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black plague treatment :: Article Creator Black Death Vaccine Being Developed Amid Fears The Disease Could Return And Kill Millions COVID jab scientists are developing a Black Death vaccine over fears the disease could re-emerge and kill millions. Researchers believe their inoculation will be the first approved in the UK for the ancient infection. 1 Covid jab scientists are developing a Black Death vaccineCredit: Getty The Black Death — also known as bubonic plague — has killed 200million people worldwide and medics fear a super-strength version may now appear. The team behind the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine said they had made progress on an injection that could prevent bubonic plague developing. A trial of their vaccine on 40 healthy adults, which started in 2021, shows it is safe and can produce an immune response to the often-fatal condition. Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the t...

Virus simulation game tops Apple’s App Store in China as Wuhan coronavirus spreads - Abacus

Virus simulation game tops Apple’s App Store in China as Wuhan coronavirus spreads - Abacus


Virus simulation game tops Apple’s App Store in China as Wuhan coronavirus spreads - Abacus

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:00 AM PST

As China grapples with the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus in Wuhan, a strategy game about wiping out humanity with a plague has shot to the top of the iOS App Store charts in the country.

Plague Inc., launched by UK-based studio Ndemic Creations in 2012, recently hit the top of the paid downloads chart in China, according to App Annie. When accounting for free apps, it sits at the fifth spot overall.

The game has long been considered one of the most creative and successful mobile strategy games of the last decade. It asks players to create and evolve a pathogen in an attempt to wipe out humanity. As a testament to its ongoing popularity, years after release it still sat around the top 25 on the overall App Store charts in China… until it spiked in recent weeks, right as the Wuhan coronavirus started to spread.

Plague Inc. lets you create the ultimate pathogen. (Picture: Ndemic Creations/App Annie)

Hundreds have now been infected by the Wuhan coronavirus, and cases have been identified in a handful of neighboring countries. It causes pneumonia, and confirmation that it can spread from person to person is raising fears of an outbreak as severe as Sars, a related coronavirus that killed nearly 800 people in 2002 and 2003.

The timing of Plague Inc.'s rise to the top spot is creating buzz on social media. 

"I shouldn't joke about this," a Weibo user wrote. "But when I was watching the live broadcast of the Wuhan outbreak, I genuinely felt like it was deja vu from Plague Inc." 

Despite the grim nature of Plague Inc., it's worth noting that it has also been recognized for its educational value. One of the game's developers was even invited to speak at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US.  

As popular Weibo influencer Youxijun puts it, "The game ostensibly asks us to destroy the world with a pathogen, but it is actually educating us on science and teaches us how to confront it if we fall sick."

Hundreds of cases have been reported, including some outside of China. (Picture: Getty Images)

Others are taking a more philosophical view about the game's sudden popularity.

On Weibo, Chinese gaming publication 17173 wrote, "The best way to eliminate fear is to look fear straight in the face."

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