ebola, anyone else mildly terrified?

[otolith]

And unlike, say, smallpox, people aren't very contagious while incubating. They become contagious not because the virus is very good at spreading but because it is very poor at not rapidly turning the victim into a leaking sack of virus particles. Yes, if a strain emerged which had a long contagious incubation period, we could be in trouble. There are any number of unpleasant zoonotic viruses which could do that number on us if they happened to develop those characteristics. One of the mitigating factors where such viruses are found in remote places with poor infrastructure and poor people is that the rate of travel is relatively low. Something like that emerging from a pig farm in Hong Kong could be round the world before anyone knew it existed.

[eldar]

Fatality in Lagos, it is alleged...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28485041

[MrMagoo]

Can't see a fuss being made until it reaches Europe, or Northern Africa at least. I guess that's when pharma companies will look to make the most.

Sad but if the outbreak occurred in mainland Europe, the world would take it a bit more serious.

[SLCZ3]

It would seem from the news, that it ( Ebola ) is now in Nigeria.

[otolith]

No indigenous cases in Nigeria yet, the case they do have flew in from Liberia.

[dandarez]

You just knew it didn't you. If anywhere around the world it might get through... ok, not yet, but emergency Cobra meet under way this morning and Hammond all over the news this minute.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-07-30/...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28558783

Edited by dandarez on Wednesday 30th July 09:15

[otolith]

System is working by the looks of it!

[Du1point8]

Why did they let the other passengers on the plane go on with their forward journeys?

Im sure that people are thinking it now that they should be looking at shutting down the flights from infected countries for 3 weeks, if no more infected cases are reported then allowing them to reopen.

Sucks if you are in the hot areas, but makes sense for places like Nigeria which might get let off lightly.

[anonymous-user]

Indeed... The rest of the planet wasn't too bothered until it became apparent that it may become a 'potential first world problem' and now we are having COBRA meetings.

[2013BRM]

otolith said:

System is working by the looks of it!

The virus has an incubation period of up to 21 days, how is it working? The Nigerian detained with feverish symptoms may have transmitted it to many people by the time he arrived in Brum

[Lost soul]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Well rich people getting sick will make the pharma companies take notice

[Du1point8]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yes all those rich white folk that are helping them out in the hot zones and a few of the volunteers themselves dying of the disease... stupid rich white folk wanting to help them... should have just quarantined the country from the off.

[otolith]

2013BRM said:

otolith said:

System is working by the looks of it!

The virus has an incubation period of up to 21 days, how is it working? The Nigerian detained with feverish symptoms may have transmitted it to many people by the time he arrived in Brum

Ebola is not contagious during the incubation period.

Ebola is not very good at passing itself from person to person, not compared with, say, smallpox or influenza.

Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids. The risk increases as the virus amplification proceeds and the victim starts to leak. By the time someone is haemorrhaging, vomiting blood, crawling with the virus, physical contact with them is very dangerous. Someone who has just broken with fever is much less risky.

[Raify]

Interesting article about it here:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100281820/the-curse-of-ebola/

It can be stopped by washing hands and stopping people touching dead bodies at funerals...

[Du1point8]

Raify said:

Interesting article about it here:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100281820/the-curse-of-ebola/

It can be stopped by washing hands and stopping people touching dead bodies at funerals...

Both of which are very difficult to explain to the population of the countries involved that touching the dead should not be done and washing of hands is not exactly well versed out there.

I believe there was a case that a whole family got wiped out due to 1 member dying and they all went to the funeral and were touching the body, etc.

[2013BRM]

otolith said:

Ebola is not contagious during the incubation period.

Ah, thanks, I didn't realise that

[vescaegg]

The W.H.O website has a good guide to it and obviously dont need to sensationalise to try and scare people like the papers and news websites do.

There have been many outbreaks of Ebola with victims in the hundreds. All generally in West or Central Africa. I dont see why people are suddenly so scared itll jump this time. There is currently only 200 more cases than the outbreak in 2000 when (as far as I remember) nothing further happened....

The 90% death rate doesnt seem accurate either. It CAN be up to that but for example in 2000 it was only 53%


http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en...

[Bill]

otolith said:

Ebola is not contagious during the incubation period.

Ebola is not very good at passing itself from person to person, not compared with, say, smallpox or influenza.

Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids. The risk increases as the virus amplification proceeds and the victim starts to leak. By the time someone is haemorrhaging, vomiting blood, crawling with the virus, physical contact with them is very dangerous. Someone who has just broken with fever is much less risky.

Exactly. Even if someone sprays an entire plane load of people with bloody vomit on their way to Heathrow the infection will die out as soon as it hits a first world health system. It'll be stty for the few that get it but it won't go far.

[Du1point8]

vescaegg said:

The W.H.O website has a good guide to it and obviously dont need to sensationalise to try and scare people like the papers and news websites do.

There have been many outbreaks of Ebola with victims in the hundreds. All generally in West or Central Africa. I dont see why people are suddenly so scared itll jump this time. There is currently only 200 more cases than the outbreak in 2000 when (as far as I remember) nothing further happened....

The 90% death rate doesnt seem accurate either. It CAN be up to that but for example in 2000 it was only 53%


http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en...

I read one of the things that kills people is shutting down of their immune system due to severe dehydration, often the easiest way (unless they bleed out) is that they need to stay rehydrated due to the fever, vomiting and diarrhoea that happens.

Then again it also depends on which strain it is of the 4... weakest one usually is 50%, most deadly is 90%.

[vescaegg]

Bill said:

otolith said:

Ebola is not contagious during the incubation period.

Ebola is not very good at passing itself from person to person, not compared with, say, smallpox or influenza.

Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids. The risk increases as the virus amplification proceeds and the victim starts to leak. By the time someone is haemorrhaging, vomiting blood, crawling with the virus, physical contact with them is very dangerous. Someone who has just broken with fever is much less risky.

Exactly. Even if someone sprays an entire plane load of people with bloody vomit on their way to Heathrow the infection will die out as soon as it hits a first world health system. It'll be stty for the few that get it but it won't go far.

Id imagine this is spot on. Imagine some of the hospitals where it is currently spreading. Then compare them to some of ours with our sterile clean rooms etc. Id bet if it did get here, it wouldnt get out of a hospital.