Ebola outbreak - general thread #7

[WichitaFalls]

Ebola Crisis is Testing Presbyterian Hospital Dallas

Even before the crisis, problems had begun to appear on the horizon for one of the area’s proudest institutions. . . . More at link.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/...s-is-testing-presbyterian-hospital-dallas.ece

 

[Footwarrior]

http://www.krmg.com/news/news/national/leprosy-diagnosed-ohio-prison-inmate/nhk6F/

COLUMBUS, Ohio —

An Ohio prison inmate has been diagnosed with leprosy, but health officials aren't concerned the infection will spread.


I am sure it is nothing, but I haven't heard of a US case in ages...decades?

The 2012 CDC report on infectious diseases indicates 82 cases of Hansen's disease that year. A rare disease that can be cured with antibiotics.

 

[LaborDayRN]

OT but interesting:

Today, about 180,000 people worldwide are infected with leprosy, according to the World Health Organization, most of them in Africa and Asia. About 200 people are diagnosed with leprosy in the U.S. every year, mostly in the South, California, Hawaii, and some U.S. territories.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/leprosy-symptoms-treatments-history

 

[SwampMama]

http://www.krmg.com/news/news/national/leprosy-diagnosed-ohio-prison-inmate/nhk6F/

COLUMBUS, Ohio —

An Ohio prison inmate has been diagnosed with leprosy, but health officials aren't concerned the infection will spread.


I am sure it is nothing, but I haven't heard of a US case in ages...decades?

Leprosy is an odd one when it comes to diseases. It certainly caused widespread panic where patients were seized from home and brought to "leper colonies", one of which was still existent in Carville Louisiana until a few years ago when the last of the elderly patients died. Patients were shipped there, took assumed names so that their families would not be shamed by the disease. A few years ago I went and toured the ground of the facility which is now a museum.

As it turns out, armadillos carry leprosy. They have the low body temp that leprosy needed to survive and thrive. But not all human who go it had any exposure to armadillos and even person to person infection was not really common. Family members could live in the same household for years next to a loved one with leprosy and they would not catch it. It was always a mystery exactly how and why it spread or did not spread. Nowadays they call Leprosy "Hansens Disease" and it is very treatable and even curable. No longer do patients have to be shunned and exiled and the hysteria over it has finally faded.

 

[lawstudent]

With all the hysteria, it wouldn't surprise me at all if anyone connected to an ebola case ended up hiring an attorney. If only to have someone to direct inquiries to, as they are probably deluged with all sorts of questions and accusations. It doesn't mean there will be any legal action take any time soon. The attorney can end up being more of a PR person for someone suddenly exposed to a lot of attention.

 

[Mzkity62]

Oh yes, please do not think if it were one of my family members involved that I wouldn't contact an attorney. I would sue the pants off of anyone who had come into this country with it, contacted it as well as the federal government and the president himself. I would sue the CDC that has been lying to us and I would not stop until I heard some voices.
This crap is real. I am stunned that we EVER allowed anyone into this country that has this disease. That was about the most stupid thing I had ever heard of to bring people back here to be treated. We are the lowly people. They are not going to tell us if they are giving "secret" vaccines to health care workers. This could easily spread this illness.

 

[Ladylub]

Actually yes I heard there was some stomach flu thing going around there

Yes there is. My husband got a transfer to Frisco with his job. He started Monday. At least 4 guys went home sick on Wed and Thurs. So glad he had to be off this weekend for cub scouting. Keep all illnesses away from here.

 

[Trino]

Leprosy is an odd one when it comes to diseases. It certainly caused widespread panic where patients were seized from home and brought to "leper colonies", one of which was still existent in Carville Louisiana until a few years ago when the last of the elderly patients died. Patients were shipped there, took assumed names so that their families would not be shamed by the disease. A few years ago I went and toured the ground of the facility which is now a museum.

As it turns out, armadillos carry leprosy. They have the low body temp that leprosy needed to survive and thrive. But not all human who go it had any exposure to armadillos and even person to person infection was not really common. Family members could live in the same household for years next to a loved one with leprosy and they would not catch it. It was always a mystery exactly how and why it spread or did not spread. Nowadays they call Leprosy "Hansens Disease" and it is very treatable and even curable. No longer do patients have to be shunned and exiled and the hysteria over it has finally faded.

OT
Perhaps you're unfamiliar with Molokai Hawaii. There is still a leprosy colony there (Kalaupapa), although today leprosy is controlled. Most who live there do so because they are older and a bit disfigured. See last sentence in the below reference for those who still live there. (Been there...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaupa...istorical_Park

 

[Trino]

Is 21 days enough?

“While the 21-day quarantine value currently used may have arose from reasonable interpretation of early outbreak data,” Haas wrote, “this work suggests a reconsideration is in order, and that 21 days may not be sufficiently protective to public health."

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/17/study-questions-21-day-ebola-quarantine-period/

"WHO situation assessment report gives more cause for concern by stating that the incubation period of the virus has been seen to extend to as long as 42 days in some cases."

