Ebola epidemic - Page 4 - FaunaClassifieds
FaunaClassifieds  
  Tired of those Google and InfoLink ads? Upgrade Your Membership!
  Inside FaunaClassifieds » Photo Gallery  
 

Go Back   FaunaClassifieds > General Interest Forums > Preparedness & Self-Reliance Forum

Notices

Preparedness & Self-Reliance Forum Survivalism, Livestock, Preparedness, Self Reliant Homesteading, Individual Liberty

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-05-2014, 09:58 PM   #31
sschind
Quote:
Originally Posted by WebSlave View Post
Yeah man... You have to wonder about the geniuses that design bathroom doors such that while you are inside the bathroom you have to grab a handle in order to pull the door open to exit. At least someone has the brainpower to put a trashcan close to that door (in some cases) so you can cover your hand with a paper towel while grabbing that handle. I've seen far, FAR too many people coming out of the stalls who will not wash their hands and go right to the door to exit.

As for kids, well, Connie and I pretty much avoid them like, well, the plague.

Besides washing our hands frequently AND using antibacterial hand wipes, we also take dietary supplements to boost the immune system. A boosted immune system is probably one of your strongest defenses against pathogens that get through all your other defenses.

Oh, and about ebola, I sure as heck wouldn't want to be anywhere near someone infected that is sneezing or coughing. The media is playing down the transmission of the virus claiming it takes direct contact with bodily fluids to be contagious. Like you need to take a bath in their blood or something. Virus particles are so small that their can be zillions of them emitted in a single sneeze. Just out of curiosity, how many virus particles does it take entering your body before YOU become infected?

You know, it might be a real good idea to stock up on some "hurricane provisions" in case it becomes a real good idea to stay in the house and not venture out for a few weeks. I don't trust the government controlled media one bit to let me know how bad things really are before they are WAY beyond being B-A-D.

BTW, did anyone read about a meeting between Obama and a bunch of leaders from Africa? I'll be curious to see if Obama begs off of this meeting and sends Biden in his place......
I'm with you on the bathroom door thing but I just laugh at those people who wipe down the carts at the grocery stores with the antibacterial wipes. I saw on lady who looked like she was getting ready to perform brain surgery and the patient was going to be in the cart. She wiped that baby down cleaner than a 57 Chevy at a Barret Jackson auction.
 
Old 08-05-2014, 10:00 PM   #32
sschind
Quote:
Originally Posted by hhmoore View Post
I've seen at least one article suggesting that they were brought back more for research than management, since the cry for a vaccine is growing louder and gaining strength.

(Re: the mosquito comment I saw earlier today - I'm pretty sure Ebola is a non-vector borne disease)
I guess that makes some sense and I think you are right about the mosquito thing.
 
Old 08-06-2014, 12:24 AM   #33
WebSlave
Hmm, so if a disease organism is transmitted through bodily fluids, and a mosquito bites someone with ebola, what is in that mosquito? If it bites something else, why couldn't a virus be passed onto the second host? if a needle stuck into a person suffering from ebola can pass the virus onto someone else that needle is later applied to, why would this mechanism fail in the case of the "needle" of a mosquito?
 
Old 08-06-2014, 12:27 AM   #34
WebSlave
Quote:
CDC CONCERNED ABOUT AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION OF EBOLA VIRUS

by PAUL JOSEPH WATSON | AUGUST 4, 2014

Despite repeated assurances that the Ebola virus cannot be transmitted via airborne particles, the CDC is concerned about that very outcome and has directed airline staff to take steps to prevent the spread of “infectious material through the air.”

While Ebola is highly contagious, the risk of a full blown pandemic has been downplayed by health authorities because, according to our current understanding of the virus, Ebola, “is not airborne and is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, including sweat and blood.”

However, with concerns rising that the current strain of the virus, which is the worst in history and has killed 887 people, could in fact be airborne, the Centers For Disease Control has implemented steps to prevent its spread via international air travel.

A CDC advisory entitled Interim Guidance about Ebola Virus Infection for Airline Flight Crews, Cleaning Personnel, and Cargo Personnel reveals that the federal agency is concerned about airborne contamination.

