Mar 09 2020 43 mins 1
We can’t seem to escape news of the latest disease outbreak, no matter which decade we’re inhabiting. MERS, SARS, Covid-19, Spanish Flu, Zika, plague, typhoid, or leprosy for humans. In poultry parlance, we have Marek’s, Newcastle, Avian Pox…and the list goes on. There’s always something floating around that affects both humans and non-human animals, and sometimes it’s kind of terrifying. When humans feel scared of something we feel unprepared to handle, throughout history we have looked for heroes to come to our rescue, either to do actual battle, or to just create a mythology to make us feel safer. Real or historical, we make them larger-than-life because we feel protected by them. St. George and the dragon. Joan of Arc. Superman, Thor and everyone else with a cape against the alien monsters from outer space. We have a cultural fascination with knights and superheroes for a reason, because they are the ones we can look to when things look dark. We may think that the fight is just between Luke Skywalker and the Emperor, but it’s not just one battle that’s truly important. We’re in a war. Big picture. It’s the Rebel Alliance struggling against the Empire. Our best hope to save humanity from an overwhelming and constant threat is not just Luke. It’s not just Han Solo and Princess Leia, or any one person. It’s the collective efforts of many, pooling resources and working toward a solution that understands the world in which we live. We need the Force to win the big war. And in this war, science and scientists are our secret weapons. Scientific Knowledge is the Force that unifies all things in our world. If we ignore it, only those that might cause us harm will use it, but it also can be our biggest strength. And when humanity wins this battle, and the next, and the bigger war, it will be thanks to the true unsung heroes of every age known to man: The scientists. Our real-life heroes are working together on a daily basis, so we can strengthen the Force (long metaphor, I know) and survive. Their contributions to understanding have allowed us to fight based on facts, proof, and data. Because when you point a gun at a werewolf, you don’t want to have lead bullets in the chamber. Our guest today is Dr. Charles Calisher, PhD, author and Hanta Virus Hero. Please follow the links to his CV and his book to find out more about this accomplished man. That doesn’t say all of it, but it tells you a lot. Links https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/3/13-1889_article https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charles_Calisher2 https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/research/center-infection-and-immunity/charles-h-calisher-phd http://independent.academia.edu/CharlesCalisher https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/80504.Charles_H_Calisher https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-birds.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poultry_disease https://morningchores.com/chicken-diseases/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-034951
