Ebola outbreak - general thread #2

[hockeymom]

Sorry to ask again,but what is Mr. Duncan's condition now? I don't hear anything about it.

 

[SStarr33]

On Sept. 15, (day of contact) days before he left Liberia for the United States, Duncan -- a LIberian national -- helped carry 19-year-old Marthalene Williams into a taxi to go to the hospital after her family was unable to get an ambulance, The New York Times reports, quoting family and neighbors.

Williams, who was seven months pregnant, was turned away at the hospital because of lack of space in the "Ebola ward", the Times reports. She returned home that evening, hours before she died. (why did he get involved so strongly?)

It was his baby?

 

[SCHMAE]

On Sept. 15, (day of contact) days before he left Liberia for the United States, Duncan -- a LIberian national -- helped carry 19-year-old Marthalene Williams into a taxi to go to the hospital after her family was unable to get an ambulance, The New York Times reports, quoting family and neighbors.

Williams, who was seven months pregnant, was turned away at the hospital because of lack of space in the "Ebola ward", the Times reports. She returned home that evening, hours before she died. (why did he get involved so strongly?)

One wonders

 

[passionflower]

Until being terminated in early September, he had worked as a personal driver for the general manager of Safeway Cargo, a FedEx contractor in Liberia. He did not work for FedEx, as earlier reported, the company said Thursday.

 

[passionflower]

CNN just said update on his condition later today........last report 'serious' and to weak to talk on phone???

 

[SCHMAE]

I just came across this article and found it interesting, snippets (less than 10% of article) of some of the content are below. Maybe we should email a link to the hospital and health department handling the Dallas case, it sounds like they could use the help.

Read the whole thing here: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php


EBOLAVIRUS -- PATHOGEN SAFETY DATA SHEET - INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES

Early signs of infection are non-specific and flu-like, and may include sudden onset of fever, asthenia, diarrhea, headache, myalgia, arthralgia, vomiting, and abdominal pains.

Haemorrhagic symptoms may begin 4 - 5 days after onset, including hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, pharyngitis, bleeding gums, oral/lip ulceration <snip> Haemorrhagic diathesis is often accompanied by hepatic damage and renal failure, central nervous system involvement, and terminal shock with multi-organ failure.

[B]Pregnant women will usually abort their foetuses and experience copious bleeding.[/B] (So the woman likely DID have a miscarriage due to the Ebola.)

In laboratory settings, non-human primates exposed to aerosolized ebolavirus from pigs have become infected, however, airborne transmission has not been demonstrated between non-human primates.

DISINFECTANTS: Ebolavirus is susceptible to 3% acetic acid, 1% glutaraldehyde, alcohol-based products, and dilutions (1:10-1:100 for &#8805;10 minutes) of 5.25% household bleach (sodium hypochlorite), and calcium hypochlorite (bleach powder). The WHO recommendations for cleaning up spills of blood or body fluids suggest flooding the area with a 1:10 dilutions of 5.25% household bleach for 10 minutes for surfaces that can tolerate stronger bleach solutions (e.g., cement, metal).

Ebola are moderately thermolabile and can be inactivated by heating for 30 minutes to 60 minutes at 60°C, or boiling for 5 minutes.

CLEANING SPILLS: Allow aerosols to settle and, wearing protective clothing, gently cover spill with paper towels and apply suitable disinfectant, starting at the perimeter and working towards the centre. Allow sufficient contact time before clean-up. (i.e. I think this means do NOT use a pressure washer to blast away ebola infected vomit on the sidewalk).

PRIMARY LABORATORY HAZARDS: Accidental parenteral inoculation, respiratory exposure to infectious aerosols/droplets, and/or direct contact with skin or mucous membranes.

This actually may clear up some of the confusion re: whether or not Duncan KNEW the pregnant lady had Ebola or not. It's been said surely he had to have known but said she was miscarrying. Could it be that culture puts such a high value on life that regardless of her condition or illness, the PRIMARY concern of her and her family was to 'save the fetus' ? I have no idea and am just guessing. But that may be why the word miscarriage keeps coming up and not so much ebola. Her family may have known she had ebola or suspected but the concern is save the baby , no matter what is causing mom to be sick. The baby is first priority ? ** speculative ***

 

[passionflower]

Reading in between the lines and JMOO, he wanted a "new life in America"
Duncan loses a good job. Then 19 year old pregnant girl dies of Ebola. A couple days later he is on a plane to USA back to his girlfriend and his family in Texas. Pastor claims they were to be married. He is a Liberian.American. Does that mean he was born there? Lived here and went back there? How long did he live there? Why did he lose his good job?