The advisory urges airline staff to provide surgical masks to potential Ebola victims in order “to reduce the number of droplets expelled into the air by talking, sneezing, or coughing.” (emphasis mine).

The CDC is also directing airline cleaning personnel to, “not use compressed air, which might spread infectious material through the air.” (emphasis mine).

The CDC’s concern about the Ebola virus being spread via the air is understandable in light of a 2012 experiment conducted by Canadian scientists which proved that, “the ebola virus could be transmitted by air between species.”

Researchers demonstrated that the virus could be transmitted from pigs to monkeys without any direct contact by placing the two animals in pens separated only by a wire barrier. After eight days, some of the monkeys were found to have symptoms of Ebola likely as a result of “inhaling large aerosol droplets produced from the respiratory tracts of the pigs.”

The results of the study led scientists to conclude that, “limited airborne transmission might be contributing to the spread of the disease in some parts of Africa,” although they cautioned against making comparisons to the airborne nature of the influenza virus.

In addition, the Public Health Agency of Canada’s official website states under a section entitled “mode of transmission,” that “airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated.”

The potential for a new strain of the Ebola virus to have achieved airborne transmission only serves to cast further doubt on the logic of the United States choosing to import two Ebola sufferers into the country.

As we reported last week, President Barack Obama signed an amendment to executive order which allows health authorities to detain Americans who merely show signs of respiratory illness.

The CDC has also outlined measures for dealing with an outbreak of a communicable disease which allow for the quarantine of “well persons” who “do not show symptoms” of the disease.
Source: http://www.infowars.com/cdc-concerne...f-ebola-virus/

Interesting about that executive order, eh?
 
Old 08-06-2014, 12:54 AM   #35
Helenthereef
Quote:
Originally Posted by WebSlave View Post
Hmm, so if a disease organism is transmitted through bodily fluids, and a mosquito bites someone with ebola, what is in that mosquito? If it bites something else, why couldn't a virus be passed onto the second host? if a needle stuck into a person suffering from ebola can pass the virus onto someone else that needle is later applied to, why would this mechanism fail in the case of the "needle" of a mosquito?
Only specifically adapted things (such as the Malaria parasite or the Dengue fever virus) can live in mosquitoes (and then only specific species of mosquito) - so far there does not seem to be any evidence that Ebola is one of them, so it might get into the mosquito but should not live long enough (or cannot be replicated successfully by the mosquito's cells) to be transmitted.

As far as I can see transmission is by bodily fluids (including sweat) into open wounds (including scratches), so it is more infectious than HIV, but less so than Measles or 'Flu.

Normal handwashing and not shaking hands will go a long way to reducing transmission. Doctors working in the villages are maintaining a 2 m (6 foot) personal space between themselves and potentially infected individuals.

I also saw an interesting interview today that says while the infectious stage is 21 days, people at the start of the disease, with few symptoms, are much less infectious than those at the end with severe symptoms, or even dead bodies, so the most highly infectious victims should be either very obviously sick (or dead) and thereby fairly simply to identify and avoid in a Westernised nation.
 
Old 08-06-2014, 12:57 AM   #36
WebSlave
Quote:
Experts say transmission of Ebola virus by air possible

By SOLA OGUNDIPE on August 05, 2014

THE Ebola Virus is essentially transmitted from human-to-human through direct contact with infected patients, or through contact with body fluids of a victim. However, scientists are not ruling out the possibility of transmission by air through aerosolised particles.

Previously, Canadian scientists have shown that the deadliest form of the Ebola virus (the Zaire Ebola) could be transmitted by air between species. Although no human over-ther-air transmission of the lethal viral disorder has been recorded, but the Patrick Sawyer incidence in Lagos, Nigeria, has reopened worries over the implications of the possibility of its transmission in an enclosed environment such as an aircraft cabin.

Transmissible from pigs to monkeys by air Studies show that the Ebola virus is transmissible to monkeys from infected pigs without them coming into direct contact. The Ebola virus survives for days outside infected hosts and can “ride” on aerosolised droplets to spread to potential victims.

In a demonstration of the infectious dose of the Ebola virus, the Public Health Agency of Canada says 1 – 10 aerosolised organisms are sufficient to cause infection in humans.

