Does the Ebola virus worry you?

[Ns1]

it gets better, the locals don't want the help. the white man is bringing them all down.

Workers and officials, blamed by panicked populations for spreading the virus, have been threatened with knives, stones and machetes, their vehicles sometimes surrounded by hostile mobs. Log barriers across narrow dirt roads block medical teams from reaching villages where the virus is suspected. Sick and dead villagers, cut off from help, are infecting others.

“This is very unusual, that we are not trusted,” said Marc Poncin, the emergency coordinator in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders, the main group fighting the disease here. “We’re not stopping the epidemic.”

Efforts to monitor it are grinding to a halt because of “intimidation,” he said. People appear to have more confidence in witch doctors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/world/africa/ebola-epidemic-west-africa-guinea.html?_r=0

 

[MongGrel]

Somewhat actually.

There was one guy infected with it who was heading to the US that was ID'd on the way home who had it and died.

Not sure if that was the same one.

New Fears About Ebola Spread After Plane Scare



http://time.com/3049917/new-fears-about-ebola-spread-after-plane-scare/

 

[Gooberlx2]

Somewhat actually.



There was one guy infected with it who was heading to the US that was ID'd on the way home who had it and died.



Not sure if that was the same one.



New Fears About Ebola Spread After Plane Scare







http://time.com/3049917/new-fears-about-ebola-spread-after-plane-scare/

Of that, this bit kinda shocks me:

Sawyer was immediately quarantined upon arrival in Lagos — a city of 21 million people — and Nigerian authorities say his fellow travelers were advised of Ebola’s symptoms and then were allowed to leave. The incubation period can be as long as 21 days, meaning anyone infected may not fall ill for several weeks.

Guy was apparently puking and shitting in the lavatory. I guess it'd be too early tell at exactly that point, but honestly I'd have thought they'd go ahead and quarantine everyone, or at least the most at risk (immediate seat neighbors, stewardess, others who used the lavatory), until sufficient time would pass that they could reasonably trust a blood test or whatever.

 

[Dari]

Of that, this bit kinda shocks me:





Guy was apparently puking and shitting in the lavatory. I guess it'd be too early tell at exactly that point, but honestly I'd have thought they'd go ahead and quarantine everyone, or at least the most at risk (immediate seat neighbors, stewardess, others who used the lavatory), until sufficient time would pass that they could reasonably trust a blood test or whatever.

It's Nigeria, the same country that has endemic corruption, lost over 200 girls to a terror organization, and the kidnap capital of Africa. Don't expect much from them.

 

[Slew Foot]

time to play me some plague inc.

 

[Jodell88]

While Ebola is worrying, my immediate concern is contracting Chikungunya.

 

[Pens1566]

I wasn't concerned until the news came out about the guy that got pulled off the flight en route to Minnesota. This outbreak seems to be different as well in that there are cases in major populations centers now. I think it's likely that we see the first cases off the African continent this time.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I think it's likely that we see the first cases off the African continent this time.

There's been a case in Switzerland before, though she survived and it wasn't spread from there.

 

[Coulrophobia]

My bet it will show up in France if it moves out of Africa.

 

[Fritzo]

Diseases like that actually do worry me. All it takes is one infected person taking a plane trip to a populated area, and you have a pandemic on your hands with no treatment. It's one of the most plausible doomsday scenarios.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Diseases like that actually do worry me. All it takes is one infected person taking a plane trip to a populated area, and you have a pandemic on your hands with no treatment. It's one of the most plausible doomsday scenarios.

Thing about Ebola is that the window of transmission is short. Only after certain, obvious, symptoms occur, up until it kills the host (or, more likely in a 1st world country, host is quarantined). Ebola is actually too deadly for its own good as a plausible pandemic.

Now if it were aerosolized and transmitted before the more severe symptoms present themselves, like the cold or flu, we'd have a serious problem.

