Ebola in America

[Skeptic Ginger]

If you choose to lie and go back to the states you do not go home. You do not go home. You do not go home.

You go straight to a hospital or possibly to a motel room where you can be isolated.

"It was really stressful putting that dying Ebola lady in the wheelbarrow yesterday and now I need a hug and a kiss from all of you guys. I love my family."

If you are in denial that you will actually come down with the illness?

I don't know. I'm just saying desperate people do desperate things and to judge them as inferior seems a bit bigoted.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I remember when only a few black people in Africa got ebola, it was not curable
Now as soon as some white people get ebola they have come up with this new procedure to cure them.
Do any of you bleeding heart liberals think that there is something not kosher about this?

What?

Sorry, I don't get it.

But if you are afraid ebola is going to get you here in the US, that's absurd.

 

[theprestige]

But if you are afraid ebola is going to get you here in the US, that's absurd.

Seems like it's a lot less absurd now than it was a week ago.

Seems like the CDC is closely watching about a hundred folks in Dallas who as of a few days ago probably thought it was absurd, even though they'd already been in direct or indirect contact with someone who was contagious here in the US.

As of right now, today, the US government would still allow someone who has been in direct contact with an ebola patient to enter the US--unquarantined, unmonitored, untracked.

I'd give you "unlikely"--though it seems it's not as unlikely as I would like. But "absurd" is the kind of over-the-top hyperbole you get when ignorant officials are more interested in managing the optics than in dealing with the reality, and are equally incompetent at both.

 

[Dan O.]

It should be pointed out very clearly that there are two ways to get treated in the US if you happen to contract Ebola while abroad: You can lie on the screening forms and claim not to have come in contact with Ebola carriers; fly home to the US where if you do come down with symptoms the ER doctor thinks it's just the fllu and sends you home where you possibly infect your family, friends and coworkers; then, if you survive, the government can come after you with criminal and civil charges. Alternatively, you declare that you have been in contact with Ebola carriers, you are appropriately quarantined and monitored, and if you do develope Ebola you are flown home to the US where you receive the best possible care.

 

[Toke]

You must not be watching the latest news. Food is being delivered and there is a police car parked in front of the apartment. CDC is announcing they've been working on decon, including spraying a sidewalk out front the infected man threw up on.

That's my point. IS being delivered.
What are the chances those people went shopping for groceries before somebody figured out that their improvised quarantine required food to be delivered?

 

[catsmate]

The Dallas hospital whish Duncan first visited claims a "flaw"' in its health records system contributed to release of Ebola patient on his first visit.

 

[wollclark]

I had a horrific dream about a zombie outbreak tonight. I just can't find peace from this mess.

EDIT:

This is the 'control' the CDC has: https://twitter.com/wfaachannel8/status/517739906211528704/photo/1

EDIT 2:

Can someone more knowledgeable than me explain if this is a real concern or not? It's not exactly helping my fears: http://pissinontheroses.blogspot.com/2014/09/us-army-says-ebola-flu-in-airborne.html

It clashes with what I've learned from TWiV: http://www.virology.ws/2014/09/18/what-we-are-not-afraid-to-say-about-ebola-virus/

 

[catsmate]

We've discussed the aerosol risk from Ebola in the other thread. It's not that high.

 

[Wolrab]

So I have a new neighbor. Strange guy, albiet very handsome - wears a denim jacket with a bunch of pins on it, and he has this really flashy pair of cowboy boots he struts around in. His mailbox, rather than displaying his house number, simply reads "RF" - how odd. He doesn't seem too concerned with Ebola - it's hard to picture him concerned with anything, with that great big smile of his.

I had to Flagg this post as you've gone too farson. He's a good man, a little o...dim but you shouldn't cast such a broad cloak.

 

[Lerxst]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/us/dallas-ebola-case-thomas-duncan-contacts.html?_r=0

The officials said it had been difficult to find a contractor willing to enter the apartment to clean it and remove bedding and clothes, which they said had been bagged in plastic. They said they now had hired a firm that would do the work soon. The Texas health commissioner, Dr. David Lakey, told reporters during an afternoon news conference that officials had encountered “a little bit of hesitancy” in seeking a firm to clean the apartment.

 

[Dan O.]

So the people that were possibly infected by a brief contact are being forced to live in a confined contaminated space for three weeks?! How long can the Ebola virus survive outside of a host? If the people being quarantined come into contact with the virus two weeks into their stay, they will walk out of quarantine symptom free yet carrying the virus.

 

[wollclark]

So the people that were possibly infected by a brief contact are being forced to live in a confined contaminated space for three weeks?! How long can the Ebola virus survive outside of a host? If the people being quarantined come into contact with the virus two weeks into their stay, they will walk out of quarantine symptom free yet carrying the virus.

I didn't even think about this. What the hell is the CDC doing?

 

[William Parcher]

If you are in denial that you will actually come down with the illness?

I don't know. I'm just saying desperate people do desperate things and to judge them as inferior seems a bit bigoted.

Inferior? Bigoted? I was thinking that the person was reckless or stupid.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

What I find interesting is that the politicians who are screaming about the ebola patient in Texas are the same ones, who but a few short weeks ago, were trying the best they could to destroy public health systems.

 

[Belz...]

I had a horrific dream about a zombie outbreak tonight.

You're safe. Zombies don't exist.

Zombie dreams are awesome, though.

 

[johnny karate]

Serious question for the forum: I live in California and have a wedding in Dallas the first week of November. How paranoid am I to be considering canceling my travel plans?

 

[William Parcher]

How long can the Ebola virus survive outside of a host?

According to the CDC the virus would be viable for up to 3 days. Under idealized laboratory conditions (unlike the world outside of the lab) it can be viable for up to 6 days.

The corpse of a person who has died from Ebola virus disease will be highly contagious for 3 days but not after that.

 

[William Parcher]

Serious question for the forum: I live in California and have a wedding in Dallas the first week of November. How paranoid am I to be considering canceling my travel plans?

IMO, the level of your concern should be zero until further notice. Further notice would come in the form of headline news announcing the finding of infected persons beyond Duncan.

 

[Dan O.]

Now that the virus has come home, the question is: What can we as a society do for Ebola victims?

The key to stopping the spread is quarantine at the individual level. If someone suspects they might have come in contact with the virus they need to go into a voluntary quarantine where they can limit and track their contacts until it is ascertained that they do not carry the virus. In a known contagion event we need to step up the response and remove exposed victims from the contaminated area, begin close monitoring and treatment.

If someone has been exposed and contracts the virus, they should be considered a potential valuable resource in the event of an outbreak. Once they have recovered, their bodies will be immune to that strain of the virus and they can safely work the front line of this war. During their quarantine they should be receiving training on general sanitation and patient care.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

Serious question for the forum: I live in California and have a wedding in Dallas the first week of November. How paranoid am I to be considering canceling my travel plans?

Is your meeting with a bunch of people who just flew in from West Africa?