Ebola in The USA

Part of the difficulty (and appropriate public concern) that the powers-that-be (CDC, etc.) should be focused on not only how this disease mutates now but will mutate in the future.

There is no reason, according to the existing medical science research to believe that just because Ebola hasn't mutated SO FAR to become transmittable through airborne means, that it'll continue to do so.

Here's another passing thought: how has the Ebola disease germs stayed alive and a threat since the last outbreak? Many such diseases stay alive in environments such as dirty, damp, dark unhygienic conditions.

However, that being said, why is it that Ebola hasn't died out in between these periodic outbreaks?

My thought is that it keeps adapting and is able to find hosts...it is becoming easier to find hosts somehow through 'clever' adaptation?

Our job, as always, ... like it or not, ... is that we must watch the watchers.
What THEY don't know might kill some of us. Don't panic...but make them more thorough and more accountable.

Finn, this claim you keep on making is completely false. Either stop it, or come up with a single example.

Give me a single time, one simple example, when experts backed by the US government have ever characterized something as "very little risk" on something that turned into a disaster.

The experts are experts for a reason. From vaccinations to fluoride to irradiated food, they have been right time after time.

Yet you keep making this claim that government agencies have been "proven wrong based on fanciful or condescending zero risk-like statements". So come on, give me a single example any time in our history that this has happened.

This part of your argument is completely bogus.

The other mistake you are making, Finn, is this.

There is a big difference between (irrational) panic, and reasoned response. Irrational panic is based on emotion and doesn't pay attention to whether risks are actually likely and effects are actually worse than the response.

Reasoned response is based on facts (not emotions). You actually look at probabilities and use science to consider each option and carefully consider the possible outcomes of each.

Irrational statements leads to some ridiculous ideas. Case in point, your idea that ISIS might use Ebola (based on one article). Let's think about why this is ridiculous. Biological weapons have been around for almost 100 years. Ebola has been around for about 60 years. Why do you think that no one has ever weaponized Ebola?

My point is this. Public driven panic based on fear and rumor and popular prejudice is not going to lead to any reasoned response and will likely cause more harm then good. We need to respond to this is a reasoned, considered way that is controlled by scientists using actual facts to make decisions.

And sometimes there's a learning curve. The unfortunate fact is you can't be ready for all threats and especially new ones not dealt with before. Its not as if another Sept 11 happened. Perspective is important.

ebola doesn't encaplsulate like anthrax. It dies within a short time period after leaving a humid host environment.

Isolation is an easy way to defeat such a virus.

Weve done pretty good with the Duncan case so far. The EMT who was symptomatic has been shown to be ebola -free to this point but Ill bet he stays in quarantine for the 2 day period for to be darn sure.

and don't forget volcanoes and earthquakes.
Your Rice Krispies are talking to you again, pay close attention.

Snap! Crackle! Boob!

No panic. Rachel Madow has been broadcasting well researched and calm reportage on Ebola and the US also.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29587803

Nothing to worry about though.

Never too soon to begin a panic. Bet he had a false positive.

Highly likely that you'd lose that bet. He's been reported to have a fever now.

Out of the more than 100 people that this gentleman had contact with, we now have 1 additional case (a tragic medical accident). We don't even know the circumstances of this second infection.

If you cherry pick only the incidents that support your worst fears, of course you are going to be worried. But, how do you sleep at night?

One additional infection is not a rational reason to worry about an epidemic. For an epidemic, a disease needs to spread quickly to multiple people before it can be detected and isolated.

If 10 of the people who this man was around were getting sick, then I would consider it reasonable to worry.

Well, with cold flu and ebola season upon us, I thought it was time to post this
How to wash your hands

It's generally best to wash your hands with soap and water. Follow these simple steps:

Wet your hands with running water.
Apply liquid, bar or powder soap.
Lather well.
Rub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Remember to scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
Rinse well.
Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel or air dryer.
If possible, use your towel to turn off the faucet.
Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product's antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future.

