Ebola Out Break Confirmed

Hollie

Anthrax?

Yesss thanks to u Hollie i just remembered what i was thinking of was either ebola or anthrax.



its amazing how low (no!) security there is in Kazahstan on all these PLAGUE cultures!

reply to post by gardener


that's more unsettling when you think of all the crap going on in the region

ya i mean.. wasn't KAZAHSTAN rated the top most corrupt country in all the world (besides the us i mean=)

This is the first time Ebola has appeared in Guinea. It's usually in the countries in Central Africa. This seems a bit farther west than usual, not too far from the Atlantic Coast. It's getting a little too close to the America's being right across the pond, so to speak.

On its way to Florida....but the Iranian courier met a tradgic accident........

Ebola is one of those things that really (and I mean REALLY) frightens me.
If there's anything positive to be said about it, it would be that in its usual form it's not hugely contagious unless you come into direct contact with bodily fluids and it tends to burn through hosts so quickly that most outbreaks are relatively short-lived and contained.

But the possibility that it could become airborne just doesn't bear thinking about.
Never mind worries about flu, imagine an airborne Ebola strain circling the globe and the sort of mortality rates that come with it

Let's hope this latest outbreak follows the normal pattern and dies out pretty quickly.
Medical and aid workers who deal with this stuff have my utmost respect.

reply to post by Suzy0


There is something odd about this one compared to what I normally read about in Kenya and Tanzania, for instance. The outbreaks there don't play around with saying 'in some cases, bleeding', let alone saying it's from feces....? Sounds like a variant strain?

This is the first time that such a virus has been identified in Guinea. This particular strain of the virus is initially contracted via contact with contaminated rodent feces and is then spread among humans through bodily fluids, such as sweat, saliva and blood.

Symptoms include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and, in some cases, bleeding.

Source

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Isnt ebola by definition a hemorragic fever? So bleeding would not be "in some cases". Maybe what you said, mutation?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Yes - the "in some cases bleeding" sounds odd to me too. I don't think that's something that I've seen reported about the virus before either.
Of course, I could be wrong. I certainly don't claim to have read everything ever documented about every outbreak! Or I suppose it could be an attempt to downplay some of the more horrific symptoms.
Still sounds odd either way though.

Wasn't there a case a while back which was traced back to infected pigs and farmers coming into contact with their faeces?
On my phone at the moment, so it's difficult to search to be able to verify that.

reply to post by Suzy0


Well, I found another source. Good news and bad news.

The Good news is, is isn't talking like a weird outbreak movie and is more inline with conventional Ebola stories. I just don't hear about it being spread by feces in the way Hanta virus is so closely associated with that, as another example. I guess it happens though...

The bad news is... err... it's not in a rural area or, apparently, very well contained.

Health officials have confirmed that Ebola, which the World Health Organization has identified as one of the most virulent diseases today, has been found in virus samples taken from the stricken in Guinea. The area affected is in the southern portion of the country; the capital, Conakry, and reportedly across the border into Sierra Leone.

Source

Make that a 2nd source suggesting it's across the border then, after Al Jazeera, quoted earlier in the thread. If they're not reporting from the same original source of info, that sounds bad.

Thanks for all the interesting views and comments, has made for good reading with my morning coffee!

I just came across this, not being from the States I never really read NBC so forgive me if this isn't a very good source!

This comment scared me slightly:

"But you have to understand that not all the cases are necessarily due to Ebola fever. Some will have other origins, including a form of severe dysentery,"

To me that makes it sound like a cocktail of fun all being mixed together!
Wouldn't we have a higher risk of mutations and new strains of the virus?
So if there are multiple diseases all mixing together within a host isn't this really bad!?

Thoughts anyone?

www.nbcnews.com...

Bishbop09
Thanks for all the interesting views and comments, has made for good reading with my morning coffee!

I just came across this, not being from the States I never really read NBC so forgive me if this isn't a very good source!

This comment scared me slightly:

"But you have to understand that not all the cases are necessarily due to Ebola fever. Some will have other origins, including a form of severe dysentery,"

To me that makes it sound like a cocktail of fun all being mixed together!
Wouldn't we have a higher risk of mutations and new strains of the virus?
So if there are multiple diseases all mixing together within a host isn't this really bad!?

Thoughts anyone?

www.nbcnews.com...

edit on 23-3-2014 by Bishbop09 because: Stupid iPhone typos!

(In bold): that is actually a good thing as it means not all recorded cases are actually Ebola but some other type of severe infections of the intestines that produces diarrhea.

And viruses do not mix like that to produce a new strain, they change slowly and mutate but they don't mix.

gardener

jhn7537

gardener
Is this the disease you can pick up from just walking through a jungle/forest?

edit on 22-3-2014 by gardener because: (no reason given)

Here ya go

World Health Organization

Transmission

Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. In Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found dead or ill in the rainforest

Thanks. Does anyone recall the name of the disease (think its a virus, but might be a bacteria or bacteriophage) that remains dormant in soil for DECADES and then when someone comes into contact with as little as a speck of dirt in the jungle, they contract this disease - without direct contact with infected anmals' fluids whatsoever - and then can spread it to other humans contageously??

anthrax is like that.

Ebola is actually its own worst enemy. It kills too quickly, and while it's highly infectious, it's limited to infecting through body fluid contact. Infections tend to flare up, be devastating, but they burn out too quickly to turn into worldwide killers.

