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AudibleNod OP t1_j0ho07j wrote

It's a Better Homes & Gardens branded aromatherapy spray bottle sold mostly from Wal-Mart. It was tainted with bacteria that causes melioidosis.

The raccoon broke the bottle and walked through the liquid.

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JennJayBee t1_j0hqaso wrote

This is so weird. I understand how it happened. I've just never heard of anything like this with what is essentially an air freshener.

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d0rito5 t1_j0hrqkg wrote

Burkholderia pseudomallei appears to be endemic to Gulf Coast soil now, too. We are in for a fun microbial century.

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BiBoFieTo t1_j0ht6a0 wrote

When animal control removed raccoons from inside my roof I asked about keeping them as pets. The guy said:

"There's a reason why raccoons aren't kept as pets. They're violent assholes that will destroy everything you love."

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GreenStrong t1_j0hufb6 wrote

Replying to BiBoFieTo (#946,990)

What a bizarre coincidence, I had a technician form a private exterminator service say almost the exact same thing. "There's a reason why raccoons aren't kept as pets. They're violent assholes that will destroy everything you love. Everything! They'll crash your car, sleep with your wife, lie to your parents, max out credit cards in your name... Why Rocky? all I wanted to do was love you."

Did your guy say the second part too? We may have met the same pest control tech.

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alexxerth t1_j0i0f0m wrote

Replying to BiBoFieTo (#946,990)

They're less violent if you get them neutered (or spayed i imagine, I'm not actually sure it effects females the same way) before puberty.

The problem is they are smart, they are curious, and they like to dig. So even with them being less violent, they will still destroy everything. They will dig into dry wall. They will get into all your cabinets. They view baby locks as a challenge and will get through them. There is no way to realistically secure all of your belongings in a way that isn't incredibly inconvenient for you.

If they grab something they don't recognize, they will try to wash it. It gives them better tactile feedback and they use their hands to identify things. This includes any electronics.

They are very hard to keep healthy. They are frequently overfed and it's hard to give them proper exercise.

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barrinmw t1_j0i1e4e wrote

Replying to UncannyTarotSpread (#947,103)

Isn't it amazing, lockdowns ended over a year ago and we are now running short on things we had in abundance before. Hell, we still haven't fixed the baby formula issue yet. I suspect some other type of fuckery is going on.

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Hattix t1_j0i3bjs wrote

Show the doubters this when they say aromatherapy doesn't do anything.

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pegothejerk t1_j0i7gg3 wrote

Replying to barrinmw (#947,430)

It’s not suspicious, it was expected and warned about for decades. The cholera outbreak is a third larger than previous outbreaks, that easily explains the issue there.

Diseases were a known growing issue thanks to the warming of the planet, the resulting displacement of various animals and thawing/changing environments, leading to new infectious crossovers, which means more hosts and more chances for mutations, which means an increase in the number of endemic and pandemic issues. When that happens and effects the human population supply chains are disrupted, which can delay regular supplies for years beyond the end of the biological issue. With something as big as Covid we lost and will lose in future endemic and pandemic events a ton of experts and critical workers, and traditional forms of funding as those responsible for that work die or become severely ill.

China’s lockdowns are just starting to be eased, their economy has finally been taking a hit this year as production reduced, which disrupts everyone as China is a global primary manufacturer. We will see disruptions from that for a long time.

A pandemic or any globally impacting event being “over” in how it affects you personally doesn’t mean it’s over for everyone else and other underlying markets that service the global marketplace. Same with the environmental damage that’s been done so far, just somehow going neutral on the damage we deal out wouldn’t fix the runaway snowball problems we’ve already started.

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5zepp t1_j0iiphf wrote

Replying to JennJayBee (#946,834)

Just a few years ago there was either scented candles or plug in scent that killed some people, same kind of thing. It was random deaths around the country and someone figured out it was a particular product sold, I believe, at Walmart. Actually it might have been candle-heated potpourri.

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queefaqueefer t1_j0iki8s wrote

Replying to BiBoFieTo (#946,990)

one time, i stayed at a very small but adorable hotel. went out for some sight seeing, yet somehow, two raccoons broke into the room and proceeded to lock themselves in the bathroom. i came back to the room with a literal murder scene in the bathroom: there was blood everywhere and two mangled, dead raccoons strewn about the bathroom. never let two raccoons lock themselves inside a room, LOL.

