Ebola

[kallend 1,621]

We are about as prepared for this as we were for influenza in 1918.

www.wired.com/2014/09/r0-ebola/

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[airdvr 197]

I think its an awesome move by Obama to get that area under control. I watched a doc on it last week. So much misunderstanding by the people effected.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[melch 0]

Napalm...lots of napalm.

Iago, a quarantine was enacted a while back but armed, uneducated, and pissed off militias broke through to release family and friends. I'll have to dig around for the reporting.

Education and enlightenment are the keys to containment and future prevention of wide spread outbreaks...or napalm.

[RonD1120 58]

It is a blood born pathogen as opposed to an airborne pathogen.

Do Not Exchange Bodily Fluids.

Treat it like HIV/AIDS.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[melch 0]

RonD1120

Treat it like HIV/AIDS.

Eh, I think the education of HIV/AIDs prevention is easier than Ebola. HIV/AIDs you can educate through safe practices, material support, abstinance, etc. Not to mention there have been significant medical advancements in HIV/AIDS treatments over the last 20?ish years. Also, your chances of contracting HIV/AIDS simply by hanging around a person, or touching them (the no-pants dance aside) are astronomically low.

Ebola patients, on the other hand, can transmit through sweat (symptom of fever), saliva, blood, physical contact. People, when sick, require care and treatement. In home care by family and loved ones, one could argue, is the most prevalent form of treatment in that part of the world. In home care that lacks in sterilization and probably involves a lot of contact with the infected. You would literally be asking family members to abandoned loved ones in times of need which many would and do find difficult. Hence, why ebola is spreading the way it is.

[airdvr 197]

2 areas I hope will be addressed by the insertion of military personnel;

Facilities for treating those infected are poor and way too small. They need hospitals.

A big reason for the spread is the people don't understand why they are sick. They only know that the truck comes to pick up people and they never return. So the truck comes to check on the village and the sick are hidden. Hopefully they can educate.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[melch 0]

Quote

And very soon the call will be put out for the American military to come in and do the job properly. I'm not looking forward to what may happen if it comes to that.

I too am interested to see the scope in which Obama intends to use the military to assist.

Agreed on the difficulty to educate people who live in superstition and mythology. Further anecdotal evidence that religion can blind you to simple facts.

[Dantes 0]

RonD1120

It is a blood born pathogen as opposed to an airborne pathogen.

Do Not Exchange Bodily Fluids.

Treat it like HIV/AIDS.

Wrong. It's not like HIV at all. You can't get HIV from coughing or sneezing, but you can contract Ebola this way. A preliminary study in Canada showed that Ebola can be transmitted via airborne droplets.

Ebola is filovirus, which are notoriously sloppy at replication. This leads to a fast mutation rate.

I'm sure that the health care workers were having unprotected sex with the victims and sharing heroin needles. /s

[quade 3]

RonD1120

It is a blood born pathogen as opposed to an airborne pathogen.
Do Not Exchange Bodily Fluids.
Treat it like HIV/AIDS.

Because no blood borne pathogen has ever mutated to become airborne.

THIS is the issue. Previously ebola has been contained because of the small areas it outbreaks in and dies off. Because it is more wide spread now, there is a horrible possibility of it becoming a planet-wide problem.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[wmw999 2,116]

Might be less likely than we thoughtSure hope it doesn't happen

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[quade 3]

wmw999

Might be less likely than we thoughtSure hope it doesn't happen

Wendy P.

Unlikely; yes. That said, the resulting consequences are so enormous every precaution must be made in an attempt to ensure that doesn't happen.

In a similar vein, it is unlikely a planet-killer asteroid will strike the earth in my lifetime. That said, the consequences of one hitting the earth are so huge, it's well worth the effort to find potential candidates and take action against them if possible.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Amazon 7]

airdvr

I think its an awesome move by Obama to get that area under control. I watched a doc on it last week. So much misunderstanding by the people effected.

Let us hope that they are effective in their efforts.

[airdvr 197]

Amazon

***I think its an awesome move by Obama to get that area under control. I watched a doc on it last week. So much misunderstanding by the people effected.

Let us hope that they are effective in their efforts.

You can't let it go? Not for just a couple of posts?

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[Amazon 7]

airdvr

******I think its an awesome move by Obama to get that area under control. I watched a doc on it last week. So much misunderstanding by the people effected.

Let us hope that they are effective in their efforts.

You can't let it go? Not for just a couple of posts?

Nope

[CorvusCrypto 0]

wmw999

Might be less likely than we thoughtSure hope it doesn't happen

Wendy P.

This is correct. For this particular virus it would take more than a single mutation. Probably more like around 50-100 specific mutations on the same coding region for the surface proteins on the virus. It would have to happen at once as well since altering that much in steps would prevent the virus from being able to do its dirty deed to our cells. pretty much impossible.

That said, yeah you can cough and sneeze out ebola. However, pretend that someone had completely covered skin, eyes were covered, and no other path existed but the lungs. No infection would occur because the virus can't invade lung tissue. Therefore, while the virus can fly, it's not an airborne pathogen like the flu. It can make it to the lungs via capillaries, though, which can **** your day up and make it possible to projectile cough it onto someone. All it takes is one tiny opening or pore in skin, or an open eye.

This is a serious problem and I remember watching a recent report on TV about the runners that spread the virus because popular belief in cities is that "Doctors are using ebola as a way to try and steal blood" or because they don't want to go to the scary hospital and get treatment. This is just a shame and it's costing so many lives. Because the people running are still contacting each other as well, there is no pressure for the virus to be naturally selected for a less lethal strain. And to add a cherry to the top of that, it's extremely difficult to make a vaccine for this virus. The ways the proteins assemble in the virus make it hard to mimic.

On a positive note there are a few vaccines almost complete. ZMAPP in the US and something else I don't know the name of in the UK which is already in the final phase of testing. Both work on the design idea of, "Let's make some antibodies, make them work with human bodies, and inject a (metric) shit ton of them into people"

"I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather be a majestic eagle riding a missile across the sky with sparklers than be an old couch potato." - Jack London (paraphrased)

[kallend 1,621]

wmw999

Might be less likely than we thoughtSure hope it doesn't happen

Wendy P.

www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2014/09/23/ebola-epidemic-could-top-1-4-million-cases-in-africa-but-is-ebola-coming-to-america/

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.