Ebola

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I didn't like hearing about the decision to bring the patient into the US at first. In reading more about the disease, I don't feel quite as apprehensive, but as many people here have posted, viruses mutate, people make mistakes, Murphy's law, etc. In short, sh*t happens. Hopefully, it won't hit the fan now that he's in country.

On a related note, if you're interested in watching what I think is a good movie about a virus in Africa spreading to the US, go watch Outbreak, a 1995 movie with Dustin Hoffman. The Andromeda Strain is also good (I enjoy "virus appears and scientists have to suit up in research facility to combat it" type of movies).

EDIT: LOL at poster above, who just posted about Outbreak as I hit the Post key. Similar minds think alike, and all that...
 
I would not be surprised at all if this current little escapade gets turned into a movie eventually.
 
Ebola does not yet have the 'right stuff' to be a widespread health threat in the developed world.
From the perspective of the pathogen, it is possible to be too effective for its own good. That is, to kill the host before maximizing the number of new hosts.
There is a far greater threat to public health from a new strain of influenza than from ebola.
 
There seems to be far too much faith that nothing will go wrong and that current medical science has definitive answer for everything. There's a lot we do not know about the Ebola virus and certainly we do not know about future mutations it may undergo.

Much like proliferation of fictional forensic evidence on TV has lead to jurors heightened expectation of unbroken chains of physical evidence in real criminal trials,
medical advances and modern miracles have inclined many people to worshipful belief that medicine can not make mistakes or that nothing will go wrong with elaborate plans. In today's news a Hospital Director tests positive for Ebola when he was forced to take a second test after a previous negative diagnosis. His reason for the second test: he intended to fly to abroad.

allAfrica.com: Liberia: Catholic Hospital Boss Tested Positive of Ebola - Report

Our information divulged that on the 17th of this month, his specimen was taken and the result, which came on the next day (July 18), proved negative.
Not being satisfied, the report further divulged, the ailing Catholic hospital director decided to seek further treatment abroad, but his trip was subjected to Ebola test.
It was based on this that he did another test on Tuesday, July 29, 2014, which proved positive, contrary to the first test he underwent.
Click to expand...

I'm not looking for fearful backlash against Ebola or it's victims, but I think a lot more caution and preparation for what might go wrong is warranted. We are all to easily impressed with plans and far too likely to fail to consider alternative scenarios, especially if unexpected things happen. I'm glad we are treating what seems by all accounts to be a heroic doctor and glad to see he walked into the isolation unit on his own power, but I have very little expectation that adequate safeguards have been put in place for the unknown unknowns. They almost never are.
 
Tracing the outbreak of Ebola Panic in the US (contains Crazy!)

I've been tracing the Ebola Panic outbreak in the United States, and I believe I'm closing in on Patient Zero.

The first symptoms of Ebola Panic appear to have started with a CNN Promo Tweet.

World Net Daily is another possible origin site, where Ebola was cleverly combined with the fear of scabies at southern border crossing areas.

The contagion quickly spread to the most susceptible, those with severely weakened meme immunity in the Twitterverse and Blogosphere:

The U.S. Is Quietly Establishing Ebola Quarantine Centers | Dave Hodges – The Common Sense Show

The outbreak quickly jumped from the blogosphere to fringe media. Alex Jones editor PJ Watson was the first in this group to succumb to the deadly plague:

» If Ebola Hits U.S., Even Healthy Americans Will be Quarantined Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

I hear the New World Order may have to fly in and start aerial spraying of Prozac across US population centers. Or... Has this already happened?!??

(Given that some folks out in the world apparently use Hollywood movies and random rants on the Internet to base decisions on, I thought I'd introduce our more level-headed readers to Where The Crazy Lives out there. Yes, these noises on the Internet have followers, believers, and supporters, all wrapped up in their own private little worlds. This is who you get to argue with... Good luck...)
 
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M Paquette, you have a lot more confidence in our gummint than I and many other Merkins will ever have. Much luck to you.
 
