Ebola alert shuts Angolan border , page 1

Ebola alert shuts Angolan border

news.bbc.co.uk

Angolan officials said all movement of people from northern Luande Norte province to DR Congo would be stopped.

The outbreak in DR Congo was the first in Africa in several months and the fourth in DR Congo since 1976.

It is believed to have infected at least 40 people of which more than ten have died.


"We are suspending all movement of people and trade with the DRC in the province of Lunda Norte", said Angolan Health Minister Jose Van Dunem.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I thought this virus has been under control but it now resurfaces. Let's hope the african people dont suffer a mass infection or we could be next, the contamination rate is pretty low but on densily populated areas it could be catastrophic:

(wiki)
Ebolavirus first came to light in 1976 in outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Zaire and Sudan.[2] The strain of Ebola which broke out in Zaire has one of the highest case fatality rates of any human pathogenic virus, roughly 90%. [3] The strain which broke out later in Sudan has a case fatality rate of around 50%. [3] The virus is believed to be transmitted to humans via contact with an infected animal host. The virus is then transmitted to other people who come into contact with blood and bodily fluids of the infected person, and by human contact with contaminated medical equipment such as needles. Both of these infectious mechanisms will occur in clinical (nosocomial) and non-clinical situations. Due to the high fatality rate, the rapidity of demise, and the often remote areas where infections occur, the potential for widespread epidemic outbreaks is considered low.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I don't think Ebola will ever be under control. The CDC believes it's zoonotic (An infection or infectious disease that may be transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans.) It's hardy enough to survive outside a host for a while. And they still haven't pinned down exactly where it comes from or how it's transmitted to humans.
In laboratory conditions, all 4 identified versions of Ebola can go airborne. THe blessing is it kills so fast the infection doesn't get much chance to spread.

Want to really creep yourself out? Bubonic Plague is still out there, infecting people every year!

reply to post by deepred

---

Russia chimera`d it on an RNA level with small pox.

20 years ago.

look up `biopreparat` and be scared - i can deal with nuclear blasts and the after effects - chemical agents require proper procedures - bio agents scare the # out of me.

Well,

As Busymind has already stated we cannot directly contain outbreaks of this one. It (depending on the strain) effectively contains itself. You can see from the outbreak map Here that its actually quite distributed geographically.

Ebola 'normally' kills people so quickly they don't survive long enough to have time to infect anyone else. (the Zaire strain in particular)

With regards to dormancy etc the real problem is not so much associated with outbreak frequency but with identifying the particular carrier. We don't know it goes dormant because we don't know where it comes from.

We do know that you can pick up the disease even from coming into contact with animals already killed by it, which is why a number of researchers are looking at the bushmeat question.

A brief breakdown of the numbers can be found here and you'll see that there are 1462 attributed deaths to the disease since 1976 which in retrospect is not generally considered to be high..
(Remember that the 1918 flu pandemic is estimated to have killed 50 million.)

Finally... just to let you all sleep better at night remember that the 4th identified Ebola strain was first discovered in Reston Virginia in 1989 and thus the name. Ebola-Reston.

Russian scientists reach buried Antarctic Lake Vostok
  Posted 4 days ago with 83 member flags

Google announces privacy settings change across products; users can\'t opt out
  Posted 17 days ago with 78 member flags

Monsanto quits as GM results announced (EUROPE)
  Posted 5 days ago with 72 member flags

BREAKING: Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran\'s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC
  Posted 1 days ago with 69 member flags

Strange noises reported around North Battleford
  Posted 16 days ago with 67 member flags

FDA\'s New Claim: "Your Body Is a Drug—and We Have the Authority to Regulate It"
  Posted 8 days ago with 53 member flags

Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel
  Posted 4 days ago with 49 member flags

Bill Gates Backs Climate Scientists Lobbying For Large-Scale Geoengineering
  Posted 4 days ago with 40 member flags

Newest topics, updated in real-time:

Newest topics getting flags, in real-time:

Newest topics getting replies, in real-time: