happen.  I think they have to plan for online classes, with the option for smaller seminars etc. to be in-person and the like.  With the hope that by spring, we are at a place where they can go largely in-person.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

20 hours ago, mdmost said:

We're all spending more time outside...it's not July yet. When it's July, balls hot outside, and we still can't go anywhere, things might get worse fairly quickly. 

One thing though, the more time you spend outside now when it's nice, but warming, the greater your tolerance for Africa heat come July-September.

And, even when it's Africa hot, it can be tolerable to pleasant to be out before say 10AM.

[Loch Ness Monster 3533]

Restaurants around Dallas seemed a lot busier yesterday than I expected. Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore. 

[aggie08 21434]

3 minutes ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

Restaurants around Dallas seemed a lot busier yesterday than I expected. Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore. 

Or they just really, really hate their mother-in-laws.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

42 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

That is what I used to do with my goggles, but that generally does not work on sunglasses (I have tried it in the past).  It got so bad this weekend while I had my eyeglasses on, that I put my contacts back in.

I wear sunglasses when I mountain bike and sweat like a pig.  I learned that when your glasses get filthy like that, you wash them with dish soap (plastic frames).  The soap residue has antifog properties and after the actual cleaning part, you can put a thin layer of soap on the inside of the lenses and that increases it.  Divers do it too.

In the mountain biking application, though, I find that the soap residue or adding a layer can create irritating vapor when things get steamy.  But I'm allergic to everything so probably kind of sensitive.

You can buy antifog stuff, too. https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Fog-Prevents-Fogging-Binoculars-Solution/dp/B07PBCZ7C6/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=anti+fog+for+glasses&qid=1589211448&sr=8-5

Edited May 11, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

4 minutes ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore.

Teenagers are invincible. 

[Scary Stranger 1712]

Looking at the numbers, can you blame them? 

[Treefidy 1463]

2 hours ago, Parliament said:

You got a link?

It's the UT lab in Galveston, link is upthread a ways. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19092]

5 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I wear sunglasses when I mountain bike and sweat like a pig.  I learned that when your glasses get filthy like that, you wash them with dish soap (plastic frames).  The soap residue has antifog properties and after the actual cleaning part, you can put a thin layer of soap on the inside of the lenses and that increases it.  Divers do it too.

In the mountain biking application, though, I find that the soap residue or adding a layer can create irritating vapor when things get steamy.  But I'm allergic to everything so probably kind of sensitive.

You can buy antifog stuff, too. https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Fog-Prevents-Fogging-Binoculars-Solution/dp/B07PBCZ7C6/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=anti+fog+for+glasses&qid=1589211448&sr=8-5

As I said upthread, the dishsoap has done nothing for my sunglasses.  I clean them in it all the time.  No antifog help in any case.

[utee94 15746]

15 minutes ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

Restaurants around Dallas seemed a lot busier yesterday than I expected. Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore. 

From my observation, they never did.  They just kept it behind closed doors.  

[Pato del Muerto 52342]

It wouldn’t be an issue if young people only interacted with other young people. It’s the damage they can do as carriers. 

[Armybrat 40744]

1 hour ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Does anyone know how the 1918 global pandemic started? Because 50 million people died in that one and I’m not sure if we’ve come to a consensus on who needs to be held responsible. 

Muledick in Kansas.

[Treefidy 1463]

65% of the population in the US is under age 45, maybe that's the quickest and safest route to herd immunity?

[Armybrat 40744]

25 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

One thing though, the more time you spend outside now when it's nice, but warming, the greater your tolerance for Africa heat come July-September.

And, even when it's Africa hot, it can be tolerable to pleasant to be out before say 10AM.

Yep, sitting out on the covered patio sipping on a Bloody Mary Prior to 10am is good training.

[BabaYaga 15212]

2 minutes ago, Treefidy said:

65% of the population in the US is under age 45, maybe that's the quickest and safest route to herd immunity?

You know what they say, 60% of the time, it works every time

[utee94 15746]

5 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

It wouldn’t be an issue if young people only interacted with other young people. It’s the damage they can do as carriers. 

Agree.  I'm not saying their actions are right, just relating my observations.  All of my neighbor's high-school and college-age kids never stopped meeting with their friends and hanging out.  The ones that were in apartments rather than dorms, never left campus.  They just continued living/hanging out in their college towns.  Bars and restaurants were closed, but that didn't stop the house parties.  Even when they came back for a couple weeks around Spring Break, they kept having backyard parties and stuff with their friends over.  I'm certain that the % of cases in that age group is much higher than the rest of the population. 

