Ebola Epidemic Could Become Global Crisis

originally posted by: UnBreakable
No worries. I'm sure one of the big pharmas will develope something to combat this and charge governments billions to dispense it if the poor can't pay. Here in the USA they'll worry us unneccessarily and charge us citizens $250 a pop for a shot. As Joe Biden said, don't let a crisis go to waste.

Do you have any evidence that Biden said that? I know Rahm Emanuel and Hillary Clinton both said it. See video here.

A bit late to the party, Zambia is screening airline passengers for Ebola. I especially like this bit: the Ministry of Health has plans to procure necessary protective clothing for medical staff.

Zambia on alert against Ebola

English.news.cn 2014-04-22 19:30:54
LUSAKA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Aviation authorities in Zambia have started screening all passengers for the deadly contact-borne Ebola virus which has broken out in some African countries, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

There have been reports of the outbreak of the deadly disease in Western Africa and in some countries in central Africa.

National Airports Corporations Limited, a government institution that operates airports in the country, has called on the country's three international airports to screen all passengers for the deadly disease.

originally posted by: Mikeultra

originally posted by: UnBreakable

No worries. I'm sure one of the big pharmas will develope something to combat this and charge governments billions to dispense it if the poor can't pay. Here in the USA they'll worry us unneccessarily and charge us citizens $250 a pop for a shot. As Joe Biden said, don't let a crisis go to waste.

Do you have any evidence that Biden said that? I know Rahm Emanuel and Hillary Clinton both said it. See video here.

Ok, I stand corrected on exactly who said it. Regardless, that's the mindset of our current power structure. If there's money to be made off of John Q. Public, they'll hype up the scare tatics so we kowtow, similar to the bogus color coded terror alerts from a decade ago touted by Tom Ridge. Terror! Terror! Terror!

Ok my lovely ATSers, I wanted to get this to you before you stumbled across it...I can't recall if I ahve said this earlier in the thread or not: There is a rumor bumping about the internet about suspected cases in Pisa, Italy via illegal immigrants by boat. It is my understanding that the trip by boat is longer than the max incubation period (and remember that is an outlier). The alarm was set, it seems, by turnerradionetwork.com -as some of you seasoned forum-goers know, they are a known 'hoaxer' website, or rather take a thread of truth and blow it way out of proportion.

For example, they state "A 15% increase in infectiousness in 24hours" ! which they attributed to Samaritan's Purse. I cross checked that factoid and it's a stat from last week, and i believe it is referring to a 15% increase in cases. In any case, it appears that since the team from SP has been there, the situation has stabilized quite a bit. (Of course with help from other aid groups and the like)

As for the actual claim, I poured over Italian speaking/written websites/blogs/etc that were reporting on it and it seems to stem from a claim that there were 40 immigrants that were "quarantined" because their health supposedly showed symptoms of EVD. I did this research yesterday so it is a bit cloudy but I recall that that *that* particular claim stemmed back to one website. I then read an interesting article that went over the various assumptions and rumors flying about concerning this and it seemed that it was a false alarm, and that the great of the fear was mixed in with racism against these immigrants.

To top all that off: I forwarded my findings to ProMed Mail. Before I dive into this, I want to say that I trust their word because they are medical personnel, scientists, and the like who don't appear to be motivated by politics, but by sharing really important info among the world's healthcare professionals. I don't know if I am 'given permission' but nothing indicated I couldn't share what they told me. Basically, they were really happy that I shared the info I did; in the second correspondence I had with the nice gentleman he informed me that they had checked with their sources in Italy and it appeared to just be a rumor. Now that's a scary rumor, but a rumor non the less. I know I don't expect you to take me at face value but I have NO reason to lie to you. This # scares the ever loving crap outta me and when I saw a bit of a 'bright light' as it were, I hung on to it like a chunk of wood after a shipwreck. (I admittedly have anxiety issues with diseases and the like. >.

www.avianflutalk.com...

The Italians appear to be taking this possible threat seriously. But migrants from Africa are a large problem for Italy, and should any Ebola escape Africa it could be the first non plane port of call.

