Ebola Patient in Atlanta Hospital

a reply to: Destinyone
Remember this?

CDC Accidentally Ships Lethal Influenza Virus

Warm fuzzies all around.

For levity's sake, a little compilation of the people handing potential ebola blood shipments:



(YES, I'm aware the driver of a "biohazard"-marked box being delivered to the CDC will probably be a little more careful than this......but we all need a laugh right now. )

a reply to: Destinyone

There are so many possibilities to think about. Things you wouldn't think of.
I'm on the Canadian American border in Canada. There are people who would do anything to save their child!

a reply to: violet

Exactly! Remember the fiasco with transfusions with tainted blood when Aids first made the mainstream. So many ways for exposure that are not prepared for in any way for something like this.

Des

a reply to: 00nunya00

Hey...those were my packages ...ROFLMAO...

Just another example of the human factor in the loop.

Des

originally posted by: Destinyone
a reply to: violet

Exactly! Remember the fiasco with transfusions with tainted blood when Aids first made the mainstream. So many ways for exposure that are not prepared for in any way for something like this.

Des

And the CDC is the ONLY place ebola tests are being done in the US. There is no highly-reliable cheap and quick test for Ebola right now, which is why the CDC does two different kinds of tests to make sure they have some level of confidence of the results from either test. Donated blood and plasma will not be tested for Ebola, period. Not for a long time. And just one virus cell can spread it. Jesus H, this truly is the "perfect storm" as one official put it. I didn't even think about the blood donation issue.

You have to admire the guys. They must have told this one his trailers were just full and he couldn't carry the all important delivery. No room they said.

We'll just see about that, this one seemed to say.



I'm sure they have their very best on the routine shipment through the normal process.

originally posted by: 00nunya00

originally posted by: Destinyone
a reply to: violet

Exactly! Remember the fiasco with transfusions with tainted blood when Aids first made the mainstream. So many ways for exposure that are not prepared for in any way for something like this.

Des

And the CDC is the ONLY place ebola tests are being done in the US. There is no highly-reliable cheap and quick test for Ebola right now, which is why the CDC does two different kinds of tests to make sure they have some level of confidence of the results from either test. Donated blood and plasma will not be tested for Ebola, period. Not for a long time. And just one virus cell can spread it. Jesus H, this truly is the "perfect storm" as one official put it. I didn't even think about the blood donation issue.

One time I called FOX news headquarters to tell them about something that was being discussed in an ATS thread, I do things like that. I was told the network has desk reporters who read some forums.

HEY NEWS GUYS...I HOPE TO HELL YOU ARE READING THIS THREAD!!!!

Des

I'm just gonna repost this again since kruphix missed it the first time around, and then the second time around, and he's on ATS again right now, so I want to make sure he gets the credible source he was asking for and doesn't overlook it.

a reply to: kruphix

It's never been proven, but it is strongly suspected by some experts:

In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated

GROWING GUINEA OUTBREAK CAUSED BY NEW EBOLA STRAIN - April 27th, 2014 from Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the U of Minnesota

"The Ebola virus strain responsible for Guinea's outbreak—now at 197 suspected or confirmed cases—is a new strain that has been sickening and killing people at least as far back as December, researchers reported yesterday.

The results of full genetic sequencing suggest that the outbreak in Guinea isn't related to others that have occurred elsewhere in Africa, according to an international team that published its findings online in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)."

NEJM Findings - April 16th, 2014

Diagnostic Assays
Viral RNA was extracted from 50 to 100 μl of undiluted plasma and 1:10 diluted plasma with the use of the QIAmp viral RNA kit (Qiagen)...

Clinical and Epidemiologic Analysis
The prominent clinical features of the EBOV infection in the confirmed cases were fever, severe diarrhea, and vomiting; hemorrhage was less frequent. The case fatality rate in the initial cases was 86% (12 of 14 patients with a known outcome died). Confirmed cases originated from hospitals in Guéckédou, Macenta, Nzérékoré, and Kissidougou prefectures (Figure 1). We performed an epidemiologic look-back investigation of the transmission chains by reviewing hospital documentations and interviews with affected families, patients with suspected disease, and inhabitants of villages in which cases occurred. According to the current state of the epidemiologic investigation, the suspected first case of the outbreak was a 2-year-old child who died in Meliandou in Guéckédou prefecture on December 6, 2013 (Figure 2). Patient S14, a health care worker from Guéckédou with suspected disease, seems to have triggered the spread of the virus to Macenta, Nzérékoré, and Kissidougou in February 2014. As the virus spread, 13 of the confirmed cases could be linked to four clusters: the Baladou district of Guéckédou, the Farako district of Guéckédou, Macenta, and Kissidougou. Eventually, all clusters were linked with several deaths in the villages of Meliandou and Dawa between December 2013 and March 2014.

