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Ebola fears hit close to home

clownboy said:
I can think of a couple movies where that is exactly how they started. Contagion comes immediately to mind.
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You've answered your own post. Please deal with reality, not movie drama. We've had at least two legitimate scares over the past decade and none of them went the route of a movie.
 
I love that all our focus has been on Ukriane but this has the potential of beocming an international disaster especially in the third world.
 
Summerwind said:
One American dies in another country, having contracted it in another country and it's looking like a bad movie???? I'm sure that many in those countries have been exposed by him and others, otherwise he wouldn't have been exposed. One more person isn't newsworthy. Wow, there's that drama qu... again.
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Because who cares if there are 30,000 infected people? They're in another country! :roll:
 
Summerwind said:
You've answered your own post. Please deal with reality, not movie drama. We've had at least two legitimate scares over the past decade and none of them went the route of a movie.
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The problem with the disease spreading too much and reemerging is that every time a new host contracts the disease it's genetically modified from person to person. The more often that happens, the higher likelihood of it going airborne, where even small particles inhaled can transmit the disease into the bloodstream.

The more they can quarantine and contain the spread, the less likely it can reach more genetically diverse populations, environmental conditions and other animal species. Other species are known to become infected and spread the disease including primates, antelope and porcupine, which means pigs could become a natural host. Fruit bats are a known 'reservoir' for the Ebola virus.

The reality is it could easily become worse than any movie.

Could Ebola now be airborne? New research shows lethal virus can be spread from pigs to monkeys without contact | Mail Online
 
Summerwind said:
You've answered your own post. Please deal with reality, not movie drama. We've had at least two legitimate scares over the past decade and none of them went the route of a movie.
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Do you even read what YOU write?

Quote Originally Posted by Summerwind

One American dies in another country, having contracted it in another country and it's looking like a bad movie????
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Deuce said:
While dangerous illnesses could be carried across the border, illegally or just on any freakin airline flight, ebola isn't a very good candidate. It's so lethal that it tends to limit its own spread. Kills the host before it can spread. Nasty little bug. Extremely high mortality rate. Hope they figure out a vaccine, but how do you volunteer to test something like that? "Ok, here's the vaccine. Now here's an injection of ebola to see if it works!" Yeah, probably not.
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The incubation period of Ebola is 2 to 21 days according to the CDC. What limits the spread of the virus is not that it kills quickly, it's that it is not known to spread through aerosols. The only known spread in humans is through contact with a sick person. There is a known case of Ebola spreading in a research facility among chimpanzees through aerosol, though.
 
Summerwind said:
One American dies in another country, having contracted it in another country and it's looking like a bad movie???? I'm sure that many in those countries have been exposed by him and others, otherwise he wouldn't have been exposed. One more person isn't newsworthy. Wow, there's that drama qu... again.
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And how many other people were on the plane with him? That is your "drama". But we are too stupid to close our borders.
 
grip said:
The problem with the disease spreading too much and reemerging is that every time a new host contracts the disease it's genetically modified from person to person. The more often that happens, the higher likelihood of it going airborne, where even small particles inhaled can transmit the disease into the bloodstream.

The more they can quarantine and contain the spread, the less likely it can reach more genetically diverse populations, environmental conditions and other animal species. Other species are known to become infected and spread the disease including primates, antelope and porcupine, which means pigs could become a natural host. Fruit bats are a known 'reservoir' for the Ebola virus.

The reality is it could easily become worse than any movie.

Could Ebola now be airborne? New research shows lethal virus can be spread from pigs to monkeys without contact | Mail Online
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I agree with the premise, but to panic now is juvenile, just as it was with SARS and the bird flu. We (first world countries) don't live in 1919 anymore, and IF everyone is SOOOOOO worried about these things then why aren't we doing more to fund the research for solutions, and then accept the cost lost as we give the benefit to those in second and third world countries.

As you point out, Ebola isn't new. The concern isn't new, and yet we seem way too pleased with ourselves for ignoring it while it's in 2nd and 3rd world countries and then PANIC when one person in one 2nd world country becomes ill and dies because he contracted in yet a different 2nd world country just because his home is in the USA.

