2014 Global Ebola Outbreak

[IncognitoWalrus]

This is just a mess.

What CDC should have done was immediately put everyone who had had contact with the man in isolation. It is FAR better to err on the side of caution than to possibly allow an infected person to break protocol.

There was a case of Marburg, a virus similar to Ebola, which infected a Frenchman in Africa and later the doctor who treated him. When the man infected the doctor, the hospital was immediately shut down. No one was allowed in or out.

If you guys haven't read The Hot Zone yet, I highly recommend it. It's a very informative book, though the cases of Ebola and Marburg chosen for it are the most extreme scenarios (eg. bleeding out of the orifices). It shows how the US army responded to an outbreak of Ebola among monkeys at an animal lab and contained it. The strain among the monkeys might have been airborne, but thankfully it didn't cause problems in humans.

 

[Marvolo]

I was gonna read the Hot Zone, but Im not sure its a good idea. I need to keep a clear head and not feed my hysteria and paranoia.

My aunt is freaking out thinking this is going mutate into an airborne virus. Like I told her, Ebola has been around for a while and hasnt mutated in humans yet. We have more immediate problems than a hypothetical airborne ebola mutation.

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

I was gonna read the Hot Zone, but Im not sure its a good idea. I need to keep a clear head and not feed my hysteria and paranoia.

My aunt is freaking out thinking this is going mutate into an airborne virus. Like I told her, Ebola has been around for a while and hasnt mutated in humans yet. We have more immediate problems than a hypothetical airborne ebola mutation.

Yes, Ebola has a problem evolving because it kills so quickly that it doesn't have time to do so. Airborne Ebola should not be our primary concern right now.

The Hot Zone is about a strain that had already evolved in monkeys isolated on an island. We don't know how long the virus had been present inside them, but we can assume it was quite a while before the first infected monkeys were brought into the US.

Either way, I think it's a good idea to read the book. I would approach it as an educational experience. It's an addictive read.

 

[Marvolo]

The CDC confirmed to FOX 4 News that they gave Vinson the green light to fly.

A Dallas nurse who took a commercial flight from Cleveland hours before reporting symptoms of Ebola says that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention told her it was okay to fly.

Amber Vinson helped treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died in Dallas of the Ebola virus earlier this month. On Wednesday, the CDC announced that she had contacted the virus as well. The CDC also revealed that she had taken a flight to Dallas on Monday, though it said that it was extremely unlikely that any other passengers were exposed.

Vinson told CBS Dallas Fort Worth that she was feeling ill before boarding her flight. She had a low grade fever, but she said that officials told her it was okay to get on the plane. Vinson told CBS that she called the CDC several times with concerns.

The CDC confirmed to FOX 4 News that they gave Vinson the green light to fly.

After Vinson reported symptoms of Ebola on Tuesday, she was placed in isolation. On Wednesday, she was transported to Emory Hospital in Atlanta, where she will continue to receive treatment. She is in stable condition.

Vinson's comments contradict remarks made earlier today by CDC Director Tom Freiden, who said that she never should have gotten on the plane.

The 29-year-old nurse is the second person to contract Ebola in the United States. The first was Nina Pham, who is also a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where Duncan was being treated. Duncan is the first person to have died of Ebola in the United States.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5993486?utm_hp_ref=tw

Tom Freiden is gonna catch hell.

 

[Apollo]

Uhh... What is wrong with this picture???...

https://***********/NBCDFW/status/522521615884890112/photo/1

 

[Donut]

There are no Zombies in it

 

[Boom]

I work at an institution that handles large sums of money on a day-to-day basis.

Guess who's going to be wearing safety gloves?

 

[Thundercrack85]

The CDC apparently heard "contracted" as "contacted" when she called them.

...

Well, I know where I am not going when I need help saving the world from a zombie apocalypse.

 

[Marvolo]

So my moms manager thinks that the CDC and media are lying and exagerating to scare the public and that ebola isnt as bad as the media is making out. He is so confidant in fact, that he is going to fly to Dallas next week and drive to Louisiana to make a point instead of just flying straight to Louisiana.

This man thinks that tornado and other weather warnings and stuff like them and this ebola situation are just scare tactics to work up the public. Im astounded the man has survived beyond his 20s cause he is a complete tool.

 

[Mysteryman]

I hope your friend does not do that.
He would be taking a huge risk if he did .

 

[Marvolo]

I hope your friend does not do that.
He would be taking a huge risk if he did .

He isnt a friend. Just someone Im aquainted with. My biggest concern isnt his health so much as my mom's health. He routinely is in her office. If that fool is exposed to the virus while in Dallas and tracks it back here and exposes my mom to ebola then the virus will be the least of his worries.

