Ebola - I'm getting that sinking feeling that the "IT" is about to hit the fan

[jbett98]

Good news today. Scientist have manufactured a vaccine for ebola that works.
Now for the bad news, it only works on Chimpanzees.

 

[rick benjamin]

The time I had to do this, it wasn't a path o gen, but it was a mess.
Once, when my x-wife tried to enter my house..........Oh...Nevermind

Gen have a photo? A sea story needs a good photo!

 

[rick benjamin]

Good news today. Scientist have manufactured a vaccine for ebola that works.
Now for the bad news, it only works on Chimpanzees.

At least my hero and past president is safe!

 

[Sstrand]

Rick
That means everyone in DC is safe . . .

Sheldon

 

[rick benjamin]

Sheldon;
The Dem Elites referred to only one as "The Chimp".
He's no longer in DC.

 

[Mark W.]

The Spanish Flue in January 1918 – December 1920 It infected 500 million people across the world, including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and killed 50 to 100 million of them—three to five percent of the world's population



And yet we are still here.

 

[jbett98]

Except the people who caught the Spanish flu.

 

[RVTECH]

A Dr. on Fox news earlier said it best: "Ebola is the first virus, the second is fear"

 

[mjbskwim]

A lot of things going on right now. Why was the Atlanta office of disease playing with viruses anyway?
Wasn't there a Anthrax scare in Atlanta too?
Why did they let these ebola people back into the US?
Many,many other things going on.
I'm awatching things go down.
Keep up with your news briefs on here for us who don't watch good enough,please

 

[rick benjamin]

Keep to the down-low
Hunker, take a knee
Practice stealth

 

[Dornai]

Can we stop fear mongering over Ebola. There's a very, very low chance it could ever spread in a first world country.

While this is the largest documented outbreak of Ebola, it's only grown so large because of the geographical location it originated.

Where the means of proper medical care does not exist, an ability to place sanctions and quarantines to prevent further spread does not exist, and local customs regarding death and burial that bar proper burial procedures of patients who host the virus, as Ebola can still infect after it's host has died.

In any first world (or "developed") country, none of these factors would contribute to an outbreak. Ebola is extremely easy to contain.

Anyone worried about a "SHTF" scenario in the U.S. over Ebola is poorly educated, to say the least.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Very true. They are working on a cure for the much more deadly parasitic South American Plague as we speak so there's always hope for us all. It seems that a cure is on the horizon though.. it has something to do with how one votes.

 

[RVTECH]

Africans have much more to worry about from their own brethren than from a virus. Remember that that little tribal spat in 1994.......

 

[Norm0931]

Ok, so the guy who did the video... wtf as a "first responder" he doesn't know what he's talking about in identifying the equipment.

Ebola... not airborne, it's an aerosol hazard, PAPR with CBRNE filters is totally sufficient. Also, there is tons of equipment out there that's designed to go on your face and keep things out, there are not a lot of things designed to keep things in. While I would have felt a lot better had they just kept the guy in a moon bubble and I think they were irresponsible not to do so (mainly from a perception point of view).

Anyways, lemme go through the video

2:03 - He's saying "this guy should be wearing an oxygen tank" well, actually no he shouldn't because SCBA tanks have no output filtering. This means anything the guy breaths out is circulated into the ambulance. Sticking an NIOSH N95 mask on his face works much better.
2:07 - "the guy on the left" is wearing a POSITIVE AIR PRESSURE RESPIRATOR (PAPR) this is a battery operated unit that provides the person wearing it with a positive flow of filtered air. The best way to imagine this is having 6 filters and a fan on the mask you had to wear in the military. Also, the suit he's wearing is a standard vapor barrier suit. The kind you would want to wear if you were being sprayed with anthrax, ebola, or many other kinds of biohazards. I wouldn't want to wear this suit for VX, but it's not designed for that.
3:25 - "this is a level 2...." no, that's a respirator, a regular gas mask with a water bottle attachment. For those who arn't familiar, most modern masks have the ability to attach a drinking tube, to allow the user to still consume water while under hazmat conditions. Frankly, if I was bottled up in a vapor barrier suit, in the summer in georgia, I would probably kill the mofo who would deny me the ability to drink some water.
3:45 - "someone needs to know how big it is" well, since we've been experimenting with ebola in the lab for 20+ years, we have a pretty good idea how big it is. Also, yes, the virus, the aerosols and the like get caught in the filter... which will be incinerated along with all the stuff that guy is wearing. Seriously... I thought this guy was a first responder.
4:45 - "what are you going to do scrub it down with 409?" Apparently this "first responder" has never heard of ethylene oxide, it's a gas sterilant that's used on tons of stuff. And I quote:

