Ebola is Defeated Again

This is but a small skirmish in what promises to be an extended battle....currently around 10,000 cases recorded with near 50% fatalities....

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/case-counts.html

I sure hope people assigned to fight it, don't share your optimism, until proven wrong. S.M.

Not for long!

Please, ANYBODY! Tell me why, and toward what purpose does the US government hold a patent on the Ebola Virus?

Whether you are a Republican, or Democrat, ASSUMING you have two brain cells to rub together, then you MUST admit that this is more than disturbing!

This is NOT a fake site, this is a GOOGLE PATENTS webpage!!!!!!!

http://www.google.com/patents/US20120251502

I sincerely hope this was one of bin laden's last scums to slander west, you know, the good guys. S.M.

My take is the following, not necessarily in the correct (for you!) order:-

1) Its a pretty safe, but very expensive, place to store such diseases. Other countries may not be anywhere near as safe.....any of them.

2) Its unlikely that this Government owned place will ever start supplying the Taliban, even accidentally. (Though the Taliban would probably accidentally kill more of its own people with such viruses! So that may be a bad idea, to not to supply them!!)

3) The US government will make money by supplying the virus to drug companies trying to make antidotes and companies making special safety clothing. This might offset some of the costs involved in keeping it safely stored.

I do not see any possibility that the US Government will try and infect anyone intentionally, if that is your real worry, not even some of the idiots with a hate of any sort of Government intervention who occasionally also post here!!!!

I cannot rule out a terrorist attack of course, or stupidity either......but the US has been pretty good on the virus score as far as I remember. Not so good on the radioactive front years ago though!!

I had a look around the web, but Ebola is fitting into every search argument that I have thought of, so I could not find any other (human) viruses being noted as having been spread by the US government as far as I can tell.

If you have a better link, please share.

By the way, I trust the Taliban to go and pick up infected bodies and drop them in water supplies and the like (assuming, probably wrongly, that there are "other" methods around to infect people). Or simply take such a body, pass it through a Mulcher and spread the disgusting results on school gates or whatever....

THEY REALLY HATE US!!! AS DO ISIS!!!!

Or simply to infect Muslim brothers and sisters and send them immediately into western countries....

I am not a doctor, but I would expect at least one of the above methods to contaminate our society to work. Probably there are others too....

Think about it!!

Andy, nobody is talking about goverment possesing and safely storing virus specimen (for experimenting, looking for cure and vaccine etc) But patending it? Do you expect to sue talibans for their last kalashnikof? S.M.

Again (amongst many here) you are COMPLETELY missing the point.

Let me put it to you again in an EVEN simpler way:-

The government will take MONEY from COMPANIES trying to make ANTIDOTES for Ebola and safety CLOTHING to protect Ebola workers. (this list may even be extended above and beyond what I just mentioned!)

To this end, they MUST patent their rights for all possible LEGAL users.... (the rest don't even get a look in!!)

Now is that SIMPLE enough for you. OK?

I am here to help if you need it.....Just ask!

It is a difficult concept for many, not just you!!

REMEMBER!:-

The US Government MUST remain "LEGAL" at all times....as must any serious government!!

Part of that is the need to "Patent" such things, simply to control their usage.....

You appear to think more like a terrorist than a sane US Citizen!!!

But seriously, in the event of a court case in the USA about Ebola, US Lawyers would run rings round the US government, otherwise.....if it were not "Patented", OK?

Think about it, lawyers make money, not friends.

OK?

Sane US citizen? I am not US citizen, and as for sane, it's for expert to say. Nevertheless I seem to love US more than some US officials, and that, for what I think is supposed to stand for.. Now unless Ebola is also accidentally a cure for cancer or something I'm not aware of, your argument about money from companies to use it, is total BS. Not an expert on living organism patents, but I didn't know that you can patent something that is somehow already in the nature, so according to this I could patent pandas or white bears if I think of it first, right? That makes me think like a terrorist? I think YOU are in a hurry to give terrorists logic arguments as presents, and that is not all that smart either. Whatever. S.M.

They HAVE patented it!!

The web link proves it as far as I can tell.

I personally find it an easy and practical way to stop other people using or studying it, in the USA at least.

What else, better than this, could have been done? Any offers? I have none myself....

Probably most people living in the USA will be happy(er!) I feel, rather than for example:-

a) let a private company patent it

b) let almost anyone bring samples into the USA, intentionally, maybe for good or bad reasons.....

I am not a lawyer, nor do I know that much about patents and patenting, but this was probably a great idea.....AND IT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED!!! Good or bad!!

Be happy!!

So no need to discus it further, it has been done, even if you personally think it should not!!!

