[dohboi]

We may or may not directly kill a lot of panthers, but we will (have) decimate(d) the animals they depend on and wipe out their eco-systems.

There's more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one way to drive a feline apex predator to extinction.

[AndyA]

An infectious tune, chart topping in Liberia for several weeks now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_WOR22-SnY

When is it time to take action in terms of quarantine your home?
When it arrives in your country
When it arrives in your state
When it arrives in your town
When someone you know gets it

For some people in Texas, it could already be too late, though it is too early to tell if there have been secondary infections, though with 100 people being monitored and some of them children th ere is a good chance of secondary infections. This seems to be the strategy of most governments though, try and prevent the secondary infections from spreading, because they have done nothing to prevent the secondary infections.

In developed Nations containing the secondary infections should be reasonably simple. For those (optimistically called) developing Nations though it is not so simple, one individual in Nigeria infected 19 people before it was contained. I imagine that if there were 10 people enter Lagos with Ebola, that would give 190 secondary infections and suddenly the situation is a lot more complex, and resources could become stretched.

This could cause a severe crisis if it continues to spread, and gets a foothold in other countries. If they couldn't contain it when there were 300 cases, and they are not containing it now there are 6,000 cases, how do they expect to contain it by the end of the year when there will be over 1,000,000 cases?

[GHung]

Greer posted links to a couple of eye-openers this week:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... a_outbreak

http://prosperouswaydown.com/uncharted- ... overshoot/

Addressing this disease takes an asymetrical amount of resources from already stressed healthcare systems, both in the 'third world' and developed nations. I'm sure we'll all pay somehow, even if this doesn't affect us directly.

[Beery1]

Now it's in the US, I'm being a lot more careful about things: I go out as little as possible, I have my groceries delivered so I'm exposed to fewer people, I have an eye on where packages are coming from and if they come from Texas I'm leaving them unopened for a good few days. When I do go out I move away from people who are coughing or sneezing.

Overreacting, you betchya, because the whole problem here is that the authorities are underreacting. If they had overreacted, Ebola wouldn't be in the US now.

[westexas]

NBC News Freelancer in Africa Diagnosed With Ebola
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/nbc-news-freelancer-africa-diagnosed-ebola-n217271

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')n American freelance cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola and will be flown back to the U.S. for treatment. The freelancer, Ashoka Mukpo, 33, was hired Tuesday to be a second cameraman for NBC News Chief Medical Editor and Correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman. Snyderman is with three other NBC News employees on assignment in Monrovia, reporting on the Ebola outbreak.

Mukpo came down with symptoms on Wednesday, feeling tired and achy. As part of a routine temperature check, he discovered he was running a slight fever. He immediately quarantined himself and sought medical advice. On Thursday morning, Mukpo went to a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treatment center to be tested for the virus. The positive result came back just under 12 hours later. . . .

Mukpo will be the fifth American infected with Ebola and evacuated from West Africa. He has been working in Liberia on various projects for the past three years. . . .

"We are also taking all possible measures to protect our employees and the general public," Turness added in the note. "The rest of the crew, including Dr. Nancy, are being closely monitored and show no symptoms or warning signs. However, in an abundance of caution, we will fly them back on a private charter flight and then they will place themselves under quarantine in the United States for 21 days — which is at the most conservative end of the spectrum of medical guidance."

[westexas]

UN Ebola chief raises 'nightmare' prospect that virus could mutate and become airborne if it is not quickly brought under control

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2778022/UN-Ebola-chief-raises-nightmare-prospect-virus-mutate-airborne.html


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he longer the Ebola epidemic continues infecting people unabated the higher the chances it will mutate and become airborne, the UN's Ebola response chief has warned.

Anthony Banbury, the Secretary General's Special Representative, has said there is a 'nightmare' prospect the deadly disease will become airborne if it continues infecting new hosts. . . .

However, fears the disease may become airborne are not new. Last month in a piece for the New York Times, Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said experts are loathe to discuss their concerns in public, for fear of whipping up hysteria. 

[westexas]

Some interesting observations in the second excerpted paragraph:

Transmission of Ebola virus from pigs to non-human primates (NHP)

http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/ ... 00811.html

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')bola viruses (EBOV) cause often fatal hemorrhagic fever in several species of simian primates including human. While fruit bats are considered natural reservoir, involvement of other species in EBOV transmission is unclear. In 2009, Reston-EBOV was the first EBOV detected in swine with indicated transmission to humans. In-contact transmission of Zaire-EBOV (ZEBOV) between pigs was demonstrated experimentally. Here we show ZEBOV transmission from pigs to cynomolgus macaques without direct contact. Interestingly, transmission between macaques in similar housing conditions was never observed. Piglets inoculated oro-nasally with ZEBOV were transferred to the room housing macaques in an open inaccessible cage system. All macaques became infected. Infectious virus was detected in oro-nasal swabs of piglets, and in blood, swabs, and tissues of macaques. This is the first report of experimental interspecies virus transmission, with the macaques also used as a human surrogate. Our finding may influence prevention and control measures during EBOV outbreaks. . . .

