Has Ebola gone airborne? re the US doctor & nurse who have caught it & possible case in Hong Kong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

But, they are only allowed to wear the hot suits for 1 hour at a time, then they have go to through a decontamination station and are helped out of the suits by a decontamination team (they do not remove them themselves, and the outside of the suits are sprayed down with disinfectant before removing anything), then they have to re-hydrate for 2 hours after that because of all the fluids they loose while inside the suits. It seems like infection would be pretty difficult given all those procedures

But yet the lead doctor got it and died yesterday.

Yes, but those who are doing the decontamination might not have been trained well or trained hastily. Or perhaps the product they are using was sub par or suffered some other breakdown given the environment.

One of the locals working in the decontamination unit had Ebola. There is speculation that medical personnel were exposed in the decontamination unit after going through decontamination procedures. But there are so many possibilities it's hard to know.

[Anonymous]

While the virus's one virtue is that it isn't as easily transmitted as flu, it is highly contagious.

The disease spreads through contact with blood, body fluids or contact with tissue from infected people or animals. It has only a 10 per cent survival rate.
People can become contaminated from vomiting and diarrhoea, saliva from a kiss, sweat from a mopped brow, or even, experts believe, a sneeze.
A sufferer will endure a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, a headache and sore throat.
Then comes vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and the kidneys and liver shutting down.
As the final stages of the disease take hold, a patient sufferers unpleasant internal and external bleeding.
As the virus punches holes in veins, the result is massive internal haemorrhaging and bleeding from the eyes, ears, mouth and other orifices.
A victim generally dies as a result of multiple organ failure.
Doctors have been warned to look for patients who have sudden onset of symptoms including fever, headache, sore throat and generally feeling unwell within 21 days of visiting affected areas.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2709509/Nigeria-admits-precise-number-people-Ebola-victim-infected-not-known-59-people-placed-close-surveillance.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The long incubation period makes it scarier. Someone could get infected and travel a week...week and a half later without knowing they were infected and with no symptoms, then get to their destination and come down with it.

It's not like all travelers could be tested for it before traveling

Unless you're french kissing everyone on your flight and at the airport, you're going to be fine.

[Anonymous]

Ebola is not an efficient virus from an evolutionary perspective, since unlike the common cold, it has not evolved a rapid airborne spread and kills its host before it can spread disease far and wide.

Unless you are over there in the midst of patients dying from Ebola, you should be worrying a lot more about swine or avian flu!

- virologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

While the virus's one virtue is that it isn't as easily transmitted as flu, it is highly contagious.

The disease spreads through contact with blood, body fluids or contact with tissue from infected people or animals. It has only a 10 per cent survival rate.
People can become contaminated from vomiting and diarrhoea, saliva from a kiss, sweat from a mopped brow, or even, experts believe, a sneeze.
A sufferer will endure a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, a headache and sore throat.
Then comes vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and the kidneys and liver shutting down.
As the final stages of the disease take hold, a patient sufferers unpleasant internal and external bleeding.
As the virus punches holes in veins, the result is massive internal haemorrhaging and bleeding from the eyes, ears, mouth and other orifices.
A victim generally dies as a result of multiple organ failure.
Doctors have been warned to look for patients who have sudden onset of symptoms including fever, headache, sore throat and generally feeling unwell within 21 days of visiting affected areas.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2709509/Nigeria-admits-precise-number-people-Ebola-victim-infected-not-known-59-people-placed-close-surveillance.html

Are you seriously linking the Daily Mail as a reference for a medical issue!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Ebola is not an efficient virus from an evolutionary perspective, since unlike the common cold, it has not evolved a rapid airborne spread and kills its host before it can spread disease far and wide.

Unless you are over there in the midst of patients dying from Ebola, you should be worrying a lot more about swine or avian flu!

- virologist.

+1

Humans are not a natural reservoir for the virus (bats and other animals are) and it's not particularly good at infecting us. Kills us too quickly for good dispersal, relies on bodily fluid contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a developed country with millions of people living close together it would be worse. Do you really think that the WHO is going to TELL people that you could get it easily? Mass panic.

Only 1000 people have caught it in the VERY long outbreak so far. The countries its in now, unlike for previous outbreaks, are well populated and have dense urban areas.

You sound CRAZY.

If you had ever gone to Africa, you would know that the reporting is very spotty. So it is likely that it is vastly under reported. If you are not going to Africa, you are probably safe. But as far as containing anything -- Africa leads the world in the spread of AIDS. The approach to medicine once you leave the 1% educated, is VERY different than what we have here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a developed country with millions of people living close together it would be worse. Do you really think that the WHO is going to TELL people that you could get it easily? Mass panic.

Only 1000 people have caught it in the VERY long outbreak so far. The countries its in now, unlike for previous outbreaks, are well populated and have dense urban areas.

You sound CRAZY.

