Disclaimer: This is not a Zombie Related thread please report anyone who puts zombie related things on here.

Now I got to thinking. What Virus do you think will wipe us out? man-made or natural virus. H-5 Bird virus or Biological Diseases with no cures. What virus do you think will wipe us out?

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

either that or the Jonas Brothers get mutated into a virus and is broadcast on all airwaves, infecting the minds of listeners and making them die from a combination of brain hemorrhage, foaming at the mouth, and gayness

First: "Warfare"

On topic:
Depends, particularly if you are recognizing a difference between "Virus" and "Biological Agent".

I assume the hypothetical case would fit "natural" more easily. Man-made viruses are engineered with the intent that the owner won't die, or the spread can be contained. That means limitations.

The question posed also assumes that utter destruction will happen. While a large outbreak is EXTREMELY likely, similar to smallpox back in the day it means many still live on.

[quo

101194:
Disclaimer: This is not a Zombie Related thread please report anyone who puts zombie related things on here.

Can you seriously do that?! Sweet!
/sarcasm
I don't understand the purpose of doing that. Why not try rationalizing with people, rather than threatening with an attempt at corporal punishment?
Sorry, I've had a rough night. I'm a bit snippy, hence the dramatic rise in my posts' sarcasm content.

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

either that or the Jonas Brothers get mutated into a virus and is broadcast on all airwaves, infecting the minds of listeners and making them die from a combination of brain hemorrhage, foaming at the mouth, and gayness

Considering that you also posted about the Jonas Brothers, I am quickly led to assume that you were abusing homosexuality. Please inform me if this is true or not; my inner censor is getting fidgety.

As for the thread itself, I have to say that my mother recieved a small Christmas gift from one of her patients. This patient has one of those hospital superbugs, so we decided to toss the thing, even though it made us feel like a couple of jerks.
I do think its gonna be either the bugs we breed in hospitals, or we're going to have an accident with one of our several containers of multiple pandemic-inducing biological weapons that, collectively, could kill all humans hundreds of times over.

Ha, "Warfair."

Sounds fun, and deadly!

As for a virus killing us all, I dunno.

what bout the virus/nature thing in the movie "The Happening". That would certaintly doom humanittt... (freezes and chokes self with mouse cable)

Various governments have labs that create engineered viruses,(definitely the US and the UK) some of these viruses are race specific others are indescriminate. All it would take is one disgruntled or unstable employee to end the world!

It won't be anything man made for the intention of bio warfare. Those agents are notoriously difficult to create, hard to store without killing them and generally aren't anywhere near as effective at killing people as simply dropping a high yield thermonuclear device on them would be.

The biggest killers to date have been variants of the flu virus chances are the next big one will be a naturally occurring variant of the flu virus.

When the bird flu mutates into something worse...
I reckon we'll all die by viruses that have mutated to epic proportions.
And we'll be the ones to blame.
Whenever you take antibiotics, the virus is normally destroyed. But in those one-in-a-million cases, that virus will mutate into something stronger, and you'll need stronger antibiotics to repress it. Then the whole process will continue until you can't engineer a better cure, and everyone dies.
Or we could be all infected by a supernatural/alien disease for which we have no immune system for, kinda like what the common cold did to the new world.

I think it will be a flesh-eating bacteria that eats out our organs before it eats our skin or visible flesh, making it hard to see and quite fatal. Flesh eating bacteria freak me out.

Dear me, I saw the title ans thought that this would be about using biological wepons in battle, guess not. Nothing will wipe us out ever, unless the sun burns out tomorrow.

Something incredibly infectious, showing no obvious symptoms and not harming the carrier, it would destroy peoples fertility only. Hopefully effects would not kick in for 6-8 years after infection.

How's about the mad-made virus in the book/movie "The Stand" by Stephen King? Sure only 99% of us would actually die, but the final 1% would fight each other simply because we're bored

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

Kidding? Please be kidding. You're kidding right.

Crystal Cuckoo:
Whenever you take antibiotics, the virus is normally destroyed.

I think you need to reread the roles of antibiotics, and how they don't affect viruses.

the monopoly guy:

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

Kidding? Please be kidding. You're kidding right.

of course i'm kidding

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

either that or the Jonas Brothers get mutated into a virus and is broadcast on all airwaves, infecting the minds of listeners and making them die from a combination of brain hemorrhage, foaming at the mouth, and gayness

They already have become a virus, thats why Itunes quarentine the Jonas brothers and no one can buy their music.

