Official Ebola update thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Humans and fruit bats have always coexisted in Africa. I am not sure i buy the defoerstation argument.

I have eaten fruit bat, and it is quite good, if a little boney. There is no evidence that eating fruit bat caused the outbreak. It was probably a fruit bat pooping on a mango, or some such, and then being picked up and eaten by the 2 year old patient 0.

I find it fascinating how keen people are to blame the victims. It makes me think we are pretty rotten as a race. Maybe we deserve to be wiped out by ebola. Maybe the insects would make a better fist of it.

The Guardian and Washington Post have a good article. The saliva of the bat carries the virus. They eat fruit and other animals too get it. Deforestation of the pristine virgin jungle is what caused the outbreak, also seasonal mining. So even if tomorrow you could eliminate the virus, we could soon have another patient zero.
capitalism, greed and logging and destruction of the jungle is causing this. Perhaps the planet has too many people and is fighting back

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humans and fruit bats have always coexisted in Africa. I am not sure i buy the defoerstation argument.

I have eaten fruit bat, and it is quite good, if a little boney. There is no evidence that eating fruit bat caused the outbreak. It was probably a fruit bat pooping on a mango, or some such, and then being picked up and eaten by the 2 year old patient 0.

I find it fascinating how keen people are to blame the victims. It makes me think we are pretty rotten as a race. Maybe we deserve to be wiped out by ebola. Maybe the insects would make a better fist of it.

The Guardian and Washington Post have a good article. The saliva of the bat carries the virus. They eat fruit and other animals too get it. Deforestation of the pristine virgin jungle is what caused the outbreak, also seasonal mining. So even if tomorrow you could eliminate the virus, we could soon have another patient zero.
capitalism, greed and logging and destruction of the jungle is causing this. Perhaps the planet has too many people and is fighting back

This "reasoning" is so cruel because of course, it's poor people and people who are already most affected by the eradication of natural resources that are hit the hardest. Rich people, mining companies and other industry that has obliterated the jungle aren't remotely affected by Ebola - not yet, anyway. It's poor people who are struggling to survive that are hit first and dying horrible, awful deaths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I felt bad after the first nurse got it but this second one must be a complete fucking idiot. She exposed her entire family? Wtf? Is she clueless? What sort of nursing school did she go to?

Agree. The first nurse only had contact with her boyfriend and dog. The second nurse already had a fever when she got on a plane! WTF!

Nurses are frequently near patients with infectious diseases (though none like ebola). Are they supposed to sit in their house the rest of lives? They stepped up to help another person and were ensured that the safety protocols would protect them. Let's keep the blame where it belongs--the CDC.

Let's not. I know personal responsibility is about dead in this day and age but she, more than the average lay person, knows about the dangers of Ebola. Nurses regularly stay home when they are sick so they don't infect patients with compromised immune systems (anyone who has worked in a hospital knows this). To think that she didn't grasp that when they told her to monitor herself for possible infection is ridiculous.

Bridezilla wanted to plan her wedding.

I wrote this. I want to apologize for it. The CDC threw her under tbe bus. If they set up a gofundme for her, I will surely donate

[Anonymous]

Things have gone from bad to worse to horrendous in West AFrica. You see how much chaos ONE case of ebola can cause in Dallas. THey've had over a few thousand -- still a small part of the population affected but society has drawn to a complete halt and health care is decimated.

And now they are moving into exponential spread -- soon there will be 10,000 new cases each week, they are saying. The virus will spread and start to affect members of the elite (government officials, people with money and means to GET OUT) and people will be desperate to leave the country by any means possible. This is completely understandable. It will happen in the next two months.

Especially if they have been exposed, or think they are having symptoms... they WILL leave, if they can, in hopes of getting actual care elsewhere. (Sadly that didn't work out for Mr. Duncan, of course.)

There is therefore every reason to expect more and more individual cases of ebola to start showing up in various locations around the world. Will it start an uncontrollable outbreak elsewhere? Likely not but as you can see just ONE case of ebola in a state can be extremely costly and divisive and difficult to manage.

By Christmas we are going to have a massive, chronic problem on our hands. World wide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why people harp on the hospital not having highly specialized equipment. Not every hospital is prepared to handle something like this. This is news?

WTF -- so it's ok for hospitals to be unprepared and then hang their nurses out to dry? I realize that not every local hospital is prepped for everything -- doesn't CDC realize that? Why not come up with a protocol that involves isolating a patient like this who walks in, not having any staff with him (which I realize sucks for that patient but is needed to protect people), and then get the local department of health to get adequate PPE to that hospital within x number of hrs or arrange for transport to a bigger regional hospital that can handled this.

This is the first time this hospital has faced a level 4 virus - Christ, this is the first time America has in a long time. Not like their closet is filled with hazmat suits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never, EVER in my life did I think I would agree with John Boehner about anything ever, but yes to this assertion:

"A temporary ban on travel to the United States from countries afflicted with the virus is something that the president should absolutely consider along with any other appropriate actions as doubts about the security of our air travel systems grow".

