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Ebola virus outbreak
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So the ebola virus can't jump up to 3 feet? I don't know what to believe anymore.
heres what they say Scumlord
Low1 risk exposures
A low risk exposure includes any of the following
Household contact with an EVD patient
Other close contact with EVD patients in health care facilities or community settings. Close contact is defined as
being within approximately 3 feet (1 meter) of an EVD patient or within the patient’s room or care area for a prolonged period of time (e.g., health care personnel, household members) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., standard, droplet, and contact precautions; see Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations)
having direct brief contact (e.g., shaking hands) with an EVD patient while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment.
Brief interactions, such as walking by a person or moving through a hospital, do not constitute close contact
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html0 -
It doesn't really say that anyone that's been within 1 metre of an EVD patient is going to get infected though.heres what they say Scumlord
It says if they show symptoms and also tick one or more of the Low risk boxes they may be at risk of having EVD.
The chances of Ebola getting any kind of foothold in western countries is practically zero, simply down to the fact we have advanced waste disposal infrastructures. Our towns and cities are too clean compared to African towns and cities for a disease to get a proper foothold. We also have people that will listen to medical advice instead of their local witchdoctor.0 -
It doesn't really say that anyone that's been within 1 metre of an EVD patient is going to get infected though.
It says if they show symptoms and also tick one or more of the Low risk boxes they may be at risk of having EVD.
The chances of Ebola getting any kind of foothold in western countries is practically zero, simply down to the fact we have advanced waste disposal infrastructures. Our towns and cities are too clean compared to African towns and cities for a disease to get a proper foothold. We also have people that will listen to medical advice instead of their local witchdoctor.
I wouldn't under estimate peoples capacity for selfishness and stupidity. There are ignorant people everywhere. The people who are supposed to be in quarantine in the apartment in Dallas have already tried to leave and sent their kids to school against medical advice. The contaminated waste still hasn't been collected and the apartment hasn't been cleaned.Brad Smith of the Cleaning Guys, which was hired to sanitize the apartment, said his company is ready to go but a permit issue has stopped them from entering the home. Smith says a specialized permit, which is handled by the state government, is needed to transport this type of unprecedented hazardous waste on Texas highways. Cleaning Guys specializes in hazmat and biohazard cleaning services, but it does not transport the materials.
It's unclear how long it will take to get the proper permits.
As has been said, there are a lot of people in America who just can't afford to go to the doctor or ER when they are sick. I think that is worrying and could lead to more cases.0 -
It doesn't really say that anyone that's been within 1 metre of an EVD patient is going to get infected though.
It says if they show symptoms and also tick one or more of the Low risk boxes they may be at risk of having EVD.
The chances of Ebola getting any kind of foothold in western countries is practically zero, simply down to the fact we have advanced waste disposal infrastructures. Our towns and cities are too clean compared to African towns and cities for a disease to get a proper foothold. We also have people that will listen to medical advice instead of their local witchdoctor.
The reports of the Power-spraying of the vomit of the infected man in Texas off the "pavement" the day after he got sick on it is a little unnerving though. As too are the pictures of the man walking through the run-off.
Surely if he grabs the sole of his shoe later that evening when removing them, there's a fair chance some contaminating substances is still present and would transfer to his hand.
Likewise if went straight into a car after, the mats or pedals could pick up some of the stuff.
I don't know - I'm really not convinced by the recent days events that the US are generally any better equipped to deal with an outbreak than the Africans.
Sure there is better access to medicine and hygiene, but certain parts of the States are very underprivileged and uneducated as well as socially/financially isolated from the type of medical response we expect (or assume) the US would use to react to a potential outbreak.
Plus there are other factors which are present in the US which would assist widespread outbreak - which aren't present in Africa - such as no national borders across the entire Country (practically an entire continent - excluding Canada) and modern infrastructure and transportation, meaning a carrier of the virus could easily get from one side of the Country to the other in a few hours or days.0 -
littlemac1980 wrote: »Sure there is better access to medicine and hygiene, but certain parts of the States are very underprivileged and uneducated as well as socially/financially isolated from the type of medical response we expect (or assume) the US would use to react to a potential outbreak.
Montana?0 -
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It doesn't really say that anyone that's been within 1 metre of an EVD patient is going to get infected though.
It says if they show symptoms and also tick one or more of the Low risk boxes they may be at risk of having EVD.
The chances of Ebola getting any kind of foothold in western countries is practically zero, simply down to the fact we have advanced waste disposal infrastructures. Our towns and cities are too clean compared to African towns and cities for a disease to get a proper foothold. We also have people that will listen to medical advice instead of their local witchdoctor.
Apologies, I think I may have misunderstood your previous post.0 -
Montana?
Gosh no - beautiful State ;-)
I was actually thinking along the lines of the people without Social Security Numbers (the 30 million or so estimated long-term illegals - I presume they don't have Social Security - maybe I'm wrong). The homeless. The people living under the poverty line. Places like the Louisiana (as familiar from images of the after-math of Hurricane Katrina) and Georgia and vast residential areas of the lower classes in major cities like LA (South Central etc.) and Miami.0 -
Once the virus (or any virus) is outside the human body it's basically like a human standing naked in the antarctic. It's very unlikely you'll get infected just from standing in a puddle and then touching that shoe later in the day.littlemac1980 wrote: »The reports of the Power-spraying of the vomit of the infected man in Texas off the "pavement" the day after he got sick on it is a little unnerving though. As too are the pictures of the man walking through the run-off.
It's not really got anything to do with medical care that's available. It's the sewage infrastructure, paved roads and street cleaning that does more to prevent the spread of disease than anything else, in a heavily populated city at least. We poo into a toilet and that poo goes far away for treatment. Our water arrives in a sealed pipe loaded with chemicals that kill off most bacteria and viruses.Sure there is better access to medicine and hygiene, but certain parts of the States are very underprivileged and uneducated as well as socially/financially isolated from the type of medical response we expect (or assume) the US would use to react to a potential outbreak.
There's really no place for diseases to hide in modern cities. Europe went through dozens of plagues and it was sewerage systems that stopped them, not medicine. The fact we haven't had a significant plague since WW2 despite population explosions shows just how hard it is for a disease to run rampant in a modern city. It's not like there aren't diseases trying every year either. There are some particularly nasty ones floating around but we keep a close eye on them and are ready to pounce at the slightest sniffle.
All credit to the human race, while we haven't beaten disease and never will (or maybe ever should) it's at least a fair fight leaning slightly in our favour.0 -
There's really no place for diseases to hide in modern cities. Europe went through dozens of plagues and it was sewerage systems that stopped them, not medicine. The fact we haven't had a significant plague since WW2 despite population explosions shows just how hard it is for a disease to run rampant in a modern city. It's not like there aren't diseases trying every year either. There are some particularly nasty ones floating around but we keep a close eye on them and are ready to pounce at the slightest sniffle.
I sure hope you're right ScumLord... one other thing has me concerned about the States though.
With other viruses - there's a much lower mortality rate, particularly with proper care.
The issue I see with this virus is that it first manifests as the one virus we worry about the least - A Common Cold/Flu - at that stage its contagious.
Add to that the 21 day potential incubation period.
The difficulty I see is that - if they didn't identify every single potential person that the US guy could have passed the virus to... it may be as long as 21 days from now before another case emerges... that case could present in Florida or California or New York or Washington, and most likely the person who does develop the symptoms (if they were to exist) would likely walk around for a day or possibly two thinking they are coming down with a flu.
What if there were two or even three such people?
Edit: I forgot to add - and what if that person was homeless, or one of the categories of US residents that aren't necessarily (for whatever reason) going to immediately present to hospital.
I don't mean to insult Americans here - but its very likely - based on the common perception of most middle/lower class Americans that there is a large proportion of the population that don't know what Ebola is, where Liberia is, or that there is a man in Texas who is infected.0 -
A high mortality rate isn't really a beneficial quality for a virus to have. If it is killing its host it's affecting it's own mortality and ability to spread to other hosts. The ideal scenario for any virus is to go unnoticed and not affect it's host so much so that it dies or is avoided by other animals due to being obviously sick.littlemac1980 wrote: »With other viruses - there's a much lower mortality rate, particularly with proper care.
Most Americans don't want to even acknowledge homeless people let alone come into physical contact with them. Think about your own daily routine, how often do you actually touch random strangers? It's only really the toughest of diseases that can survive for a prolonged amount of time outside of the body, as in more than a few minutes that can spread across surfaces.Edit: I forgot to add - and what if that person was homeless, or one of the categories of US residents that aren't necessarily (for whatever reason) going to immediately present to hospital.
What can spread across surfaces is bacteria, but they operate in a very different way, they're a living creature. Viruses can barely be classified as a living thing, they're basically just bits or organic code that need to interact with specific bits of code in a host to even do anything.0 -
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A high mortality rate isn't really a beneficial quality for a virus to have. If it is killing its host it's affecting it's own mortality and ability to spread to other hosts. The ideal scenario for any virus is to go unnoticed and not affect it's host so much so that it dies or is avoided by other animals due to being obviously sick.
Most Americans don't want to even acknowledge homeless people let alone come into physical contact with them. Think about your own daily routine, how often do you actually touch random strangers? It's only really the toughest of diseases that can survive for a prolonged amount of time outside of the body, as in more than a few minutes that can spread across surfaces.
What can spread across surfaces is bacteria, but they operate in a very different way, they're a living creature. Viruses can barely be classified as a living thing, they're basically just bits or organic code that need to interact with specific bits of code in a host to even do anything.
You don't need prolonged contact with a stranger to catch something from them. Walk by someone who's sneezed two seconds ago and touched the handle of the the door you just opened well you could have something
Sit on a crowded bus in winter with the windows closed and someone sneezing and coughing down the back
Get your change and receipt from a person in a shop..... Etc etc you have no idea how much we are in contact with everyone else.
Edit Marburg a close cousin to Ebola can survive outside the body for at least 5 days0 -
You're not talking about Ebola there though, you're just describing methods that diseases can use to spread and they don't apply to all diseases.You don't need prolonged contact with a stranger to catch something from them. Walk by someone who's sneezed two seconds ago and touched the handle of the the door you just opened well you could have something
Sit on a crowded bus in winter with the windows closed and someone sneezing and coughing down the back
Get your change and receipt from a person in a shop..... Etc etc you have no idea how much we are in contact with everyone else.
Even airborne viruses have a limited amount of time they can survive outside the body. Even if ebola did go airborne it could die by the time it's travelled 10 feet, especially if it's too cold or too hot for it to survive.0 -
You're not talking about Ebola there though, you're just describing methods that diseases can use to spread and they don't apply to all diseases.
Even airborne viruses have a limited amount of time they can survive outside the body. Even if ebola did go airborne it could die by the time it's travelled 10 feet, especially if it's too cold or too hot for it to survive.
A person with Ebola coughs too. Say they get sick a few times. Aggravate their throaght and cough and cough too. Small specks of infected blood are coughed up. Coughed onto the handrail in front of you on the bus.
You must have missed my point about Marburg.0 -
Just because Marburg can survive outside the body for days (under the right conditions) doesn't mean ebola can.A person with Ebola coughs too. Say they get sick a few times. Aggravate their throaght and cough and cough too. Small specks of infected blood are coughed up. Coughed onto the handrail in front of you on the bus.
You must have missed my point about Marburg.
Like I said, a virus outside the body is living in a hostile environment. It can survive for a certain amount of time but the chances of it leaving one host, surviving on a cold metal surface and then making it's way into another host is unlikely. It's possible, just like it's possible I could beat Conor Mcgregor in a fight, but it's so unlikely it's not really worth worrying about.
If you want to worry about these things you can, but I'm not worried about it in the slightest.0 -
Just because Marburg can survive outside the body for days (under the right conditions) doesn't mean ebola can.
Like I said, a virus outside the body is living in a hostile environment. It can survive for a certain amount of time but the chances of it leaving one host, surviving on a cold metal surface and then making it's way into another host is unlikely. It's possible, just like it's possible I could beat Conor Mcgregor in a fight, but it's so unlikely it's not really worth worrying about.
If you want to worry about these things you can, but I'm not worried about it in the slightest.
Pointless explaining the risks to you when you are so dead set against seeing the truth about Ebola.0 -
A high mortality rate isn't really a beneficial quality for a virus to have. If it is killing its host it's affecting it's own mortality and ability to spread to other hosts. The ideal scenario for any virus is to go unnoticed and not affect it's host so much so that it dies or is avoided by other animals due to being obviously sick.
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I understand that. My point was more to emphasis - that while the advances in medicine have enhanced our ability to reduce the mortality rate of other viruses and diseases. This one is still not curable, and if there is a contagion in the States - there will be a high mortality rate.Most Americans don't want to even acknowledge homeless people let alone come into physical contact with them. Think about your own daily routine, how often do you actually touch random strangers? It's only really the toughest of diseases that can survive for a prolonged amount of time outside of the body, as in more than a few minutes that can spread across surfaces.
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The point I was making, which wasn't specifically in relation to homeless people is that there are sub communities in the US where the virus could breakout undetected for longer than a day or two precisely because most Americans don't interact regularly with those people. This creates a further factor which heightens the probability of an isolated case becoming an outbreak.What can spread across surfaces is bacteria, but they operate in a very different way, they're a living creature. Viruses can barely be classified as a living thing, they're basically just bits or organic code that need to interact with specific bits of code in a host to even do anything.
I'm far from well educated on the characteristics of viruses. I had read somewhere that the virus was capable of surviving outside the body for upto 2 days - but that may have been a suspect source, I can't remember. Here's a link to what looks like a useful site with relevant info :
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php
It says that the virus can survive in darkness and ambient conditions for 5 hours.0 -
A high mortality rate isn't really a beneficial quality for a virus to have. If it is killing its host it's affecting it's own mortality and ability to spread to other hosts. The ideal scenario for any virus is to go unnoticed and not affect it's host so much so that it dies or is avoided by other animals due to being obviously sick.
That's more a parasite than a virus. There are very few pathogenic viruses that don't manifest themselves in the form of symptoms.Most Americans don't want to even acknowledge homeless people let alone come into physical contact with them. Think about your own daily routine, how often do you actually touch random strangers? It's only really the toughest of diseases that can survive for a prolonged amount of time outside of the body, as in more than a few minutes that can spread across surfaces.
What can spread across surfaces is bacteria, but they operate in a very different way, they're a living creature. Viruses can barely be classified as a living thing, they're basically just bits or organic code that need to interact with specific bits of code in a host to even do anything.
^^This. Like most viruses ebola can only survive for very short periods of time outside the host. They are basically just a piece of RNA encased in a protein shell. The UV radiation in sunlight destroys them in a short amount of time.
Considering there are no travel restrictions in place as far as I'm aware it's hardly surprising that a case has appeared in the USA. If you look at the rate at which people move around on this planet there must be hundreds of people moving to and from the affected areas in West Africa on a daily basis. The lack of travel restrictions imposed by western governments gives you a clue as to how much of a threat this virus poses to first world countries. Maybe this guy has infected one or two others, I doubt it though because we would have heard about it by now. Id imagine everyone he had close contact with has been tested and are being monitored, either way it will be contained to a handful of cases at most. It might prompt the US authorities to place travel restrictions on people coming from west africa.0 -
Much much lower risk than common colds/viruses, however the CDC confirms the following 'factoids'.
1. Ebola on dried on surfaces such as doorknobs and countertops can survive for several hours // (but not days).
2. If a symptomatic patient with Ebola coughs or sneezes on someone, and saliva or mucus come into contact with that person’s eyes, nose or mouth, these fluids may transmit the disease // (unlike common cold virus which can be airborne).
3. Can remain in semen for several months even after recovery.
// end of the transmission theories here, perhaps?
One important factor that no one has noticed is the CDC mentioned '1.4m (yes, million)' infections could be a possibility at the end of Jan 2015.
Which reverts back to the importance of stopping it at source (now), before it does become more airborne (in the international airlines sense of 'airborne').0 -
An interesting article below from CIDRAP, for anyone interested.
“We believe there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles both near and at a distance from infected patients, which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks,” states the article.
The authors note that US health professionals currently tackling Ebola are being put at risk because of the failure to offer them proper “respiratory protection,” making reference to hundreds of fatalities of Ebola health workers in West Africa due to facemasks or surgical masks which offer “very minimal protection from infectious aerosol particles.”
