Ebola outbreak - general thread #2

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  • #841
Local customs in handling the dead led to further infections. Some West Africans believe that the day you die is one of the most important days of your life. The final farewell can be a hands-on, affectionate ritual in which the body is washed and dressed, and in some villages carried through the community, where friends and relatives will share a favorite beverage by putting the cup to the lips of the deceased before taking a drink.
 
  • #842
Ebola virus particles occupy an infected person’s blood and other bodily fluids, which can enter another person through the eyes, mucous membranes, scratches on the skin or from a hypodermic needle — not from from the air or from insects. The bodies of people who have died of the disease are highly infectious. Without protective equipment, shaking hands with an Ebola patient or being within three feet of a patient for long periods of time is less risky, but not advisable.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/10/04/how-ebola-sped-out-of-control/?hpid=z1
 
  • #843
Well, the DH and I had a debate this morning re: restricting travel. Honestly , it sounds great in theory. But I think it would do nothing. This man came from Brussels. How can they know each fright from its' layover location and where it came from before that ? Why wouldn't a guy just fly to Brussels or any other place and then buy a separate ticket to the US vs a connecting flight? When they do that, how would you even know? Also, our borders are notoriously NOT secure. Anyone could fly into SouthAmerica or Mexico and drive over. The airlines would throw a hissy fit if they were restricted in ANY way , citing finances. The only way to really put a significant STOP would be to restrict all travel world wide to and from ANY infected area, which now includes the US , for 21 days, and think of how likely that scenario is. I even got a chuckle just typing it :D

As for Duncan, you know he is the name and face of the person who brought it to the US , but reality is it was going to come to the US sooner or later. So while it may be easy to paint him as a careless villain of sorts , he was merely the catalyst. The problem is the virus, not the man. Yes, he should not have lied and his negligence and dishonesty has caused a ton of trouble and it remains to be seen if his negligence has cost lives or not. But the truth is we're battling a virus that is outsmarting lots of humans right now. We are getting a crash course in the do's and dont's of ebola or any widespread virus and this is a lesson we all needed. I'm not saying " hooray its' a great thing''. I'm just saying here's our reality . It's here ! However it got HERE is not the issue today. What do we do now is the issue today ? We cannot change the past and take it back away. We cannot change travel and make it impossible to get here. We can change what we do now and go forward.

To Dallas County , my neighbors , get your heads out of your butts and take care of business !!!!
 
  • #844
Sonya610 said:
Another article (can't recall link) mentions that in many areas it is customary to take the dead back to their birth village for burial. This meant bodies were being transported long distances (sometimes to nearby countries) in taxi cabs and pick up trucks and then handled/buried by folks in that village spreading the outbreak to all sorts of places.

Also regarding families that hide the infected, one documentary had a group of nurses marching down the street of a village yelling "If one person in the family gets sick the WHOLE FAMILY WILL DIE" through a bull horn!

She was yelling that in English so I like to think it was a translation problem and she wasn't actually saying that in their native language without the caveat stating unless the person gets treatment. If they are telling people that it is an automatic death sentence for the WHOLE FAMILY then of course people will go into denial and hide sick family members, they are being told they are all dead either way.
Click to expand...

The official language of Sierra Leone is English. I suspect the entire family will die message is just to get the attention of the crowd. The literature being passed out would have instructions on recognizing Ebola and how to keep it from spreading.

The death rate in Sierra Leone has been around 75%, probably because many patients are avoiding treatment. In the Frontline show, there were several cases where patients died on the trip to the treatment center or less than a day after arriving.
 
  • #845
SCHMAE said:
This man came from Brussels. How can they know each fright from its' layover location and where it came from before that ? Why wouldn't a guy just fly to Brussels or any other place and then buy a separate ticket to the US vs a connecting flight? When they do that, how would you even know?
Click to expand...

They would know the country of origin because foreign travelers must have a PASSPORT and a VISA!

Of course that means that Americans could fly to other countries and then catch a plane to West Africa and return without stating where they have been (as could folks from other non-infected countries) but the likelihood of that happening is far far lower, most folks wouldn't dream of doing that unless they were on official business and then they have no need to lie about it.

Plus they could check the person's passport to see where they have been recently!

A few countries in the Middle East (Iran, Syria, etc...) will not allow folks that have visited Israel to enter, they DO check the passport for Israeli stamps before issuing a visa; if they have any doubt they check again upon entry, if your passport has an Israeli stamp your visa is cancelled and you are denied entry. I visited Iran several years ago and they have strict policies regarding such things.
 
