Ebola Virus spreading to Sierra Leon.

[MikeGTi]

I was there last week... Suddenly I feel all itchy..

[otolith]

Terminator X said:

Just out of interest how do these spontaneous outbreaks occur ie not there before but now it is?

Haemorrhagic viruses are mostly thought to be zoonotic - resident in some animal population or other. They persist in populations of their usual host species because they are nowhere near as deadly to them. They aren't very good at infecting humans - they kill us too quickly, which hampers their spread. They usually get into humans by handling the meat of infected animals, but people have caught Marburg by spending time in the caves in which the fruit bats which are its primary host live. Between humans, they spread by contact with body fluids.

[northwest monkey]

ShawCrossShark said:

northwest monkey said:

It's actually quite an enjoyable book. It's Tom Clancy, so gets a bit "USA, USA" in places, but the actual premise of the book is very interesting and, to my untrained eyes, quite believable.

Funnily enough I am just reading it again at the moment

Interesting to know if there really is a Mayinga strain that is suspected of being airborne

Apparently so

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayinga_N%27Seka

[superkartracer]

http://news.sky.com/story/1231319/suspected-ebola-...

It's started ..

[MikeGTi]

Oh shi....

[andy43]

[otolith]

Proper barrier nursing should make the risk of further transmission in the West negligible - these things are largely diseases of poverty and ignorance. Unless it has become a lot more contagious, in which case, run for the hills.

[Grumfutock]

[Pommygranite]

superkartracer said:

http://news.sky.com/story/1231319/suspected-ebola-...

It's started ..

Told ya so....

Pommygranite said:

Given Dubai is a major hub for flights from African origins we are all quite literally 2 flights from death

[superkartracer]

http://news.sky.com/story/1234837/guinea-facing-un...

Aid workers say the deadly flesh-eating virus is spreading across West Africa at a "worrying rate"

[otolith]

"flesh eating" - as if Ebola isn't actually nasty enough in reality

[TheJimi]

otolith said:

"flesh eating" - as if Ebola isn't actually nasty enough in reality

Indeed, as if Ebola's nastiness needs to be overstated

Freedom of speech & press is fundamental, but I really wish they'd wind it in - spreading panic really doesn't help matters in the slightest.

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

ShawCrossShark said:

Funnily enough I am just reading it again at the moment

Interesting to know if there really is a Mayinga strain that is suspected of being airborne

IIRC the only known airborne Ebola variant is Ebola Reston, named after an outbreak in an animal holding facility at Reston Virginia in 1990. Fortunately that strain was unable to cross the species specific barrier from the Cynomolgus monkeys there into humans.

[TVR1]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

IIRC the only known airborne Ebola variant is Ebola Reston, named after an outbreak in an animal holding facility at Reston Virginia in 1990. Fortunately that strain was unable to cross the species specific barrier from the Cynomolgus monkeys there into humans.

However, if you have the opportunity to read the not redacted account of that outbreak. You will find that there was one.

[otolith]

Several animal handlers in the Reston incident seroconverted, as did people exposed to Reston infected pigs in the Philippines. None of them got sick in any of the accounts I've seen, I'd be interested to see anything to the contrary.

[hidetheelephants]

otolith said:

KemP said:

I read Biohazard by Ken Alibek not so long ago and its it a great insight into bio virus/weaponry.

Terrifying book. Also try Richard Preston's "The Demon In The Freezer".

Preston's The Hot Zone is pretty good too.

[otolith]

hidetheelephants said:

otolith said:

KemP said:

I read Biohazard by Ken Alibek not so long ago and its it a great insight into bio virus/weaponry.

Terrifying book. Also try Richard Preston's "The Demon In The Freezer".

Preston's The Hot Zone is pretty good too.

Can't seem to find a new copy of The Cobra Event in the UK - still in print in the US I think.

[stu67]

Just for interest I was given the 3rd degree at Heathrow last night as I travelled back from Madrid on business. I did some work in Guinea and had all the old visa's in my british passport even though;

A) you can't transit through Madrid to Guinea. I used to have to go AF through Paris
B) The Visa's were out of date

Was quite funny the young guys face initially as he loooked up from the Guinea visa to my face that was perspiring after running up the stairs to the border control.

I haven't got a clue what the could do even if you had got off a plane from Conakry?

[Some Gump]

I thought it was interesting that they're flying an aid worker over to the states for treatment. I'm sure it'd be less risky to all concerned to fly an aid team to him - it's not like portable cleanrooms are a new technology.

I give it 2 days before Fox News announces "EBOLA IN AMERICA" or something close..

[TheJimi]

hidetheelephants said:

otolith said:

KemP said:

I read Biohazard by Ken Alibek not so long ago and its it a great insight into bio virus/weaponry.

Terrifying book. Also try Richard Preston's "The Demon In The Freezer".

Preston's The Hot Zone is pretty good too.

As is Virus Hunters of the CDC by Joseph B McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch