Right on the heels of the unwanted gift of Coronavirus to the world, the home of fatal viruses presents Bunyavirus -- The Reboot:

https://www.news.com.au/technology/novel-bunyavirus-reemerges-in-china/news-story/b833406e5b2b391aac62dc52db554e64

Something very strange going on over there!
All these virus coming from there and some of them have not raised their head for years and years.

Bit of luck it will stay there!

Probably the great majority of viruses that jump from animals to humans are hosted in Asia, where poverty and lack of education is common, people live cheek-by-jowl with animals and hygiene is a foreign word. Add to that global travel and you have a recipe for disaster.

It's hard to know what's real and what's not anymore..... Many of the news articles are Chinese publications where they Are told what to write.. the Red party is in control of the people in China unfortunately.

SARS Coronavirus, Bird Flu, Novel Coronavirus. There's three. I am probably missing a few others.

MERS Coronavirus (AKA Camel Flu) and Pig Flu came from Saudi Arabia and Mexico respectively though once in Asia, they blossomed.

Pretty much all of these superbugs came from the poor upkeep of animals or unsanitary living conditions.

Given that in Australia we have (or until recently had) very few serious diseases, the population generally is not well informed about what diseases are still around in the wider World. Part of my military training in the early 1970s included a week at the Army School of Health learning about what to expect and avoid in South East Asia and areas further north. Experience in previous operations had shown that up to 60% of all militarily casualties were due to infections and diseases. While most people know of the danger of Malaria there are a lot of other infectious diseases that difficult to treat and could cause serious problems if they were brought back to Australia.

An example is Bali which is a popular destination for younger Aussies where they can wander around in thongs or bare foot. I have read about all the delights of the place laid out in travel brochures but I have never seen any mention of the place being rife with Bilharzia. Schistosomiasis also known as Bilharzia, is an infection caused by a parasitic worm that lives in fresh water in subtropical and tropical regions in Asia. The common method of contracting it is by walking bare foot through puddles of stagnant water or having water splashed onto the feet. The worm then burrows through the skin. Infection is not immediately obvious but can do the human body an lot of damage if not detected and treated quickly. Over the years I have asked several GPs if they knew about or had ever seen a case Bilharzia. Only one had heard of it before and none knew what the symptoms were. I have not read about it being in Australia as yet but I would reckon that there are more than a few people who are infected but unaware that they have it.

Hardly surprising, there are at least three people around here that have died from "tick" picked up in Qld; Doctors around here unless ex Military don't seem to ask if people have been on holidays near the tropic of Capricorn.

My old Doctor was a Ex Military Doctor. Probably the best doctor I've ever had, He really understood men and how we think and work. Unfortunately he has called it a day.
As for Asia and virus ! Yep thats how I got my hernia. I was in the Philippines and the village all came down with a very odd coughing bug and I caught it . I had the cough for about 3 months and it gave me a Hernia.
One other time ,I got the worse tummy bug/ virus in Egypt ,it was bad! I thought it was the end! I had been drinking water that was bad.
Being sick in Oz is no fun ,But when your sick in Asia or Egypt it's something you don't forget in a hurry...

Pete

I know what water poisoning feels like. When we were kids the family went camping with the old army tent to Jinanyne and were were drinking water out of the snowy river straight not boiled apparently, we found out later there was a dead animal in the water not far away . We all got very very sick . Even now I can hardly remember a time when I felt more crook than this.
We had not been in Australia that long and it was a steep learning curve for our parents .

When I used to go camping in my early 20s I'd take very little. In fact what I took used to fit in the boot of a Torana with plenty of room to spare. I never drank out of the rivers as I was told what could happen, though I usually brought packaged drinks from Sydney, ranging from bourbon to orange juice.

Fast-forwarding about 30 years to the prsent day, a typical camp involves dragging along an 80 litre dual zone fridge packed with all the home comforts, everything from bacon and eggs to icecream and chocolate topping and the beverages range from chocolate milk to lolly water to plain water (hydration during bushwalks and photography hikes) to port, though the latter doesn't go in the fridge of course.

I still get a few tryhards tell me that when one takes luxuries on a camp then it is pointless camping but during middle-age, one has little to prove and a camp is all about just getting away from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle, not showing one's mates that they can camp in the middle of winter with a sheet of newspaper as a blanket and eating wildlife for tea each night.

The car has a second battery, DC-DC converter and a 400W inverter to provide electricity for all the modern conveniences like camp lighting, a telly, laptop, phone and camera chargers, etc, plus power for the fridge. For camps lasting longer than two nights, a 300W solar panel keeps the second battery charged to provide indefinite power.

Life's good. Though because I bring food and drink in with me, I don't have to worry about poisoning myself these days. There's probably a lot more in some waterways than one may realise. Not just dead brumbies but cow turds, residue from 1080 dog baits, fertilisers and if you are near former gold mining settlements like Hill End - a place I camp a fair bit - mercury.

Camping and poisoning: Back in school cadets were were on bivouac at Singleton Army Base. Meals were trucked out to our location by the base staff in hot boxes. One year we all came down with severe cases of dysentery and had to abandon the exercise. To make matters worse, it was raining. I vividly recall squatting on a log at night in the rain wondering when/if the 'trots' were going to stop.

The worst thing that ever happened to me on a camp was getting nailed by conjunctivitis. I didn't know what it was at the time and ended up aggravating it by squirting in eye drops. The big problem was that I was at an age where me and my mates did have things to prove to each other so I laid a bet that I could camp for seven days and seven nights without transport and so it was - complete with sore eyes.

I had a miserable time and the only time my eyes weren't sore was when I was sleeping. However there was a reward waiting for me when I was picked up and hauled back to Sydney - a crisp $50 note from each of the suckers that were foolish enough to agree to the bet.

Unfortunately, when you travel through 3rd world counties,Your going to get the sick at some point , Having the runs is normal,But if you get something worse it can be a major issue.EG my wife's family Dog got scratch by a Cat and a few days later the Dog went mad and bit a young boy on the street in phil .The Dog had caught Rabbies from the Cat , So this Rabbie team comes to the street and kills the dog and takes it away,But everybody had to go and have the Rabbies shots .. The little boy was ok , But coming from OZ we just don't think of these things and we often pet dogs and cats etc when over seas...Pete

We have a lot to be thankful for living here in Australia.
We still until all the virus stuff happened go away in our 30 year old caravan have made a lot of modification to it like internal batteries , LED lighting and power outlets all over the place. Used to sometimes camp off power grid not anymore our 3 way fridge died and I replaced it with a cheap and nasty 12 volt compressor fridge have a solar panel but not enough to run this stuff especially when in shade or rainy days etc.So now it is powered sites in caravan parks, but not even doing that while this stuff is going on.
Regards Jim.

Jim,
Sounds great Jim , Once things settle you guys can go a wandering again.
I love drifting about and travelling. Although these days it's only short trips,but it the past I've done very long trips.
I have a Toyota ute and I would like to Sew a canvas back on it one day.
That one day will be long off because I have so many jobs and projects going on . Too many in fact.

Pete