Ebola Virus

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gramps

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The latest outbreak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa seems to be more worrying than previous outbreaks, reports of infected relatives being removed from quarantine/treatment centres by family members and concerns being voiced from not only nearby countries but also as far afield as Kenya.
Health Minister Jeremy Hunt interviewed yesterday seemed at great odds to express there being little or no risk to UK citizens but I wonder how sure anyone can be of that?

Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected and is spread by bodily fluids ... suggestions are that there would be no risk to passengers sharing an aircraft with an infected individual ... seems quite hopeful to me :thinking:

Airport staff in the UK are now saying that they are totally unprepared to deal with arrivals of infected persons.

Is everything under control then?
 
Just don't buy any watches from the lookee lookee man while on holiday:exit:
 
gramps said:
The latest outbreak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa seems to be more worrying than previous outbreaks, reports of infected relatives being removed from quarantine/treatment centres by family members and concerns being voiced from not only nearby countries but also as far afield as Kenya.
Health Minister Jeremy Hunt interviewed yesterday seemed at great odds to express there being little or no risk to UK citizens but I wonder how sure anyone can be of that?

Ebola kills up to 90% of those infected and is spread by bodily fluids ... suggestions are that there would be no risk to passengers sharing an aircraft with an infected individual ... seems quite hopeful to me :thinking:

Airport staff in the UK are now saying that they are totally unprepared to deal with arrivals of infected persons.

Is everything under control then?
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It's God's will isn't it Gramps?
 
Ebola burns it's self out with proper quarantine procedures.

there would be risk to people on planes - coughing and sneezing puts out body fluids ;)
 
I have a book about the outbreak in the 80's and 90's, its called "The hot zone", the book starts with a man on a plane heading to france, at one point he hands a full sick bag to the air stewardess which is described as "a bag of toxic waste that has the potential to kill every one on the plane ten times over", if i remember correctly ebola is actually related to measles, via the marberg virus.

Its a very scary book and explains a lot about ebola, its one of the biggest threats to mankind (as it explains are all virus') and the main worry with it is if it mutates and becomes airborne it has the potential to wipe out 90% of the worlds population.

Ebola works from the inside out, it breaks down all of your organs, causing coughing fits along with projectile vomiting, all very toxic, which is how it spreads.

Apparently this time round the death rate is much less than 90%, i think i heard 60% mentioned (my memory's terrible), but i am sure even if it reached over here it would and could be controlled pretty easily without mass outbreaks.
 
Is it not related to the Marburg virus then, i read the book a good few years ago and tbh the book itself is 20years old and so was the science being used.
 
crofter said:
Somethings going to wipe us all out one day, why not Ebola, be very afraid. Ha.
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As the book explains, virus' have lived on this planet long before we did and they mutate all of the time, all it would take is for the wrong virus to mutate and...
 
My daughters just gone to work in an orphanage in Uganda for 3 weeks...
 
A few years ago we were all going to die with bird and swine flu, before that it was mad cow disease, it's all [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER] :D
 
Swissy said:
A few years ago we were all going to die with bird and swine flu, before that it was mad cow disease, it's all [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER] :D
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...we will die from [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER]?!? :eek:
 
The ebola threat is exaggerated in the public's imagination because of over-the-top, sensationalist pop-culture accounts like The Hot Zone and Outbreak.
The truth is much less exotic and grisly.
Ebola is poorly communicable. It's very easy to destroy the virus outside of a host (so sterilisation is not difficult). Most large outbreaks owe their high mortality and transmisson rates to the fact they happen in remote rural areas with only very basic healthcare facilities and poor sanitation and hygiene practises.
And the idea that it makes people "bleed from every orifice" is a media-friendly exaggeration. External haemorrhaging is a rare symptom, and is usually fairly minor. Even invisible internal bleeding is present in less than half of cases. Mostly ebola virus disease resembles a particularly nasty bout of flu.

I wouldn't worry about ebola. Even if we did have a case in the UK, it would be contained easily and patients would receive much more effective care than they do in rural Sierra Leone.
 
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ghoti said:
The ebola threat is exaggerated in the public's imagination because of over-the-top, sensationalist pop-culture accounts like The Hot Zone and Outbreak.
The truth is much less exotic and grisly.
Ebola is poorly communicable. It's very easy to destroy the virus outside of a host (so sterilisation is not difficult). Most large outbreaks owe their high mortality and transmisson rates to the fact they happen in remote rural areas with only very basic healthcare facilities and poor sanitation and hygiene practises.
And the idea that it makes people "bleed from every orifice" is a media-friendly exaggeration. External haemorrhaging is a rare symptom, and is usually fairly minor. Even invisible internal bleeding is present in less than half of cases. Mostly ebola virus disease resembles a particularly nasty bout of flu.