“Being at first skeptical that Ebola virus could be an aerosol-transmissible disease, we are now persuaded by a review of experimental and epidemiologic data that this might be an important feature of disease transmission, particularly in healthcare settings,” states the article.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/09/commentary-health-workers-need-optimal-respiratory-protection-ebola0 -
littlemac1980 wrote: »I had read somewhere that the virus was capable of surviving outside the body for upto 2 days - but that may have been a suspect source, I can't remember. Here's a link to what looks like a useful site with relevant info :
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php
It says that the virus can survive in darkness and ambient conditions for 5 hours.
Ebola it would appear likes the cold ,interesting link you posted just taken from that..
Filoviruses have been reported capable to survive for weeks in blood and can also survive on contaminated surfaces, particularly at low temperatures (4°C)
When dried in tissue culture media onto glass and stored at 4 °C, Zaire ebolavirus survived for over 50 days
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Big Pharma almost certainly looking for an angle on the ebola hype and hysteria. Same pattern as the swine flu epidemic where they fast-tracked vaccine testing/approval and fools rushed to take them. Patient zero in the USA is just what they wanted.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/10/02/viral-hype-ebola-patient-zero-hoax-vaccine-plots-and-staged-hysteria/0 -
Ebola, how worried are you?
I have to admit I wasnt worried, however recently Ive become far more aware.
The other day in my local hospital they had signs up in regards to Ebola, and readinh around the Internet it seems America is starting to have a lot of recent cases.
From what I understand a lot of cases in America are arising from people travelling there from 3rd world countries infected but looking for treatment. I understand that the UK has banned all flights from infected African countries but the likes of America hasnt. I have no idea in regards to what Ireland`s or the EU`s precautions are.
Possible case?
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -
KCTV5 reports an apartment building in Kansas City, MO. is being sealed off
Saturday night, and a source close to KCTV5 says it's because a person who lives
there is sick with something contagious.
http://m.kwch.com/news/patient-quarantined-in-kansas-city/28412604American 'cured' of Ebola back in isolation after just two weeks: Fears for
doctor as he is readmitted to hospital suffering from a persistent cough and
fever
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781004/American-Ebola-survivor-readmitted-hospital-isolation-suffering-persistent-cough-fever.html#ixzz3FHXMJ41p[/QUOTE]
The CDC & The UN Are Forced to Admit That Ebola is Airborne
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/10/04/cdc-un-forced-admit-ebola-airborne/
CDC director: Travel ban could make Ebola outbreak worse
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/219786-cdc-director-travel-ban-could-make-ebola-outbreak-worse
Reuters
Reuters0 -
How many cases of Ebola have been confirmed in America so far?
I was only aware of one, but I'm not following it very closely. I think that one case was poorly handled by the hospital, which isn't reassuring, considering containment of the disease is the main weapon against its spread- there's next to no available medication to treat the disease!
I'm not worried at the moment but I'm certanly keeping a weather eye on it.
You said there are signs up regarding Ebola..Where is your local hospital?0 -
I'd like ebola Cornflakes...0
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Not for the moment as I am not in west Africa. Western Europe have much better protocols for dealing with epidemics. We should help the countries concerned to help stamp it out before it evolves.
No need for worry, just action.0 -
No point in worrying, my understanding and im open to correction is theres no vacine or if there is it isnt possible yet for mass production, so if we get massive outbreaks of it worldwide and here in ireland we are kinda fûcked anyway so il just continue to get on with life for now0
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Avalynn Microscopic Rocker wrote: »I'd like ebola Cornflakes...
Im not familiar.....are they aldi or lidl?0 -
Join Date:Posts: 10388
We're an island be grand.0 -
FullblownRose wrote: »How many cases of Ebola have been confirmed in America so far?
I was only aware of one, but I'm not following it very closely. I think that one case was poorly handled by the hospital, which isn't reassuring, considering containment of the disease is the main weapon against its spread- there's next to no available medication to treat the disease!
I'm not worried at the moment but I'm certanly keeping a weather eye on it.
You said there are signs up regarding Ebola..Where is your local hospital?
Hospital in Ballinasloe, Near the A&E department.0 -
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