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Krewtan t1_j0in50s wrote

Replying to BiBoFieTo (#946,990)

A friend's dad tried it once. As soon as it was nearing adulthood you could not tell it no. They have thumbs too, and they are very observant. Your pantry will get ripped to shreds, and they always seem to find their way back "home".

If you don't want to have to kill a "pet", don't adopt a racoon.

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HardlyDecent t1_j0inmql wrote

Replying to BiBoFieTo (#946,990)

One of the few (but too many) states where trash bandits can be kept as pets. They're adorable and curious and cuddly, but they are not nice critters, and they're rabies vectors (as most mammals can be).

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Rowan_cathad t1_j0ipcri wrote

Replying to barrinmw (#947,873)

I really don't know what point you're trying to make lmao, that there's shortages in just about every industry because of a global pandemic impacting every single aspect of life for 2 years, with 7 MILLION dead?

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shfiven t1_j0isdjm wrote

Replying to Blenderx06 (#948,373)

I don't really know why anyone would want to keep NA native species as a pets. To my knowledge there are no animals native to north America that have been domesticated, so by default you are keeping a wild animal. For example, I love my bunnies, and I think the little cottontails who live here are adorable, but they aren't the same. As a more drastic example, I also love my cat but can't imagine keeping a mountain lion as a "pet".

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ArrowheadDZ t1_j0istio wrote

Replying to barrinmw (#947,430)

Isn’t it possible that the “fuckery” is actually just society kicking a lot of really important cans down the road for decades, and the pandemic was simply a trigger event?

From climate to infrastructure to labor policy to classism to distribution of wealth, we have a number of deep structural issues. The current “way” was never sustainable and many have been warning of that unsustainability at the top of their lungs for decades… to skeptics that largely didn’t give two shits and deliberately discredited them.

Now, the things they have been warning of are coming to fruition, and they continue to be insulted and dismissed. The things they have been warning us about for years are still being dismissed as just “fuckery” being committed by bad actors… which just continues the denials that the problems are actually systemic.

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LordofSandvich t1_j0j0l68 wrote

Replying to WritingTheRongs (#948,474)

Bacteria love specific environments. Including bacteria that kill us. So if you put a bunch of weird oils in a bottle, and you’re not careful, you could accidentally ferment it into a lethal biohazard or poison.

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ninja996 t1_j0jhm6m wrote

Tell me more about your essential oils

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Wompawompa1 t1_j0jou6l wrote

Replying to CyberGrandma69 (#948,688)

I love watching the monkeys come through our garden every few days. They usually hang out and eat from the Pecan tree. But fuck they’ve caught me off guard enough times that I know to keep windows closed, and an eye on the front door gate.

I can’t imagine having a raccoon pack roaming about.

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squigster037 t1_j0juwh8 wrote

Replying to BiBoFieTo (#946,990)

Also the rabies vaccine we have is formulated w/ dog blood. We haven't tested to see if it actually is effective on raccoons. So, you know, you can't be sure it doesn't have rabies.

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todlee t1_j0jxy3d wrote

It can be years before somebody shows symptoms of melioidosis.

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InternationalCut2610 t1_j0k5k6j wrote

Replying to CatProgrammer (#951,541)

I understand that but this is just a continuation of politics stifling research. Now we have the internet and can share ideas more to a certain extent. I'm not saying we can discount the political climate entirely but it's extremely damaging to discount a technology because it was developed by an ideological(or existential) enemy. Nazi technology did take us to the moon after all, as despicable as their research practices were.

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InternationalCut2610 t1_j0k7aiz wrote

Replying to Swineservant (#951,423)

I mean, science can be tested that's what makes it science. You don't need to source any materials from Russia to make isolate phages and create a therapy.

You just collect the bacteria you're targeting - which will in general have bacteriophages that have evolved to infect that bacteria - and isolate them.

Then culture a pure sample of the bacteria, add samples of the phages to petri dishes and look for plaques where it's killed the bacteria.

That's a very basic explanation and you need to do more testing to make sure it's safe to be used as a human therapy vs in vitro but, the science as far as the theory goes isn't fake and can be verified.