If you had ever gone to Africa, you would know that the reporting is very spotty. So it is likely that it is vastly under reported. If you are not going to Africa, you are probably safe. But as far as containing anything -- Africa leads the world in the spread of AIDS. The approach to medicine once you leave the 1% educated, is VERY different than what we have here.

The fact of the matter is that AIDS spreads very easily compared to Ebola. HIV/AIDS takes a long time to kill, even untreated,so there's plenty of time for bodily fluid swapping. Not so with Ebola. You are ridiculous to try to analogize the two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An epidemic in the us is unlikely because of the access to medical care we have here. Early detection is key in preventing the disease from becoming fatal, and hospitals here are equipped and knowledgable about how to deal with serious infectious diseases.

Please get your facts straight. According to WHO:

"No specific treatment is available. New drug therapies are being evaluated" It doesn't much matter where you are when you contract the disease there is not treatment and mortality rates are around 90%.

NP. There is no cure for Ebola but early detection and treatment of symptoms improves the mortality rate. From the link below:

Although there is no cure or vaccination for Ebola, Brantly and Writebol’s chances of survival are much higher than ever before. Ebola normally has a mortality rate of 90 percent, but the current outbreak’s mortality rate has been estimated to be closer to 60 percent. This is because of quicker recognition of the virus’s symptoms and more advanced treatment options. Treatment of Ebola consists largely of making sure the patient is hydrated, maintaining adequate blood pressure, replacing any blood loss through hemorrhaging, and treating other infections that may develop. The large presence of both African and global aid has helped ensure that more sick individuals are receiving the necessary treatment. Ken Isaacs, vice president of Samaritan’s Purse, told CBS News that thanks to early treatment of the symptoms both Brantly and Writebol are “in stable condition,” but added that “they are not out of the woods yet.”

http://www.medicaldaily.com/ebola-outbreak-infects-2-american-health-workers-liberia-mortality-rate-lower-usual-early-treatment

[Anonymous]

Norovirus is only transmitted through contact with fecal matter or vomit. It is not airborne. And yet it can spread thorough a school or cruise ship like wildfire. I'm not so sure that Ebola couldn't do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I have to keep posting this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/25/324941229/could-the-ebola-outbreak-spread-to-europe-or-the-u-s

It's VERY hard to pass along Ebola without direct contact with bodily fluids. There are two cases where very sick people travelled internationally with the disease and didn't infect anyone.

Interesting! Thanks for posting this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Norovirus is only transmitted through contact with fecal matter or vomit. It is not airborne. And yet it can spread thorough a school or cruise ship like wildfire. I'm not so sure that Ebola couldn't do the same.

Norovirus can be spread through contaminated water or food. Ebola cannot.

Not even close to the same thing.

[Anonymous]

There is a serious public health crisis going on in the countries affected so far, with this illness.

http://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/news/2495-dead-bodies-health-ministry-failing-to-pick-up-abandoned


THere is no need to make it out to be spread through the air. Spread the usual way for Ebola is frightening enough.

[Anonymous]

http://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/news/2495-dead-bodies-health-ministry-failing-to-pick-up-abandoned

Monrovia - Following the government of Liberia’s declaration of a national health emergency in the face of the deadly Ebola outbreak that has killed close to 130 Liberians and an entire government ministry at risk because of an employee that died of the deadly disease in Nigeria, there have been reports of dead bodies lying around with no effort by the ministry of health to remove them.

Over the lake that divides the police academy road from the rest of the SKD Boulevard community two objects in the shape of body bags white in color were afloat. Residents and motorists were concerned about the floating object, but all efforts made to contact the health ministry to confirm what the object actually is proved futile as no health response team showed up to remove the object that looked like the body bag in which Ebola victims are buried.

In Harbel, Margibi County it was reported that three persons had died in a house, but the corpses were still in the house three days after. The Gardnersville community was a scene of chaos and confusion as youth blocked the main highway because a corpse had been abandoned for five days and had started to decay.

In the Brewerville suburb outside Monrovia, a mother of three is afraid as news spread of the death of a strange woman who was brought into the community just yards from her house Sunday night. People are dead scared of the disease and many parents are taking their children out of vacation school because of the media campaign that has been waged against the disease by the government over the last two days.

The government had reported that burial teams were facing challenges in burying people who die from the deadly virus as many communities are concerned about people who die from the virus being buried in their areas. Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyeswah told FPA weeks ago that the ministry was concerned that some Liberians were still in denial of the disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Norovirus is only transmitted through contact with fecal matter or vomit. It is not airborne. And yet it can spread thorough a school or cruise ship like wildfire. I'm not so sure that Ebola couldn't do the same.

Norovirus can be spread through contaminated water or food. Ebola cannot.

Not even close to the same thing.

What if a food service worker who cannot take sick leave gets Ebola, continues to stay at work even when vomiting/diarrhea begins. Trace amounts of vomit/diarrhea gets into food or water, etc.

I don't see how how it couldn't be transmitted in the same way. Isn't that how norovirus is transmitted through food/water?