That's what's ridiculous. IF it's truly that much of a concern, it should already be a top priority to stop it in it's tracks in Africa, but that's too costly since most of Africa wouldn't be able to afford the meds since pharma has no motivation besides profit.
 
clownboy said:
Do you even read what YOU write?
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Yes, do you remember recent history wherein both of the "legitimate" concerns turned out to be no concern at all really?
 
Summerwind said:
I agree with the premise, but to panic now is juvenile, just as it was with SARS and the bird flu. We (first world countries) don't live in 1919 anymore, and IF everyone is SOOOOOO worried about these things then why aren't we doing more to fund the research for solutions, and then accept the cost lost as we give the benefit to those in second and third world countries.

As you point out, Ebola isn't new. The concern isn't new, and yet we seem way too pleased with ourselves for ignoring it while it's in 2nd and 3rd world countries and then PANIC when one person in one 2nd world country becomes ill and dies because he contracted in yet a different 2nd world country.

That's what's ridiculous. IF it's truly that much of a concern, it should already be a top priority to stop it in it's tracks in Africa, but that's too costly since most of Africa wouldn't be able to afford the meds since pharma has no motivation besides profit.
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To panic now is juvenile? Oh ok, I guess we should wait till it's a real problem and too late to contain?

I promise, if this thing goes airborne, it'll be the worst thing the world has ever seen.
 
WCH said:
Ebola outbreak kills an American - CNN.com

Patrick Sawyer had one stop to make before heading home to Minnesota to celebrate his daughters' birthdays: a conference in Lagos, Nigeria.

But when he landed in Lagos, Sawyer, 40, collapsed getting off the plane. He had been infected with Ebola in Liberia, where he worked as a top government official in the Liberian Ministry of Finance.

Sawyer was isolated at a local Nigerian hospital on July 20. He died five days later.

Sawyer's wife Decontee Sawyer, lives in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, with the couple's three young daughters, 5-year-old Eva, 4-year-old Mia, and Bella, who is 1. The Sawyers are naturalized citizens; their daughters were born in the United States.

snip

Video at site.

They're looking for upwards of 30,000 who may have had contact with this man. This is starting to look like a bad movie.
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I saw this yesterday on CNN. It was helpful to know this stuff.

 
jmotivator said:
The incubation period of Ebola is 2 to 21 days according to the CDC. What limits the spread of the virus is not that it kills quickly, it's that it is not known to spread through aerosols. The only known spread in humans is through contact with a sick person. There is a known case of Ebola spreading in a research facility among chimpanzees through aerosol, though.
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I was just reading about Ebola last night after reading the latest death toll. Perhaps I was dreaming as I cannot find the article now but I read that a lab who is currently working on a couple potential vaccines believe they had an incident of air born contamination. They had two sets of test animals who were not in contact with one another (except air) and one apparently caught Ebola from the other. If this is true it could have very dire consequences, it could mean that Ebola has the potential to mutate to an air born pathogen.
 
CRUE CAB said:
And how many other people were on the plane with him? That is your "drama". But we are too stupid to close our borders.
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Same with the SARS folks but in the end was much ado about nothing. Like I said, get out of the movie mindset, it's for drama queens.
 
grip said:
To panic now is juvenile? Oh ok, I guess we should wait till it's a real problem and too late to contain?

I promise, if this thing goes airborne, it'll be the worst thing the world has ever seen.
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Apparently you didn't read the common sense solution presented that would make more sense than panicking. Why does this not surprise me?
 
Summerwind said:
Apparently you didn't read the common sense solution presented that would make more sense than panicking. Why does this not surprise me?
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Apparently, you didn't just see the new CDC: Level 3 Alert announced on CNN, warning people not to travel to West Africa. And they're sending 50 more personal to the area to help contain the outbreak.

I'm not advocating panic anyway, only awareness. This particular strain has a higher survival rate so far at 60%, meaning that humans are developing some antibody resistance. Nature doesn't always create diseases that we can't become immune too.
 
grip said:
Apparently, you didn't just see the new CDC: Level 3 Alert announced on CNN, warning people not to travel to West Africa. And they're sending 50 more personal to the area to help contain the outbreak.