 

[passionflower]

true maybe to save the baby, but I am wondering if the baby dies before mom does. Nothing mentioned about the baby at all. Maybe the baby never delivered due to bleeding and mom dying? boy/girl? married? baby daddy?

 

[passionflower]

7 months pregnant, would that be miscarriage or premature birth?

 

[passionflower]

CNN getting ready to talk to the doctor that survived Ebola in a few minutes to answer questions

 

[SStarr33]

I would think chlorine and exposure to Sun light would kill Ebola.

According to the ID doc who treated Dr. Brantley, the chlorine used in water tx plants is not sufficient to kill the virus.

 

[popsicle]

[h=1]Sierra Leone quarantines one million ahead of UN Ebola talks[/h]
Sierra Leone began a quarantine of more than one million people Thursday in the largest open-ended lockdown in the Ebola outbreak, as world leaders met to discuss the crisis at the United Nations.

http://news.yahoo.com/sierra-leone-quarantines-one-million-ahead-un-ebola-095913410.html

 

[passionflower]

alcohol kills the virus so lets all start to drink! Margarita's for me PLEASE!

 

[SStarr33]

From your link:

"Because the incubation period may last ten days while the infected victim may not even be aware of any illness, the virus is highly contagious."

I thought I had read that you were only contagious once you showed symptoms? Or did I read someone post that here and took it as true?

People Carrying Ebola, in Some Cases, May Be Free of Symptoms

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/27/wo...-symptoms.html

 

[passionflower]

I know so many experts with different stories...........I think no one knows for sure! Many are trying to BS the public so there isn't panic and hate for returning people from Africa???? Penn State has 80 under isolation........colleges have many foreign students and profesors etc...........

People Carrying Ebola, in Some Cases, May Be Free of Symptoms

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/27/wo...-symptoms.html

 

[SStarr33]

This is pure speculation on my part. Probably some attorney for the hospital decided if the hospital admitted a 'flaw' in its electronic health records, the hospital could be held legally liable. So, now the hospital is thinking that it would be better to throw a couple of doctors & nurses 'under the bus' & cut their losses now.

My speculation is that the admin stepped on them because EMR is required for Obamacare and this makes them look really bad.

 

[ClaireNC]

Reading in between the lines and JMOO, he wanted a "new life in America"
Duncan loses a good job. Then 19 year old pregnant girl dies of Ebola. A couple days later he is on a plane to USA back to his girlfriend and his family in Texas. Pastor claims they were to be married. He is a Liberian.American. Does that mean he was born there? Lived here and went back there? How long did he live there? Why did he lose his good job?

I read an article a couple of days ago that quoted his former boss. He said that Duncan just stopped going to work some time in September, without any explanation. The company might have terminated him because he stopped showing up. So essentially he quit work without telling his boss, and subsequently the company terminated his employment. I'll see if I can find the article.

Edit to add: This article has some more details about him leaving work. He was involved in a car accident at work and then stopped showing up. He already had his visa and trip to the US planned and just didn't seem to care about work anymore.

http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/desperate-attempt-survive

At his former work place, SafeWay Cargo (licensed agent for FedEx) on Broad Street in central Monrovia, Mr. Duncan, as a driver, reportedly was involved in a car accident which he claimed was caused by a puncture of one of the tires. Workers there speculate that having acquired an American visa, he did not care and never returned to work afterwards.

 

[SCHMAE]

Just have a little grin in the midst of this dark news.

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-o...-will-get-ebola-ahead-of-oct-19-game?v=1&vc=2

 

[SweetT]

Hmm...I'm not sure talking about ebola on a forum is proof that people do or do not care. I think there's a lot of people that probably cared before it came to the US, but maybe didn't feel the need to discuss it. Then again, I'm sure there's a lot of people who could care less about ebola or any disease for that matter unless it's effecting them. I don't think some people took it very seriously because they've never been effected by such diseases and think it's just a commonality in rural countries. The fact of the matter is that it's deadly and spreading fast and if people do not care, then we will all pay the price for their apathy.

I'm one of those people who have been following this ebola outbreak for months on news and websites but didn't even realize we had a forum for it until it got to the US.. Otherwise I probably would have been on it discussing this stuff instead of just researching on my own. I usually just search new posts and saw it on the first page.. I'm sure there are a lot of WS folks in the same situation..

 

[passionflower]

I read an article a couple of days ago that quoted his former boss. He said that Duncan just stopped going to work some time in the beginning of September, without any explanation. The company might have terminated him because he stopped showing up. So essentially he quit work without telling his boss, and subsequently the company terminated his employment. I'll see if I can find the article.

wonder what would be so important that he would not go to work? What was he doing? Was he not feeling well? I know he had no fever..........but doesn't aspirin take away fever?