I read through that forum post and I have a few lingering questions: I haven't heard anywhere else that the field rapid-test kits are giving false-negatives. I'm not saying it isn't happening, I'm just saying that I haven't heard that anywhere else. Eh, with the Italian gov on alert for this, shouldn't we know by now if they tested these folks? (Or did they not test them?) ALso, if there was a circular put out on the 4th of April, I'm not so sure that is 'highly unusual' or anything. They SHOULD be on the lookout, as every other country; it's kind of a common sense thing to do.

Something I wanted to share, namely to point out some disinformation:
yottafire.com...

It says in the article that the WHO has confirmed that Ebola is in7 African countries. IN the current Outbreak there have been cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone (Two cases who were from Guinea, and then their bodies taken back to bury them.) ALL other cases have tested negative-and we are not talking rapid test kits in the field, we are talking about through lab tests. They could be referring to countries where there has been, at some point in time, an outbreak.

We haven't heard anything from any "bigger" news sources on this Italy thing. Conspiracy? Eh, maybe but I don't think so. I'm not saying that I am disregarding Alt Media, but you have to be really careful and dig around, and so far it seems that most of these articles are parroting each other. I just don't see why it wouldn't make it common knowledge, or why no one else has investigated it. I tried to find contact info for the blogger who posted the above article (Who, may I add, mis-used the 15% stat from Samaritan's Purse. =[ ) to ask him some questions and I couldn't find anything. I will keep my eye on this, as I know all of you following this thread are, but I am not wholly convinced yet.

I can't help but think how the WHO and other medical bodies jumped on H1N9/Sars/etc-I kinda feel it's the same in this case-everything I read, NGOs and the like (UN/WHO) are all over this like a horse on a sugar cube.

Oh and one last thing; I don't have a link handy, but I saw an article with the title earlier "The Ebola Outbreak That Isn't Slowing Down" or something to that effect. The actual increase in confirmed cases isn't super-massive or drastic. Yes, some poor folks have died, increasing the death toll-but they were already sick. What these blasted articles DON'T EVER MENTION (*flails hands irritatedly*) are the numbers of folks released from contact tracing/monitoring as well ass those who have actually recovered from this terrible disease. The public needs to be made aware, but fear, well fear clouds good judgement.

I guess I am rambling now, so I apologize for that! I'm just frustrated with how the reporting is done on this crap.

www.avianflutalk.com...

The last comment on the above is with regard to the WHO and what it has said 2 hours ago.

i would agree that Ebola is not spreading at the rate in which we see other 'infectious diseases' but it is not going away just yet.

Agreed, they are working on it and all we can do is pray and hope for the best. Personally, though the modern media has got it into our heads that anyone who gets this stuff just turns to bloody liquid; and that ONLY happens in the WORST of cases.

Best of luck to them.

As expected, WHO reports the death toll is rising - now at 142 (Guinea and Liberia). Clinically confirmed cases (not all laboratory confirmed) are around 242. ALL cases seem to track back to one original case in December that spread outward from there. It's not over but this outbreak seems to be on the road to being contained - however, "The emergence of the virus in Guinea highlights the risk of [Ebola] outbreaks in the whole West African sub-region." ...The main obstacle to fighting the outbreak is still peoples' ignorance.

Ebola Death Toll Rises to 142 in Guinea and Liberia, WHO Says

The outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa has claimed 142 lives across Guinea and Liberia, according to the World Health Organization.

Guinea’s health authorities reported a total of 208 clinical cases, including 136 deaths from the hemorrhagic fever, the Geneva-based WHO said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. Liberia had 34 “clinically compatible” cases of the disease, including six fatalities, it said.

....Since the incubation period for Ebola can be as long as three weeks, “it is likely that the Guinean health authorities will report new cases in the coming weeks and additional suspected cases may also be identified in neighboring countries,” WHO said. “It is anticipated that most of the suspected cases currently reported by Liberia will be reclassified as discarded and removed from the case count.”

Busting the myths about Ebola is crucial to stop the transmission of the virus disease in Guinea

Will eating raw onions once a day for three days protect me from Ebola? Is it safe to eat mangoes? Is it true that a daily intake of condensed milk can prevent infection with Ebola? These are just some of the questions posed to the health workers responding round the clock to calls received through the free Ebola hotline. With so many Ebola deaths to date, fear has allowed the spread of rumours and misinformation.