If one of two things happened to Ebola, it would be a real problem: 1.) The infection became a much slower killer giving victims much more time to travel and potentially infect others before they became incapacitated and/or dead. 2.) It mutated to become airborn so that could be spread like the common cold or flu.

ThePublicEnemyNo1
reply to post by jhn7537

 

I've traveled to Central Africa three times and yes, you missed a wonderful opportunity. However, I understand anyone not wanting to travel there based on health concerns. Although most viruses (not diseases) are pretty much isolated to a very specific region...anything is possible. Besides, there's probably more yucky stuff lurking in your kitchen than in Africa that can harm you. Especially if you prepare raw meats.

I learned a lot!!! I would go back today if I could. You could go into a restroom at your local restaurant, wash your hands then touch the faucet AGAIN bare handed to turn it off and catch a host of viruses. Nothing anywhere is safe unless you take some serious precautions. I'm a germaphobe so to speak, so I tend to over do it when I'm in public places.

I get dirty looks everytime I open a bathroom door with a napkin, but who cares. Gotta' live life my way 😊👍

edit on 3/23/14 by ThePublicEnemyNo1 because: Can't spell this evening...sorry

Yea, maybe one day I will make the trek back.. I've spoken to my girlfriend and family about possibly going to South Africa, for some odd reason that country seems to be a safer travel destination on that continent, but I could be 100% wrong.. The one thing that scared me about going to Kenya and Uganda was that there was a lot of interacting between locals who essentially lived in 3rd world conditions (sometimes worse)... I spoke to other students who did this study abroad program and they all mentioned to me that it's not a matter of "IF" you will get sick, but a matter of "when" once you arrive there... I've had some health issues, which aren't necessary to get into now, but long story short, I'm pretty susceptible to catching things do to my rather low white cell count, so when I heard about the conditions, the amount of hand sanatizer one needs, I was worried that a 6 week stay there could spell disaster for me... I may regret this decision one day, but hopefully I will be able to go to Africa at some point in my lifetime. Not saying it has to be Kenya and Uganda, but I'd like to spend a little time on every continent at some point in my lifetime, because I am understanding that there is loads of beauty out there just waiting to be visited.

ketsuko
Ebola is actually its own worst enemy. It kills too quickly, and while it's highly infectious, it's limited to infecting through body fluid contact. Infections tend to flare up, be devastating, but they burn out too quickly to turn into worldwide killers.

If one of two things happened to Ebola, it would be a real problem: 1.) The infection became a much slower killer giving victims much more time to travel and potentially infect others before they became incapacitated and/or dead. 2.) It mutated to become airborn so that could be spread like the common cold or flu.

And a frightening reality occurring with many diseases around the world is that viruses are mutating and bacteria are growing stronger, becoming drug-resistant. It's a common theme. I receive daily Google Alerts on disease outbreak and pandemics, and it's startling how many there are around the world that receive very little media attention, but the one thing that I read a lot is how old diseases are making a comeback despite vaccinations, like measles and mumps, and new diseases are growing stronger and doing things the experts have never seen, like West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever and the H-N- series of viruses. It's a frightening reality that Ebola could evolve as well.

Interesting find and one that we should look at. Having looked at and often studied the nature of filo viruses, let’s look at the history of such:

The first outbreak of this species of virus was in Marburg Germany, back in 1967. The world had never seen anything as lethal as it killed 50% of all of its victims by causing them to bleed out and become goo, which was highly infected. It struck in Germany, namely Marburg, Frankfurt and Belgrade.

Then came the Ebola outbreak in Zaire, in 1976, near the Ebola River, given the name of Ebola Zaire.
Then came the next outbreak in Sudan, in 1976 later on that year, was discovered to be closely related to Ebola, but killed 80% of its victims. A closer examination of the virus revealed it was related to the previous strain, and was given the name Ebola Sudan.
There was other out breaks, but the next strain, showed up in 1989 in Reston, Virginia, USA. The strain Ebola Reston is lethal to primate, but is non-lethal to humans, and is the only strain where a person can survive and not die from.

1994 revealed another strain of Ebola that occurred on the Ivory Coast and it was called Ebola Coat D’Ivory. It lethality has not been determined.

And there have been more outbreaks that have occurred since then.
Now the one that is current is in Guinea has the lethalness of Ebola Zaire, by the high number of deaths that are known. What they will need to do is run tests to determine what strain it is and hope that it will burn itself out.
Also the experts are having to look at all of the animal movements of the area, as they are still looking for the carrier animal. If they can find the carrier, then they have a good chance in developing a vaccine to stop the spread of this virus and save lives. So far the experts have not found the carrier animal. But there is one other small detail that is never talked about, but it seems as they modernize and build roads, the faster these kinds of disease tend to spread and show up, a definite link.

Update:

Just seen this updated 25 minuets ago, it's now spread to the capital.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Ok now I'm starting to worry just a little!

reply to post by Rezlooper


The thing about Ebola is that we've never had a really effective treatment to subject it to, so it's not been exposed to any manmade pressures that would cause it to want to change unlike measles or mumps. It's still operating more or less in the same place in the same way.

That doesn't mean that it can't mutate, but it has been under no special pressure to do so.

Bishbop09
Update:

Just seen this updated 25 minuets ago, it's now spread to the capital.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Ok now I'm starting to worry just a little!

Damn that's crazy, I hope they get this under control soon... As long as it's not the Zaire strain of Ebola (most fatal, usually 90% death rate), but don't get me wrong, all the strains are horrible, but the Zaire one is just the most deadly...