Contact exposure is considered to be the most important route of infection with EBOV in primates (7), although there are reports suggesting or suspecting aerosol transmission of EBOV from NHP to NHP (non-human primates) (8, 9, 10), or in humans based on epidemiological observations (11). The present study was design to evaluate EBOV transmission from experimentally infected piglets to NHPs without direct contact.

[dohboi]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-y ... to-profit/

Lots of chances to buy stocks of things people are going to want to stock up on.

[Paulo1]

It won't take too many incidents for travel panic cancellations of airline tickets to start. A few more 'returning home infected' would be a real blow to travel and commerce in time for American Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations, imho.

My wife and I live in a remote valley on Northern Vancouver Island and when the projections hit the news we always remark how we are just one day away from the same exposure as everyone else due to neighbours travelling. I could see air travel collapsing. Would you like to sit next to someone with a cold and/or cough in one of those germ tubes?

Maybe buy some shares in board games and surgical mask companies. hmmmmm

Paulo

[westexas]

Here's something else to ponder, in light of repeated assertions that only symptomatic people can transmit the virus:

Human asymptomatic Ebola infection and strong inflammatory response.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10881895

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his study showed that asymptomatic, replicative Ebola infection can and does occur in human beings. The lack of genetic differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals suggest that asymptomatic Ebola infection did not result from viral mutations.

[KaiserJeep]

Damn, rotten timing. I'm just about to leave on vacation in a couple of weeks, which means departing from an environment where I mostly remain indoors and work at home, to one where I travel and interact with lots of people.

I refuse to be scared away from enjoying life. I'm still going, but I'll add some gauze masks and hand sanitizer.

[GHung]

I've had the feeling that the transmissability of this strain of ebola is being downplayed. Better to under-estimate the dangers of contracting this stuff than to create a panic, eh? My little BS detector began its low level buzzing when one MSM medical professional explained that <i>"you almost have to try to get infected..."</i>, just after a story about how many supposedly highly-trained medical professionals taking full precautions have contracted ebola. Hmmm.

Anyway, seems some folks aren't buying the MSM/govt. storyline. Just curious, I went to a couple of national pharmacy chains and searched for "N95 Face Masks" only to find that they are sold out online and in stores that carry these things. Hoarding? Or are health agencies and first responders consuming all available inventories? Same story with N100 and other masks certified to protect against this sort of thing. There are some available on Amazon for interested doomers.

[Pops]

http://www.lowes.com/pd_69110-98-8210_0 ... Id=1097803

[Pops]

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/infect ... tions.html

[Beery1]

I got a good supply of masks, goggles and latex gloves months ago when Ebola started getting out of control in Africa. No point in being apathetic when there's a potentially deadly threat brewing.

If you go on Amazon, these things are suddenly getting expensive.

[GHung]

Yeah, Beery, good stuff to have around for any well-prepped family. I have an annual ritual of updating our medical kit, and this was a good excuse to do that. Added some more surgical gloves/masks, new thermometers (electronic with probe covers and a standard bulb type), replaced out-of-date items, etc. Our veterinary kit is almost better than our human medical kit, mainly for wounds, infections and husbandry. The vet will give us prescriptions for stuff like IVs, syringes and ringers that most regular doctors balk at. We also keep a supply of livestock antibiotics that are essentially the same as for humans (dose as for swine). It's all pretty cheap insurance that could be worth more than it's weight in gold.

[Graeme]

Here's some general accurate information about Ebola from CBC News.

Ebola outbreak: Here's what you need to know

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut most cases in the current West Africa outbreak have come from human-to-human transmission, according to the World Health Organization. If a healthy individual's broken skin or mucous membranes come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected individual or with an environment contaminated by an Ebola patient's bodily fluids, they can contract the virus.

"That means someone coughs in your face, you handle a body or you look after someone and don't have ideal infection-control methods. You get the virus on your hands, you touch your nose, your mouth," explains Dr. Jay Keystone, who works in the tropical diseases unit of Toronto General Hospital.

The virus can be spread through bodily fluids such as:

blood
stool
urine
saliva
semen
Environmental hazards that could be infected with an Ebola patient's bodily fluids include:

soiled clothing
bed linen
used needles

[GHung]

I'm surprised there hasn't been much discussion about this being used as a terrorist WMD. Infected volunteers as biological suicide bombs, travelling to various destinations and releasing their own body fluids into crowds where it would have the most effect; a scary idea. Maybe I shouldn't even bring it u......... [hears loud knocks on door]

[Newfie]

That's why there hasn't been much discussion.

[Pops]

Lets see, september 19 to Oct 3 - nope not 21 days.

.