Perhaps you need to approach the US Government and get them to cancel it!!

By the way, I assume that your first language is not English, but I gave two examples of how the virus could be used for good purposes/reasons, did you not understand that? Re-read my post again.....

I am also not so stupid to assume they are even the only reasons either....but naturally a weapon could be made by anyone skilled enough.

I bet there are plenty of those sort of people around on this world, then the USA (amongst others) would need to be able to make a vaccine to combat that weapon, such as is being done right now....

Now how would they do that with no virus? (Not that I am either a Doctor of medicine or a Virologist either!!!) I assume that it would be needed.....anyone know different?

Are you such a skilled person you yourself?

Do you KNOW for certain if a Vaccine can be made without the virus? Then how would such a vaccine be tested for efficacy?

Give us your opinions please on these questions and any others you can think of. Thanks in advance.

If I have to choose who patents it, of course I would prefer an organized country structure like US gov, that is subject to some control by its people. I'm not arguing about that, but about why any one would, or even could ever patent such a thing. Patent "spirit" is to give for a limited time the inventor, intellectual product owner or their beneficiaries the advantage to exploit it economically with monopoly and/or copyright privileges over others. There is no more basic assumption that the patentable "thing" is, or at least is believed to have some "good" properties that can be POSITIVELY exploited with economic or other acceptable benefit to patent owner. Now considering that a) You can't stop an enemy using patents b) On a deadly disease with no effective treatment there is no ethics on putting ANY obstacles on development of some treatment, using patents or ANY other means for that matter, I miss the logic behind it. I'm no commie, but here is where I draw the line. But since there's always the possibility we mortals don't have all the data for proper judgment, I'll wait for other inputs. S.M.

There is a MAJOR difference between terrorists trying to bring ebola IN to say the USA, and them having it available in the USA because the government does not regulate or own it.

There are (sadly) many American halfwits (Timothy Mcveigh?) who would use it to attack people IN the USA. He killed a few and he is not alone.

These people believe in a Government who is out to prevent them living as they wish, right to carry arms, right to shoot people on their land, but seemingly not allowed to have solar power, not allowed to leave the power network, but still want water and sewage services for example! For them, the government is the enemy of the people.

There are probably millions of them around....in every country....not forgetting the "imported" terrorists either...

They go and kill a few school children and teachers from time to time, most are quite young, at least brain wise....not always body wise.....

All these people would consider using ebola if it was in any way shape or form available.....they would not think twice!!

There is only one criteria for patenting something it MUST be unique! That means that what they have patented is NOT what is in nature! So, it HAS been made different than what is in nature SOMEHOW. Like: maybe it is now weaponized, and is now airborne. Or, perhaps they have tailor made it to only be curable, by the medicine that the CDC has patented for this strain.

If it makes some people on here 'feel better' to call me a terrorist, for accusing the Obama government of plans to implement an Ebola epidemic crisis, in order to cull the population, and enrich some people; then you ought to 'feel' ecstatic at this comment!

You have little ground to stand on, if you don't think our government would ever do this, from the aforementioned tainted blankets given to the Native Americans, to giving syphilis to the Tuskegee Airmen, and several others that I could dredge up if you are too lazy to do it yourself.

Anything recent? Say since 1965 for example?

I disagree with you totally. This is not the first patent issued on a life-form. Usually the patent is issued based on unique science of correctly identifying all of the DNA sequence of the life-form. That is one way to "own" the rights to something that is natural in scope. How about taking a deep breath, and just calming down?

I do not agree...surely its only the "first" to patent?

Perhaps you can quote the paragraph of patent law in your country that mentions that it must be unique? Thanks.

My take is the following, not necessarily in the correct (for you!) order:-

1) Its a pretty safe, but very expensive, place to store such diseases. Other countries may not be anywhere near as safe.....any of them.

2) Its unlikely that this Government owned place will ever start supplying the Taliban, even accidentally. (Though the Taliban would probably accidentally kill more of its own people with such viruses! So that may be a bad idea, to not to supply them!!)

3) The US government will make money by supplying the virus to drug companies trying to make antidotes and companies making special safety clothing. This might offset some of the costs involved in keeping it safely stored.

I do not see any possibility that the US Government will try and infect anyone intentionally, if that is your real worry, not even some of the idiots with a hate of any sort of Government intervention who occasionally also post here!!!!

I cannot rule out a terrorist attack of course, or stupidity either......but the US has been pretty good on the virus score as far as I remember. Not so good on the radioactive front years ago though!!

I had a look around the web, but Ebola is fitting into every search argument that I have thought of, so I could not find any other (human) viruses being noted as having been spread by the US government as far as I can tell.

If you have a better link, please share.