Sabia
Description
Sabia
virus is a member of the Arenavirus family, of the New World group, and it was
isolated from a fatal case of hemorrhagic fever in 1990 in Sao Paulo
Brazil. Because of extensive liver
necrosis, it was often mistaken for yellow fever. The virus infected a virologist at Yale in 1994 when he
broke a test tube with a sample of the virus over a centrifuge. After an 8-day incubation period, his
symptoms included myalgias, a mild headache, a stiff neck, and fever. He had a
prolonged course with hemorrhagic symptoms. It was transmitted to him by
aerosolized dropets in the lab due to the high-speed centrifugation of a sample
of the virus. He was put on
ribavirin and recovered. The
natural reservoir remains unknown, although it is suspected that it to be a
rodent found near the small community of Sabia outside of San Paulo
Brazil. It is assumed that it has
a high morbidity and mortality. Hepatocellular damage and hepatitis have been
described with Sabi‡ virus and other arenaviruses
Power
High
morbidity and mortality. An Ace!
Offensive
Attacks
Enjoy
a bout of Brazilian hemorrhagic fever
Humans
usually become infected by drawing a contaminated rodent excreta card.
Likes
to replicate in the liver.
Causes
necrosis in liver, kidney, adrenal cortex, and lymphoid tissue.
Causes
hemorrhagic fever and thrombocytopenia by increasing levels of interferons
which arrest maturation of megakaryocytes.
Outcome
gradual
onset of fever and myalgia, followed by systemic and hematopoietic cell
abnormalities. Hemorrhagic
fever.
Speed
8
day incubation period.
Defensive
Behavioral
Don't
hang out in rodent infested areas in Sao Paulo Brazil
Don't
centrifuge tubes full of Sabia virus and the breath in deeply.
Biosafety
suit: You need to recognize the
risk of occupational exposure to Sabi‡ virus by aerosol. Although standard
universal precautions may be adequate to prevent spread, additional biosafety
precautions should be considered when one is dealing with arenaviruses and
other dangerous viruses whose mechanisms of transmission are sketchy.
Vaccine
NO
vaccine because the virus is very rare. No card will save you.
Treatment
If
you landed with hemorrhagic fever, get your hands on some opiates, it's gonna
hurt! Make sure your hydrated and try to draw a platelet tansfusions if you
can.
Antivirals
are effective, especially guanosine analog ribavirin.
Game Action
If
you get this card, look to see if you have an antiviral card. If you do, use it! If you don't, hope you draw one by the
next two times around because if you don't, you're out of the game with
hemorrhagic fever.
One Liner
"Don't
centrifuge tubes full of Sabia virus and the breath in deeply"
--For
dummies
"You
may think you got da flu,
but
you been playin w/rodent pu,
your
about to be bumbing
hemorrhagic
fever is coming,
and
there aint much aspirin can do"
Rocio
Background/Description
A newly evolved
Flavivirus that emerged in 1975 in an epidemic of encephalitis in Brazil, in
the Satista lowlands just South of Sao Paulo in the Ribeira Valley and caused
an epidemic that persisted over a 2 year period from 1975-76. It is presumed that the transmission
cycle involves wild and possibly domestic birds as a viremic host, as the virus
was isolated from two sentinel mice exposed in the epidemic zone and from a
rufous collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) collected in the area. Mosquitos, primarily Aedes Scapularis
are the main vector. Humans who
were infected became ill with encephalitis. There were about 1,000 cases of which about 10% were fatal,
but humans did not take part in perpetuating the transmission cycle. This is a human disease.
A hypothesized
explanation for its sudden appearance is that it is a mutated strain of Ilheus
virus.
Power
Rapidly
developing, disabling, killing, and poorly characterized
Offensive
Attack
Homes in on the
brain. Attacks the thalamus,
dentate nucleus of the cerebellum, hypothalamic nuclei, and substantia nigra.
Outcome
Causes
encephalitis
Persistent cerebellar,
motor, and and neuropsuchiatric signs in 20% of survivors.
Speed
Fast! The
disease could develop rapidly with patients dying within 5 days of symptoms
first appearing.