Infectious diseases: "Specialists say the greatest risk comes from taking the gear off."
This individual was following full C.D.C. precautions,” Dr. Varga said, adding, “Gown, glove, mask and shield.” Asked how concerned he was that even after those precautions the worker tested positive, he replied, “We’re very concerned.”

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, however, that the latest report indicated a clear breach of safety protocol at the hospital....

The case also raises questions about whether the protective equipment recommended by the C.D.C. is adequate, and whether health care workers in American hospitals are receiving enough training and supervision in using it properly.

The protective gear is meant to keep the patient’s body fluids from coming into contact with health workers’ skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose or mouth. But even if the gear seals out the virus, it can become contaminated, and health workers can infect themselves if they remove it improperly and touch the outside of it. Specialists say the greatest risk comes from taking the gear off. It is supposed to be peeled off layer by layer according to a strict protocol, with a helper supervising and disinfecting parts of it at certain steps....

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/us/texas-health-worker-tests-positive-for-ebola.html?_r=0

The CDC hasn't confirmed that test, by the way.

Not knowing why the system is failing in spite of enormous expense and the deploying of technology the experts blame the human operators.

Here is the thing though, it is impossible to believe that all of these medical people want to die of ebola. They are not doing this on purpose. That means that if the experts are right then these suits are too tricky to use properly. This means that the experts need to come up with a better suit, or something else to protect medical staff.

My thought.

Excalibur, Spanish Ebola patient's dog, is euthanised despite global outcry

Health authorities put down mixed-breed pet of Teresa Romero Ramos, saying it might have been infected with virus

Teresa Romero Ramos, the Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola, is pictured with her dog Excalibur in this undated handout photo. Teresa Romero Ramos, the Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola, is pictured with her dog Excalibur in this undated handout photo. Photograph: Reuters

Protesters chanting “Assassins!” and scuffling with police in front of a suburban Madrid apartment complex have failed to stop Spanish authorities euthanising Excalibur – the dog owned by nurse Teresa Romero Ramos, who is being treated for the Ebola virus.

The campaign to save one family’s dog turned into a global online outcry, generating hundreds of thousands of petition signatures and a social media storm. But in the end Spanish health officials announced the pet had been put down and its body incinerated.

The brief but intense battle over the life of a light brown mixed-breed belonging to the nurse and her husband began soon after Romero Ramos was diagnosed on Monday with the deadly virus, contracted when she treated a victim who came from Sierra Leone.

Officials from Madrid’s regional government got a court order on Tuesday to euthanise the pet despite uncertainty over whether it was also infected or could spread the disease. By that afternoon 30 to 40 animal rights activists had taken up positions outside the nurses’s apartment complex, determined to prevent officials from entering.

Romero Ramos’s quarantined husband, Javier, recruited a veterinarian who hosts a popular radio talk show in a bid to spare his dog’s life. “I’m in the hospital and I’m making a call to all people to help me save my dog Excalibur because they want to kill him just like that, without following any procedure,” Javier Romero said in a video appeal. Within hours the cause went viral.

On Twitter the hashtag #SalvemosaExcalibur, “Let’s Save Excalibur”, was tweeted nearly 400,000 times in 24 hours, making it the social networking site’s second most popular meme worldwide.

In an equally short time a petition set up on the Change.org website demanding the dog’s life be saved garnered more than 380,000 signatures, and a second petition gathered 70,000 more.

Police pulled away activists who blocked the road on Wednesday when firefighters and workers in white hazardous materials went to the complex. But after having refused to say when the dog would be taken away, the Madrid regional government announced in the evening that it had euthanised the pet.

Excalibur was “sedated beforehand to avoid suffering”, Madrid’s regional health agency said in a statement. The corpse was then “put into a sealed biosecurity device and transferred for incineration at an authorized disposal facility”.

There is no documented case of Ebola spreading to people from dogs. But at least one major study suggests dogs can get the disease without showing symptoms. Experts say they are uncertain of what risk that poses to humans.

People really take this huge scam seriously???

UNBELIEVABLE!!!


How suggestuble must people be!