5 minutes ago, Treefidy said:

65% of the population in the US is under age 45, maybe that's the quickest and safest route to herd immunity?

Just roll around in the COVID, same way we used to treat chicken pox!

 

 

[wild_turkey 3153]

2 hours ago, Gladeite said:

Went to Domain yesterday evening for MD with wife/daughters(no pics).   At least 80% of people walking around did not wear a mask.  The restaurant we went to was over 50% full, no masks for guests.  All wait staff had on masks but weren't happy about it.  On the way,  Bull Creek and Pennybacker were packed with young adults, not a mask to be seen anywhere.  

I haven't been in a restaurant yet but my general observation from errands around town and from talking to friends and family is that society is quickly progressing into the IDGAF phase of the pandemic response. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but that seems to be where things are headed and I'm not sure people will willingly go back into stay-at-home orders without serious legal consequences.

[gecko 1104]

Some people are getting out there (the IDGAFs).  The more they do and they discover they can resume something resembling normal without dropping dead the numbers going back to living life will only increase.  Enter a therapeutic in Sept along with a vaccine far enough along in trails to be deployed should there be localized outbreaks and we have our way out of this.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8799]

65% of the population in the US is under age 45, maybe that's the quickest and safest route to herd immunity?

This or a vaccine that is isn’t promised

[Guest Lobo]

2 hours ago, Parliament said:

You got a link?

I'm not going to post any links from any news outlets because we all know where the heads these days.  But let's be adult about a couple of facts, daily news outlets tend to break stories with more frequency than monthly scientific journals.  Could be something baked into the business model, I dunno  

But the story is basically this.  There's an American scientist.  He's led very large teams and lab consortiums.  Been deeply tracking/studying viruses in bats all over East Asia for two decades.  His crew is so damn revered that government labs all over the world queue up to work with him years in advance.  He has been funded by his own U.S. NIH, HHS, et. al. by administrations led by Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, and Trump.  Everybody funds him because he can collaborate on wildlife-born viruses that can harm humans with any lab in the world, even if their government is hesitant to work with Americans.  Because he's that respected.  

In the interest of full transparency, he has deep scientific evidence to suggest the virus is not man-made.  However he is also sorely disappointed with how the Wuhan labs, acting under party orders, clammed up with their data early on.  He pointed that out long before it was cool to do so.  

tl; dr.  World-renowned bat virologist from our country with bipartisan support going back decades suddenly gets his entire funding/program gutted in the last couple of weeks, when we probably need their research more than ever before.  

Here are three professional scientific journals, two of them are basically b2b reviews.  I'm sure many on here will take serious issue with me posting links to scientific articles about virus containment in a time of a pandemic.  So I'll go ahead and look forward to my 48 hours suspension. 

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/nih-cancels-funding-for-bat-coronavirus-research-project-67486

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/nih-s-axing-bat-coronavirus-grant-horrible-precedent-and-might-break-rules-critics-say

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/us-funder-ends-coronavirus-research-with-wuhan-lab-amid-political-pressure/4011660.article

It's not political to point out that several virology/infectious diseases are combatted with efforts led by our government.  And rightfully so, since we're seeing in real time they aren'y typically concerned with state boundaries or political affiliations.  This is one area of civic life where most people of all political stripes are agree with U.S. has done a damn good job on since WWII. EcoHealth seemed to be at the vanguard of that effort this time around, and now they're completely detached from the battle.  That worries me, it should worry all of us.  Most big labs cited on this thread get some money from the government, that's just real life.  That doesn't mean the labs are political, some of you really need to get that through your heads.  The NHTSA gets some of its funding from the government.  Their crash tests are not political.  The National Laboratory at Los Alamos is very heavily funded by our government.  Their experiments go on through multiple administrations, rarely concerned with the daily bullshit of D.C.  Our virology efforts act much the same way.  

If we cannot discuss what the scientific community is doing during a viral pandemic, we need to completely jettison that talk from this thread and move it exclusively over to the scientific thread.  Because there's plenty of scientific discussion on here (some of it even valid), but it's lost in the ignorance and namecalling (of which I am guilty of myself).  