I wouldn't worry about ebola. Even if we did have a case in the UK, it would be contained easily and patients would receive much more effective care than they do in rural Sierra Leone.
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Don't spoil all the fun.
 
Nikon_Nick said:
...we will die from [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER]?!? :eek:
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lol No i reckon when it does end it's more likely to be from one of the many conflicts around the globe, Middle east, Ukraine, Iraq, North Korea.
 
ghoti said:
The ebola threat is exaggerated in the public's imagination because of over-the-top, sensationalist pop-culture accounts like The Hot Zone and Outbreak.
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Are you sure it isn't to do with the 90% death rate, i wouldn't like to take my chances coming into contact with someone with the virus, you make it sound like it wouldn't bother you, (some of the doctors have died through contact with ebola this time round) i agree with all of the other stuff you wrote though.

Oh and i'm not worried either.
 
Bassit said:
Are you sure it isn't to do with the 90% death rate, i wouldn't like to take my chances coming into contact with someone with the virus, you make it sound like it wouldn't bother you, (some of the doctors have died through contact with ebola this time round) i agree with all of the other stuff you wrote though.

Oh and i'm not worried either.
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It doesn't have a "90% death rate". There /have/ been outbreaks with 90% mortality (in rural west African villages, remember). The media like to spin this as "CAN KILL UP TO 90% OF THOSE WHO CATCH IT!!"
The current outbreak - also in rural areas with poor sanitation and healthcare - actually has a mortality of around 54%. But you'll have to read through a lot of hype in the media before getting to that figure.

I'm not saying it's a pleasant disease. Just that it's not as gruesome and frightening as it is in the public imagination. There are more worrying diseases out there that present more direct threats to global health.
 
POAH said:
there would be risk to people on planes - coughing and sneezing puts out body fluids ;)
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Unless its the substrain ebola-mayinga - which it probably isnt given there have only been arround 700 deaths since february , Ebola infection requires 'large droplet' exchange of bodily fluid so it can't be caught be aerosol (that is the fine mist of droplets from coughs and sneezes) - you might be at risk if someone sneezed directly in your face and you got a mouth/eye full of snot - but you arent at risk just from sharing a plane with a sufferer.

Common risk factors would include sex , close contact, taking care of a loved one (bringing you into contact with vomit , faaces etc), and blood to blood transfer through sloppy sharps procedures (like reusing needles). In Africa a common risk factor is also eating bushmeat (the host is thought to be a fruitbat , but monkeys can suffer from ebola so eating either isnt a bright move)

the outbreak in seira leone/guinea/liberia has been going on since february - its only become hysteric front page news on the red tops recently because of a union statement recently saying that border force personel "aren't ready"

While the potential 90% kill rate and the no cure/vacine is scary (actually there is vacine but theres about a 5% chance of getting the disease from the vacination which is why it isnt used much), there are a lot of diseases in the world that would pose far more threat - such as a propper flu pandemic (with a flu virus of high lethality) , or indeed the bubonic plague outbreak in china (we can cure the plague in the western world - but everywhere else would be at risk)
 
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indeed - but thats a little disingenous because "ebola" outbreaks are dam nearly always "Ebola zaire" what matters is which substrain of ebola zaire it is - because only one is transmitted by aerosol - that article is also a little disingenous about the spread as well because the reason it usually spreads slowly is because outbreaks are usually in very rural areas of zaire with sparse populations - the 1000 or so cases have mostly occured in the more populated costal strip of west africa. 1000 cases in 6 months is not exactly a fast spread - and if it were spreading by coughs and sneezes you'd expect a far greater spread.

also the point about airport staff - the union say they havent been given sufficient info - the border force say that isnt true - and anyway the real risk would come from someone who became symptomatic after arrival in the uk (although even then unless its an aerosol strain the risk is relatively slight.

in one of the past out breaks in zaire/congo - four sufferers travelled to russia and became symptomatic after arrival ... at the point they were all quarantined in a moscow hospital isolation ward and no further cases in russia were reported.
 
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big soft moose said:
Unless its the substrain ebola-mayinga - which it probably isnt given there have only been arround 700 deaths since february , Ebola infection requires 'large droplet' exchange of bodily fluid so it can't be caught be aerosol (that is the fine mist of droplets from coughs and sneezes) - you might be at risk if someone sneezed directly in your face and you got a mouth/eye full of snot - but you arent at risk just from sharing a plane with a sufferer.