Don't even know how I found these but they raise several very important questions.

A) If genetic sequencing of this specific strain has existed since April, why would they need to put them in Emory where a next generation genetics diagnostics laboratory with 7.5x "the gold standard of genetics sequencing technology" exists? Has it mutated quickly enough to warrant these ridiculous, seemingly illogical actions? Is it possible that what the Americans have is a different strain altogether, spreading simultaneously?

B) This reports lists a patient zero death in December 6th, 2013. All I have EVER heard up to this point was February. And this list of villages, never heard of ANY of them but Conakry that has a supposed US bio-weapons lab (would love to see a legitimate source on that if anyone has one) is not the starting point. Do we know if these villages are located around Conakry? I assume they are all clustered together as- duh.

C) WHY HAVE NONE OF US SEEN THESE REPORTS BEFORE? ADMITTED NEW STRAIN & DECEMBER? WTF?

originally posted by: 00nunya00
I'm just gonna repost this again since kruphix missed it the first time around, and then the second time around, and he's on ATS again right now, so I want to make sure he gets the credible source he was asking for and doesn't overlook it.

a reply to: kruphix

It's never been proven, but it is strongly suspected by some experts:

In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated

www.bbc.com...

a reply to: kruphix

The study shows only one thing, and that is what it set out to show...that Ebola can be airborn transmission between pigs and primates. That is all it shows, you can not logically extrapolate anything else from those results.

Except you can, which is why these tests are done. Scientists experiment with diseases on animals to determine how they effect humans. If the virus can transmit via airborne particles of saliva from pig to monkey, then it's reasonable to believe it may be able to do the same from human to human.

As far as how Ebola is transmitted, I keep reading this:

Ebola then spreads in the community through human-to-human transmission, with infection resulting from direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people

Define "other bodily fluids". Does saliva and mucous fall into the "other bodily fluids" category? If so, then like the Canadian experiment shows, a sneeze or cough could transmit the disease from person to person.

Again, size and scope doesn't change the virus.

Size and scope is what matters most. If this was occurring in a remote African village there wouldn't be a 90+ page and growing thread about it, it would hardly be in the news, there would hardly be a concern outside the effected region. But for the first time -- EVER -- this thing is ravaging through cities, it is not slowing down, there is no strategy for containment, and in all likelihood it will land here in the U.S. -- for the first time ever!

Look at this way, when one kid died in Texas from swine flu the media went into full blown Defcon 1 panic mode. Now we have a highly contagious, lethal pathogen that has killed nearly a thousand people in Africa knocking on our doorstep, and all we hear is "don't worry, it's nothing to worry about". Sorry, but I can't help but be a little skeptical.

originally posted by: DirtyD


Define "other bodily fluids". Does saliva and mucous fall into the "other bodily fluids" category? If so, then like the Canadian experiment shows, a sneeze or cough could transmit the disease from person to person.

I read on CNN "neither airborne or waterborne. It is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blah blah saliva."



Apparently it just magically attaches to these fluids!

As to almost a thousand deaths, that's just reported. And think, it was 700 less than 2 days ago. Terrifying. Read my above post.

a reply to: JG1993

JG...my head is spinning. This new , at least to me, info needs to be shared for those who can't access links. It's not that long, so I'm posting it here...Kudos for finding it JG.

Study: Growing Guinea outbreak caused by new Ebola strain
Filed Under:
Ebola

Lisa Schnirring | Staff Writer | CIDRAP News
|
Apr 17, 2014

Full-length gene sequencing revealed that the outbreak Ebola clade is separate from known viruses.

The Ebola virus strain responsible for Guinea's outbreak—now at 197 suspected or confirmed cases—is a new strain that has been sickening and killing people at least as far back as December, researchers reported yesterday.