 

[Anita18]

It's not even the risk, it's like...why the eff would he waste so much of his time, money, and energy "proving" something like that? It's idiotic.

And Dallas is really big, so unless he takes an extremely unnecessary and wasteful trip to the ER in the hospital where it's happening, I don't think there's any risk to him at all.

 

[craigdbfan]

Pretty much. What the heck...

That guy is a tool.

 

[Piper Maru]

We are all doomed.

 

[Howlett]

Yes, sound the doomsday whistle. It's all over folks. What? 4 people who were in close vicinity of Ebola victims have contracted it. It's almost like the end of the world. Oh wait it isn't, but don't let that stop the media from trying to make a few million bucks off of scaring people.

The flu is more dangerous than Ebola. THE FLU. Break out the hazmat suits it's flu season!

 

[Marvolo]

I think we need to clear up a misconception.

The flu is easier to spread and does kill more people due to this, but the people it kills are usually the old and people with compromised immune systems. Healthy people can almost always fight it off and we have a vaccine for the flu.

Ebola on the other hand kills 70% - 90% of its victims regardless of the strength of their immune system. Its your own immune system that kills you in its attempt to stop the virus. It causes multiple system failure and shock. It breaks down your arterial walls. And you have health issues for the rest of your life and depending may need organ transplants.

Comparing ebola to the flu is like comparing a nuke to guns. Sure nukes have killed fewer people, but the nuke is clearly the more dangerous of the two. We have bullet proof vests and armor (vaccines) for guns (flu). A nuke on the other hand... And thats essentially what happens when you contract ebola. Your immune system nukes your own body to try to kill the virus. All the doctors can do is support it and you while one of the most destructive viruses known to man wages the mother of all wars with your immune system inside of you.

The only reason ebola doesnt spread as easily as flu is because of modern hygiene and the CDC and WHO doing its damndest to make sure it doesnt. But if you want to really see which one is the more dangerous pull the CDC and WHO out of West Africa and treat Ebola with the same protocals as the ones we implement against the flu. Get rid of quarantines and allow the sick to go to work and into public just like we do with those who have the flu. Do that and you'll see real quick which one is more dangerous.

My point is we shouldnt take this lightly just because the flu currently is killing more people. This could still go **** up if we are careless or complacent.

 

[Anita18]

Uhhh and the flu is airborne and Ebola is NOT. You can't exactly compare the two. Heck, you can't even compare HIV to Ebola all that well because you can be asymptomatic with HIV for months or years, while with Ebola you're dead.

The panic around Ebola in the US will probably do more harm than the actual disease itself. Panicking people going to the ER fearing Ebola (while just having flu or a stomach bug) is going to take away resources for people who actually need the ER.

Yes, we should be somewhat concerned, but we also have to be smart about it.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

So should I be worried now? I mean, I don't want to let all the media scares get to me and stuff, but it sounds like things are about to get serious.

 

[Immortalfire]

Flights and sickness...all I'm thinking of is the end scene of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

 

[terry78]

I know people say it's not serious, but people randomly getting this illness known to be pretty much 100% fatal is a little disconcerting. It's awful to say, but because it was kind of par for the course in Africa no one really cared until now.

 

[Thundercrack85]

So should I be worried now? I mean, I don't want to let all the media scares get to me and stuff, but it sounds like things are about to get serious.

Not particularly, unless you work at that dysfunctional hospital in Dallas. You're still infinitely more likely to die a in car accident, be shot, or die falling off the roof of your house while trying to put something up.

Though I think some people should be fired at the CDC.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I know people say it's not serious, but people randomly getting this illness known to be pretty much 100% fatal is a little disconcerting. It's awful to say, but because it was kind of par for the course in Africa no one really cared until now.

It's 70 percent, in West Africa. All Americans who contracted it have fully recovered, with the exception of two nurses who are still in danger, but this is hardly 100%.

 

[Schlosser85]

I know people say it's not serious, but people randomly getting this illness known to be pretty much 100% fatal is a little disconcerting. It's awful to say, but because it was kind of par for the course in Africa no one really cared until now.

Can we please not throw out misinformation?

It's not 100%. The two American aid workers have made full recoveries. The places it's running rampant in Africa have ****** healthcare and ****** facilities, plus a lot of the population is completely clueless about Ebola and thinks the government is making it up.

 

[terry78]

Without any definite cure, what would you refer to it as?

 

[OriginalMiles]

I seriously think they should shut down flights to places with Ebola.