Ebola virus outbreak

old_aussie

This outbreak seems to be moving quickly

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-23/ebola-outbreak-in-guinea-leaves-at-least-59-people-dead/5339338

The outbreak is around the common boarders of the three countries, Guinea, Sierra leone and liberia.

Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases, was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1976

Hope the outbreak can be isolated asap.

Stavros Murphy

You'd get it hard to find somewhere more isolated from rural Ireland than sierra leone, tbh, so probably gonna be fine. If you're in Sierra Leone, maybe not so much.

The Backwards Man

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

You'd get it hard to find somewhere more isolated from rural Ireland than sierra leone, tbh, so probably gonna be fine. If you're in Sierra Leone, maybe not so much.

You'd be surprised.

Stavros Murphy

The Backwards Man wrote: »

You'd be surprised.

Everyone round here had it already. Be grand.

The Backwards Man

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

Everyone round here had it already. Be grand.

Na, you'd be surprised how close Ireland and Sierra Leone really are.

the_syco

The incubation period for Ebola viral haemorrhagic fever is typically one week, during which time, the infected person will suffer from an array of symptoms such as fever, chills, back pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

I'm sure you could make it home

Sierra Leone and Ireland have links. Young volunteer comes home from SL, and if thought that the chills, vomiting and/or diarrhoea was just "the fear", you'd wonder how far they'd come before wiping out a small hospital?

DazMarz

Ever since reading "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston, the Ebola virus and its derivatives have become the stuff of nightmares for me. It is seriously one of the most hideously awful diseases; it kills almost every time. Flu-like symptoms manifest, painful muscular spasms and internal haemorrhaging lead to more agony and discomfort. Death is painful and slow, with blood oozing from every orifice and a toxic soup of the virus and your bodily fluids spewing forth. The corpse remains a hotbed of toxicity, meaning you have to be processed a lot before your body can be laid to rest.

The description of the agony experienced by a man who was infected by the virus and by some form of a miracle was in the very small percentage who survived is painful to read. It is seriously horrendous.

It is also incredibly infectious. It is easily spread via blood and other bodily fluids and you can be infected orally or optically. It spreads like wildfire through hospitals and villages, sparing nobody.

Nobody knows for sure where it comes from; what is the root cause and the reservoir for the virus. Bats in the caves in Africa are the most commonly blamed, but at the same time, nobody knows for sure. This uncertainty of origin makes it even worse; fear of the unknown.

Some men who have survived it, the Ebola virus has been known to remain dormant in their sperm cells, meaning they can spread the virus through sex.

The average death rate per outbreak is somewhere between 70-75%, but in individual outbreaks and depending on the strain of the virus, mortality rates have spiked up to over 90%.

For me, this is a worse disease than anything known at the moment. Sure, we have stuff like AIDS/HIV. And Ebola has never had a major outbreak outside of Africa. But should Ebola ever make it to a densely populated urban centre (London, New York, Paris, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, et al) and erupt, millions could be dead and it could keep spreading. As bad as AIDS is, Ebola is worse for the pure power of it, how quickly it kills, how easily it is spread...

and most damning of all; there is no known cure or treatment.

LETHAL LADY

Remember the Dustin Hoffman fillum? I recall it suggested that your internal organs turned to liquid, is this true?

Smidge

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Na, you'd be surprised how close Ireland and Sierra Leone really are.

Is that you BM?

Jayz, you're looking well :pac:

wil

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Na, you'd be surprised how close Ireland and Sierra Leone really are.

Yes Tramore was warm last summer. Took a beating in the storm though.

flynnlives

well thankfully its not an airborne virus.

An outbreak here would be very very small. It would be contained quickly.

Poor hygiene conditions in these hospitals are the reasons it spreads. The same cant be said for a developed country.

were this to mutate into an airborne virus then we would be in serious ****. But i doubt it has the capabilities to mutate into such a strain.

If it does im on the first plane to Madagascar!

The Backwards Man

flynnlives wrote: »

well thankfully its not an airborne virus.

An outbreak here would be very very small. It would be contained quickly.

Poor hygiene conditions in these hospitals are the reasons it spreads. The same cant be said for a developed country.

were this to mutate into an airborne virus then we would be in serious ****. But i doubt it has the capabilities to mutate into such a strain.

If it does im on the first plane to Madagascar!

I don't think that would be the time for watching cartoons.

longshanks

Its ferocity is its weakness though. It kills so quickly that its spread is usually contained. Or maybe not, I'm pretty much making this up xx.

P_1

flynnlives wrote: »

well thankfully its not an airborne virus.

An outbreak here would be very very small. It would be contained quickly.

Poor hygiene conditions in these hospitals are the reasons it spreads. The same cant be said for a developed country.

were this to mutate into an airborne virus then we would be in serious ****. But i doubt it has the capabilities to mutate into such a strain.

If it does im on the first plane to Madagascar!

Iceland would be a better choice no? What with its lack of tropical conditions and all.

ardinn

You mean Greenland!!

old_aussie

"Sierra Leone's chief medical officer, Dr Brima Kargbo, said authorities were investigating the case of a 14-year-old boy who died in the town of Buedu in the eastern Kailahun District.

The boy had travelled to Guinea to attend the funeral of one of the outbreak's earlier victims."

Should people from these areas be stopped from travelling to other countries to stop the spread of the virus?

Tourists returning from Guinea are a worry as it could be days before the virus is confirmed and they could have infected the passengers and crew plus anyone they come in contact with when back at home.