I'm not advocating panic anyway, only awareness. This particular strain has a higher survival rate so far at 60%, meaning that humans are developing some antibody resistance. Nature doesn't always create diseases that we can't become immune too.
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Again you pay no attention to what was typed. I've also not recommended ignoring the problem, only that hyping some kind of panic instead of addressing the issues (which warning people not to travel to Africa doesn't do) is nothing more than an exercise in being a drama queen.
 
Summerwind said:
Yes, do you remember recent history wherein both of the "legitimate" concerns turned out to be no concern at all really?
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What, like West Nile? Legionnaire's? Ebola has been a concern for quite some time now. What's held it back is it's short burn time and the fact that every outbreak we burn the area and salt the earth afterwards. Thus far it's been localized in certain small regions of one continent, Africa. That's changing. What we are afraid of is that the virus, with a larger spread/range will most certainly mutate. If it goes airborne we're looking at a Hollywood movie type disaster.
 
Summerwind said:
Again you pay no attention to what was typed. I've also not recommended ignoring the problem, only that hyping some kind of panic instead of addressing the issues (which warning people not to travel to Africa doesn't do) is nothing more than an exercise in being a drama queen.
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I pay more attention than you do or you'd know I didn't warn people not to travel to Africa, the CDC did. And calling me names doesn't strengthen your comments of sarcasm.
 
Summerwind said:
I agree it's newsworthy, I agree we need to be helping these impoverished countries resolve this and many other health issues instead of hoarding all the benefits of advanced medical research and development in the first world countries.

My comments are strictly relating to the drama queen nature of OP, nearly demanding that we all panic right now.
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That post was a window into the mind of the average Liberal. And that person has the ability to vote.

Thats scarier than Ebola.


Anyway, so it's now OUR fault these people are contracting Ebola ?

And what " Advanced research " are you alluding too ?

What ? Do you think we secretly have the cure for Ebola and are keeping it all to ourselves ?

Ebola is a VIRUS, and that means it CANNOT be cured. The " advanced medical technology " needed to give a Ebola sufferer every opportunity possible is simply intravenous fluids.

So do we need to send a crack team kf doctors to teach those people how to administer IV fluids or can they take care of that on their own ?
 
Baralis said:
I was just reading about Ebola last night after reading the latest death toll. Perhaps I was dreaming as I cannot find the article now but I read that a lab who is currently working on a couple potential vaccines believe they had an incident of air born contamination. They had two sets of test animals who were not in contact with one another (except air) and one apparently caught Ebola from the other. If this is true it could have very dire consequences, it could mean that Ebola has the potential to mutate to an air born pathogen.
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That is the case I was talking about. But is one report so it can't really rule out other vectors.
 
grip said:
Apparently, you didn't just see the new CDC: Level 3 Alert announced on CNN, warning people not to travel to West Africa. And they're sending 50 more personal to the area to help contain the outbreak.

I'm not advocating panic anyway, only awareness. This particular strain has a higher survival rate so far at 60%, meaning that humans are developing some antibody resistance. Nature doesn't always create diseases that we can't become immune too.
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No, humans are not developing antibody resistance to the Ebola virus nor is this a less virulent form of the disease. The previous claims of a 90 % mortality rate were based on a faulty subset of data points and if anything this strand of Ebola is far worse than any preceding outbreak.

Previous mortality rates were from highly isolated small communities with poor access to proper medial care.

This outbreak is the largest yet and this form of Ebola isn't burning itself out as quickly as the last outbreak did which means it's spreading.
 
Fenton said:
No, humans are not developing antibody resistance to the Ebola virus nor is this a less virulent form of the disease. The previous claims of a 90 % mortality rate were based on a faulty subset of data points and if anything this strand of Ebola is far worse than any preceding outbreak.

Previous mortality rates were from highly isolated small communities with poor access to proper medial care.

This outbreak is the largest yet and this form of Ebola isn't burning itself out as quickly as the last outbreak did which means it's spreading.
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You guessing or have backup data?
 
Top Cat said:
I saw this yesterday on CNN. It was helpful to know this stuff.

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I also heard him say, "there are 1000s of tiny cuts in everyone's hands where you could contract this illness"

The guy on that plane was violently throwing up and no doubt sweating. (bodily fluids)
 
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