 

[Royalfan5 2348]

For your AM livestock update, fresh pork stayed just below the highs, bellies are now nearly 5 times the April low, but the other cuts are flattening out pretty good. Beef made a new high on choice values, but select was slightly lower. We are supposed to have 5 pork plants restart today, but we will see when we get the inspections numbers this afternoon. The gov't is supposed to start their food bank buying this week, so the program announced at the lows in values to help producers will end up profiting packers exclusively with buying at the high, while producers still suffer from the lack of capacity. 

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

3 minutes ago, Lobo said:

But let's be adult about a couple of facts, daily news outlets tend to break stories with more frequency than monthly scientific journals.  Could be something baked into the business model, I dunno 

Or it could be the "shotgun" method by which they operate. Scientific journals have a standard to meet. Cable news throws shit on the wall and hopes it sticks. Sometimes they get it right.

[Brisketexan 104628]

4 minutes ago, gecko said:

Some people are getting out there (the IDGAFs).  The more they do and they discover they can resume something resembling normal without dropping dead the numbers going back to living life will only increase.  Enter a therapeutic in Sept along with a vaccine far enough along in trails to be deployed should there be localized outbreaks and we have our way out of this.

This is truly where my hope lies, today.  That treatments (not just therapeutics like drugs, but actually how patients are being handled with oxygen vs. ventilators, etc.) get to a point where the fatality rate is "manageable."  And that a vaccine is far enough along that we can see a light at the end of a tunnel in the near-term.  Let me hope, just a little bit.

[BabaYaga 15212]

2 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Or it could be the "shotgun" method by which they operate. Scientific journals have a standard to meet. Cable news throws shit on the wall and hopes it sticks. Sometimes they get it right.

It's not profitable to be objective.  

[atomheartbevo 89449]

In case you missed this thread

If you own a bar or restaurant in District 6 she would probably love to talk about the impact of the virus with you.

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[Guest Lobo]

2 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Or it could be the "shotgun" method by which they operate. Scientific journals have a standard to meet. Cable news throws shit on the wall and hopes it sticks. Sometimes they get it right.

Pos rep for understanding why we can, with a great degree of confidence (not 100% mind you, we are all human) to scientific journals over youtube news channels.  But mainly pos rep for your avatar, RIP Jerry.  You can wear your cabana-wear for eternity my friend!  

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

Just now, Lobo said:

Pos rep for understanding why we can, with a great degree of confidence (not 100% mind you, we are all human) to scientific journals over youtube news channels.  But mainly pos rep for your avatar, RIP Jerry.  You can wear your cabana-wear for eternity my friend!  

This guy. This is my kinda guy.

[clapclapclap 9000]

46 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Quote

Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore. 

From my observation, they never did.  They just kept it behind closed doors.  

[workswithseed 2037]

1 hour ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

Restaurants around Dallas seemed a lot busier yesterday than I expected. Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore. 

We just want to fuck again.

[TwiceHorn 31283]

51 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

As I said upthread, the dishsoap has done nothing for my sunglasses.  I clean them in it all the time.  No antifog help in any case.

Missed that, I saw the part about spit, I think.  I was kind of surprised to read, from the manufacturer, to clean them in dishsoap.  Been wearing decent sunglasses for decades without doing that.  But not usually while sweating like a total pig where they get filthy.

[Cheeseweasel 26437]

2 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

We just want to fuck again.

Make America Fuck Again!

[clapclapclap 9000]

Lulz, I see Captain R.Ant was freaking out again yesterday about the strawberries.

[Anastasis 23394]

24 minutes ago, Lobo said:

In the interest of full transparency, he has deep scientific evidence to suggest the virus is not man-made. 

He doesn't watch enough youtube to be an expert on that kind of thing. 

[bluto 4894]

Restaurants around Dallas seemed a lot busier yesterday than I expected. Doesn't seem many young people are taking it seriously anymore. 

I was walking around lower Greenville Saturday, gorgeous day. Maybe half the restaurants were open for seating, and those that were had no line at all. Ended up at blue goose, outdoor picnic tables only. No servers, you just ordered at host stand and grabbed a table when one opened. Bag of food dropped off at table or host stand.

[BabaYaga 15212]

19 minutes ago, Lobo said:

to scientific journals over youtube news channels.

[Skipper 6103]

40 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

I haven't been in a restaurant yet but my general observation from errands around town and from talking to friends and family is that society is quickly progressing into the IDGAF phase of the pandemic response. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but that seems to be where things are headed and I'm not sure people will willingly go back into stay-at-home orders without serious legal consequences.