I don't think there is any known cure or vaccine for the Ebola virus

Stavros Murphy

flynnlives wrote: »

well thankfully its not an airborne virus.

An outbreak here would be very very small. It would be contained quickly.

Poor hygiene conditions in these hospitals are the reasons it spreads. The same cant be said for a developed country.

were this to mutate into an airborne virus then we would be in serious ****. But i doubt it has the capabilities to mutate into such a strain.

If it does im on the first plane to Madagascar!

LOL. I'm not entirely sure our lot could contain a severe out-break of Hiccups tbh. I'd have more faith in the whole "it's a long way off and the last outbreak didn't reach here". Or anywhere else outside a few African hot-spots.

I can imagine some tanned returned traveler rocking up to Portiuncula Hospital with their gee coming up their throat and some worn-out junior Doctor with a thermometer, two band-aids and some saline solution scratching their head and going "Well Lads, it could be really bad trots. Did you have a curry last night?"

harry Bailey esq

balbriggan is due an outbreak :)seriously though that ebola is serious sh@t. i remember an outbreak in cameroon (don't quote me on that it might have been democratic republic of Congo) 15 years ago thereabouts and the death toll reached something shocking like a couple of million.the countries of origin should be locked down immediately until the problem is contained.I mean in Europe we kept foot and mouth at bay,even if travelling became a little more stressful.

OldGoat

/PanicDance
OMGOMGOMG I just SNEEZED!

the_syco

flynnlives wrote: »

Poor hygiene conditions in these hospitals are the reasons it spreads. The same cant be said for a developed country.

Look at how fast the winter vomiting bug went around in some hospitals...

My name is URL

Dustin Hoffman will save us

Son Of A Vidic

DazMarz wrote: »

Ever since reading "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston, the Ebola virus and its derivatives have become the stuff of nightmares for me.

Likewise, that book was an absolutely compelling read. I worked in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London for a while in the early Noughties and I don't miss it at all. Dealing with a suspected case of Marburg in a new Heathrow arrival is a scary experience and a real eye opener. Air travel puts these lethal viruses within easy reach of large population centres. But we have been extremely lucky thus far, that these outbreaks have tended to occur in rural areas were poverty limits an ability to travel. My greatest fear though is if and possibly when, a Filovirus like Ebola mutates to an airborne variant. With a fatality rate of >90%, we could then be facing a serious culling of humanity.

iYazi12

the_syco wrote: »

Look at how fast the winter vomiting bug went around in some hospitals...

Vomiting bug is a airborne virus

Eight Ball

DazMarz wrote: »

Ever since reading "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston, the Ebola virus and its derivatives have become the stuff of nightmares for me. It is seriously one of the most hideously awful diseases; it kills almost every time. Flu-like symptoms manifest, painful muscular spasms and internal haemorrhaging lead to more agony and discomfort. Death is painful and slow, with blood oozing from every orifice and a toxic soup of the virus and your bodily fluids spewing forth. The corpse remains a hotbed of toxicity, meaning you have to be processed a lot before your body can be laid to rest.

The description of the agony experienced by a man who was infected by the virus and by some form of a miracle was in the very small percentage who survived is painful to read. It is seriously horrendous.

It is also incredibly infectious. It is easily spread via blood and other bodily fluids and you can be infected orally or optically. It spreads like wildfire through hospitals and villages, sparing nobody.

Nobody knows for sure where it comes from; what is the root cause and the reservoir for the virus. Bats in the caves in Africa are the most commonly blamed, but at the same time, nobody knows for sure. This uncertainty of origin makes it even worse; fear of the unknown.

Some men who have survived it, the Ebola virus has been known to remain dormant in their sperm cells, meaning they can spread the virus through sex.

The average death rate per outbreak is somewhere between 70-75%, but in individual outbreaks and depending on the strain of the virus, mortality rates have spiked up to over 90%.

For me, this is a worse disease than anything known at the moment. Sure, we have stuff like AIDS/HIV. And Ebola has never had a major outbreak outside of Africa. But should Ebola ever make it to a densely populated urban centre (London, New York, Paris, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, et al) and erupt, millions could be dead and it could keep spreading. As bad as AIDS is, Ebola is worse for the pure power of it, how quickly it kills, how easily it is spread...

and most damning of all; there is no known cure or treatment.

Remember reading the Hot Zone years ago and how genuinely it scared the f u ck our of me. If this ever reached Europe id be straight up to aldi to stock up for weeks inside the house with the family it would be that serious.

Silverbling

They could put everyone through a car wash at the borders (but without cars) like they did with foot and mouth disease

Eight Ball

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0324/604362-ebola-canada/

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Canis Lupus

Eight Ball wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0324/604362-ebola-canada/

Be afraid, be very afraid.

I hear Madagascar has closed it's port.

harry Bailey esq

OldGoat wrote: »

/PanicDance
OMGOMGOMG I just SNEEZED!

COVER YOUR MOUTH DAMNIT!!!
YOU'LL KILL US ALL

Kunkka

This is very serious... who knows who the person on the flight to Canada interacted with. It can be spread through sweat so even the touch of a sweaty palm is enough....

kmc25_1

Eight Ball wrote: »

Remember reading the Hot Zone years ago and how genuinely it scared the f u ck our of me. If this ever reached Europe id be straight up to aldi to stock up for weeks inside the house with the family it would be that serious.

Having to shop in Aldi?
Now you are scaring me!

Eight Ball

Kunkka wrote: »

This is very serious... who knows who the person on the flight to Canada interacted with. It can be spread through sweat so even the touch of a sweaty palm is enough....

It could get very serious very quickly indeed.