Epidemic Impacts On Mail

perf12

Info on the Spanish Flu I've found online indicates between Spring and Fall 1918 the virus had mutated and had become even more deadly. It was particularly more so for the young. The following was found on the link provided in my earlier post:

Influenza jumped outside the camps and went raging through the civilian population. Because of the way the virus worked it was particularly frightening because it killed young men and women. Normally the flu killed the old and the very young. In 1918, the flu was killing young able-bodied Soldiers.

One of those Soldiers was Pvt. James Down who entered the Camp Upton hospital on Long Island Sept. 23 and died Sept 26. An Army pathologist clipped a piece of James Down's lung, preserved it in wax, and sent it to the Army Medical Museum.

In 1999 that section of Pvt. Down's lung helped doctors at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology determine what made the 1918 virus so deadly. Researchers in 2007 theorized that the 1918 flu forces victim's over-stimulated immune system to kill the patient as it tries to fight off the virus.

The old Camp Upton referenced in the link is about 20 minutes from my home. Now it is known as Brookhaven National Lab. Every once in a while they find unexploded ordinance on the grounds.

https://www.bnl.gov/about/history/campupton.php

The New York Times has an article on the possibility of the COVID-19 virus being transmitted by mailed articles. It mentions that according to the USPS website, "letters and parcels sent to ZIP codes beginning in 202, 203, 204 and 205, which serve federal government agencies in Washington, D.C.", are "put on a conveyor belt and passed under a high-energy beam of ionizing radiation that kills bacteria and viruses. The letters and packages are then "aired out" for a while, before being forwarded to their destinations. The paper is left slightly faded and somewhat crispy, but sterile."

It sounds like online stamp purchases being mailed to addresses in those ZIP codes are in danger of being seriously damaged! ALthough the treatment is limited to known Government addresses, the article is not clear about that.

The article can be read at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/...ackages.html. Note that the Times website only allows a few views a month unless you have a subscription!

"Importantly, the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/201...v/faq.html), the World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-d...onaviruses), as well as the Surgeon General have indicated that there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.

Specifically, according to the World Health Organization, "the likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and been exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low." And according to the CDC, "in general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures. Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods.""

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/sta...onavirus.htm

An aside,
I wonder if our isolations, will show in an increased amount of member participation here on SCF during the months ahead?

Perhaps, a polite encouragement for members to make a small donation, if not already done so, to keep our fabulous forum afloat.

1891 Scarlet Fever Notice from Hartford CT


Don