In demonstrating the transmission from pigs to monkeys without any direct contact between them, the scientists housed the pigs carrying the virus in pens with the monkeys in close proximity but separated by a wire barrier. After eight days, some of the macaques (monkeys) were showing clinical signs typical of ebola and were euthanised.

According to the Canadian Public Health Agency: “The virus can survive in liquid or dried material for a number of days. Infectivity is found to be stable at room temperature or at 4 degrees celsius for several days, and indefinitely stable at -70 degrees celsius . Infectivity can be preserved by lyophilisation.

Hence, it is implied that Ebola viruses can survive for several days on common objects such as door knobs or household surfaces. If an infected Ebola victim runs around touching such common objects after cleaning blood or mucous from his nose, another innocent victim can easily infect himself by touching the same objects and then eating some food that places the virus in his mouth.

Level 4 biohazard
Ebola, considered a level-4 biohazard, is very infectious, requiring special protective biohazard suits, containment Level 4 facilities, equipment, and operational practices for work involving infectious or potentially infectious materials, animals, and cultures. To date, according to the World Health Organisation, the Ebola virus has caused 1,323 cases of the disease and 729 deaths–a mortality rate of 55%
Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/e...-air-possible/
 
Old 08-06-2014, 01:08 AM   #37
WebSlave
Quote:
Originally Posted by Helenthereef View Post
Only specifically adapted things (such as the Malaria parasite or the Dengue fever virus) can live in other animals - so far there does not seem to be any evidence that Ebola is one of them, so it might get into the mosquito but should not live long enough to be transmitted.

As far as I can see transmission is by bodily fluids (including sweat) into open wounds (including scratches), so it is more infectious than HIV, but less so than Measles or 'Flu.

Normal handwashing and not shaking hands will go a long way to reducing transmission. Doctors working in the villages are maintaining a 2 m (6 foot) personal space between themselves and potentially infected individuals.

I also saw an interesting interview today that says while the infectious stage is 21 days, people at the start of the disease, with few symptoms, are much less infectious than those at the end with severe symptoms, or even dead bodies, so the most highly infectious victims should be either very obviously sick (or dead) and thereby fairly simply to identify and avoid in a Westernised nation.
Oh, I don't think the virus would live forever in a mosquito and the mosquito therefore become a long term infectious host. But once a mosquito bites an infected person or animal, how long is "long enough" for infection to occur in the second host if bitten by that same mosquito?

Secondly would flies landing in infected blood and then lighting on another person's skin be a risk? I haven't read anything that indicated infection directly through absorption through the skin without an open wound involved.

The more I read about ebola it seems that little is really KNOWN about it. With good reason, I expect. Would take a special kind of person to knowingly put themselves at risk by getting up close and personal with this very hot organism and investigating it in it's natural environment in the field. Even in a controlled lab environment, heck, I'd be scared silly around it. Yeah, I know we all have to die sometime, but this seems like a particularly gruesome way to go.

Oh yeah, in the previous post I made, it made mention of only 1 to 10 virus particles being necessary for infection.
 
Old 08-06-2014, 01:13 AM   #38
Helenthereef
Quote:
Originally Posted by WebSlave View Post
The more I read about ebola it seems that little is really KNOWN about it. With good reason, I expect.
I think that right there is the major statement. As long as it was a disease that flared up once every few years and burned itself out in remote African villages there was comparatively little reason to put a lot of resources into studying it.

This time, as the outbreak is larger and has traveled, Western nations are sitting up and paying a lot more attention. The interview I saw (Doctors without Borders) suggested that a vaccine (not a cure) could be ready by next year if resources are provided for development.
 
Old 08-06-2014, 01:18 AM   #39
WebSlave
From the World Health Organization page entitled International travel and health

Quote:
Haemorrhagic fevers

Haemorrhagic fevers are viral infections; important examples are Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fevers, Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), Rift Valley fever (RVF), Lassa fever, Hantavirus diseases, dengue and yellow fever.

Hantavirus diseases, dengue and yellow fever are described separately.

Cause
Viruses belonging to several families. Ebola and Marburg belong to the Filoviridae family; hantaviruses, CCHF and RVF belong to the Bunyaviridae family; Lassa fever virus belongs to the Arenaviridae family; and dengue and yellow fever belong to the Flaviviridae family.

