Ebola in Europe / US.

[Stephanie]

That reads as extremly patronising. Is your source better than his source? Your posts seem to be a little sensationlist, Ebola at this time has not been weaponised, and is unlikely to be by boko haram, or any other rebel group. Ebola has been on thr go for a long time now and it has only killed around 3000 people Three planes in america killed more in one day. Ebola has to be put in perspective, It is a virus that cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be treated.

I'm comfortable with my many sources.

As I'm sure you are too , with yours.

I did not say ebola has been weaponised. I said the thought had occurred to me that some may try it.

Boko Haram being in the region , it came to my mind.



At this point it has killed 'only' 3400 people , while the projection is for 1.4 million by January 2015.

I find the latter number alarming.

Hope they're wrong.

[BJ99]

I thought the film Contagion (Soderburgh) was the most accurate and eye-opening way depicting how a virus could spread so rapidly and the media reaction/social media/paranoia...panic of the population sets in while governments/large pharma multinationals try to delay/control distribution of vaccines to maximise profit

Remember one thing if any........avoid touching infected people/areas/surfaces that they touched, sneezed on etc.....
you're doing fine right....but ya gotta live......go out and buy some food etc (Wait a minute! Where had the notes/coins in your wallet been before you?????? )
......very hard to stay "unconnected"

[beautyaddict]

I hadn't read about this, can you provide a link please?

Covered on BBC world service at around 5 am also some professor was on Euronews giving an estimate as o how long before it could become airborne this was aspecuative piece however. Virus constanly adjust its how tehy survive, flu changes every year

[justfrank44]

I'm comfortable with my many sources.

As I'm sure you are too , with yours.

I did not say ebola has been weaponised. I said the thought had occurred to me that some may try it.

Boko Haram being in the region , it came to my mind.



At this point it has killed 'only' 3400 people , while the projection is for 1.4 million by January 2015.

I find the latter number alarming.

Hope they're wrong.

The bird flu scare in hong kong a few years ago springs to mind, There was a lot of panic and a lot of predictions about large numbers of expected deaths, Hong kong was nearly bankrupted by it , but it just all sort of faded away. I think part of the reason for this was the health care and precautions available, as opposed to what is available in africa, which is most likely why we are seeing so many deaths there.

[justfrank44]

Covered on BBC world service at around 5 am also some professor was on Euronews giving an estimate as o how long before it could become airborne this was aspecuative piece however. Virus constanly adjust its how tehy survive, flu changes every year

Why would a virus have to change to survive, it's not as if we have a cure for one single virus at the moment.

Scott Gottlieb, former deputy director of the US Food and Drug Administration, writes in Forbes that it is very unlikely that the Ebola virus would ever mutate into an airborne version.

"It would be unusual for a virus to transform in a way that changes its mode of infection," he writes. "Of the 23 known viruses that cause serious disease in man, none are known to have mutated in ways that changed how they infect humans."

[beautyaddict]

The bird flu scare in hong kong a few years ago springs to mind, There was a lot of panic and a lot of predictions about large numbers of expected deaths, Hong kong was nearly bankrupted by it , but it just all sort of faded away. I think part of the reason for this was the health care and precautions available, as opposed to what is available in africa, which is most likely why we are seeing so many deaths there.

The problem with any virus is that you cannot predict its course, bird flu had serious potental if it had gone lethal you are looking at Spanish Flu but worse and that killed more people than the first world war as the airline industry did not exist in the first world war, so what would you do if you were calling it, let it be and maybe see 100 million die and BTW the world economy would be devestated also. When an accident is avoided we seem to quistion safety measures, rather thn oppurtunity cost

[Xman69]

"Madrid govt to put down Ebola patient's pet dog , as scientific knowledge indicates there is a risk the dog could transmit the virus to humans. "

"Ebola airborne. Easily transmitted atleast within 3 feet. "

"Virus survives on skin."



Spit , snot , phlegm , saliva , sweat , tears even , all infective (in addition of course to blood , semen , vaginal secretions ,

precome , vomitus , urine , feces , etc. )


: Sneeze , cough droplets carry the virus. These droplets can land on you , or on an object that you touch and then

you touch your eyes / mouth.


CDC mandated protective gear not sufficient to prevent transmission of virus.

That gear consists of face masks , goggles / glasses , several layer gloves , gowns etc.

Spanish nurse apparently was in full compliance with requirements , had been in proximity of infected material on

two occasions only , yet got infected.

Now several in quarantine , several dozen under observation.


What next ?



Anyone concerned ?

yes it is concerning Stephanie but like any disease there's truth and there's panic .
Remember bird flu a while back . Also Cjd in uk now Ebola. In Spain they mentioned that the suits they wore we're defective and used duct tape as seals. In uk a nurse had it and recovered due to proper intervention . Yes it is worrying and how it may spread
But let's relate it to flu and aids even malaria which is still the big killer .

[ana massage]

Thank you for a thoughtful reply xx

Hm. What can we do about it ? Well , I think raising awareness is a good step .

Beyond that ? I can vent in frustration and alarm ?


I think US , UK , etc. being extremely foolish not taking more proactive measures re air travel , etc.

I was in Marbella , Gibraltar , Malaga a month ago. Picked up the local paper , and there was a suspected case reported

in Malaga hospital , and the hospital made the statement that they're absolutely not prepared for such an infectious case.

What can we do ?

I'm on holiday , not entertaining ; I'm glad.

There is plenty of awareness (of course only what they want us to know) thanks to people and god bless news and google

I do not believe they are Fools ,Steph
They're interests are totally different from ours
Hope you are having a lovely holiday xx



PS:keep posting
I like what i read x

[justfrank44]

The problem with any virus is that you cannot predict its course, bird flu had serious potental if it had gone lethal you are looking at Spanish Flu but worse and that killed more people than the first world war as the airline industry did not exist in the first world war, so what would you do if you were calling it, let it be and maybe see 100 million die and BTW the world economy would be devestated also. When an accident is avoided we seem to quistion safety measures, rather thn oppurtunity cost

Actually , a lot of people spend a lot of time predicting how a virus will act and react. And they are usually very good at it which is why we see people getting flu shots every year as an example. A virus can only go so far before it either dies off or a natural immunity develops, which is why the human population is now sitting at around 7 billion.

[SteveB]

Yes, the virus has the potential to spread uncontrolled across large parts of Africa.
The disease usually died out in previous cases because it kills too quickly, and is only infectious when its victim is extremely sick.

But as MSF has said, the problem in Africa is the medical infrastructure is such, that patients are treated at home, often in houses where people (and sometimes visitors and neighbours) all eat off the same plates, share the same bedding, and if the victim dies, have close contact with the corpse.

In a developed country, the situation is different. If a person was suffering from Ebola, and was infectious, he would be obviously very sick and displaying symptoms. Symptoms are severe and include:
Nausea and vomiting.
Diarrhoea (may be bloody)
Red eyes.
Raised rash.
Chest pain and cough.
Stomach pain.
Severe weight loss.
Bleeding, usually from the eyes, ears, nose and rectum