Ebola again

[Rodo]

When I mentioned this a good while ago on here, I was shot down in flames and told you couldn't catch Ebola from handles and rails.

Well it seems that they have discovered that you can.

"Yes. Ebola can be spread through subway rails or doorknobs. The virus can survive for several hours on dry surfaces outside the human body."


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ampp3d/can ... ay-4498566

[Kaz]

Dreadfully worrying

[Workingman]

Rodo, you were not shot down in flames, just shot at, fortunately we all missed. The info at the time was that it could not happen that way, but there was speculation, and there still is.

The key word from the article is "can" so long as other things fall into place to create the perfect storm.. On the day that the first nurse, Nina Pham, was diagnosed positive the CDC were issuing the same information, but with the very strong rider that "it was highly unlikely" because so many other variables have to be just so.

[victor]

it's all very well with the volunteers that have been/are going to Africa BUT they should be held in quarantine before they return to their respective countries.
at the moment all they are doing is spreading the disease

the Dr. in N.Y. been travelling around for a week ,planes/trains/bowling /restaurants,how many people has he possibly infected?

if he has had sex with a partner ,has passed on the Virus? how many people in contact with her?

[medsec222]

I find it incredible that a doctor just back from treating ebola patients would think it appropriate to frequent public places, take subways, taxis etc. Surely common sense should make him circumspect on how he spends his time for the first three or four weeks back home. Taking his temperature each day is not enough precaution.

[KateLMead]

We have the military who have been sent out there. We're they given a choice? I applaud those with compassion who are willing to risk their lives in the attempt to treat and control Ebola and those suffering with it... These individuals do and will return to UKi along with Other travellers who have lived in areas of contamination. It's a cleft stick. DAMNED if you don't bring in radical laws to protect the population. And DAMNED if you do.

[Workingman]

I find it incredible that a doctor just back from treating ebola patients would think it appropriate to frequent public places, take subways, taxis etc. Surely common sense should make him circumspect on how he spends his time for the first three or four weeks back home.

Meds, that is pretty much what I said about the nurses. These people are trained and have come face to face with Ebola. Of all the people on the planet you would think they would be the ideal candidates to take the threat seriously.

I see that the Governors of New York and New Jersey have taken steps to isolate anyone who has been volunteering with Ebola or could otherwise have become infected whilst working in W. Africa - a temperature test at the airport is no longer seen as clearance.

[Kaz]

it's all very well with the volunteers that have been/are going to Africa BUT they should be held in quarantine before they return to their respective countries.
at the moment all they are doing is spreading the disease

the Dr. in N.Y. been travelling around for a week ,planes/trains/bowling /restaurants,how many people has he possibly infected?

if he has had sex with a partner ,has passed on the Virus? how many people in contact with her?

I've been thinking/saying this for weeks now Surely it is just basic common sense?

[KateLMead]

Common sense isn't very common these days Kaz.

[Suff]

This is getting beyond a joke. The Disninformation Malveillant has been at it again.

This is what everyone has been trying to avoid. Knee jerk reactions.

So let’s level set this one.

1. The person returned from west Africa is a Nurse not a doctor
2. She is not showing symptoms at all
3. The NY authorities have completely exceeded all standard protocols. If she were to be quarantined, it should be in her home unless she is diagnosed with the disease
4. The NY authorities are probably going to be sued. Almost certainly successfully.

This, all, in a week where the number of new cases is dropping drastically, where the deaths have dropped to 11.5 per day over the last 4 days counted and where Nigeria has been declared fully clear of Ebola with 20 cases and 8 deaths. Which is, by the way, a death rate of 40%, not the 75% that WHO have been blathering about.

If the current trend continues, we won’t even see 11,500 cases (the same increase as September), total by the end of the month. In fact it’s almost statistically impossible to hit 11,500 cases by Friday as it stood at 10,141 4 days ago and had only increased by 205 new cases in the previous 4 days. On that trend, it would finish at 10,551. A full 941 less than the increase in September.

Let’s face it. The outbreak is under control. It was out of control in July, August and September with a doubling of new cases every month, rolling monthly. That is now broken. Even with nearly 8,000 infected people, only 3,000 new cases will have occurred in October. Contrast 1,607 cases spawning 2,104 cases in august and 3,707 cases spawning 3,785 cases in September.

As for catching Ebola from surfaces etc? Let’s level set that too.

The two body fluids which are guaranteed to do this are:

Blood
Sperm

Both of which must be transferred from the surface they are on through the skin (eyes or cuts are the most obvious), within minutes of the body fluids having been deposited.

Now to the best of my knowledge, Ebola sufferers who are newly active with the virus are in no condition to move around once they are leaking blood. They tend to be in bed, unable to move and running a high fever.

How the men might leak sperm onto public surfaces is something I don’t even want to dwell on.

As far as I’m concerned, unless we see a huge jump in numbers in West Africa, this one is on its way out. Honestly if 10,000 infected people are producing less and less new infections, then 1 or 2 in the West is highly unlikely to produce an epidemic.

Consider this, the ONLY people infected in the West have been people involved in the treatment of late stage sufferers. Handling bodies leaking blood on a daily basis. There is no evidence that anyone in the West has been infected from any other means.