The results of full genetic sequencing suggest that the outbreak in Guinea isn't related to others that have occurred elsewhere in Africa, according to an international team that published its findings online in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The report is also the first detailed look at the epidemiologic features among the patients sickened in the early days of the outbreak in the forested region of Guinea, sketching out transmission chains that start with a 2-year-old girl who died in December.
Latest WHO numbers

As of yesterday, 197 suspected or confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases have been reported in Guinea, an increase of 29 since Apr 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update today. Fourteen more deaths were reported, raising the total to 122.

The WHO added that 101 cases have been lab confirmed. So far 47 of the cases, along with 16 of the deaths, have been in Conakry, the country's capital. Most of the others have been reported from the forested region in the southeastern part of the country where the outbreak began.

A team of 60 volunteers is helping the health ministry conduct contact tracing in Conakry, where 23 patients are still in isolation. Thirteen more case-patients are being treated in isolation units in Gueckedou (12) and Macenta (1).

In Liberia, 1 new EVD cases was reported, raising the total there to 27, while the number of deaths held steady at 13, according to the WHO statement. It said a suspected case reported yesterday from Nimba County has tested positive for Lassa fever. Two patients are still hospitalized, and health officials are still monitoring 33 contacts.

As part of response efforts in Liberia, the country's health ministry yesterday commissioned a new Ebola virus laboratory, a collaboration with Metabiota, a San Francisco–based infectious disease investigation group. Also, the health ministry and its global health partners visited two hospitals, where they conducted their first training in case management, triage, and infection control.

Meanwhile, Mali's health ministry reported yesterday that clinical samples from six suspected cases were negative for EVD. Tests on the samples were conducted at the WHO collaborating center at the Pasteur Institute in Senegal and at a mobile high-security lab at the University of Bamako.

In Sierra Leone, 12 suspected cases have been identified since Mar 19, but tests on clinical samples from 11 of them were negative for Ebola virus and other pathogens, according to the WHO. Health officials are following up on rumors of EVD cases and conducting active case finding.

So far no EVD cases have been detected in Sierra Leone, though two patients who died from the disease in Guinea earlier in the outbreak were brought back to Sierra Leone for burial.
Clinical features, genetic analysis

In the NEJM report, researchers said Guinea's health ministry first learned of clusters of a highly fatal mysterious disease that had been occurring in two cities in the forested region on Mar 10. The finding triggered an epidemiologic investigation by a European team from Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) and prompted the collection of blood samples and clinical data from 20 patients, which were sent to biosafety level 4 labs for analysis in Lyon, France, and Hamburg, Germany.

Fifteen of the patients tested positive for the virus using conventional filovirus tests, and electron microscopy identified the Ebola virus in the serum of one patient. Researchers isolated the virus from cell culture in samples from five patients.

The team's genetic analysis found a high degree of similarity among 15 partial and 3 full-length sequences. Meanwhile, their full-length sequence analysis revealed that the Ebola clade is separate from other known viruses of its kind.

Clinical investigation found that the most common symptoms among confirmed case-patients were fever, severe diarrhea, and vomiting, but hemorrhage was less common. The case-fatality rate (CFR) of initial cases was 86% and for suspected cases was 71%, consistent with EVD.

Three fruit bat species that are thought to harbor Ebola viruses are found in large parts of West Africa, and the first outbreak in Guinea serves as a warning that the whole West African region is at risk for the disease, the team concluded.
Evidence of single introduction

The group's look back at the transmission chains found that the first suspected case was a 2-year-old girl from Gueckedou prefecture who died in early December. They also found that an infected health worker from the same part of Guinea appears to have spread the virus to Macenta, Nzerekore, and Kissidougou in February. As the outbreak grew, 13 of the confirmed cases could be linked to four clusters.

Researchers concluded that genetic evidence and epidemiologic links between the cases suggests a single introduction of the virus from animals to humans, which could have occurred in early December or before. They wrote that they suspect the virus was transmitted for months before clusters of cases in Gueckedou and Macenta signaled that an outbreak was under way.

Hemorrhage wasn't documented for most of the patients when blood samples were obtained, but could have occurred later, the team noted. They said, however, that the term "Ebola virus disease" was developed to emphasize that hemorrhage isn't seen in all patients. The researchers said the CFR is consistent with previous Ebola outbreaks.

That the Guinea Ebola strain is a separate clade suggests that the pathogen that sparked the outbreak evolved parallel with those seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon and was not introduced into Guinea—the first West African nation to experience an Ebola outbreak—from those countries.
www.cidrap.umn.edu...