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ebola-cites-cases-longer-incubation-period-42-days-102548640.html

 

[Lyra500]

Article looking at the consumption of bushmeat with some interesting stats.

Be warned - there are lots of photos of bushmeat which looks pretty rank with a westerner's eyes.

Having read the article, however dodgy the really black meat looks, it has been cooked/smoked and is therefore no longer an Ebola risk. It is freshly killed meat and blood from an infected animal which is the risk. This probably explains the relatively small number of Ebola outbreaks over the last 40 or so years compared to the huge consumption of bushmeat. It seems the hunters and their families are the ones at greatest risk - some effective education about safe handling of the meat in these groups might well help.

Each outbreak appears to stem from an initial human contracting the virus through contact with a carrier animal (bats do not even display any signs of illness) - the wider spread of the outbreak is then human to human and not connected to what food sufferers are consuming.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29604204

Most people buy bushmeat from markets once it has already been cooked, so it is those hunting or preparing the raw meat that are at highest risk.

The current outbreak shows that, however difficult or rare it is, infection is clearly possible - though it must be remembered that each further infection, from Child Zero to today, has been caused by contact with an infected person.

The article mentions that Child Zero's family were hunters and had hunted two different species of bat.

Stats:

In Africa's Congo Basin, people eat an estimated five million tonnes of bushmeat per year, according to the Centre of International Forestry Research.

Researchers have also monitored populations of bats to test for Ebola and found very few animals with detectable levels of the virus. Since the first recorded outbreak in 1976 there have been only 30 single spillover events from animals into humans, according to new research which has mapped all previous outbreaks.

The work also uncovered that the scale of the bat bushmeat trade in Ghana was much higher than previously thought, with more than 100,000 bats killed and sold every year............

snipped

While there is a risk, this study exemplifies that it is low. The estimate of more than 100,000 bats consumed has not resulted in a single case of Ebola in Ghana.

 

[Lyra500]

A rather sad article about how Ebola survivors are shunned in Liberia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29628054

 

[Sonya610]

Article looking at the consumption of bushmeat with some interesting stats.

though it must be remembered that each further infection, from Child Zero to today, has been caused by contact with an infected person.

Yes. Very interesting.

 

[Lyra500]

Yes. Very interesting.

Although that contact might not be direct person to person, but with a person's bodily fluids. I am sure I read that some people were thought to have picked it up by travelling in contaminated taxis rather than by direct contact with an infected person.

 

[Sonya610]

Although that contact might not be direct person to person, but with a person's bodily fluids. I am sure I read that some people were thought to have picked it up by travelling in contaminated taxis rather than by direct contact with an infected person.

The takeaway is humans are the ones spreading it.

 

[faw720]

I don't find anything strange about her or her family hiring an attorney. I can guarantee that people are going to file lawsuits against her, alleging negligence on her part causing them to be quarantined and miss work, lose wages, lose out on pre-paid vacations, etc., etc. It's going to happen. I mean, they'll probably go after deeper pockets, like the hospital or CDC (though do they have government immunity?), but she's a valid target, too. Then there are media inquiries, people pestering the family about this or that. Not to mention the matter of her own medical bills and any other legal affairs (keeping bills paid and whatnot) being handled.

Are people going to win lawsuits against? It doesn't matter, because people are free to file lawsuits. And Amber and her family are not going to want to deal with legal headaches personally now. They are focused on Amber's health, as they should be.

For sure there has been a tendency to demonize the Ebola patients. That is beyond sad. No one in their right mind wants to get Ebola. In addition, the hospital workers were given conflicting information on how to protect themselves.

 

[faw720]

I posted that I wondered if she had a pat down as soon as the news broke about her. I remember wondering about it because I don't believe they change gloves between pat downs.

I haven't flown in quite some time. Do they pat down all passengers now?

 

[SStarr33]

I haven't flown in quite some time. Do they pat down all passengers now?

Not all. Just those who don't go through the scanner or if they see something on scanning.

 

[CARIIS]

 

[popsicle]

NBC News ‏@NBCNews 39m39 minutes ago
Cruise ship carrying Dallas hospital worker at center of Ebola scare docks in Texas http://nbcnews.to/1DoJ4WJ

 

[jjenny]

I must be missing something, because I don't understand how that would give anybody peace of mind. Supposed you've been exposed to ebola, and you've got the virus in your blood, but it's not yet multiplied sufficiently to give you symptoms or to show up in a lab test. And you get tested and it comes back negative. That tells you exactly .... nothing.

In fact, testing too early strikes me as detrimental. Now you've had the test, and it was negative, so in a couple of weeks when you develop a fever and abdominal pain, you "know" it's not ebola because you were tested. And you continue going on with your regular life, spreading ebola everywhere you go.

Piece of mind that you don't have Ebola (at least yet).
The woman on the ship had no symptoms and her test came back negative.
This a situation where there is no risk to anyone (and not just low risk).