Ebola Out Break Confirmed

reply to post by crazyewok

Its not going to be the end of the world fact. Yes you could very well get a nasty outbreak but Its not going to turn in to a world ending pandemic like the doom porners on here predict.

I don't hold to a extinction level event due to Plague outbreaks either, so you know. Today an outbreak of a virulent disease is going to kill a lot of people. Its already happened. Whats AIDS up to death toll wise?

Thats a lot of people.

reply to post by intrptr


Trouble with HIV s is that you don't know you have it until it turns to AIDS and you infectious almost from the start. As far as infectiousness goes its a nightmare. We are luckily it hasn't killed more to be honest.

Ebola yes is highly infectious but by the time it is infectious to a dangerous level the patient is basically disabled and can really only pass the virus on to hospital staff (if they are careless) or normally in Africa where there little healthcare to the friendly and family who try to give well meaning but dangerous care to the poor patient.

intrptr

I don't know where you are getting this information from but it is inaccurate and misleading

No your information is misleading and based on sensationalism and doom porn.

Ebola is a nasty virus but unlikely to cause the next global pandemic to kill millions.

intrptr
.Please do some research on this subject before you post.

hmm 5 years of university and 3 years of working in micro labs qualify s me I think.

reply to post by crazyewok

Ebola is a nasty virus but unlikely to cause the next global pandemic to kill millions.

Surely a contender. Anything capable of airborne transmission is. It keeps rearing its ugly head in micro breaks, too.

You say you've read the HotZone but your terminology and experience don't seem to reflect that (Microbreak instead of Outbreak, for instance).

Besides, we are all "experts" up in here.

reply to post by intrptr


Sorry, my husband has been a professional microbiologist working in pharma with things that can kill for over a decade, and his experiences agrees with ewok's.

Ebola is not airborn and kills too quickly to become a global pandemic threat. It would need to mutate from its present state in order become that kind of killer. It would either need to slow down its virulence so that victims would have more time to walk around and infect people before becoming incapacitated or it would need to become airborn or both or perhaps mutate to become passed through a vector like a mosquito or flea.

Perhaps you are thinking of other hemorrhagic fevers? Ebola isn't the only one.

intrptr

Surely a contender. Anything capable of airborne transmission is. It keeps rearing its ugly head in micro breaks, too.

And yet it always seems to be contained.

Im not saying not to take Ebola seriously. If we didn't bother Im sure it could turn into a world wide problem.

But as long as we keep a eye on it and take the proper precautions we are a long way from people dropping dead in the streets of London and new york from it.

If it got really bad they will stop flights to the country's involved and quarantine anyone that's returned from the country's that show even the slightest sign of it.

I wonder if this has anything to do with Israel closing all it's embassies and recalling all it's staff ?

Israel spends just as much on it's biological weapons as it has spent on it's missile defense as part of the Samson plan to cull the world of none jewish blood

ketsuko
Sorry, my husband has been a professional microbiologist working in pharma with things that can kill for over a decade, and his experiences agrees with ewok's.

He work in Cat 3 or Cat 4 lab? I'm a Cat 2+ /3 lab rat myself.

ketsuko
Ebola is not airborn and kills too quickly to become a global pandemic threat. It would need to mutate from its present state in order become that kind of killer. It would either need to slow down its virulence so that victims would have more time to walk around and infect people before becoming incapacitated or it would need to become airborn or both or perhaps mutate to become passed through a vector like a mosquito or flea.

Perhaps you are thinking of other hemorrhagic fevers? Ebola isn't the only one.

Exactly.

Books like the Hot zone ect are hyped up and sensationalized to sell really.

If a Pandemic that's going to kill millions is going to emerge it will be on the line of SARS, Influenza or another HIV like virus.

reply to post by crazyewok

And yet it always seems to be contained.

That is compelling. In The Hot Zone the villages in Africa have an exacting response to it. it is well known there and goes back a long time. The elders tell of tales of outbreaks. As soon as Ebola is recognized in one or more villagers by symptoms alone, the village immediately fells trees across entrances to the village and mounts a 24 hour guard. Anyone who approaches is informed and turned away. They spread the word to other local villages and they also fell trees and essentially shut down the local region.

Everyone that has any symptoms is placed in a central hut and nobody goes in or out of the hut or the village. If they survive the virus and heal they are allowed out of the hut. All the dead are burned in the hut and only after they are sure there are no more cases do they re-open the roads to the village and the other villages do likewise.

That is one reason why outbreaks have been contained up till now. Nowadays paved roads connect most places in Africa, not foot paths or dirt roads. Most towns have an airstrip connecting them to larger cities that have major airports.

Its a different world.

On airborne, I read in the book that Ebola Reston (the Monkey House in Washington DC) had two fatalities I think. One of those was a tech that never actually went into the building itself. He "crashed" and died outside and gave them all a scare for a while that the virus had escaped the building quarantine. The only way they figure he could have contracted it was thru the air. There was also another case in a Hospital where a nurse contracted the disease but that could have been from flying sputum or projectile vomit. Both of which are Ebola's horrific traits.

Something about sneezing and coughing was covered in the book, too. This airborne transmission depends heavily on the environment and the close proximity of other people to the carrier to some extent. Ebola can live outside on surfaces longer than HIV (thanks, that is the proper term).

Crashing and bleeding out is the virus spilling from its victim at the hour of death, getting on everything and when people clean up the blood… its not a clean illness, its a messy one and that also helps spread it. When people get sick they go to a hospital and then the whole hospital and all the staff are quarantined. The place people go for help is one of the first to shut down.