This is going to take some time for me to wrap my head around...

Des

a reply to: JG1993

I posted bits from that very article several pages ago, I doubt I was the first to do so, and I doubt you'll be the last. As far as fatalities go, the last number I saw was closing in on 900, though some experts believe that nearly 50% of the cases have gone unreported.

The official Ebola death toll jumped from 729 to 887 on Monday as Liberia confirmed dozens of new cases, but the doctor told us he believes the real number is at least 50 percent higher.

I'm sure this has already been linked

a reply to: DirtyD

I had not seen the video of reporter in Africa from your link. It's mind numbing...at best.

Thank you for posting. People here in the U.S. need a wake up call.

Des

originally posted by: Destinyone
a reply to: JG1993

JG...my head is spinning. This new , at least to me, info needs to be shared for those who can't access links. It's not that long, so I'm posting it here...Kudos for finding it JG.

Thank you Des, I was proud of the find. This is really the breaking point for me, mostly because of the date. This outbreak has only gotten worse, and the MSM has continued to grow more and more calming/positive in their messages.



I emailed one of the doctors listed in the publishing. An inquisitive plea. Pray to whatever Gods you all choose that he responds honestly. This could be our shot for the truth. Such contradictions are presented over & over again. I am very much considering investing into a website to provide wholesale ebola safety kits (tyvek, filter mask, disinfectant, several MREs) at little to no profit for myself, with a page utilizing the sourced information of this thread to raise awareness. I have tried to use my decently sized media following to generate awareness but people panic for 5 minutes and brush it off or just brush it off altogether. I worry about our time frame..

Eyes on Nigeria- tick, tick, tick.


EDIT: Jesus, D. That's atrocious dude. I hadn't heard 50% higher. Gonna watch the video now.

Anybody need me to pick them up a couple cartons of emergency smokes and some cases of water while I'm out? Ugh.

a reply to: JG1993

Not only keeping eyes on Nigeria...it's also a frustrated, growing angrier by the day Nigeria, that thinks it's been bamboozled by our Government and CDC, in not telling them about our miracle *secret serum* that cures ebola.

Now everyone there is clamoring for it and their Government is pissed at us. Do you blame them?

I don't think they'll be putting keeping ebola from reaching our shores, at the top of their priority list. The political ramifications are coming into play.

Des

a reply to: JG1993

Eyes on Nigeria- tick, tick, tick.

Yeah, that one passenger who was on his way to Minneapolis is already suspected of infecting eight other people.

In Nigeria, which recorded its first death from Ebola in late July, authorities in Lagos said eight people who came in contact with the deceased U.S. citizen Patrick Sawyer were showing signs of the deadly disease.

Link

Meanwhile officials are scrambling to find anyone he came in contact with. From another source.

Nigerian authorities have been searching for and monitoring anyone who came into contact with Sawyer before and after he began showing symptoms. According to Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu, public health authorities are monitoring 70 people, have quarantined eight and say three are symptomatic.

Sawyer, a Liberian-American, stopped over in Ghana and Togo on his way from Liberia to Nigeria the day he fell ill. He was planning to return to his family in Minnesota in mid-August. His movement across West Africa sparked a search for 30,000 people he may have come into contact with.

I doubt he came into "direct contact" with 30,000 people.

Yet another source

The second confirmed case in Nigeria is a doctor who treated Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American man who died July 25 days after arriving in Nigeria from Liberia, said Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu.

Three others who also treated Sawyer now show symptoms of Ebola and their test results are pending, he said. Authorities are trying to trace and quarantine others in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest city of 21 million people.

21 million people. 1 man has caused this much havoc. All eyes on Nigeria indeed.

originally posted by: DirtyD
a reply to: JG1993

I posted bits from that very article several pages ago, I doubt I was the first to do so, and I doubt you'll be the last. As far as fatalities go, the last number I saw was closing in on 900, though some experts believe that nearly 50% of the cases have gone unreported.

The official Ebola death toll jumped from 729 to 887 on Monday as Liberia confirmed dozens of new cases, but the doctor told us he believes the real number is at least 50 percent higher.

I'm sure this has already been linked

I don't know how I missed the sections you posted D...I think it needs to be periodically reposted for those who may not read the whole thread. Yes, it's that important. Thanks for all your time and research in bringing much needed info to the table.

Des