5:11 - "where we wear level 1 moon suits" - Anyone else ever worn one? They're hot, they're stuffy, and without a constant supply of air, you will get hypoxic and die. I wonder at what stage of hypoxia this guy is at.

Horrible memories of being in the field for two weeks in MOP 4. =**(

 

[AMProducts]

Can we stop fear mongering over Ebola. There's a very, very low chance it could ever spread in a first world country.

While this is the largest documented outbreak of Ebola, it's only grown so large because of the geographical location it originated.

Where the means of proper medical care does not exist, an ability to place sanctions and quarantines to prevent further spread does not exist, and local customs regarding death and burial that bar proper burial procedures of patients who host the virus, as Ebola can still infect after it's host has died.

In any first world (or "developed") country, none of these factors would contribute to an outbreak. Ebola is extremely easy to contain.

Anyone worried about a "SHTF" scenario in the U.S. over Ebola is poorly educated, to say the least.

It is important to not underestimate ebola. This is a VERY dangerous disease, anything that can be transmitted from person to person and kills 50% of the people who get it within a month of infection is bad news, and deserves a healthy respect. Of all the major health emergencies we've seen in the last 30 years, this one has the ability to bring about SHTF. I'm a betting man, and I agree, putting your chips on "probably not" is a fairly safe bet. But if you know what hedging is, it's never a bad idea when you're dealing with something this bad.

It's also important to realize Africa doesn't have all the modern amenities you find in a western hospital, but this is by no means to assert that it is a complete backwater, in most cases the hospitals and clinics are run by western charities, with western educated doctors, and as much donated gear and drugs as they can get.

What the real problem the world is having with containing ebola at the moment, as soon as the word "quarantine" was spoken by authorities there, all the people who could squirted out. You don't think the same thing would happen here? This could be the really big deal.

 

[rick benjamin]

Wash your hands
Don't touch your face

 

[DieselScout]

Wash your hands
Don't touch your face

The not touching your face is very hard to do. As a semi-sort of experiment I tried to do it last week and it's a very hard habit you break. Just give it an hour, pay attention to every time you touch your face.

 

[rick benjamin]

Enlist in the Marines
Get off the bus
Get on the yellow footprints
Don't touch your face! (for 3 months)

 

[ocarolan]

The Reston strain is transmitted by airborne contact. Zaire or Sudan could easily follow a similar mutation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...lethal-virus-spread-pigs-monkeys-contact.html

Ebolavirus could have SHTF implications, in terms of social disruption. Infection of just 1% might tilt the scales to chaos.

 

[GrpCapMandrake]

It is important to remember though that this is not the first appearance of Ebola in the United States. Look at Fort Detrick, MD or the CDC Bio Safety Level 4 Labs where truly scary things exist. Hell the town of Reston, VA has a strain of Ebola named after it since it was discovered in a monkey lab there. Just to freak a number of you out, it is also the only version of Ebola that is thought to be aerosolized, though humans seem to suffer no ill effects from it. It will kill the heck out of a building full of monkeys though.

However for all of the fear going about, which I experienced myself, just follow these rules and you will be perfectly fine.

1. Don't eat bush meat from the jungles of Africa.
2. If one of your loved ones becomes ill with Ebola because of point 1, don't touch their bodily fluids.
3. If one of your loved ones dies of Ebola, don't handle the body and kiss it goodbye.
4. If you happen to find yourself in Africa (well really the middle third), touch nothing!!

All that said I hope the two folks in the hospital in Atlanta survive. Ebola is just such a horrible way to die.