.......

Soficrow, what you said made me think of these articles:

www.who.int...

and

wuis.org...

Truly, it is VERY important to educate the locals about how to prevent the spread. I do hope that this stuff is on the road to being contained. Heck, I read that some still think this is caused by 'bad spirits' and an actual virus. Education is so, so important.


EDIT:

Hahah, I realized that one fo my links is one fo the links you shared. *facepalm*

a reply to: Sundowner

...some still think this is caused by 'bad spirits' and an actual virus

That's what I think - bad viruses are waayyyy bad spirits. And a rose by any other name....

UPDATE

WHO: Guinea Ebola outbreak situation improving

The overall epidemiologic status of Guinea's Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is improving, with 4 of the 6 locations that have reported cases passing the 21-day incubation period with no new cases, according to an update from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. Two incubation periods need to pass before the outbreak can be declared over in a particular location.

Ten more cases and five more deaths have been reported in Guinea, pushing the country's outbreak total to 218 suspected or confirmed cases, 141 of them fatal. Three more cases were confirmed by lab tests, raising that total to 115.

The latest illness onset of a suspected case was Apr 23, and the isolation of the most recent confirmed case was Apr 22.

Liberia has reported one more illness clinically compatible with EVD, raising its total to 35; 6 are confirmed, 2 probable, and 27 suspected cases. The WHO said the country's health ministry is working on reconciling suspected cases with lab-confirmed cases and expects that most suspected cases will be ruled out.

Sierra Leone's health ministry is investigating three patients who have illnesses compatible with viral hemorrhagic fever for possible Lassa fever or EVD, the WHO said. So far no Ebola outbreak cases have been detected in the country.

This particular Ebola epidemic seems to be under control now, only to be replaced by the MERS scare and news about MERS' appearance in Indiana. Both crises remind us that scary diseases are just a plane ride away - and they're everyone's problem. Here's one man's viewpoint:

Why Ebola isn't just Africa's problem

....A Canadian man returning from Liberia recently alarmed health officials with fears that he might have the Ebola virus. Although in good health when he traveled, the man was admitted to the intensive-care unit in Saskatchewan with classic symptoms of the disease.

That health scare, and others in recent weeks, were a wake-up call to those who saw the outbreaks as an “African problem.” They remind us that people — and their infections — are not bound by borders. To those who claim we can’t afford foreign aid, I respond that we can’t afford to think of health threats as “foreign” and “domestic.”

...Today, we live in a connected world ripe for an Ebola pandemic. The infected may appear healthy for up to three weeks while transmitting it to unsuspecting people. In this age of high-speed travel, that person could tour the world three times over — all while unknowingly spreading the disease.

We’ve seen it before. In 2002, the deadly flu-like illness known as SARS broke out in China. Within a year, it killed nearly 800 people, including at least eight in the United States. ...

...there is nothing “foreign” about foreign aid. When it comes to infectious diseases, aid can be about self-protection, not altruism.

...By investing in research for early diagnosis, treatment and vaccines for “African” diseases such as Ebola, we can make the type of progress that we have made with heart disease, diabetes and cancer. After all, we are more connected than we realize.

Told ya there was more to worry about than Ebloa.

And yeah I would be worried about MERS

a reply to: crazyewok

You did notice the MERS Watch thread I started in 2013, right?

a reply to: soficrow

Don't they have a TV drug for ebola yet? I'll ask my Dr. if Ebola
advice from a TV commercial is right for me?

a reply to: randyvs

NO - antivirals do not work on Ebola - there is no vaccine and no treatments. The only treatment is "supportive" - ensuring hydration and adequate nutrition.



PS. Do you really need to ask your doctor if you can rely on TV commercials for medical information?

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: crazyewok

You did notice the MERS Watch thread I started in 2013, right?

Depends if I had joined then or was away.

But no I guess you would have spotted it.

But so many run around screaming ebola when there are so many worst nasty s out there.

a reply to: soficrow

PS. Do you really need to ask your doctor if you can rely on TV commercials for medical information?

Psss. That was my point esse.

a reply to: randyvs

Ah yes, the snake oil phenomenon. I can hardly wait for our resident nutrigenomic "expert" to start making his usual unsubstantiated turdish claims.