Ebola: Facts, Opinions, and Speculations.

Over 100 patients from Ebola affected areas are back in India.

Tests were already done.. possibly in Africa, 85 was tested negative and about 20 are sick-- is India ready for Ebola.. answer is NO
Its hard to listen Indian news, so tell me am i right that these passengers are spread to several hospitals ?

I'm so sick of conflicting information. In the beginning we are told that there are only 4 US hospitals equipped to handle Ebola. But in this article they say this:

Ebola is very unlikely to spread in the United States. Even in a country affected by an outbreak, an individual’s chance of getting it are very low, but in the developed world, they’re virtually zero.

“The risk of Ebola is also lower in more developed countries because they have the resources needed to implement best practices if a case — or suspected case — occurs. Even if an Ebola case were detected, authorities have the ability to quickly handle the case properly and prevent spread in the community,”

All along we're told it's so hard to get, Americans and other developed nations have nothing to worry about.

Then I read this:

News media have done a good job of accurately reporting the threat of catching Ebola — It’s very low if you are not in prolonged, direct contact with someone who is infected, or with the body of someone recently dead from Ebola.

The virus isn’t carried in the air and probably isn’t easily transmitted from objects a sick person may have touched, either. All of those infected have had direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, diarrhea or vomit.

Key words in this quote are 'prolonged' and "probably". Neither of which calm my fears of this entering and spreading within the USA.

And then the reader is insulted with this:

“People love zombie moves. People love monster movies. They know it is fun to think about. Now there is a new disease that is just as exciting, and even scarier,” she said.

“People find it fun to be a little bit scared about Ebola, so embrace that fear and use it as a teachable moment.

“The idea that people are panicking about Ebola is a bunch of baloney.”

You may be thinking this article is from some off-the-wall news site, but no, it's NBC.

Source: www.nbcnews.com...

originally posted by: loam
First WHO-affiliated worker stricken with Ebola

Strange they don't know the details. Sounds like something confuses them about this case.

Now the latest:

WHO shuts Sierra Leone lab after worker infected with Ebola

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it had shut a laboratory in Sierra Leone after a health worker there was infected with Ebola, a move that may hamper efforts to boost the global response to the worst-ever outbreak of the disease.

I wonder why they felt it necessary to shut down the lab. Does that make sense to anyone?

Maybe I'm wrong, but something seems fishy about this situation.

And now there is a second infected WHO employee:

Second WHO worker infected with Ebola evacuated to Germany

The announcement comes a day after the WHO shut a laboratory in Sierra Leone, after a Senegalese epidemiologist was infected with the deadly virus.

I also think this whole thing is fishy. I feel like I keep reading "all is well, don't panic" type mantra in the MSM. Well maybe panic isn't necessary here in the US, but I am concerned for all of us. We keep being told it's hard to get Ebola, yet it's spreading like wildfire. And then Liberia locks in the people of the West Point slum. That doesn't sound like all is well to me. MSF announced two months ago that Ebola was out of control, but all along before that I had the impression it was under control. Hospitals have been abandoned, there are uncollected bodies lying in the street, healthcare workers are getting it and dying.

And another thing, I dont believe the infected/death numbers we are being fed, because they dont make sense. At the time MSF annouced it was out of control, the death numbers were around 600-700. Many other diseases kill more people than Ebola does each year, so why would 700 deaths bring on a cry for help like that? I think there must be many more deaths and infections happening. The WHO is now saying there are shadow cases they were not aware of but they seem to be sticking to their numbers.....I feel like I am being lied to.

Hmmm:

(CNN) -- A staff member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has returned to the United States from West Africa by charter flight after the employee had low-risk contact with a health worker who tested positive for Ebola.

URGENT - Ebola Outbreak

When are they going to start bringing over African patients?

a reply to: jadedANDcynical


I hope they keep this person quarantined until they know they definitely do not have the virus.

For those interested who may not have seen them, I updated the Ebola charts yesterday on the thread:

Ebola - my visual charts & projections based on WHO data

This is a more comprehensive update than previous updates. I went back through all 'official' data that is publicly available and filled in every known data point for every possible date - more of the in-between points. That gives 43% better resolution to the curves. I also added data by country to the tables that generate the graphs. Today I created 2 new charts for total cases and total deaths by country, as some had previously suggested.

Click either graphic to view a larger image.

New charts by country

I just made a thread about
Health Minister tracking 821 passengers for Ebola in INDIA here in ats but here is the Link to actual news
INDIA

a reply to: ikonoklast

Thanks for doing this for all of us. I know I check your charts weekly. I appreciate it.

a reply to: dollukka

That could be very bad. Thanks for the post.

