Ebola fear factor

[pederito1]

Exactly Kaz. I do believe that it is the very high humidity in West Africa that makes airborne transmission a possibility.

[Workingman]

The latest news is that Amber Vinson, the second nurse to become infected after treating Thomas Duncan, could have been infective for four days prior to her catching two flights and not just the one previously reported.

It beggars belief that a trained nurse, and one who had been treating an Ebola patient, could do such a thing. She must have had a reasonable suspicion that her sudden illness might be Ebola given that one of her colleagues had also caught it.

[Kaz]

That was my understanding too Pederito, apparently high, dry, temps kill it off.....

Frank that does beggar belief, you would think someone in her calling - a volunteer no less - would have a very high sense of vocation and ethics, so why on earth did she do that???

[Workingman]

Sky is reporting that a cruise ship, Carnival Magic, is being refused permission to dock in Belize because it is carrying a health worker who may have processed Thomas Duncan's bodily fluids 19 days ago. Whoever it is has been isolated, along with a partner, for the last six days and is self testing their temperature.

I cannot imagine the terror of the other passengers and crew. They have three more days to go before the all-clear, but even then, with all the hype they will still be suspect.
God alone knows what the outcome will be if the passenger goes positive - the ship can carry about 5,000 passenger and crew when full.

[Suff]

If he goes positive then they'll have to wait it out another 21 days to see if any passenger or crew becomes infected.

Worst case is he comes down with Flu, they wait another 21 days and nobody is infected....

If he is positive, what are they going to do? They can't treat him on the ship unless they set up an isolation unit and fly in CDC.... Maybe, eventually, we'll get to a clear state where we can have clear actions on this. At the moment it appears to be knee jerk and that never works.

[Kaz]

Geez, those poor passengers

[Workingman]

The situation with the ship is the "fear factor" in action and shows how irrational people can become with the decisions they make.

There is no logical reason for Belize to stop the ship from docking so that the two people, who are not infective, could be airlifted out by fellow Americans.

[Suff]

Well there is a healthy respect kind of fear and then there is blind unreasoning panic.

Guess we're seeing the latter.

[Suff]

Oh and the best bit is that she lives in Venezuela, that well known haven of peace and safety Mick went to Venezuela on business once, he had to pay the customs guys to let him out of the country, as they had their own protection racket going

That is the funny thing isn't it. We went to Caracas for a wedding back in 2007. I'm used to the odd "you need to watch yourself". But when every single middle class person you meet says.

Don't go out on the streets
Don't take a taxi unless it is ordered or from a taxi line
Don't leave the hotel
Don't, don't, don't,

It's a little daunting. I did, in fact, leave the hotel, get some cash and go to the local shopping arcade by the hotel. It was much like a normal city in those areas. BUT, I noticed that you could walk past two streets, one was modern and full of shops, the second was run down, dark and dangerous looking.

It is a bit rich isn't it??

[Kaz]

Very much so!!

It takes a lot to get Mick rattled, but that business at customs did