The Ebola 2014 epidemic

[Suff]

Not hearing much about that any more are we?

I did a bit of stats tracking and over the last month there has been a fairly steady decline in the number of new cases. I believe that some time in March it will drop permanently below 40 new cases per day.

Guinea is actually almost out of it. New cases per day are averaging around 9. Deaths per day are also averaging around 9. However in the week of Feb 8th, the number of deaths was nearly 3 times the number of new infections. Exactly what you would expect to see if it was finally burning itself out.

Liberia and Sierra Leone have a bit further to go, but they are also on the decline. Hopefully, within a few months, this whole outbreak will be over. However, for the first time, real time and money has gone into research for a vaccine and for preventative medicine. Also there must be literally tons of plasma containing antibodies which will destroy this Ebola strain. Hopefully if something like this is seen again in the next few decades, we will be able to kill it rapidly and without the same epidemic effect.

I think that is the only way we can take hope from so many tragically lost lives.

[pederito1]

As I said earlier I fully expect it to weaken and die out as it has many times in the past. I do wish stupid people woulod not go there and bring it out causing for us trouble and hospital costs. A vaccine to the current strain will soon be available for distribution but it can mutate so easily and no doubt the next outbreak will be different and maybe immune to the vaccine though I hope not. It has been known, though perhaps not identified for a very long time and probably caused initially from interactio0n with monkeys. All the deaths In the present outbreak are of course very sad indeed.

[Suff]

Liberia releases their last ebola patient.

Now it is 42 days for them to be declared clear.

Good news.