Marv21:

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

either that or the Jonas Brothers get mutated into a virus and is broadcast on all airwaves, infecting the minds of listeners and making them die from a combination of brain hemorrhage, foaming at the mouth, and gayness

They already have become a virus, thats why Itunes quarentine the Jonas brothers and no one can buy their music.

thank Christ lol

The Flu/common cold it as no cure just shots to slow it down it evolves to fast to be cured

Whenever you take antibiotics, the virus is normally destroyed. But in those one-in-a-million cases, that virus will mutate into something stronger, and you'll need stronger antibiotics to repress it.

LOL prescribing antibiotics to cure viral infections is one of the reason why we have super bugs. You see most people have a whole host of bacterial agents on them most of the time. For the most part they are kept in check by your own immune system and usually never bother you. Generally issues occur when one of bacteria that lives on one part of your body gets access to another part of your body where it shouldn't normally be. I.e MRSA is a good example, it lives on your skin is kept in check by a healthy immune system. Now most people in hospital haven't got a healthy immune system so if you give MRSA access to a cut or injury that's when things get out of hand.

Anyway back to the point. These bacteria have always been there and as a result have always been there whilst we have been over prescribing antibiotics to cure conditions that never needed antibiotics to start with. The issue is two fold as well.

You see most people go to the doctor and say they are ill. Now the situation works more or less the same weather you have something that can be cured with antibiotics or not. Anyway yeah I am ill the doctor goes okay have a two week course of Amoxicillin. So you start taking the drug and after ten days you're feeling better and thinking I don't need this anymore. Throw the rest away and that's that. Nope all you've done is weakened the bacteria and instead of killing it off and having been done with it you've shown it what it needs to fight. So evolution takes over. Some bacteria will get picked off by your own immune system others will come back but cause no issue, some will come back and cause issue and some will develop immunity to the thing you used to try and kill it.

The Flu/common cold it as no cure just shots to slow it down it evolves to fast to be cured

Indeed it also has to do with the fact that a virus requires the host cell to replicate itself. Any anti viral drug would need to kill the virus whilst leaving the host cell unaffected. Quite a difficult task to achieve. In the case of the cold and flu it just wouldn't be worth the effort. Mind you anti virals do exist for Influenzavirus A and B

Um, antibiotics are anti biotics. They work on bacteria, not viruses. The only real way we have to protect ourselves from viruses is vaccination. I also think we'll all die from a virus emerging from either the jungles of Africa, East Asia, or in my opinion, the least likely possibility, man-made.

stompy:

Crystal Cuckoo:
Whenever you take antibiotics, the virus is normally destroyed.

I think you need to reread the roles of antibiotics, and how they don't affect viruses.

Bah, you said it before me.

Not gonna happen, even the worst outbreaks of marburg virus only had a 90% mortality rate and that was not entirely accurate as no note was made of survivors before the virus was identified.
Rabies has a 100% MR if left untreated but seeing as you have to have infected body fluid enter your bloodtream its not particularly 'contagious'.

No virus or other such thing is going to wipe out humanity, were too numerous and conditons are pretty favourable for us. It would take more than one thing to wipe us out, that why there are FOUR horsemen of the apocalypse, no one horseman can take us out, they have to gang up on us, the pussies.

scumofsociety:
Not gonna happen, even the worst outbreaks of marburg virus only had a 90% mortality rate and that was not entirely accurate as no note was made of survivors before the virus was identified.
Rabies has a 100% MR if left untreated but seeing as you have to have infected body fluid enter your bloodtream its not particularly 'contagious'.

No virus or other such thing is going to wipe out humanity, were too numerous and conditons are pretty favourable for us. It would take more than one thing to wipe us out, that why there are FOUR horsemen of the apocalypse, no one horseman can take us out, they have to gang up on us, the pussies.

Yes, we are too numerous, but because were numerous, it would be easier for a deadly and contagious virus (Some future virus/disease). There were many people under the Mongol empire and the interactions helped spread the Bubonic Plague (which started in Southwest China, I think). Of course the Bubonic Plague didn't kill everyone, but there could be a disease that will in the future! Maybe.

PersianLlama:

Yes, we are too numerous, but because were numerous, it would be easier for a deadly and contagious virus (Some future virus/disease). There were many people under the Mongol empire and the interactions helped spread the Bubonic Plague (which started in Southwest China, I think). Of course the Bubonic Plague didn't kill anyone, but there could be a disease that will in the future! Maybe.