I think a big part of it is that there just hasn't been a wide outbreak in Texas.  A lot of people (me included) don't know a single person in Texas personally that has had even a mild case much less a serious case.  Just a completely different experience compared to those on the East Coast.  It makes it a lot easier for people to believe the rhetoric that it's completely overblown when they haven't seen it for themselves.

[Guest Lobo]

Just now, Anastasis said:

He doesn't watch enough youtube to be an expert on that kind of thing. 

True 'dat.  All he did was assist some colleagues in Britain in breaking down the entire genome of this thing months ago and determining it had zero manmade genetic markers.  But as we all know, there is more than one way to read a binary code.  You see, a lot of people read the "0" as a zero and then read the "1" as a one.  But what this youtube scientific channel presupposes is what if the Zeroes were actually the Ones the whole time?  

Also, politics aside---our own DNI and NSA leadership says there is zero evidence at this time to suggest the virus is man-made.  Zero evidence.  Their words, not mine.  Unless?  Holy shit...you guys don't think?  Yeah, wait...by ZERO, then meant ONE.  There IS one bit of evidence to suggest it's from a lab!  Now, it all makes sense.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

One of the things I keep hearing are several scientists saying this wasn't created in a lab.  I don't think most rational people think it was created in a lab, but a great many believe it was being studied in a lab, and protocol wasn't observed, or some other type of accident occurred. That's how it may have been released.  That or it did come from a wet market.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Onboard 2.0

[BabaYaga 15212]

Just now, Onboard 2.0 said:

One of the things I keep hearing  is so and so says this wasn't created in a lab.  I don't think most rational people think it was created in a lab, but a great many believe it was being studied in a lab, and protocol wasn't observed, or some other type of accident occurred. That's how it may have been released.  That or it did come from a wet market.

This.  China doesn't innovate, they replicate.  To the extent that they can.  Medical labs are another story in terms of how intricate they can be.  Maybe it's me watching Chernobyl too many times, but the obfuscation to protect gross negligence seem eerily similar.  

[XYZ 2154]

There’s also speculation that they were fucking around at the Wuhan lab to determine what it would take to make a bat coronavirus infectious for humans, so they were actively manipulating viruses. And here we are.

[Guest Lobo]

8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

One of the things I keep hearing  is so and so says this wasn't created in a lab.  I don't think most rational people think it was created in a lab, but a great many believe it was being studied in a lab, and protocol wasn't observed, or some other type of accident occurred. That's how it may have been released.  That or it did come from a wet market.

Head of EcoHealth Alliance Laboratories, the world's foremost expert in bat-based virology in Asia (an American scientist mind you) says it was not.

Head of U.S. Director of National Intelligence (after an in depth review of HUMINT and SIGINT) says it was not.

Head of U.S. National Institutes of Health says it was not.

If these people are "so and so's" to you, I'd like to hear what you call stupid people with not business talking science.  And for the record, all three of those men have said they were/are sorely disappointed with how Wuhan Labs put the hammer down on data and intel on their government's orders.  You can distrust the Chinese and realize wildlife-based viruses jump species all the time.  There's a whole sub-field of science dedicated to it, and much of their intel is out there for peer review.  I'll take the guy who was studying and tracking bat viruses 20 years ago to me 20 years ago who was watching the bats under Congress Avenue Bridge thinking, "Wow, these are cool."  When a peer-reviewed panel of experts comes out and say "These so-and-so's" were dead wrong, here's our proof of genetic markers showing how it jumped out of a lab in China."  Until then, "That's how it may have been released" falls under a genre of "bullshit that doesn't exactly smack of logic nor reason."  

Edited May 11, 2020 by Lobo

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

8 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Head of EcoHealth Alliance Laboratories, the world's foremost expert in bat-based virology in Asia (an American scientist mind you) says it was not.

Head of U.S. Director of National Intelligence (after an in depth review of HUMINT and SIGINT) says it was not.

Head of U.S. National Institutes of Health says it was not.

