Ebola scaremongering?

Or maybe if the rich half of the world had coughed up over the last few decades and funded the provision of basic health care globally, we'd have never got to this point. Also, it doesn't help that the rich countries employ their trained doctors and nurses, leaving poor countries with the just training costs.
 
clv101 said:
Or maybe if the rich half of the world had coughed up over the last few decades and funded the provision of basic health care globally, we'd have never got to this point. Also, it doesn't help that the rich countries employ their trained doctors and nurses, leaving poor countries with the just training costs.
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Trillions of pounds have been sunk into Africa, Didn't do any good what so ever.
 
It's already begun in the US. Two schools shut in Cleveland. Teachers sent home. Medics on paid leave, all because the infected nurse stopped off in the city.

Our economy is going to collapse over this !
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
We launched aidsand hiv ages ago.
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Either that or it was caused by degenerate non-white people having sex with monkeys. :eek:

(for the benefit of the literal ASD brigade I don't personally believe that I am commenting on how that is the other prevailing popular view in some quarters rather than the more logical biology based explanations)
 
clv101 said:
Or maybe if the rich half of the world had coughed up over the last few decades and funded the provision of basic health care globally, we'd have never got to this point. Also, it doesn't help that the rich countries employ their trained doctors and nurses, leaving poor countries with the just training costs.
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The rich countries did cough up and they then kept breeding like rabbits and we ended up with overpopulation, ethnic cleansing and famine.
 
So.
Are we rationally considering actual 'significant change' events?
Without going crazy if this potentially does become uncontrollable. How bad will it get?

Is it actually possible that the world could look completely different in 12 Months?
As much from panic as to actual viral related issues?

Could the economy etc not just crash but be destroyed?
 
If it's uncontrollable were looking at a large reduction in the human population. ~50-70% going by the mortality rate.

However it could be much more controllable in a country like ours due to the majority not believing western medicine created ebola. We also have much better medical equipment and staff so the mortality rate could be much lower.

On the flip side if too many people catch it the NHS will be overrun and run out of beds. Staff will become sick through lack of training/kit so less people to treat the infected. Also just because we're not mistrusting of western medicine doesn't mean the majority aren't thick and as such would help to spread the virus through panic or fear.

Who realistically knows :confused:.
 
Mynight said:
If it's uncontrollable were looking at a large reduction in the human population. ~50-70% going by the mortality rate.

However it could be much more controllable in a country like ours due to the majority not believing western medicine created ebola. We also have much better medical equipment and staff so the mortality rate could be much lower.

On the flip side if too many people catch it the NHS will be overrun and run out of beds. Staff will become sick through lack of training/kit so less people to treat the infected. Also just because we're not mistrusting of western medicine doesn't mean the majority aren't thick and as such would help to spread the virus through panic or fear.

Who realistically knows :confused:.
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I guess I'm sort of asking.
Is it no longer crazy to think this could be beyond a disaster?
Even a small dent in population would surely destroy the economy?
 
I'm beginning to think the WHO and our government aren't really being 100% honest with the plebs like us. The line is that on order to be infected with need to come into contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, but as has already been pointed outed if and infected person coughed on an ATM keypad, because this virus can survive for hours in a surface like that and in ur current climate, it could infect lots of others. The truth is the best approach is [a] not to panic people and be excellent at tracing those who have been in contact with a infected person.

Reality is if we have an out break of just a hundred or so (and given areas like London have a population of over 80,000 people originally from the high risk countries) it will come here, it will be a sizeable outbreak and it will quickly overwhelm our nhs. I find it difficult to imagine any other outcome

Ul
 
ultralaser said:
I'm beginning to think the WHO and our government aren't really being 100% honest with the plebs like us. The line is that on order to be infected with need to come into contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, but as has already been pointed outed if and infected person coughed on an ATM keypad, because this virus can survive for hours in a surface like that and in ur current climate, it could infect lots of others. The truth is the best approach is [a] not to panic people and be excellent at tracing those who have been in contact with a infected person.

Reality is if we have an out break of just a hundred or so (and given areas like London have a population of over 80,000 people originally from the high risk countries) it will come here, it will be a sizeable outbreak and it will quickly overwhelm our nhs. I find it difficult to imagine any other outcome

Ul
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Cash, chip and pin machines.. All perfect for this
 
I dont know much at all about Ebola, other than what is happening at the moment is very scary. Maybe I've watched too many Zombie films or seen The Stand one too many times, but I am genuinely concerned.

I have had a thought though, we are rapidly approaching winter, where it is going to be very cold for a very long time. Given the origin of the virus, is there much of a chance that the cold is going to inhibit its ability to survive outside of the human body, or is it particularly hardy and will laugh at our pathetic winter?
 
The cold actually increases its survival outside the host;

SURVIVAL OUTSIDE HOST: Filoviruses have been reported capable to survive for weeks in blood and can also survive on contaminated surfaces, particularly at low temperatures (4°C) Footnote 52 Footnote 61. One study could not recover any Ebolavirus from experimentally contaminated surfaces (plastic, metal or glass) at room temperature Footnote 61. In another study, Ebolavirus dried onto glass, polymeric silicone rubber, or painted aluminum alloy is able to survive in the dark for several hours under ambient conditions (between 20 and 250C [sic., should be 25C] and 30–40% relative humidity) (amount of virus reduced to 37% after 15.4 hours), but is less stable than some other viral hemorrhagic fevers (Lassa) Footnote 53. When dried in tissue culture media onto glass and stored at 4 °C, Zaire ebolavirus survived for over 50 days Footnote 61. This information is based on experimental findings only and not based on observations in nature. This information is intended to be used to support local risk assessments in a laboratory setting.
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http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php

SURVIVAL OUTSIDE HOST: The virus can survive in liquid or dried material for a number of days (23). Infectivity is found to be stable at room temperature or at 4°C for several days, and indefinitely stable at -70°C (6, 20). Infectivity can be preserved by lyophilisation.
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http://www.msdsonline.com/resources/msds-resources/free-safety-data-sheet-index/ebola-virus.aspx

So if we have a "mild" winter it will actually help ebola.

Edit: appears any kind of winter will help it survive.
 
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SciNeT said:
Reading how Ebola needs properly containing in the lab makes you wonder that it's no idea people even with decent safety gear are still getting infected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level#Biosafety_level_4
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Indeed. There was one US aid worker who got Ebola. Her job was just spraying the doctors down after they came out of the isolation wards (in Liberia I think) and she was wearing the full protection, absolutely no skin uncovered, never went near a patient....and she still got it.

EDIT: She did survive fortunately!
 
I believe the lower the temperature the longer surfaces stay contaminated. In cold climates it may also spread better because of seasonal respiratory diseases like colds and flu with the associated sneezing.
 
I think actually in West if it spread to a certain level we'd be in big trouble

ok better health care, but also in some respects more densely populated and travel more,think tubes, trains, public toilets, fast food restaurants (if a member of staff got it) etc - do you think even with our medical facilities we'd be able to treat hundreds - of even thousands of people with it ?

I would have thought the only way to contain it now (before its too late) is to seal off the borders of the effected countries

and no - thats not as in seal off and not help those poor people - its not their fault - you'd then plough as much medical assistance as possible

at the moment it just seems like a disaster waiting to happen, what happens if it spreads to somewhere like India or China ?

I think the west should and can do a lot lot lot more to help these people

I fear we've missed the boat though :(

btw reading the above - should we be concerned about imported food etc ?
 
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