What? Didn't kill anyone? It killed half of europe (and probably the far east).

The point is that a percentage always survives. Say it kills 99% of those infected and there is somehow a 100% infection rate, you still have millions of people left. 100% infection rate and 100% mortality? Isn't going to happen. Ever.

You might as well ask which alien civilisation is going to take over the earth.

scumofsociety:

PersianLlama:

Yes, we are too numerous, but because were numerous, it would be easier for a deadly and contagious virus (Some future virus/disease). There were many people under the Mongol empire and the interactions helped spread the Bubonic Plague (which started in Southwest China, I think). Of course the Bubonic Plague didn't kill anyone, but there could be a disease that will in the future! Maybe.

What? Didn't kill anyone? It killed half of europe (and probably the far east).

The point is that a percentage always survives. Say it kills 99% of those infected and there is somehow a 100% infection rate, you still have millions of people left. 100% infection rate and 100% mortality? Isn't going to happen. Ever.

Oh, huge typo...I meant 'everyone', not anyone sorry.

It killed 2/3 of Europe I think.

It could happen, if a man-made virus was created to bypass all possibilities of being protected genetically, but your likely right.

PersianLlama:
The only real way we have to protect ourselves from viruses is vaccination.

Even then, that doesn't work sometimes. For example, the body's immune system cannot make antibodies for HIV/AIDS, because it has an ever-changing protein outer layer, meaning that as soon as antibodies for one layer are created, the virus just changes the layer configuration, and the antibodies become ineffective to the virus, requiring another set of antibodies. Extending that, we can't make a vaccine for HIV/AIDS either, because that ever-changing protein layer means that, should the body pre-emptively make antibodies for one configuration, the protein layer changes, and the antibodies are rendered useless.

(I may have gotten the wrong information on the protein layers, mind you.)

Bah, you said it before me.

Well, be glad that you already knew that antibiotics don't work for viruses. I hope none of people who said antibiotics will cure any viruses are doctors...

vdgmprgrmr:
Ha, "Warfair."

Sounds fun, and deadly!

As for a virus killing us all, I dunno.

Hey, atleast we'll all get our FARE share :)

My guess would be some version of the plague or flu.

PersianLlama:

Oh, huge typo...I meant 'everyone', not anyone sorry.

It killed 2/3 of Europe I think.

It could happen, if a man-made virus was created to bypass all possibilities of being protected genetically, but your likely right.

I did wonder...

Estimated between 30 to 60%, with varied MR's throughout Europe, some places were hit much worse than others, although getting accurate accounts from the time are problematic for obvious reasons.

That really is getting into the realm of fiction, although I suspect the original question wasn't exactly serious.

I would find it hard to believe that a natural plague would wipe out all mankind, but considering all the travel we have we could easily knock off half the population of the earth with another black plague.

A man-made virus would do the trick but man-made viruses have a very simple formula as to make a vaccine for said virus. I wouldn't really worry about it, atomic warfare is far easier than viral warfare.

stompy:

Crystal Cuckoo:
Whenever you take antibiotics, the virus is normally destroyed.

I think you need to reread the roles of antibiotics, and how they don't affect viruses.

My bad, I meant antiviral drugs :P
Sorry that I caused confusion

EDIT: by antiviral drugs, I also mean flu shots, to avoid further (minor )flaming :)

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

either that or the Jonas Brothers get mutated into a virus and is broadcast on all airwaves, infecting the minds of listeners and making them die from a combination of brain hemorrhage, foaming at the mouth, and gayness

Ahhhh! be careful what you say, you don't want to start international panic.

captain awesome 12:

Mr0llivand3r:

i think that the cancer virus will mutate and become airborne.

either that or the Jonas Brothers get mutated into a virus and is broadcast on all airwaves, infecting the minds of listeners and making them die from a combination of brain hemorrhage, foaming at the mouth, and gayness

Ahhhh! be careful what you say, you don't want to start international panic.

lol

A virus that causes infertility in the next generation and is spread though body fluids. However it is also carried by mosquitoes because it isn't disolved like HIV is.

In OZ people, lab people, have made a disease that renders mosquitoes infertile in the next generation, so I'm gona say it goes cross-species.

Knight Templar:
A virus that causes infertility in the next generation and is spread though body fluids. However it is also carried by mosquitoes because it isn't disolved like HIV is.

In OZ people, lab people, have made a disease that renders mosquitoes infertile in the next generation, so I'm gona say it goes cross-species.

If they released said disease, wouldn't that screw around with the food chain?