Obama keeps saying that a pandemic is inevitable if we don't treat people in West Africa and, yes, we absolutely need to address the illness over there. But why the HELL are we also not keeping out travelers who've been in affected areas without instituting a quarantine. What the hell is the CDC thinking ????

Same here, PP, same here.

Some people say that we didn't have Ebola outside of West Africa all year - why "panic" with just one traveler and a few transmissions?

Because the Ebola cases in West Africa are reaching a critical mass soon! -if the predictions are right, and there are 10,000 new cases A WEEK there soon, we will only be able to control it fast enough with quarantine and it will get worse before it gets better.
This quarantine has to be a GLOBAL agreement to limit travel into high risk areas.
It is temporary. If strict quarantine is not feasible for whatever reason, travel needs to be extremely limited.
Before it's too late; meaning that we will be overwhelmed with cases and contact tracing.

We can be overwhelmed quite easily, we only have 11 beds at the 4 highly specialized hospitals and it will be hard enough for regular hospitals to CARE FOR A SINGLE Ebola patient. It is critical that we do the right thing now.

I'm a healthcare professional, and I'm not happy these days with the CDC, or our response on a local and international level.
Not happy at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never, EVER in my life did I think I would agree with John Boehner about anything ever, but yes to this assertion:

"A temporary ban on travel to the United States from countries afflicted with the virus is something that the president should absolutely consider along with any other appropriate actions as doubts about the security of our air travel systems grow".

Obama keeps saying that a pandemic is inevitable if we don't treat people in West Africa and, yes, we absolutely need to address the illness over there. But why the HELL are we also not keeping out travelers who've been in affected areas without instituting a quarantine. What the hell is the CDC thinking ????

Wake up. He WANTS a pandemic. More power. I predicted this type of crisis when he got elected the first time. It's all over his background, his speeches, his associations.

I'm sad I was right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never, EVER in my life did I think I would agree with John Boehner about anything ever, but yes to this assertion:

"A temporary ban on travel to the United States from countries afflicted with the virus is something that the president should absolutely consider along with any other appropriate actions as doubts about the security of our air travel systems grow".

Obama keeps saying that a pandemic is inevitable if we don't treat people in West Africa and, yes, we absolutely need to address the illness over there. But why the HELL are we also not keeping out travelers who've been in affected areas without instituting a quarantine. What the hell is the CDC thinking ????

Wake up. He WANTS a pandemic. More power. I predicted this type of crisis when he got elected the first time. It's all over his background, his speeches, his associations.

I'm sad I was right.

F*** you. If you seriously believe that the president wants Ebola here, then go to Canada, moron. Or any other country willing to have you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nurse called the CDC several times before flying CBS news reports: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-nurse-called-cdc-several-times/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Vinson called the agency several times before flying, saying that she had a fever with a temperature of 99.5 degrees. But because her fever wasn't 100.4 degrees or higher, she didn't officially fall into the group of "high risk" and was allowed to fly.

INFURIATING

Maybe Jesse Jackson will call for the CDC to be sued over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I hope she'll recover and that the transfer to Emory isn't a sign of a downward spiral.

Have they said why she is being transferred to Emory? Beyond just "They've treated other patients"?

I have to think she is much sicker than Nina Pham if she is being transferred this quickly and Nina isn't. Which just leads me back to... she was sicker than they'll admit on her Monday flight. And possibly over the weekend.

I bet they were infected right around the same time. Nina went in Friday, Amber not until overnight Monday/Tuesday at the earliest.

Here's the thing---you don't go from being contagious exactly at point A. There is a lead up to when the fever first spikes when you are contagious...as there is with every single other virus with fever as a symptom. Once it hits with Ebola--it hits full on which means if you aren't quarantined--you are out running your daily errands, hopping flights, etc. WTF???!!!! I have a graduate Degree in Virology. I have worked with doctors that worked in the Congo with Ebola. I am baffled by how the US is letting this take ground here. We are already so many steps behind.

PEOPLE CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO SELF-MONITOR. TO NOT GET ON FLIGHTS. TO NOT GO OUT IN PUBLIC. EVEN THE BROADCASTER BROKE HER QUARATINE. People can't even be trusted to take their temp twice a day. WTF? Are we really going to be able to monitor all of the potential victims. No- of course not. Non-essential flights from W.Africa should have been banned months ago. A Huge presence shoudl have been down there fighting it on its turf in the Hot Zone and contained it DOWN there. THe hospital staff that had intimitate contact with DUNCAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON QUARATINE AND NOT ALLOWED OUT IN PUBLIC. WTF???

Wow I elect y oi to run the CDC! I'm serious why the fuck can't our leaders think of this simple shit to protect its citizens. Baffling!