Common risk factors would include sex , close contact, taking care of a loved one (bringing you into contact with vomit , faaces etc), and blood to blood transfer through sloppy sharps procedures (like reusing needles). In Africa a common risk factor is also eating bushmeat (the host is thought to be a fruitbat , but monkeys can suffer from ebola so eating either isnt a bright move)

the outbreak in seira leone/guinea/liberia has been going on since february - its only become hysteric front page news on the red tops recently because of a union statement recently saying that border force personel "aren't ready"

While the potential 90% kill rate and the no cure/vacine is scary (actually there is vacine but theres about a 5% chance of getting the disease from the vacination which is why it isnt used much), there are a lot of diseases in the world that would pose far more threat - such as a propper flu pandemic (with a flu virus of high lethality) , or indeed the bubonic plague outbreak in china (we can cure the plague in the western world - but everywhere else would be at risk)
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you get all that from Wikipedia lol
 
Bassit said:
As the book explains, virus' have lived on this planet long before we did and they mutate all of the time, all it would take is for the wrong virus to mutate and...
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indeed but the chances of ebola mutating to be airbourne are no greater than say AIDS mutating to spread more easily , or avian flu crossing the species threshold , or SARS, or any number of other viruses.

also the principal case in the 'hot zone' related to an outbreak in a monkey house in the USA - however that turned out to be the first documented case of Ebola reston - which is harmless to people but lethal to monkeys

Also the bag of toxic waste with the potential to kill everyone on the plane blah blah blah is hysterical rubish (designed to sell books) - whilst you can catch Ebola from the vomit of a suferer you have to ingest it or get it in your eyes etc , so everyone on the plane is actually entirely safe from the bag of sick and the stewardess is only at risk if she doesnt clean her hands after disposing of it.
 
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POAH said:
you get all that from Wikipedia lol
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Nope

I got all that from scientific litterature linked from the WHO website. I'm prepared to bet that the World Health Organisation know more about the disease and its risks than you do
 
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Byker28i said:
My daughters just gone to work in an orphanage in Uganda for 3 weeks...
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she should be fine - uganda is in east africa several thousand miles from the outbreak
 
again overly alarmist reporting - Ebola has not in fact yet been confirmed in DRC (although it wouldn't suprise me and it could be seperate outbreak the disease is called Ebola zaire after all ) but even if it were there would be no particular cause for alarm for those travelling to Uganda - in fact theres no massive cause for alarm even if you travel to West africa just take sensible precautions succh as not kissing anyone or otherwise exchanging boddily fluids, don't have sex with the natives (not a good idea anyway given the aids rate), and don't eat anything strange.

the people at real risk are those caring for or in close contact with those infected - e.g family members, doctors, nurses, and those disposing of the dead
 
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big soft moose said:
indeed but the chances of ebola mutating to be airbourne are no greater than say AIDS mutating to spread more easily , or avian flu crossing the species threshold , or SARS, or any number of other viruses.

also the principal case in the 'hot zone' related to an outbreak in a monkey house in the USA - however that turned out to be the first documented case of Ebola reston - which is harmless to people but lethal to monkeys

Also the bag of toxic waste with the potential to kill everyone on the plane blah blah blah is hysterical rubish (designed to sell books) - whilst you can catch Ebola from the vomit of a suferer you have to ingest it or get it in your eyes etc , so everyone on the plane is actually entirely safe from the bag of sick and the stewardess is only at risk if she doesnt clean her hands after disposing of it.
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Yes, The Hot Zone is just entertaining trash. Grisly good fun, but not to be taken seriously. Okay, it is "based" around true events but it is rampantly exaggerated.
Talk of people melting from the inside, lumps of skin and flesh coming away in people's hands. Silly nonsense.
 
Look at the WHO website (not the band) , or the CDC website - or even the non hysterical facts as reported on the BBC websites.

end of the day a calm and reasoned examination of the facts doesnt sell as many papers as "HORROR BUG , THERES NO CURE, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIEEEEEE !!!! " so its not a good idea to take anything reported in the media especially the red tops as unbiased info.

And the hotzone and outbreak were fiction so they werent event attempting to be accurate an unbiased. - although that said Executive Orders (tom clancy) which also features an ebola outbreak is actually closer to the truth than some of the hysterical rubbish writen in the Mirror yesterday
 
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one cow says to the other "so what about this mad cow disease then ?"
other cow says " doesnt worry me, i'm a chicken"

ooops - wrong scare story ;)
 
big soft moose said:
Look at the WHO website
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Key facts
  • Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
  • EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%.
  • EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.
  • The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
  • Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.
  • Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.
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Yep feel much better now :eek:
 
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