 

[Pens1566]

There's been a case in Switzerland before, though she survived and it wasn't spread from there.

They contracted a variant in Africa, and were TREATED in Switzerland.

 

[Gooberlx2]

They contracted a variant in Africa, and were TREATED in Switzerland.

Oh you're right. I thought she'd flown home before symptoms occurred.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...om-africa-unlikely-though-not-impossible.html

Eight days later, she developed chills, then diarrhea, an all-body rash, temporary memory loss and was flown to Switzerland by air ambulance for treatment, accompanied by health workers wearing masks, gloves and gowns. She recovered without infecting anyone else.

 

[Renob]

No, but I did enjoy reading The Hot Zone back in the day. Fun book.

KT

Great book! I will worry when it starts mutating and goes airborne

 

[Hugo Drax]

I wonder what the magic number is before people start to panic or get worried?

ie 10,000 infected? 100,000 infected?

Whats the magic number for the US before looting and panic sets in, 1? 100? 1000?

 

[FallenHero]

I wonder what the magic number is before people start to panic or get worried?

ie 10,000 infected? 100,000 infected?

Whats the magic number for the US before looting and panic sets in, 1? 100? 1000?

1000 for the US I would guess. Or the CDC suddenly shits their pants and starts telling everyone to be on the lookout for it in their local neighborhood.

 

[smackababy]

Ebola isn't some kind of air born pathogen. Even if it makes it to the US, it is highly unlikely it will spread. It is transferred via bodily fluids, which means none of you lonely neckbeards need to worry, as the only bodily fluid you're touching what you clean off your keyboards.

 

[clamum]

You realize that doctors who treat Ebola patients wear full coverage suits and burn them afterwords without touching them and using a flamethrower?

I did not specifically know that, no, but knowing that does not change my mind. When the United States has an outbreak with cases in the thousands, I may start to worry slightly.

 

[Strk]

Ebola isn't some kind of air born pathogen. Even if it makes it to the US, it is highly unlikely it will spread. It is transferred via bodily fluids, which means none of you lonely neckbeards need to worry, as the only bodily fluid you're touching what you clean off your keyboards.

Nice attempt at a joke, but ebola is transferable in all bodily fluids. That includes sweat, which it is why it is so easy to spread.

Right now, the biggest problem is people not respecting the quarantine and spreading the virus.

 

[zephyrprime]

The doctor who contracted the disease died today. It's very alarming.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/27/ebola-africa-disease-epidemic/13236743/

I just got done watching a Vice documentary on the Ebola virus. Looks nasty. The disease is spread thru monkeys, rats and bats. What I don't understand is, if they have been eating these animals for generations why is this virus an issue now? The first case was reported in the late 1970's.

http://youtu.be/XasTcDsDfMg

Apparently it kills about 1000 people every year so it's hardly new. Unless some sort of more dangerous variant of it evolved, I don't see anything to worry about yet.

 

[wabbitslayer]

WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE !!!

 

[smackababy]

Nice attempt at a joke, but ebola is transferable in all bodily fluids. That includes sweat, which it is why it is so easy to spread.

Right now, the biggest problem is people not respecting the quarantine and spreading the virus.

It is highly unlikely this would spread much in the US, as people are effectively quarantined.

 

[Thebobo]

No, but I did enjoy reading The Hot Zone back in the day. Fun book.

KT

Great book indeed. I've been to the "Monkey House" in Reston a few years after the outbreak there and even though all was clear it was still creepy going in there.

Some good reading about the outbreak

Reston’s Hot Zone ─ 20 Years Later (+5)
http://ispub.com/IJPRM/2/1/12768

 

[norseamd]

I wasn't concerned until the news came out about the guy that got pulled off the flight en route to Minnesota. This outbreak seems to be different as well in that there are cases in major populations centers now. I think it's likely that we see the first cases off the African continent this time.

What? I obviously need this link considering where I live.

 

[norseamd]

Where is Tom Clancy when we all need him.