Ebola outbreak - general thread #1

[FlamingoLady]

I can't even fathom what we may be up against when military members return from doing whatever they are doing in Africa. If you can't get health officials or people from the CDC to remove contaminated sheets from an apartment here in the US, what are you expecting 3,000 UNTRAINED men and women to do over there?

 

[liebling]

Well , we all better hope that's not true. Marsburg is significantly worse than Ebola.

That's untrue. Compare:
Marburg http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_marburg/en/
Ebola http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

 

[Paulette]

Where is CDC? They need to be cleaning up the vomit and sanitizing the area. WTF are they doing???

Don't worry Yoda, they're on their way after a quick stop for coffee and donuts. Then they'll pick up the sheets from the apartment of the woman of her boyfriend Thomas. Oh and by the way, they did give the airplane "a good scrub" per CNN.

The powers-that-be, featured on CNN, say that there is a very small chance of transmission of Ebola in the US (I guess they think we're special or maybe Ebola won't like Americans) - either way don't worry.

I just heard on CNN that containment suits are selling out. So maybe Americans aren't believing that the CDC is competent to deal with Ebola. I'm among the many that see that the CDC is an incompetent organization & they're not to be relied on to keep us safe.

 

[Lyra500]

Well , we all better hope that's not true. Marsburg is significantly worse than Ebola.

EEK what is Marsburg? JMO

It is Marburg.

Marburg and Ebola are related in that they are both filoviruses. They both cause haemorrhagic fevers. The fatality rates for Marburg outbreaks are generally lower so I am interested to know why it is regarded as significantly worse.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_marburg/en/

Key facts
The Marburg virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever in humans.
Case fatality rates in Marburg haemorrhagic fever outbreaks have ranged from 24% to 88%.
Rousettus aegypti, fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, are considered to be natural hosts of Marburg virus. The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.
No specific antiviral treatment or vaccine is available
.

 

[Le Singe]

Some people on this thread ask " do we not think that we can handle a quarantine/ stop the infection like they did in nigeria"... My answer is no I don't think we can.

For us, this is a "new" disease. Nigeria has dealt with this disease for decades, and most west african nations are used to the stringent methods needed to contain Ebola. We are not. It's a very different political, economic, and cultural environment here... And I honestly don't believe we are prepared to deal with this.

We will see in the coming weeks how flexible we truly are. I can only hope that we are as flexible as we claim.

Best
Hc

Actually this outbreak in nigeria (that they handle) was the first time ebola had ever been in nigeria.

 

[popsicle]

Shimon Prokupecz ‏@ShimonPro 2m2 minutes ago
United Air says they gave a "thorough cleaning" to the two planes flown by #ebola patient.

 

[LinasK]

I was really young when the AIDS scare of the early 80s began. Now I have a sense of what that was like - the panic, the misinformation, the fear, the hate, the blame... Ugh. People are sometimes at their worst when a new "crisis" arises, it seems.

AIDS can be treated. It will NOT kill you as quickly as Ebola does. Not at all comparable. Ebola can kill within 48 hours of exposure to it.

 

[popsicle]

CDC ‏@CDCgov 8m8 minutes ago
.@CindyMStroud #Ebola on dry surfaces can survive for several hrs. Virus in body fluids can survive up to several days at room temp #CDCchat

 

[Sonya610]

During a press conference just broadcast on CNN it was revealed that the family members of patient Duncan who are quarantined have been non-compliant with the quarantine. They were not at home when the CDC came to take their temperature. In addition, they sent one of their children back to school. The CDC came to the school and removed the child from the classroom.

This is not good.

That is just plain ridiculous! How long have these people been in this country and WHY ARE THEY HERE?

 

[Le Singe]

The 4 were non-compliant with the request to stay home.

If that case they need to to be basically need to be arrested and confined, I've obviously been defending them for what happened prior to the diagnosis. But after everyone was clear what was happening and they don't comply with instructions they have to be removed from society until they are no longer a danger.

 

[sloane7777]

:grouphug::grouphug:let's pray! esp. for the children! This is going to be worldwide soon I feel..................

I couldnt agree with you more!

 

[SweetT]

http://www.lex18.com/news/two-patients-quarantined-in-kentucky-with-ebola-like-symptoms/

2 possible ebola patients Lexington Kentucky

 

[Sonya610]

If that case they need to to be basically need to be arrested and confined, I've obviously been defending them for what happened prior to the diagnosis.

If they aren't already citizens they should be booted back to Liberia or wherever it is they came from.

Small wonder the epidemic is so hard to control in Africa, even the folks here can't follow basic instructions. I can't believe they sent their kid to school!

 

[LinasK]

With TB one can do X-rays to screen. With Ebola, if this guy is still in the incubation period, screening is not going to show anything out of the ordinary. He would have no symptoms.
Even the test for virus would be negative, since his viral load would be very low. Which is why they have to monitor his contacts for 21 days instead of just testing them for virus.

The irony is that I have to go get a Chest X-ray now for exposure to TB I had almost 20 years ago, yet Ebola Thomas was allowed on airplanes to fly to the US and spread Ebola, which is far more deadly!!!

 

[Yoda]

Maybe United should handle this situation.

United is offering tests for the Ebola virus to flight attendants who staffed the two trips taken last month by the first patient diagnosed with the disease in the U.S.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...a-tests-to-crews-who-flew-u-dot-s-dot-patient

 

[Le Singe]

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/27/w...la-in-some-cases-may-be-free-of-symptoms.html

this is new information thanks for sharing.

 

[SCHMAE]

It is Marburg.

Marburg and Ebola are related in that they are both filoviruses. They both cause haemorrhagic fevers. The fatality rates for Marburg outbreaks are generally lower so I am interested to know why it is regarded as significantly worse.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_marburg/en/

Apparently in the decade or longer since I read about both viruses at length, I forgot a lot? Drank a lot? Slept a lot? Sorry. I was really sure ebola was the lesser of two evils. But now I'm wondering if there is a 3rd that I cannot call the name of that is worse than these two. Carry on, sorry.

 

[Sonya610]

If that case they need to to be basically need to be arrested and confined, I've obviously been defending them for what happened prior to the diagnosis.

If they aren't already citizens they should be booted back to Liberia or wherever it is they came from.

Small wonder the epidemic is so hard to control in Africa, even the folks here can't follow basic instructions. I can't believe they sent their kid to school!

 

[Le Singe]

I've heard people test negative one day then positive the next so crazy.. One lady was said she was free and clear just to drop dead two days later

agree one of the things they need the most in africa is better and quicker test to know who has it and who doesn't more quickly.

 

[popsicle]

CDC Emergency ‏@CDCemergency 5m5 minutes ago
.@Danm414 - The strain in Dallas is the #Ebola Zaire virus - consistent with the epidemic strain in West Africa. #CDCchat