You can do it in your basement if you want, to target specific strains of bacteria that cause you acne for example. I wouldn't recommend that unless you're interested in learning about the mechanisms behind it and investing in equipment to create a safe and sterile environment.

That said - yes you can trust science from anywhere because the whole point of science is it's empirically verifiable.

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RationalLies t1_j0kk5au wrote

Replying to jigokubi (#948,138)

There's a reason why so many languages call raccoons "wash bears".

In fact, most of the world actually has a name for raccoon that literally translates to "wash bear". English and French are more unique in that it doesn't reference that name.

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UncannyTarotSpread t1_j0ktyta wrote

Replying to Krewtan (#948,820)

I sometimes wonder if we could breed them for domestication like we’ve done for foxes. Would they start showing brindle patterns and different ear shapes? It’s a fascinating process.

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UncannyTarotSpread t1_j0kubs8 wrote

Replying to barrinmw (#947,873)

There’s no “fuckery”, just shortsighted greed and the inevitable results of refusing to stockpile necessities, and then the interruption of the supply chain by the deaths of millions and the disability of millions more

There is fuckery, but this ain’t it.

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BoozeIsFoods t1_j0lav2y wrote

I've never understood the desire of people spraying some cheap scents in their home to cover up the smells of their dirty home. If you just keep a clean home you don't need to constantly spray crap in the air so you don't notice the smell.

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ChalupaCabre t1_j0lefte wrote

Replying to Kiiaru (#951,965)

Holy shit! Just clicked the link.

165,000 people a year get this thing I have definitely never heard of before… and yeah, half of them die from it. Guessing most of the other half get some life long complications from it.

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angelcobra t1_j0lfkfr wrote

Replying to musical_shares (#950,923)

Holy hell. I never heard of this until just now and based on the methods of exposure I’m shocked more kids from the 70’s/80’s didn’t die from this.

This isn’t a generational piss take. I am legitimately surprised.

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SpaceTabs t1_j0lld86 wrote

"After identifying the bacteria in the aromatherapy product in 2021, the CDC advised anyone with the spray in their home to stop using it immediately and dispose of it by double bagging it in clear bags and a cardboard box and taking it to a Walmart location."

TF? I doubt that many were returned.

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givemeabreak111 t1_j0lynm7 wrote

Replying to Hattix (#947,536)

Breathing in anything laden with bacteria is a very bad idea .. it kind of reminds me of the people that die from Amoeba or parasites when they inhale brackish water after swimming in a filthy pond or river

.. had a friend almost die from mycoplasma after inhaling it at a water park

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TSL4me t1_j0m7u6t wrote

Everyone should also read about valley fever from the American southwest. Its a fungus that gets kicked up from moving soil, like every farmer does. My uncle died from it. Its getting exponentially worse from drought.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis

"It was reported in 2022 that valley fever had been increasing in California's Central Valley for years (1,000 cases in Kern county in 2014, 3,000 in 2021); experts said that cases could rise across the American west as the climate makes the landscape drier and hotter.[10]"

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Koloblikin1982 t1_j0owz70 wrote

Replying to LordofSandvich (#949,656)

This is also why you shouldn’t use the olive oil with herbs mixed in sitting on the table 24/7. Anearobic bacteria (bacteria that don’t need oxygen to survive) absolutely thrive in that stuff.

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Rowan_cathad t1_j0v2hw6 wrote

Replying to barrinmw (#970,869)

You can't suddenly unkill 7 million people buddy. It hasn't been just... 2 years of waiting to fix a single supply issue. There wasn't like, one single event. The pandemic is still raging in many places, especially China, where most of the supplies come from.

Shifting decades of entrenched industry and dealing with fallouts and ripple effects across every branch of industry is something that can't be fixed overnight, especially with a recession in action.

Good news is shipping prices have finally started coming back down, but that usually takes 8 months to trickle down to stores who already have a year's worth of inventory

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FeliusSeptimus t1_j114dx6 wrote

Replying to UncannyTarotSpread (#952,652)

I'm kind of surprised there aren't any racoon domestication breeding efforts. It seems like domesticated racoons bred for the purpose would make excellent service animals.

I suppose it would be many years before the animals reached a commercially viable state, but before then you could probably sell a lot of hats.

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