M Paquette said:
I've been tracing the Ebola Panic outbreak in the United States, and I believe I'm closing in on Patient Zero.
Click to expand...

The two healthcare workers that contracted it were presumably specialists specifically trained in treating people with Ebola. But they obviously must have not cared if they died, since it's so difficult to contract, and they both contracted it.

And the CDC? They just keep the Ebola strain vials in the lunchroom refrigerator, in the back, on the 3rd shelf up, next to the plastic mayonnaise and ketchup bottles. Just trying to be more realistic and cost-effective, instead of bothering with a locked and sealed research refrigerator. A good ol' Fridgidaire 21.0 cubic foot model will do.
 
Gumby said:
Preparation is helpful. Fear is not helpful at all.

From one of my favorite science fiction novels:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

The Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear from the novel Dune by Frank Herbert
Click to expand...
What a great book, appropriate for this situation.
 
M Paquette - You seem to be implying with your post that anyone who expresses the slightest concern about the issue of bringing Ebola patients to the US is someone who doesn't believe in science and believes in conspiracy theories and holds a particular political point of view.

I do have some concern as to whether this move was well thought out. I'm not panicked by it, but I do have some concern about things that can go wrong.

Yet, I do believe in science, don't believe in conspiracy and don't have the particular political point of view you seem to think anyone must have to be concerned about this issue.

Reasonable people can differ on their view on this, but I think your post may go a bit far in personalizing the issue.
 
MooreBonds said:
And the CDC? They just keep the Ebola strain vials in the lunchroom refrigerator, in the back, on the 3rd shelf up, next to the plastic mayonnaise and ketchup bottles.
Click to expand...

With the kind of scary leftovers most office fridges have lingering in them, it's a miracle the world hasn't been wiped out by a three week old moldy pimento cheese sandwich.

Patient Zero: Ed from Accounting, who got the munchies and reached for the wrong thing...
 
I am wondering if the virus will still be communicable after the patient recovers.
 
So what are you going to do about it anyway? Did you guys write to your congressfolk, CDC administrators, whoever? Go protest in Atlanta? Double your ammo stash to keep the ebola zombies out?

I just moved "ebola doctor being treated at Emory" to the top of my "things I don't worry about and can't control in the least" list.
 
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MooreBonds said:
And the CDC? They just keep the Ebola strain vials in the lunchroom refrigerator, in the back, on the 3rd shelf up, next to the plastic mayonnaise and ketchup bottles. Just trying to be more realistic and cost-effective, instead of bothering with a locked and sealed research refrigerator. A good ol' Fridgidaire 21.0 cubic foot model will do.
Click to expand...

More than once we caught people putting their lunches in the specimen fridges. Even if they do buy the right equipment you can't always count on people to act responsibly.

I'll watch this with interest from our safe haven in the great white north. Any intelligent Ebola virus would run away and never come back if it ended up in a Wisconsin winter...
 
I do have concerns that the handling of all hazardous materials be done properly.

Please note that my understanding of proper handling is not based on popular movies or other works of entertainment, however. I've spent some time crawling about in contaminated reactor equipment, where there are similar handling and containment concerns.

I do not currently have any reason to believe that either Phoenix Air and their use of an aeromedical Biological Containment System, or Emory University Hospital and their specialized high-containment facility are mishandling or are likely to mishandle the patient, samples, or potentially contaminated materials.

The newspapers are referring to an 'isolation' unit. As I recall this one is a Biosafety Level 3 facility, for what that's worth.

I do not believe any Ebola samples are currently stored in lunchroom refrigerators, either at the CDC or Emory University Hospital. It's 'fun' to talk about, for varying degrees of 'fun', I suppose.

I do not believe there is a CDC conspiracy to cover up anything related to the disease.

I do not believe there is a hidden nuclear device or five story high 'core' filled with automated lasers within the hospital, so those fearing a scenario similar to the "Andromeda Strain" are not likely to see that.

Ebola has not been associated with outbreaks of the walking dead, zombieism, or Deadites.

