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zk.
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July 31, 2014 at 11:51 AM #21207July 31, 2014 at 2:24 PM #777149
Doofrat
ParticipantI actually read a book about Ebola long ago. I forget the title, but it went into the Ebola (and closely related virus like Marburg) outbreaks in Africa and the United States (Yes, there was an outbreak of Marburg in the US). In it’s present form, Ebola has a strange contagion profile that they didn’t understand back then, maybe there’s more info now, but it seemed to not be as contagious as you’d think. Even when gobs of the virus were around, it wasn’t always easy to catch. IMHO, I think the virus is more amenable to the living conditions in Africa where someone gets it and people don’t realize and hygienic conditions are a little more lax.
July 31, 2014 at 5:03 PM #777152bibsoconner
ParticipantI recommend just taking it easy, pour yourself a drink, and sit down and watch a movie to take your mind off all this talk of pandemics, plagues, and the collapse of civilization. World War Z would be a good choice.
July 31, 2014 at 5:10 PM #777153jeff303
Participant[quote=doofrat]I actually read a book about Ebola long ago. I forget the title, but it went into the Ebola (and closely related virus like Marburg) outbreaks in Africa and the United States (Yes, there was an outbreak of Marburg in the US). In it’s present form, Ebola has a strange contagion profile that they didn’t understand back then, maybe there’s more info now, but it seemed to not be as contagious as you’d think. Even when gobs of the virus were around, it wasn’t always easy to catch. IMHO, I think the virus is more amenable to the living conditions in Africa where someone gets it and people don’t realize and hygienic conditions are a little more lax.[/quote]
There’s a book called The Hot Zone, not sure if that’s the one you’re thinking of but it might be. That book happened to dramatize real events (surprise, surprise) and faced criticism from real experts (details on that book’s Wikipedia article).
As to the original question, I think it’s about 80% hysteria. We definitely know a lot more now than we did in the earlier cases from ’89-’90. And I trust some of our government experts (I know, blech) when it comes to containment of it, at least as much as I trust anyone in the world. Ebola, dramatizations notwithstanding, is a seriously scary disease. The good (?) news is that the really deadly strains tend to kill the host before they can spread it too far.
July 31, 2014 at 5:20 PM #777154spdrun
ParticipantApparently, they’re flying an American Ebola patient to Atlanta for medical treatment. Glad I’m not anywhere near ATL.
July 31, 2014 at 5:45 PM #777155UCGal
ParticipantAs far as contagion – the issue is with bodily fluids. So as long as you don’t touch/ingest/etc any pee, poop, blood, spit, sweat etc of the patient, you should be fine.
Most of the outbreak origins can be traced back to eating infected animals. Like an infected monkey…
It sounds like it’s kind of like AIDS – as long as you use precautions around the patient not to get exposed to their body fluids, you’re less likely to get it.
July 31, 2014 at 5:49 PM #777156ParticipantProblem is that on a train or bus, you may well be touching the sweat or even spittle of the person who sat in the seat before you 🙁
July 31, 2014 at 6:04 PM #777157The-Shoveler
ParticipantRUN FOR THE HILLS!!
uhh I mean, “DON’T PANIC”!!
July 31, 2014 at 6:18 PM #777159paramount
Participant[quote=UCGal]As far as contagion – the issue is with bodily fluids. So as long as you don’t touch/ingest/etc any pee, poop, blood, spit, sweat etc of the patient, you should be fine.
Most of the outbreak origins can be traced back to eating infected animals. Like an infected monkey…
It sounds like it’s kind of like AIDS – as long as you use precautions around the patient not to get exposed to their body fluids, you’re less likely to get it.[/quote]
The video in the op suggests Ebola is now airborne to a limited extent.
August 2, 2014 at 11:31 AM #777190joec
ParticipantI think the concern is that unlike AIDS, you can get Ebola from minor things like tears (someone rubs their eyes), touches a surface, you sit or touch the same surface with your hands, you sneeze, cover your mouth, etc…
Sweat like someone else said as well…
Overall, sounds like a more deadly virus since it can survive outside the body I’ve read and “could” be airborne from a sneeze or sweat, etc…
All in all, safer to just stay far away if you can.
August 2, 2014 at 2:22 PM #777192zk
ParticipantThere seems to be a tendency toward paranoia in people’s reactions to ebola. Without a very significant change in the way the virus is spread, a global pandemic is not possible.
August 2, 2014 at 2:28 PM #777193moneymaker
ParticipantI think I might have a cure, anybody want to be a test subject? Amazing how quickly the doctor died in Africa, sounds like it is a lot more deadly than AIDS. The WIKI is very detailed on the subject. I was in Africa in 1987 and was vomiting and throwing up simultaneously, good thing I was unaware of Ebola at the time or I probably would have been freaking out.
August 2, 2014 at 3:17 PM #777194Participant[quote=moneymaker]I think I might have a cure, anybody want to be a test subject? Amazing how quickly the doctor died in Africa, sounds like it is a lot more deadly than AIDS. The WIKI is very detailed on the subject. I was in Africa in 1987 and was vomiting and throwing up simultaneously, good thing I was unaware of Ebola at the time or I probably would have been freaking out.[/quote]
You’re right, it’s more deadly than AIDS. And transmission methods are about the same. But people have and spread HIV for years without even realizing they have it. If you get Ebola, you know about it in a few days. That’s a very small window for spreading it, considering the methods by which it is transmitted. Therefore, unless the method of transmission changes very significantly (or the time between acquiring the virus and the beginning of symptoms increases drastically), it will never be as widespread as AIDS.
August 2, 2014 at 5:44 PM #777196ParticipantMaybe it’s also more deadly because by the time you figure you have it, you could be dead in 10 days…it’s that deadly I’ve read. Hard to do much long term research when all the carriers or infected people are dead before any treatment can be tested.
Also, after a certain point when these outbreaks happen in the past, they just quarantine everyone and wait for people to die/burn all bodies and try to contain it.
I did read that some people survived it and were carriers so it’s possible…but the majority don’t seem to.
It shuts down all your organs and attacks everything so it’s a pretty gruesome way to die…
At least it’s quick (and unfortunately, very painful).
August 6, 2014 at 9:12 PM #777249ParticipantFear Factor?
CDC Raises Response to Highest Alert Amid Ebola Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday ramped up its response to the expanding Ebola outbreak, a move that frees up hundreds of employees and signals the agency sees the health emergency as a potentially long and serious one.
The CDC’s “level 1 activation” is reserved for the most serious public health emergencies, and the agency said the move was appropriate considering the outbreak’s “potential to affect many lives.” The CDC took a similar move in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and again in 2009 during the bird-flu threat.
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