If these people are "so and so's" to you, I'd like to hear what you call stupid people with not business talking science.  And for the record, all three of those men have said they were/are sorely disappointed with how Wuhan Labs put the hammer down on data and intel on their government's orders.  You can distrust the Chinese and realize wildlife-based viruses jump species all the time.  There's a whole sub-field of science dedicated to it, and much of their intel is out there for peer review.  I'll take the guy who was studying and tracking bat viruses 20 years ago to me 20 years ago who was watching the bats under Congress Avenue Bridge thinking, "Wow, these are cool."  When a peer-reviewed panel of experts comes out and say "These so-and-so's" were dead wrong, here's our proof of genetic markers showing how it jumped out of a lab in China."  Until then, "That's how it may have been released" falls under a genre of "bullshit that doesn't exactly smack of logic nor reason."  

Again they're all saying  "created in a lab".  Just studying a virus found in nature isn't creating it.  The genetic markers of an unedited virus are just that markers of an unedited virus.

And it's not BS to question where it originated, If it was a wet market so be it, but the fact they were studying this particular virus, in Wuhan is very suspicious.

[Pig Bellmont 8692]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

Newsom is just one train wreck after another.  All but guaranteeing his re-election, of course.  

Billion dollar ooops...

No one could have possibly seen this coming.  Why pay an American company $0.79 per mask when you can pay your Chinese overlords $3.30 per mask.

 

This seems overtly political and mentions a politician by name. Just change the name of the thread already and stop pretending it’s most prolific posters are engaging in a discussion that isn’t political 

[rpspeed 1351]

Russia making a mad dash for the #2 spot this week. How reliable are their death totals compared to cases?

Edited May 11, 2020 by rpspeed

[StruggleBus 3922]

8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Again they're all saying  "created in a lab".  Just studying a virus found in nature isn't creating it.  The genetic markers of an unedited virus are just that markers of an unedited virus.

And it's not BS to question where it originated, If it was a wet market so be it, but the fact they were studying this particular virus, in Wuhan is very suspicious.

The simplest and most obvious answer is that this virus was transmitted to humans at that lab. 

[BabaYaga 15212]

1 minute ago, rpspeed said:

Russia making a mad dash for the #2 spot this week. How reliable are their death totals compared to cases?

We can probably stop right here.  But point taken.  

[Guest Lobo]

8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Again they're all saying  "created in a lab".  Just studying a virus found in nature isn't creating it.  The genetic markers of an unedited virus are just that markers of an unedited virus.

And it's not BS to question where it originated, If it was a wet market so be it, but the fact they were studying this particular virus, in Wuhan is very suspicious.

Well, we certainly agree on that it being studied in Wuhan is/was very suspicious.  The EcoHealth Alliance Lab people also found it very suspicious which is why they were using part of their grant money to work with Wuhan Labs in good faith, bring their (EHAL) expertise on east asian bat viruses to bear on the problem, and plot a course forward.  They did not appear to have made tremendous progress, but they were moving forward.  Then something happened, that I think you'll also find suspicious---the grant was withdrawn and the collaborative project was shut down.  

A Longhorn metaphor would be you're told in the bottom of the 9th inning that your game is going to go 23 innings, a long ways to go before victory.  You have two guys warming up in the bullpen and a cadre of other relievers who can start to at least get loose because it's gonna be a long night.  Instead you decide to close the entire bullpen and release the remainder of your pitching staff from the roster.  

[Dahobbs 17447]

11 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Again they're all saying  "created in a lab".  Just studying a virus found in nature isn't creating it.  The genetic markers of an unedited virus are just that markers of an unedited virus.

And it's not BS to question where it originated, If it was a wet market so be it, but the fact they were studying this particular virus, in Wuhan is very suspicious.

I'm not aware of any evidence that the lab was studying "this particular virus." We do know that it was studying somewhat similar types of viruses. Do you have a link?

[Brisketexan 104628]

Or, you can ask a simple question incorporating the obvious:

"How much sense does it make for a virology lab to be studying a type of virus that 1) is endemic to that very region when 2) that type of virus has an established record of becoming a threat to human health (SARS, MERS)?"

I mean....it's the same reason that Texas universities study hurricanes and coastal flooding, and California universities study earthquakes.  It's not because Texas universities have a secret "let's cause hurricanes" plan.

Coronaviruses are a long-known and established threat to human health, and becoming a pandemic.  They are endemic to that region.  It makes sense to have a local lab studying it, AND, because the type has shown that it can make the animal-human leap AND travel to become a potential pandemic, it likewise makes sense that other players -- like entities from other countries -- would be involved there.  Occam's razor and shit.