It's one thing to not trust 'the government'. It's quite different to live in fear that someone, somewhere, just might make a mistake leading to eventual bad, bad stuff happening. We've been living in conditions where THAT could happen for several generations now. It's nothing new. Yes, someday, someone may screw up, bad things may happen, and the survivors may be really annoyed. I don't particularly plan my day around that event, though.

Every day, someone somewhere could make this a really bad day for the rest of us. One "Oopsie" at Hanford or Oak Ridge, one "butterfingers" at the State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology in Russia, one little slip at Mount Sinai School of Medicine on their 1918 H1N1 reconstruction and we could have a problem. Unless, you know, training kicks in and people remember where the bleach is.

Frankly, you take a bigger risk getting into your car. Daily deaths in US auto accidents rival the daily Ebola death rate, as do daily deaths from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Have another drink.

Time to get a grip on reality, folks.
 
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Bestwifeever said:
I just moved "ebola doctor being treated at Emery" to the top of my "things I don't worry about and can't control in the least" list.
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+1

Frankly, I think I have a better chance of winning the lottery than catching ebola as a result of one guy in a hospital far away having it.
 
FWIW, I'm with Brewer. It was Docs' choice to go to Africa and they should be taking all of the risk. If I were to follow the dollar, maybe a drug company is hoping to get some of the Doc's' antibodies and make a vaccine, nah - that would be beyond greed. :facepalm: Didn't these Docs take the oath: Above All, Do No Harm ? There are two harms: 1) The actual chance of something going wrong, 2) The fear, rational or irrational, that has already occurred among too many Americans.

Rich
 
M Paquette said:
I do have concerns that the handling of all hazardous materials be done properly.

Please note that my understanding of proper handling is not based on popular movies or other works of entertainment, however. I've spent some time crawling about in contaminated reactor equipment, where there are similar handling and containment concerns.

I do not currently have any reason to believe that either Phoenix Air and their use of an aeromedical Biological Containment System, or Emory University Hospital and their specialized high-containment facility are mishandling or are likely to mishandle the patient, samples, or potentially contaminated materials.

The newspapers are referring to an 'isolation' unit. As I recall this one is a Biosafety Level 3 facility, for what that's worth.

I do not believe any Ebola samples are currently stored in lunchroom refrigerators, either at the CDC or Emory University Hospital. It's 'fun' to talk about, for varying degrees of 'fun', I suppose.

I do not believe there is a CDC conspiracy to cover up anything related to the disease.

I do not believe there is a hidden nuclear device or five story high 'core' filled with automated lasers within the hospital, so those fearing a scenario similar to the "Andromeda Strain" are not likely to see that.

Ebola has not been associated with outbreaks of the walking dead, zombieism, or Deadites.

It's one thing to not trust 'the government'. It's quite different to live in fear that someone, somewhere, just might make a mistake leading to eventual bad, bad stuff happening. We've been living in conditions where THAT could happen for several generations now. It's nothing new. Yes, someday, someone may screw up, bad things may happen, and the survivors may be really annoyed. I don't particularly plan my day around that event, though.

Every day, someone somewhere could make this a really bad day for the rest of us. One "Oopsie" at Hanford or Oak Ridge, one "butterfingers" at the State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology in Russia, one little slip at Mount Sinai School of Medicine on their 1918 H1N1 reconstruction and we could have a problem. Unless, you know, training kicks in and people remember where the bleach is.

Frankly, you take a bigger risk getting into your car. Daily deaths in US auto accidents rival the daily Ebola death rate, as do daily deaths from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Have another drink.

Time to get a grip on reality, folks.
Click to expand...


Grip whatever you like. What I have a real problem with is that arrogant people at CDC allowed a known infected person into the US pretty much without so much as a by-your-leave. We are talking about one of the most deadly viruses on the planet. Will these arrogant fools do everything they can to contain the virus? Of course. But the fact remains that they have unnecessarily exposed the US population to the risk of this stuff escaping containment.

I think you will note that I am not a tinfoil helmet type, especially as I have seen many of the objects of conspiracy theories up close and they are incapable of managing their way out of a wet paper bag.
 
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