News Unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Second Summer

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An official with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the spread of the disease across the country made it very difficult to control.

The West African state is facing a battle to contain the outbreak after cases were reported in areas that are hundreds of kilometres apart.

Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of victims.
[...]
Liberia's Health Minister Walter Gwenigale on Monday warned people to stop having sex because the virus was spread via bodily fluids.
[...]
Full article: Ebola outbreak in Guinea unprecedented - MSF (BBC News, 1. April 2014)

I was curious about the statement by the Liberian Health Minister. While today is April 1st, that piece of advice seems a bit strange.
 
Liberia's Health Minister Walter Gwenigale on Monday warned people to stop having sex because the virus was spread via bodily fluids. This was in addition to existing advice to stop shaking hands and kissing.

Strange indeed. I mean, sure, sex could probably spread it, but singling out intimacy sounds like an attempt to legitimize some religious/superstitious BS to me. Then again, there is a belief in certain parts of Africa that you can cure yourself of aids by raping a child and passing it over to them. In that context, I suppose there are worse things he could have suggest than abstinence.
 
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Strange indeed. I mean, sure, sex could probably spread it, but singling out intimacy sounds like an attempt to legitimize some religious/superstitious BS to me. Then again, there is a belief in certain parts of Africa that you can cure yourself of aids by raping a child and passing it over to them. In that context, I suppose there are worse things he could have suggest than abstinence.
Ah, that makes sense. That could be it.

BTW, I think I saw a headline yesterday that said this virus strain was too deadly to spread very far, i.e. the victims died before they could pass it on very much.
 
Yeah that's actually one of the strengths of AIDS. It takes so long to do it's damage, allowing it to be spread unknowingly for years. A disease that hospitalizes you within a day an kills you quickly thereafter is quite limited in regards to how quickly it can spread.
 
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From Doctors Without Borders:

"I'd say more people get sick [via contact] with diarrhea and vomiting; for example, a man gets sick and his wife starts to clean up his diarrhea and his vomit, and she can get infected. So [it's] really caretakers of patients that get sick — or medical staff, if they are not respecting the precautions [for] an Ebola case.

Do you think there will be many more cases?

Ebola is not airborne, so not contagious like, for example, the flu. Now we know more or less which families are infected, so we are following them. The expectation is that if the people in the community are better informed about the disease, we can detect all possible cases of Ebola and [] them.

How long do you think it will take to contain this Ebola outbreak?

We will manage to contain this outbreak in a short amount of time, but it's difficult to say at the moment." http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/01/297884573/why-is-guineas-ebola-outbreak-so-unusual
 
The scope of Guinea's Ebola virus outbreak has expanded north of the country's capital, with cases reported from three newly affected areas, as the number of cases in neighboring Sierra Leone jumped, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported yesterday.

After a downturn in Ebola virus disease (EVD) over the past few weeks, new cases were recently detected in Telimele prefecture, just east of Guinea's capital, Conakry. The outbreak began in the middle of March in the country's southeastern forested region and spread to the capital on the western coast, where several health workers were infected after treating hospitalized patients.
Article: Ebola expands in Guinea, sickens more in Sierra Leone (CIDRAP - University of Minnesota, May 28, 2014)
 
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besides India , Africa is the place to be for nasty diseases. Look for a documentary serie on Nat Geo called 'killers inside me', most come from Africa
 
Americans with Ebola returning to US for treatment
Two American aid workers seriously ill with Ebola will be brought from West Africa to Atlanta for treatment in one of the most tightly sealed isolation units in the country, officials said Friday.
...

My first thought was "Holy ****, this is how every movie about a deadly pandemic begins." The alternative, however, which would involve leaving heroes to rot when superior treatment options are available, is also not something I like the idea of. After reading up on it, I think it's worth the risk. Probably less chance of it getting out of the facility they're bring them to than there is of some random infected person hopping on a commercial flight.
 
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Americans with Ebola returning to US for treatment


My first thought was "Holy ****, this is how every movie about a deadly pandemic begins." The alternative, however, which would involve leaving heroes to rot when superior treatment options are available, is also not something I like the idea of. After reading up on it, I think it's worth the risk. Probably less chance of it getting out of the facility they're bring them to than there is of some random infected person hopping on a commercial flight.

The latter is was frightens me. However as it is only spread through direct contact with body fluids, I do wonder how the doctor managed to get infected with the virus ?
 
They will be quarantined at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which apparently has very strict controls for this kind of thing. The CDC has also set up quarantine sites at areas around the country, including El Paso and Los Angeles International Airport. They are determined to stay on top of this precisely to prevent an outbreak here in the US.
 
Americans with Ebola returning to US for treatment


My first thought was "Holy ****, this is how every movie about a deadly pandemic begins." The alternative, however, which would involve leaving heroes to rot when superior treatment options are available, is also not something I like the idea of. After reading up on it, I think it's worth the risk. Probably less chance of it getting out of the facility they're bring them to than there is of some random infected person hopping on a commercial flight.
The CDC wants a patient here to experiment on, so to speak. They want to find out survivability of patients treated in a western facilty , and what works and what doesn't. Just in case.
 
The CDC wants a patient here to experiment on, so to speak. They want to find out survivability of patients treated in a western facilty , and what works and what doesn't. Just in case.

This is also the conclusion that I have come up with. I have seen various interviews of doctor's that specialise in deadly diseases and they say that the Dr. Brantly could have undergone treatment in Liberia.

The only question that worries me is how did he manage to get infected ? Nobody seems to have the answer.
 
re: ebola patients in the United States (salty language):

tumblr_n9p95kDim81qz6f9yo1_500.jpg
 
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I assume bodily fluids include droplets from coughing and such? That would make traveling on public services kinda risky, for example.
 
• The doctors who were brought back were apparently given some serum that seems to be working. Their antibodies will be important for further research.
• A vaccine is anticipated about a year from now.
• A guy was just quarantined in Mt. Sinai, NY who is suspected of having brought ebola back from West Africa. Unlike the doctors, he came back not under the protection of strict precautionary measures.

If that turns out to be the case, then I think it further proves how wise of a decision it was to get the doctors back asap and get a jump on trying to test/develop treatment in a controlled environment. Maybe this guy in Mt. Sinai just has a bad cold or something, but if it turns out to be ebola, considering the contact he's had both during and after transit back to the U.S., it could very well be that things are about to get interesting.

If shtf, I'm ready. Bring on the zombies.
 
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I assume bodily fluids include droplets from coughing and such? That would make traveling on public services kinda risky, for example.

From what I've read, no. It's spread by direct bodily fluid contact. unless someone phlegms up into your mouth or a cut you'll be ok.
 
Maybe this guy in Mt. Sinai just has a bad cold or something, but if it turns out to be ebola, considering the contact he's had both during and after transit back to the U.S., it could very well be that things are about to get interesting.

contagion_zpse206968d.jpg
 
From what I've read, no. It's spread by direct bodily fluid contact. unless someone phlegms up into your mouth or a cut you'll be ok.
OK, I think you may be right, or at least I can't find any evidence to the contrary. Still, all that protective clothing the medics are wearing makes you wonder .....

Also, this (from the Wikipedia article on Ebola) may explain the seemingly strange advice in the article I quoted in the OP:
Male survivors may be able to transmit the disease via semen for nearly two months.