Ebola Fears in the Canary Islands

[captain58sailin]

What should give everyone pause is all the touch screen kiosks in the different airports including the one for customs and immigration in Atlanta. There are daily flights between Lagos, Nigeria, Atlanta, & Houston. These planes are usually full, some cultures do not cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. One of the biggest problems is going to be in places like Lagos, that have a high poverty level and a high population density, and people do not seek help because they cannot afford it and they have a fear of their own authorities, this is going to get uglier a lot faster than people think. I suspect that like Ghana, some countries will suppress the reporting of the number of cases that they have in order to avoid a worldwide quarantine, and economic consideration will override the health consideration. Bush meat is a regularly ordered item from the Nigerian caterers. Hang on to your hats!

[DeepFrz]

BOHICA

Not THAT kinda love!!

[Connemara]

I'm sure this has been said, but I don't have time read the whole thread:

Ebola is transmitted through contact with the body fluids of an infected -- and symptomatic -- person. An infected person without symptoms is not a concern.

To transfer the virus, the body fluids -- blood, sweat, tears, snot -- must somehow get into your body, through a break in the skin or contact with mucus membranes.

Contrary to altogether too many news reports, the virus is not "highly contagious" -- it's actually quite hard to catch.

The rule is simple .. .don't touch an infected, symptomatic person.

Connemara

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Contrary to altogether too many news reports, the virus is not "highly contagious" -- it's actually quite hard to catch.

This is not what we are seeing in the reality lab called the Big Blue Room.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Connemara

I'm sure this has been said, but I don't have time read the whole thread:

Ebola is transmitted through contact with the body fluids of an infected -- and symptomatic -- person. An infected person without symptoms is not a concern.

To transfer the virus, the body fluids -- blood, sweat, tears, snot -- must somehow get into your body, through a break in the skin or contact with mucus membranes.

Contrary to altogether too many news reports, the virus is not "highly contagious" -- it's actually quite hard to catch.

The rule is simple .. .don't touch an infected, symptomatic person.

Connemara

eeeerr no

"Epidemiologists and virus experts believe the original case in that instance to have been a woman who went to a market in Guinea and then returned, unwell, to her home village in neighbouring northern Liberia.

The woman's sister cared for her, and in doing so contracted the Ebola virus herself before her sibling died of the haemorrhagic fever it causes.

Feeling unwell and fearing a similar fate, the sister wanted to see her husband - an internal migrant worker then employed on the other side of Liberia at the Firestone rubber plantation.

She took a communal taxi via Liberia's capital Monrovia, exposing five other people to the virus "who later contracted and died of the Ebola."

Taxis, planes and viruses: How deadly Ebola can spread | Reuters

[DeepFrz]

The virus can also live for some time (no one seems to really know how long, but several days at least) outside the body. So its not just a matter of not touching someone who is ill with the disease.

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

This is not what we are seeing in the reality lab called the Big Blue Room.

Actually, Mr. Monkey, that is EXACTLY what we are seeing. The virus is hard to catch. But it's not impossible.

When people refuse to take sick relatives to hospital, then clean them by hand after they die, you get transmission.

When people go to hospital, but staff do not have the appropriate protective equipment, you get transmission.

When people refuse to co-operate with health workers in tracing contacts, you get transmission.

None of those factors, which are driving the outbreak, applies in the U.S. or any Western country.

Connemara

[Spleen]

Think of this: infected person on airplane: diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, doesn't wash hands well. Goes back to seat and puts tray table down, touching everything. Plane lands, infected person changes planes. You sit down, put the tray table down and set your lap top on it. During the flight you go to the bathroom. You come back, touch the tray table and your lap top. During the flight you get tired, so you rub your eyes.

Is worrisome. It doesn't effect my day, but it is something to think about how this could spread in venues such as air travel and living in close quarters, etc.

[SaltyMonkey]

The virus can live up to 11 days in the open environment, this is what the officials are reporting. Obviously, in direct sunlight, not long. On armrests in a taxi…well...

[rognvald]

"Worrisome considerations. Do we trust these countries to have the world's best interests in their decisions? (Rhetorical question) Spleen


I listened to a report on NPR(National Propaganda Radio*) on Wednesday detailing the problem with quarantines and medical assistance in tribal areas of Africa. Health workers cannot enter a village nor can they administer health care without the consent of the local tribal chief. If he is opposed to the program, the people will not comply with the health advisories or patient care. So, you leave the decision of life and death of potentially hundreds if not thousands of people exposed to this deadly, contagious virus to a man whose education and experience can honestly be classified as "Stone Age." How, if this is the case, can the spread of this deadly virus be stopped. Why would not all civilized countries close their borders to anyone coming from these countries? This is not the time for political correctness but rather common sense. Countries have a right to not only protect their citizens from martial invasion, but biological invasions as well. We should remember the lesson of AIDS and its remarkable contagion worldwide.

*NPR-National Public Radio

[Spleen]

Flight crew gets ebola instructions: (TMZ of all places)

Flight Crews Get Special Ebola Training | TMZ.com

[hellosailor]

Conne-
The information on transmitability is coming out piecemeal and incomplete, which is not surprising since there has been very little actual real-world experimentation with ebola. And very little lab experimentation either, considering how few BSL4 labs there are.
Supposedly it requires fluid transfer, but spittle and sneeze droplets in the air ARE FLUID. And other viruses can be spread by aerosols that way, two hours after the source has left a room. So, who wants to run the tests with live ebola to see just where to draw the line? What, no volunteers? PETA won't step in and volunteer to replace the monkeys that once would have been used?

On the safety of the two victims in Atlanta...Actually they are NOT at the CDC, they are in a private facility at Emory University. That could be a good thing since (boy do folks have short memories) a couple of weeks ago the same CDC Atlanta caught flack for accidentally shipping some of the last samples of VIABLE SMALLPOX to a zero-security location, among other little errors that indicate there is no real attention being paid there to overall controls.

In the unabridged Delta Airlines training video, you would have seen the attendants are now generously allowed to accept cash for face masks and biosuits for the other passengers. They used to accept only credit cards, so this is really a generous stretch for Delta.

And of course Spirit will still charge you extra for being seated in a seat guaranteed not to have been used by an ebola victim. Plus the extra charge for a seat reservation fee, if you want that guaranteed before boarding.

Coming back to sailing...we must remember Spanish and English ships coming to the New World on the US east coast, intentionally bought blankets taken from dead smallpox victims to trade with local Indian tribes. In some cases, they accomplished a 90% kill rate in one year, conveniently clearing land for new settlers. The blankets were cheap, since no one in Europe would touch them.

Today, governments are debating the economic effect on certain African nations if their borders are closed. Hmmmm.

[DeepFrz]

Today, governments are debating the economic effect on certain African nations if their borders are closed. Hmmmm.

Would oil have anything to do with the decision?

[IdoraKeeper]

Clearly we could have avoided this if there was a government mandated program for mandatory monkey washing! Grab those monkeys and scrub they dirty selves. A good bleaching and a shave and this mess will be handled. Who's in favor of monkey washing?
In the US pork barrel states get all the CDC sites....wonder how many will be in the red southeast?

[SaltyMonkey]

You touch me with that bleach n shave kit n i will hunt u down.