2014 Global Ebola Outbreak

[Anita18]

Now people are going to say "why didn't they just ship the treatment overseas!?"
probably because the treatment require dozens of specialized machinery that they can not just simply pick up and ship into an Amazon cardboard box. Not to mention the doctors that specialize in the new treatment who can't just leave their jobs to fly to Africa.

If you read the article, they DID ship the vials overseas. They brought the patients back when they were better, for further testing, I'm sure. Dr. Brantley was apparently on the verge of death before the treatment, and he reportedly walked off the plane here under his own power.

If the symptoms are minimized, I think we can safely say that the viral load is also small enough such that transmission is also unlikely.

 

[Apollo]

A more technical explanation can be read here.

Hope it does the trick.

 

[Anita18]

Hope it does the trick.

As I said on the last page, I was a molecular biologist and every process they used is standard and done every day in labs all over the world.

They were funded by the NIH to do the work on Ebola.

Antibody production in animals is so common, it's actually an industry. Antibodies are used every day in molecular biology research. In our lab, there was goat, mouse, and rabbit antibody for detection uses.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Breaking news:

Person in New York at Mt Sinai hospital being tested for Ebola. Let's hope this is out of an abundance of caution, and not the beginning of something much worse.

 

[Anita18]

Breaking news:

Person in New York at Mt Sinai hospital being tested for Ebola. Let's hope this is out of an abundance of caution, and not the beginning of something much worse.

In all likelihood, it's someone who directly traveled from one of the affected countries and is showing symptoms now, and not a case of human-to-human transmission inside the US. You can show symptoms 3 weeks from exposure.

And NYC is a hub of international travel, as we all know.

Also, to try and quell any fears, it's only contagious at all if you show symptoms. (If it's just a fever for now, the viral load is likely low enough to not be easily transmissible.) It isn't like asymptomatic TB, where you have to test everyone who sat around you for the last X number of weeks.

 

[Marvolo]

Breaking news:

Person in New York at Mt Sinai hospital being tested for Ebola. Let's hope this is out of an abundance of caution, and not the beginning of something much worse.

Here's a small report:

New York City hospital is testing a patient who traveled to a West African nation where Ebola has been reported, local media reported on Monday.

Mount Sinai Hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side said the male patient, who had a high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, had been placed in strict isolation and was being screened to determine the cause of his symptoms, according to reports.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5648821?utm_hp_ref=tw

 

[Dr. Evil]

So if the CDC and Medical experts think that there won't be an outbreak, why are people still panicking?

 

[KevanG]

Because people are idiots on both sides?

 

[Anita18]

So if the CDC and Medical experts think that there won't be an outbreak, why are people still panicking?

Because everyone saw Outbreak, duh.

And zombies, man. Bleeding zombies.

 

[Marvolo]

So if the CDC and Medical experts think that there won't be an outbreak, why are people still panicking?

A couple reasons, Ebola is a scary ***** and the public isnt educated about it. I didnt know until the other day that it only spreads through contact. This lack of knowledge and the fact the media keeps saying that "it is one of the deadliest viruses known to man" doesnt help subdue the fear. Also, the CDC and these experts are human and humans **** up frequently. Just because the CDC swears on their children's lives that there wont be an outbreak doesnt mean an outbreak is impossible.

Besides there doesnt need to be an outbreak for this to be scary. Even if only a few people got sick in america thats still a few people dying drom a virus that liquefies your gut. If you live in atlanta or in Boston its got to be unnerving just knowing that virus and an infected patient is in your city.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Right now you're more likely to get killed by an escaped zoo animal than from ebola.

 

[Marvolo]

Right now you're more likely to get killed by an escaped zoo animal than from ebola.

Thats irrelevant to the more primitive parts of the brain. I know my chances of a spider killing me are slim but I still have an irrational fear. And zoo animals are lot bigger and easier to stop than a virus thats breached containment. Also my shotgun and a slug can put down most escaped zoo animals. Nothing I can do for myself if I come in contact with ebola.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Clearly you have never met a disgruntled walrus on the highway.

 

[Immortalfire]

Besides there doesnt need to be an outbreak for this to be scary. Even if only a few people got sick in america thats still a few people dying drom a virus that liquefies your gut. If you live in atlanta or in Boston its got to be unnerving just knowing that virus and an infected patient is in your city.

I'm in Athens, and some guys I know are freaking out to beat the band. OMG the virus is only 70 miles away!!!

 

[Marvolo]

Clearly you have never met a disgruntled walrus on the highway.

 

[Anita18]

Thats irrelevant to the more primitive parts of the brain. I know my chances of a spider killing me are slim but I still have an irrational fear. And zoo animals are lot bigger and easier to stop than a virus thats breached containment. Also my shotgun and a slug can put down most escaped zoo animals. Nothing I can do for myself if I come in contact with ebola.

If you want to give yourself nightmares tonight, read about prions aka "mad cow disease." It is not bacteria, it is not even a virus. It is a misfolded protein that causes the proteins in your brain (ie everything) to misfold and turn to slush.

You'll never eat ground beef again.

 

[Marvolo]

If you want to give yourself nightmares tonight, read about prions aka "mad cow disease." It is not bacteria, it is not even a virus. It is a misfolded protein that causes the proteins in your brain (ie everything) to misfold and turn to slush.

You'll never eat ground beef again.

Oh Ive heard all about that craziness. For the longest time when I was a kid I was paranoid about eating any beef. The damn media was obsessed with mad cow and wouldnt shut up about it. No kids want to hear about how a mcdonalds hamburger might make their brains leak out their ears.

 

[kane9321]

Breaking news:

Person in New York at Mt Sinai hospital being tested for Ebola. Let's hope this is out of an abundance of caution, and not the beginning of something much worse.

..hope its not serious

 

[terry78]

Yeah we all hope it it's not serious. Every ****ing TV show, video game and movie starts out like this nowadays.


"The virus came out of nowhere...we thought we could contain it....we were wrong...."

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Some people enjoy being scared.

"Uh oh, patient zero is in NYC! It's gonna be like the movie WWZ!

Weeeeee!"

 

[Marvolo]

Some people enjoy being scared.

"Uh oh, patient zero is in NYC! It's gonna be like the movie WWZ!

Weeeeee!"

Except with less handsome Brad Pitt globe trotting with his suave scarf.

 

[Duke]

Breaking news:

Person in New York at Mt Sinai hospital being tested for Ebola. Let's hope this is out of an abundance of caution, and not the beginning of something much worse.

This is very unsettling news. I hope it's nothing serious or just a false alarm.

 

[Thundercrack85]

In a country of 300 million, where every day you have people doing crazy ****, someone telling a hospital they have Ebola... is probably just someone who saw it on the news.

 

[Marvolo]

In a country of 300 million, where every day you have people doing crazy ****, someone telling a hospital they have Ebola... is probably just someone who saw it on the news.

The nursing staff and the doctors at the hospital thought the patient was showing symptoms of ebola. The patient didnt walk in and just make the claim. If the patient had made the claim without showing any synptoms the doctors and nurses would have likely rolled their eyes and figured him for a hypochondriac so it seems obvious that the staff saw something to make then think the person had the virus. Something like excessive vomiting and anal bleeding or some other serious symptom.

That being said, there are a number of other viruses and bacteria that could be causing similar synptoms to ebola so the patient may have something other than ebola. Until tests come back its best to keep the patient in isolation just as a precaution.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Glad we have sane people here. I'm in an argument on Facebook about this very subject and those idiots are acting like this is the end times. Morons