Defensive
Behavioral
The disease
appears to have virtually disappeared.
Relax and enjoy, this is truly a rare card in the deck.
When it was
around, the highest incidence seen was in young adults working outdoors in
impoverished agricultural areas.
Treatment
Go for the
antivirals and the pain killers, this won't be pleasant.
Responds well to
typical encephalitis treatment such as antivirals, antiseizure medications,
steroids to reduce brain swelling, acetaminophen to treat headache and fever,
and supportive care such as rest, nutrition, fluids help the body to fight the
infection.
Vaccine
Out of
luck. A mouse brain vaccine lacked
potency. No political drive or popular demand for the development of a vaccine
because the virus seems to be gone.
Game Action
Speed! This card acts fast as patients often
die within 5 days of first symptoms.
However, it's a rare card so odds are good you wonÕt see in a hundred
games you play.
One Liner
"It used to
destroy your brain,
but lately its
presence did wane."
Nipah
Description
Nipah is a member
of the Henipaviruses within the Paramyxovirus family and it was first isolated
in 1999 in Malaysia. It resulted
in encephalitis which ended up killing more than 110 people. It is a zoonosis that is linked to
contact with pigs. Apparently you
can actually hear the pigs cough when they are infected with the virus. The discovery that Nipah is linked to
these pigs resulted in a large scale slaughtering of the pig stocks which was
devastating tot he economy. This
action, however, did effectively stop the epidemic. It has 82% homologous genome in common with Hendra, another
Paramyxovirus. It is not easily
passed from one human to another.
Nipah is a novel viruses found in bats in Australia and Malaysia,
particularly from fruit bats belonging to the genus Pteropus (flying foxes).
Power
Highly lethal
and able to jump species barriers very well (eg horses, pigs, birds, humans)
Offensive
Attack
Attacks blood
vessels and causes encephalitis.
Pathogenesis to be related to systemic vasculitis that led to widespread
thrombotic occlusion and microinfarction in most major organs especially in the
central nervous system.
Transmitted by
drawing a card with infectious bat or pig droppings.
Outcome
In many cases
the infection is mild or inapparent (sub-clinical). In symptomatic cases, the
onset is usually with influenza-like symptoms, with high fever and muscle
pains. The disease may progress to
inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) with drowsiness, disorientation,
convulsions and coma. 50% percent of clinically apparent cases die.
Speed
The incubation
period is between 4 and 18 days
Defensive
Behavioral
Purge
all pig cards and don't play with bat poo! Minimize disease exposure with good farm management
practices, reducing the potential for exposure to flying foxes, and better
disease recognition and diagnosis,
Treatment
No
drug therapies have yet been proven to be effective in treating an infection
with the Nipah virus. For now intensive supportive care is the main treatment.
There is some evidence that early treatment with the antiviral drug, ribavirin,
can reduce both the duration of feverish illness and the severity of disease,
but this is still not certain.
Vaccine
You
can actually use a rabies vaccine card against this opponent for pre- and
post-exposure prophylaxis. Finally, it is possible that a plant-derived Nipah
vaccination will be coming soon, look out for that card in the future, it will
be worth a lot against this highly lethal opponent. For details, look below.
Future
Nipah Vaccine
There's
no cure for Nipah, but a vaccine is in development. In the January issue of the
Journal of Virology,
French and Malaysian researchers reported that vaccinia viruses, engineered to
express either one of two Nipah's surface glycoproteins, protected golden hamsters
from a lethal challenge of Nipah. Because antibodies against Nipah and Hendra
cross-react, Pasteur Institute senior virologist Vincent Deubel says he's
"quite confident" that the vaccine would also protect against the
Bangladesh virus.
Game action
Pulled
a Nipah card? There isn't a Nipah
vaccine card yet, but if you pull a rabies vaccine card after the fact you can
still use it as protection, and get another turn for being so resourceful.
One Liner
"If
you got Nipah and you know it kill your pigs,
If
you got Nipah and you know it kill your pigs,
If
youÕve got Nipah and you know it
Then
your brain might surely show it
If
youÕve got Nipah and you know it Kill your pigs"