I work for another government agency. I'm have worked both with FDA and NIH in the past. That is why I GET this shit show. I also know CDC is told what they can say to the press. They have to hide shit. They can't say how bad it is if Admin doesn't want that word out. They don't want to lose their jobs...the good people eventually can't take the Bureaucracy. It takes way too long to get approval to do what needs to be done!!!!!

You are correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nurse called the CDC several times before flying CBS news reports: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-nurse-called-cdc-several-times/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Vinson called the agency several times before flying, saying that she had a fever with a temperature of 99.5 degrees. But because her fever wasn't 100.4 degrees or higher, she didn't officially fall into the group of "high risk" and was allowed to fly.

INFURIATING

According to ny times, she was never told she could fly but was also not prohibited from flying. That's still sounds wrong but not the same as giving permission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why people harp on the hospital not having highly specialized equipment. Not every hospital is prepared to handle something like this. This is news?

WTF -- so it's ok for hospitals to be unprepared and then hang their nurses out to dry? I realize that not every local hospital is prepped for everything -- doesn't CDC realize that? Why not come up with a protocol that involves isolating a patient like this who walks in, not having any staff with him (which I realize sucks for that patient but is needed to protect people), and then get the local department of health to get adequate PPE to that hospital within x number of hrs or arrange for transport to a bigger regional hospital that can handled this.

This is the first time this hospital has faced a level 4 virus - Christ, this is the first time America has in a long time. Not like their closet is filled with hazmat suits

There are reports that he was kept in a noni-isolated part of the ER for hours and that it was more hours before the hospital provided the nurses with shoe covers, sa pretty standard supply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the fact that only nurses who treated Duncan while he was very ill, and not the daughter who helped get him to the hospital, are the ones that have contracted Ebola is very telling that the disease is not contagious until the disease is underway.

Hopefully the disease in the US stops with these two nurses. I'm optimistic.

Agreed.

The chances that everyone in Duncan's household was somehow immune to Ebola, seem very, very low (particularly considering that studies showing immunity were all conducted in remote villages, where bush meat is regularly consumed). They just didn't catch it and seem unlikely to at this late date. As experts have told us, a patient's viral load when they first become symptomatic is very low. Ebola just isn't that contagious in the initial stages when people are likely to be walking around (or flying) out in the community. I'll be extremely surprised if anyone is infected as a result of contact with Amber Vinson over the past two days.

Clearly, those who are at risk are the healthcare workers who deal directly with bodily fluids and care for patients as they become increasingly ill and their viral load increases. We need to be sure those workers are well-trained and practiced with PPE. Transferring patients to one of the 4 designated US treatment centers (as they did with nurse #2) seems like the best course of action, wherever possible. Ebola is not an illness that hospitals are used to dealing with, so it really isn't surprising that Dallas Presbyterian struggled. They made mistakes. The CDC has made mistakes. We are learning from those mistakes and our response will improve.

Despite the fact that this epidemic has been raging overseas for well over 6 months, we have unknowingly imported only ONE Ebola victim. We may see one or two other patients like Duncan but the next time we will be better prepared, having learned from our experiences.
Nigeria contained this epidemic and we will too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nurse called the CDC several times before flying CBS news reports: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-nurse-called-cdc-several-times/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Vinson called the agency several times before flying, saying that she had a fever with a temperature of 99.5 degrees. But because her fever wasn't 100.4 degrees or higher, she didn't officially fall into the group of "high risk" and was allowed to fly.

INFURIATING

Maybe Jesse Jackson will call for the CDC to be sued over this.

Why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never, EVER in my life did I think I would agree with John Boehner about anything ever, but yes to this assertion:

"A temporary ban on travel to the United States from countries afflicted with the virus is something that the president should absolutely consider along with any other appropriate actions as doubts about the security of our air travel systems grow".

Obama keeps saying that a pandemic is inevitable if we don't treat people in West Africa and, yes, we absolutely need to address the illness over there. But why the HELL are we also not keeping out travelers who've been in affected areas without instituting a quarantine. What the hell is the CDC thinking ????

Wake up. He WANTS a pandemic. More power. I predicted this type of crisis when he got elected the first time. It's all over his background, his speeches, his associations.

I'm sad I was right.

F*** you. If you seriously believe that the president wants Ebola here, then go to Canada, moron. Or any other country willing to have you.

The man stated a pandemic would be inevitable. Those are not the words of a man determined to keep a deadly virus out of the country he runs. That is the words of a man doing nothing to keep it out. And the actions of one as well.

A pandemic, even a potential one, will allow the narcissist in chief to ride to the rescue! "We are the obes's we've been waiting for'" - remember that line? It ain't about you, my friend

This is my country. I do not want it fundamentally changed. I am not ashamed of her, or her people, be it north, south, east or west. I am proud of our accomplishments, of our flag, of our military. I am disgusted by this President believes in none of it. He needs to go