CDC worker under surveillance for Ebola

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Wednesday that one of their staff members has returned from West Africa after low-risk exposure to the Ebola virus. The CDC employee worked closely, within three feet, with an international health worker who recently tested positive for Ebola.

According to CDC officials, the staff member worked near the ill person for a long period of time when that individual had symptoms.

The CDC worker returned by a charter flight and will be monitored for 21 days.

“The CDC staff person is not sick with Ebola, does not show symptoms of the disease and, therefore, poses no Ebola-related risk to friends, family, co-workers, or the public,” said the CDC in a statement released on Wednesday.

a reply to: quirkygirl

Thanks, and you're welcome! I'm glad the charts are useful for people.

I keep hoping we'll soon come to a point where none of us feel the need to check them anymore.

a reply to: dollukka

Thanks for the news. If it spreads to India, I think it will be very bad:

Population of Liberia: 4.19 million

Population of India: 1.237 billion

That idiot Chukwu is going to be eating much crow, especially after he said tha Ebola is contained in Nigeria:

The diplomat, who was part of the team who met with Patrick Sawyer in Lagos, flew to Port Harcourt, Rivers State for treatment, evading surveillance for the disease.

A doctor, who secretly treated a diplomat who had contact with the index case, Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, has died of Ebola in Nigeria.

The doctor, who has yet to be named, died on Friday. His wife has also taken ill and has been quarantined in Port Harcourt. Interestingly, the diplomat the doctor treated is still alive.

Breaking: Nigeria Records New Ebola Death In Port Harcourt

Is it any wonder they don't trust their government officials?

One day they tell you Ebola is contained, the next day a new death and case are announced...



In case anyone was wondering about to what I am referring:

“As I speak with you, Nigeria has only one confirmed case of EVD, a secondary contact of Mr Patrick Sawyer's and spouse of one of the physicians who participated in the management of the index case. She is stable but still undergoing treatment at the isolation ward in Lagos.”

He explained that so far, all the reported cases of Ebola in Nigeria had their roots in the index case, the late Sawyer, adding: “This is an indication that thus far, Nigeria has contained the disease outbreak.”

Health Minister: Nigeria Now Has One Active Ebola Case

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Yup.

If it was under control, why this?

Nigeria closes all schools until October

Many people are dying and never being counted. “Every day sees deaths in the community that are surely caused by Ebola, but they are not counted by the Ministry of Health because the cause has not been confirmed by laboratory testing,” Wolz writes. “We need to be one step ahead of this outbreak, but right now we are five steps behind.”

Why don't they test every last body, dead or alive that they feel has the virus? Is testing too dangerous/too expensive or maybe they don't care what the actual numbers are?

Meantime, WHO confirms there is a separate and unrelated outbreak of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 24 suspected cases and 13 people dead so far.

I haven't been following the Congo area. I was surprised to see 13 dead already.

Source: www.nbcnews.com...

Regarding India, I found this noteworthy:

The scare this disease has caused was palpable inside and outside the airport. All staff inside the airport wore face masks to prevent contamination since hundreds of foreign visitors were arriving at the international terminal by the hour.

If Ebola isn't that contagious, like they are telling us, why the face masks?

timesofindia.indiatimes.com...

WHO released a new update today for the first time in 6 days, so I updated the charts in the Ebola - my visual charts & projections based on WHO data thread with the newest data.

Of course, even WHO admits the actual numbers are much higher, they just don't know how much higher.

Regards to the rate at which this virus mutates, a new study finds:

The virus has mutated more than 300 times from previous strains of Ebola, Gire said. Researchers have also pinpointed about 50 places in the genetic code where the virus has changed since this outbreak started. So far, they don't know what any of those mutations mean, but they hope to find out.

Gire said it is mutating in the faster side of the normal range for viruses of its type.

Scientists dig into Ebola's deadly genes for clues

So much for the idea that it hasn't mutated that much and is a slow mutator.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Oh my, that can't be a good thing. I just posted a question regarding mutation just a few minutes ago. I wish you could post this information in that thread. I don't know how to do that or I'd do it... I'm so new here. But on that other thread everyone is asking this very thing. Thanks for finding this info and posting it.

Ebola Alarm In Brussels Hospital
I'm sorry the link is in Dutch, but I just stumbled upon it.

A Belgian 'Médecins Sans Frontières' employee might be infected, he's quarantined in Brussels St-Pieters Hospital. He was part of a team working with Ebola patients in West Africa and returned to Belgium two weeks ago.
He became sick on thursday, they're not sure yet if he's infected.

This doesn't sound all too good, especially since he's back already for some two weeks. I can only hope he just catched a fever.

Edit: the article just got an update with more details, mainly dedramatizing the situation.