  • #846
SCHMAE said:
Well, the DH and I had a debate this morning re: restricting travel. Honestly , it sounds great in theory. But I think it would do nothing. This man came from Brussels. How can they know each fright from its' layover location and where it came from before that ? Why wouldn't a guy just fly to Brussels or any other place and then buy a separate ticket to the US vs a connecting flight? When they do that, how would you even know? Also, our borders are notoriously NOT secure. Anyone could fly into SouthAmerica or Mexico and drive over. The airlines would throw a hissy fit if they were restricted in ANY way , citing finances. The only way to really put a significant STOP would be to restrict all travel world wide to and from ANY infected area, which now includes the US , for 21 days, and think of how likely that scenario is. I even got a chuckle just typing it :D
Click to expand...
No, we cannot totally eliminate the chance of any bad thing coming to the USA. I don't know that it is true that 'anyone' can just drive over from Mexico; is it? We can lessen the chances of something happening though, can't we? It's a complicated situation, and I certainly don't have answers for it.

I just happen to have a very unpopular opinion that USA should be very particular about who comes into our country and why, aside from the concern about disease. We need to crack down on illegals in this country.
 
  • #847
Detective Klimpt said:
No, we cannot totally eliminate the chance of any bad thing coming to the USA. I don't know that it is true that 'anyone' can just drive over from Mexico; is it? We can lessen the chances of something happening though, can't we? It's a complicated situation, and I certainly don't have answers for it.

I just happen to have a very unpopular opinion that USA should be very particular about who comes into our country and why, aside from the concern about disease. We need to crack down on illegals in this country.
Click to expand...

Just about true, yes . Or they can walk. The border is not secure in any way. Come visit Dallas and you 'll know that to be true ;)
 
  • #848
Hi guys, I haven't been following as closely to this thread this weekend due to being busy. Has there been any update at all on the patient that was admitted the hospital in D.C?
 
  • #849
Sonya610 said:
They would know the country of origin because foreign travelers must have a PASSPORT and a VISA!

Of course that means that Americans could fly to other countries and then catch a plane to West Africa and return without stating where they have been (as could folks from other non-infected countries) but the likelihood of that happening is far far lower, most folks wouldn't dream of doing that unless they were on official business and then they have no need to lie about it.

Plus they could check the person's passport to see where they have been recently!

A few countries in the Middle East (Iran, Syria, etc...) will not allow folks that have visited Israel to enter, they DO check the passport for Israeli stamps before issuing a visa; if they have any doubt they check again upon entry, if your passport has an Israeli stamp your visa is cancelled and you are denied entry. I visited Iran several years ago and they have strict policies regarding such things.
Click to expand...

Thank you ! :) I've never been out of the country except to Mexico and that was before they required passports. It just seems the only way it could be of any help would be to really shut down almost ALL travel at the same time and if all countries would agree to that, ( again what a joke) the airlines would never allow it. And if you shut down all air travel, then what about trains and cars and boats and foot traffic? I just don't think it's a viable solution. And IF all countries and airlines agreed to a 21 day world wide travel ban, folks would still be coming across our southern border. ( don't want to get political, but wouldnt' it be something if our govt was actually able to close 100% the southern border to stop ebola spread after years of saying it could not be done? ) :thinking:
 
  • #850
  • #851
After 9/11 we certainly did a good job of closing things down. Why not now?
 
  • #852
Detective Klimpt said:
I don't know that it is true that 'anyone' can just drive over from Mexico; is it?
Click to expand...

I expect Mexico will shut down travel from infected countries before the U.S. will. :) They have much stricter laws and they will likely enforce them with a vengeance if they suspect there will be a problem within their borders.
 
  • #853
SCHMAE said:
It just seems the only way it could be of any help would be to really shut down almost ALL travel at the same time and if all countries would agree to that, ( again what a joke) the airlines would never allow it.
Click to expand...

Restricting travel would absolutely make a difference! Even if it was only a 95% improvement I would be happy with that. Secondly, that school of thought (if it can't be perfect don't try) means quarantine and isolation should not be tried either, not in Africa and not here.
 
  • #854
  • #855
Deleted by me for whining :P
 
  • #856
  • #857
  • #858
Presser on msnbc and cnn right now; missed Dr. Friedan but now they're talking to Dr. Lakey
 
  • #859
Tx working in partnership with CDC
working to keep people in dallas safe; nobody else has exhibited any symptoms
 
  • #860
continuing to plan for contingencies
and it's over
 
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