So now the means to fight is further limited.

reply to post by ketsuko


Thank you I did not see your reply in my message box, just happened to notice it in the thread when responding.

Sorry, my husband has been a professional microbiologist working in pharma with things that can kill for over a decade, and his experiences agrees with wok's.

I think that kind of work is a bit different from woking with level four pathogens. But I don't know what your husband does for Pharma. Plenty of things "kill".

Ebola is not airborne and kills too quickly to become a global pandemic threat.

Each time it breaks out it is a different strain. Clock is ticking. Sudden onset and climbing number of cases is a scary thing to pathologists. Until identified their panties are in a bunch.

Anyone can catch the virus from someone during the incubation period and as well during the illness and only when in remission does the virulence diminish. With Ebola this period is days to weeks depending on the victim. Not every victim dies so their illness is protracted and they are infectious the whole time. Those that run and hide to keep from being quarantined are most dangerous to the wider world. They want to get as far away from the outbreak as possible so as not to get caught.

If you found out your roommate had Ebola and they wanted to quarantine you with all the other cases to be sure, what would you do? You don't feel sick but describe your fear of contracting the virus if you go into quarantine? It takes several days to culture your blood and analyze it to see if you are clear. But then you may have gotten it in quarantine since they drew your blood. At some point with all the busy they will just let the virus run its course.

Identifying individual cases is a laborious task of securing samples and delivering them to accredited labs (like the CDC) for absolute confirmation of the type of virus or strand. Cultures are made and results compared to known pathogens in their little freezer in the basement. There are many labs but the few that are really well know are also consulted to be sure. This process takes time it is not "quick". The longest task is growing the cultures.

Pleas inform me if newer methods are utilized to decrease the time it takes to identify which virus they are dealing with?

Someone on here said that its not Ebola according to he BBC anyway. is that the case now? Just wondering…

reply to post by crazyewok


He's only ever worked in Cat. BL 2, but he's worked directly with rabies (part of that job involved a hacksaw and heads that may or may not be infected but someone had to crack those braincases to get at the tissue ... lovely college job), several clostridials that were more nasty to cattle but would still mess up your day, tetanus, he's worked indirectly with encephalitis and West Nile and almost had to receive an experimental vaccine for that, and he's working with one of the avian flu strains (can't say which one, NDA).

He deals primarily with quality control and bioinformatics these days.

reply to post by crazyewok

If a Pandemic that's going to kill millions is going to emerge it will be on the line of SARS, Influenza or another HIV like virus.

My choice is more along the lines of a weaponized strain say, of Small Pox. The Russians had tons of the stuff and the trail goes murky about the disposition.

Perfect terrorist weapon. Long incubation period. Send infected people round the states by plane train and bus to visit and touch every bathroom door handle and faucet as they go. The could ride elevators in hi rises and checkout air conditioning vent intakes, restaurants, train stations, ballgames, whatever.

Vaccines for Small Pox were stopped when I was a kid, this countries populace has no defense. I figure eventually the poor mans nuke is what someone will use to get at the US. Why not, we did it to the Native Americans along time ago with the gift of a few blankets.

Blow back is a bitch.

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but there has been a case today found in Cananda it was from a person who has flown in from the effected area. They have been put into isolation. And officials said that at the time the person was on the plane they would not have been infectious. Will look for a link but this was reported on sky ( I think ) www.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by gardener


That was a disturbing video, what i find most astonishing is that it was broadcast, like a big bullseye for the terrorists.

Foo_Lovers
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but there has been a case today found in Cananda it was from a person who has flown in from the effected area. They have been put into isolation. And officials said that at the time the person was on the plane they would not have been infectious. Will look for a link but this was reported on sky ( I think ) www.bbc.co.uk...

edit on 25-3-2014 by Foo_Lovers because: (no reason given)

The pic on the BBC website doesn't look like Ebola at all. From what I've seen in the past, it should be hooked at one end with a little knot at the other. All the variants (Marburg etc) seem to share the same basic shape, but the virus pictured bears no similarity to any of them. Could just be the Beeb being useless, I know...

Foo_Lovers
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but there has been a case today found in Cananda it was from a person who has flown in from the effected area. They have been put into isolation. And officials said that at the time the person was on the plane they would not have been infectious. Will look for a link but this was reported on sky ( I think ) www.bbc.co.uk...

edit on 25-3-2014 by Foo_Lovers because: (no reason given)

I saw this earlier. How did this man contract it? Was he a healthcare worker? They say it doesn't spread to the public but what exactly was this man doing to catch it?

The officials in Conakry say it's not Ebola. If it's not then what is it? Does it mean it could be airborne? That's a little concerning.

texasgirl
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The officials in Conakry say it's not Ebola. If it's not then what is it? Does it mean it could be airborne? That's a little concerning.

Could be Marburg.

It Ebola twin, Same symptoms and same death rate ect.

reply to post by crazyewok



I was hoping no one would say Marburg. That scares me. It was highly contagious and airborne.

Canada is too close for comfort.

intrptr


Pleas inform me if newer methods are utilized to decrease the time it takes to identify which virus they are dealing with?

ELISA tests.

texasgirl
reply to post by crazyewok

 

I was hoping no one would say Marburg. That scares me. It was highly contagious and airborne.

Canada is too close for comfort.

Marburg like Ebola is not proven to be airborne.

So a Marburg diagnoses is no worse or better than Ebola.