Transmission
Viruses that cause haemorrhagic fevers are transmitted by mosquitoes (dengue, yellow fever, RVF), ticks (CCHF), rodents (Hantavirus, Lassa) or bats (Ebola, Marburg). For Ebola and Marburg viruses, humans have been infected from contact with tissues of diseased non-human primates (monkeys and apes) and other mammals, but most human infections have resulted from direct contact with the body fluids or secretions of infected patients. Humans who develop CCHF usually become infected from a tick bite but can also acquire the virus from direct contact with blood or other infected issues from livestock or from infected patients. RVF can be acquired either by mosquito bite or by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals (mainly sheep), including consumption of unpasteurized milk. Lassa fever virus is carried by rodents and transmitted by excreta, either as aerosols or by direct contact. Some viral haemorrhagic fevers have been amplified in hospitals by nosocomial transmission resulting from unsafe procedures, use of contaminated medical devices (including needles and syringes) and unprotected exposure to contaminated body fluids.

Nature of the disease
The haemorrhagic fevers are severe acute viral infections, usually with sudden onset of fever, malaise, headache and myalgia followed by pharyngitis, vomiting, diarrhoea, skin rash and haemorrhagic manifestations. The outcome is fatal in a high proportion of cases (more than 50%).

Geographical distribution
Diseases in this group occur widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fevers and Lassa fever occur in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. CCHF occurs in the steppe regions of central Asia and in central Europe, as well as in tropical and southern Africa. RVF occurs in Africa and has recently spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. (Maps can be found on WHO website.)

Risk for travellers
Very low for most travellers. However, travellers visiting rural or forest areas in countries or areas at risk may be exposed to infection.

Prophylaxis
None (except for yellow fever).

Precautions
Avoid exposure to mosquitoes and ticks and contact with rodents, non-human primates or bats. Avoid unpasteurized milk.
Source: http://www.who.int/ith/diseases/haemorrhagicfevers/en/

OK, I think I need to stop reading now............
 
Old 08-06-2014, 01:42 AM   #40
Helenthereef
Quote:
Originally Posted by WebSlave View Post
OK, I think I need to stop reading now............
Seriously - sometime less is more! Some very interesting info there though.

If you really want to freak yourself out, research the Chikungunya virus - similar to, but worse than Dengue, and hosted by the same mosquitoes, it is spreading through the Caribbean and has recently been found in American Samoa ....



Key facts

Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It causes fever and severe joint pain. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
The disease shares some clinical signs with dengue, and can be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue is common.
There is no cure for the disease. Treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.
The proximity of mosquito breeding sites to human habitation is a significant risk factor for chikungunya.
Since 2004, chikungunya fever has reached epidemic proportions, with considerable morbidity and suffering.
The disease occurs in Africa, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In recent decades mosquito vectors of chikungunya have spread to Europe and the Americas. In 2007, disease transmission was reported for the first time in a localized outbreak in north-eastern Italy.
 

Join now to reply to this thread or open new ones for your questions & comments! FaunaClassifieds.com is the largest online community about Reptile & Amphibians, Snakes, Lizards and number one classifieds service with thousands of ads to look for. Registration is open to everyone and FREE. Click Here to Register!

 
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Snake Fungal Disease: Emerging Epidemic Feared zookeeperfrank General Herp Talk 0 06-15-2013 04:06 PM
Obesity Epidemic Threatens Fido, Fluffy, Too SamanthaJane13 General BS forum 7 11-29-2010 12:18 AM
Epidemic, anyone? daveb Pituophis & Drymarchon Discussion Forum 2 09-27-2007 10:29 PM
Cryptosporidium epidemic with my corns? michmak Cornsnakes & Ratsnakes Discussion Forum 8 04-11-2005 02:05 PM
SARS Epidemic May Reemerge, CDC Director Warns cowboyway Herps In The News 0 06-18-2003 04:47 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:12 AM.







Fauna Top Sites


Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.06921411 seconds with 11 queries
Content copyrighted ©2002-2022, FaunaClassifieds, LLC