‘Stupidity Virus’ Has Been Discovered By Scientist

#1 Here's The Reason Your Friends Are Just Plain STUPID

Ebola, Zika, the flue? It turns out there may be another virus you need to be worried about. In fact, some of you probably already are carriers and don't even know it. Scientists recently discovered a new virus that they say is making people stupid.

#2 The Stupid Virus

It's a virus that affects human brains and makes people 'stupid' according to researchers ar John Hopkins Hospital and The University of Nebraska. It affects human cognitive functions and spatial awareness. It called the chloral virus or ATCV-1.

#3 ATCV-1 Comes From Green Algae And Is Contagious

The virus comes from green algae. It was thought that humans were not prone to be infection by this virus, but that changed after scientists performed throat swabs of 92 test subjects who showed unexpected traces of ATCV-1 in their DNA. Because the algae is airborne it is being considered contagious. So in short, you can catch 'stupid' from people you associate with. So be careful around those you consider a little slow on the uptake.

#4 Those Infected Scored Lower On Tests

The patients were all then put through a series of testing. Forty test patients were found to be positive for the virus after initial testing, and those performed worse on tests designed to measure speed, accuracy, and visual processing. They also scored way below average on tests that measured attention.

#5 It Was Discovered By Accident In Patients Throat DNA

The virus was found by accident when the scientists were doing a study on throat microbes. At first, they did not know what the virus was until they did further research and found that the algae causing the virus is normally found primarily in freshwater environments, though there's no indication that it affects only those who live or work near lakes and rivers. After examining the virus and inserting it into DNA samples, it showed that is had an effect on several different brain processes.

#6 Further Tests Show That The Virus Slows The Thinking Process By 20%

The team carried out further tests, in which they injected uninfected and infected green algae into the mouths of mice and put them through a series of lab tests. The results revealed that infected animals took 20% longer to find their way out of mazes and spent 20% less time exploring new objects than uninfected mice, confirming the findings already found in the human volunteers.

#7 Now You Call In Stupid From Work With A Reason

Professor James L. Van Etten of the University of Nebraska, said that these viruses may infect another microorganism besides the algae, which is how they are being transported to others and ending up in the throats of patients.

"These are agents that we carry around for a long time and that may have subtle effects on our cognition and behavior," said Robert Yolken, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Maryland who led the study. "We're really just starting to find out what some of these agents that we're carrying around might actually do. We are early yet and have no idea whether this is hereditary or passed on once a host is infected."

In short, if you're a little stupid, you can now blame it on your infection.