Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period
… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and
pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
(Luke 21:11).
… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; (Luke 21:25)
… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)
… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy
3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of
grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from
throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the
intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of
severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes,
typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual
places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records
everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This
list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and
massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this
Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are
familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like
a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size, duration and
scope.
Scientists discover first new HIV strain in nearly two decades. The strain is a part of the Group M version of HIV-1, the same family of virus subtypes to blame for the global HIV pandemic. About 36 (6×6) million in the world are living with HIV, according to World Health Organization. UNAIDS estimates that in 2016, some 1.8 (6+6+6) million people became newly infected.
By Jen Christensen, CNN Updated 7:48 PM ET, Thu November 7, 2019
(CNN)For the first time in 19 years, a team of scientists has detected a new strain of HIV.
The strain is a part of the Group M version of HIV-1, the same family of virus subtypes to blame for the global HIV pandemic, according to Abbott Laboratories, which conducted the research along with the University of Missouri, Kansas City. The findings were published Wednesday in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
HIV has several different subtypes or strains, and like other viruses, it has the ability to change and mutate over time. This is the first new Group M HIV strain identified since guidelines for classifying subtypes were established in 2000. It is important to know what strains of the virus are circulating to ensure that tests used to detect the disease are effective.
“It can be a real challenge for diagnostic tests,” Mary Rodgers, a co-author of the report and a principal scientist at Abbott, said. Her company tests more than 60% of the world’s blood supply, she said, and they have to look for new strains and track those in circulation so “we can accurately detect it, no matter where it happens to be in the world.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said current treatments for HIV are effective against this strain and others. However, identifying a new strain provides a more complete map of how HIV evolves.
“There’s no reason to panic or even to worry about it a little bit,” Fauci said. “Not a lot of people are infected with this. This is an outlier.”
For scientists to be able to declare that this was a new subtype, three cases of it must be detected independently. The first two were found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1983 and 1990.
The two strains were “very unusual and didn’t match other strains,” Rodgers said. The third sample found in Congo was collected in 2001 as a part of a HIV viral diversity study.
The sample was small, and while it seemed similar to the two older samples, scientists wanted to test the whole genome to be sure. At the time, there wasn’t technology to determine if this was the new subtype.
So scientists at Abbott and the University of Missouri developed new techniques to study and map the 2001 sample. Rodgers said it was “like searching for a needle in a haystack,” and then “pulling the needle out with a magnet.”
They were able to fully sequence the sample, meaning they were able to create a full picture of what it was, and determine that it was, in fact, subtype L of Group M.
It’s unclear how this variant of the virus may impact the body differently, if it does act differently at all. Current HIV treatments can fight a wide variety of virus strains, and it is believed that these treatments can fight this newly named one.
“This discovery reminds us that to end the HIV pandemic, we must continue to out think this continuously changing virus and use the latest advancements in technology and resources to monitor its evolution,” study co-author, Dr. Carole McArthur, a professor in the department of oral and craniofacial sciences at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, said in a statement.
About 36 million in the world are living with HIV, according to World Health Organization. UNAIDS estimates that in 2016, some 1.8 million people became newly infected.