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Does the Ebola virus worry you?

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I posted this on the other thread, but since there's this one... transmission requires contact, right? And not just a dry handshake? If so, doesn't that make it very unlikely it will become a pandemic? It would seem to me it's much more likely to impact areas where sanitary conditions and cultural practices bring people into closer contact with others, um... bodily fluids.
 
Strk said:
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.
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Easily spread between close family members and the like. But how often are you rubbing against a sweaty stranger? Especially one that's puking, shitting and possible bleeding out their eyes and ears?
 
Markbnj said:
I posted this on the other thread, but since there's this one... transmission requires contact, right? And not just a dry handshake? If so, doesn't that make it very unlikely it will become a pandemic? It would seem to me it's much more likely to impact areas where sanitary conditions and cultural practices bring people into closer contact with others, um... bodily fluids.
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Couldn't you say the same about HIV or Hep C?

But, yes, this requires real exchanging of bodily fluids. And, unless you contract it and get very intimate with a vast number of non monogamous people, the only place this might have any chance is a gym full of people who won't wipe down the equipment after they sweat all over it.
 
Gooberlx2 said:
Easily spread between close family members and the like. But how often are you rubbing against a sweaty stranger? Especially one that's puking, shitting and possible bleeding out their eyes and ears?
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You sweat all the time whether you realize it or not. You don't have to be dripping wet to be considered sweating. There's a reason they burn all the clothing.
 
smackababy said:
Couldn't you say the same about HIV or Hep C?
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Well, ah, given my very limited medical expertise I will of course answer definitively: yes, you could. And then I would also say that neither of those things ever even come close to a pandemic that threatened the general population, as much as various elements obviously wanted us all to believe that's what was happening. If something affects limited at-risk populations, then empathy aside that is not something that frightens me.
 
Not to mention that your breath contains saliva and moisture suspended in mid air and that does allow it to travel short distances over air.
 
zephyrprime said:
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.
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uh no.

_76593066_ebola_deaths_624_latest.gif
 
Markbnj said:
Well, ah, given my very limited medical expertise I will of course answer definitively: yes, you could. And then I would also say that neither of those things ever even come close to a pandemic that threatened the general population, as much as various elements obviously wanted us all to believe that's what was happening. If something affects limited at-risk populations, then empathy aside that is not something that frightens me.
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Even with the limited means of transmission the virus is powerful and very virulent so even one virus can potentially cause massive problems.
 
Strk said:
You sweat all the time whether you realize it or not. You don't have to be dripping wet to be considered sweating. There's a reason they burn all the clothing.
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I understand all that, but when you say "easy to spread" I think of something like the cold or flu. By comparison, ebola isn't particularly easy to spread when common 1st world precautions are used (like not handling dead bodies).
 
Do you guys remember what went on with Dennis Fillion? Can you imagine what some outbreak of Ebola at St. Paul-Minneapolis International Airport would look like?
 
Gooberlx2 said:
I understand all that, but when you say "easy to spread" I think of something like the cold or flu. By comparison, ebola isn't particularly easy to spread when common 1st world precautions are used (like not handling dead bodies).
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Yeah, that's why I wouldn't worry about it much here. There's a line in that vice link that sums up why it is such a problem over there, "people are more willing to listen to witch doctors than real doctors."
 
Why are people in Minnesota getting so paranoid? The guy was SCHEDULED to come to Minnesota next month. He works for Liberia's Ministry of Finance and was going to a conference in Nigeria, via Togo. He WAS NOT coming to Minnesota when he died. Calm down and stop spreading FUD.
 
Dari said:
Why are people in Minnesota getting so paranoid? The guy was SCHEDULED to come to Minnesota next month. He works for Liberia's Ministry of Finance and was going to a conference in Nigeria, via Togo. He WAS NOT coming to Minnesota when he died. Calm down and stop spreading FUD.
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And if he had no conference to attend he would have arrived at St. Paul-Minneapolis International Airport instead of Lagos International Airport. We are a major hub for the air transportation industry. If he was only showing the flu symptoms of early Ebola then he might have transmitted Ebola to everyone around him including those who he would pass by in the airport terminal and they would be traveling to locations around the United State and also international locations. That means not only would Ebola now exist in various residents of Minnesota who are now spread out around the Twin Cities but also many other huge metropolises. Attempting to track down everyone who he had contact with seems like a major pain in the ass. This would require national and international planning and execution directed under centralized control.
 
norseamd said:
And if he had no conference to attend he would have arrived at St. Paul-Minneapolis International Airport instead of Lagos International Airport. We are a major hub for the air transportation industry. If he was only showing the flu symptoms of early Ebola then he might have transmitted Ebola to everyone around him including those who he would pass by in the airport terminal and they would be traveling to locations around the United State and also international locations. That means not only would Ebola now exist in various residents of Minnesota who are now spread out around the Twin Cities but also many other huge metropolises. Attempting to track down everyone who he had contact with seems like a major pain in the ass. This would require national and international planning and execution directed under centralized control.
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And none of that happened.
 
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