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originally posted by: Chickensalad
originally posted by: skyblueworld
All this on top of having another outbreak right now in America, of an unknown respiratory virus which has already affected over 1000 children over several states.
Link
Scary stuff!
Id like to add that EV68 is kicking our butts right now in Nebraska. (The respiratory virus)
Didnt somebody post a thread not too long ago describing how ebola can attach itself to other viruses?
If thats the case then EV68 is going to be ebolas fastest mode of transmission. Especially when you consider that its attacking children and elderly more easily. If that gets into the schools or senior centers, its going to spread like wildfire.
originally posted by: stellawayten
originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein
originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
This too I'm gathering:
Possi ble Patient Arrival
Where is Kennestone? It says the Georgia department of health...Yeah, nevermind it is in Georgia....Add another one there!
www.wellstar.org...
Do you think this guy was lying just to freak the COs out?
originally posted by: ~Lucidity
www.wsbtv.com...
WSB (my company ) just said the guy in Atlanta tested negative and that's what the announcement will be. Whew.
They also said they have not been able to verify the dude was even in Africa.
originally posted by: Staroth
a reply to: Chrisfishenstein
This was just a random thought I had: but what if these people are being paid to bring Ebola here. They know they will get the best care and survive it and when they do they will become wealthy.
*again this was just a random thought*
originally posted by: WhiteAlice
a reply to: Petros312
Oddly enough, I was thinking after I wrote my post that HIV would be an absolutely tremendous example of viruses and dollar bills. Considering how many are infected with HIV, you would think that we would all have HIV if it were transmissible through bank notes. HIV is actually a pretty fragile virus, iirc. Ebola is slightly tougher but again, it's more likely not to survive than to survive outside a host and it certainly would not be able to reproduce itself on a dollar bill.
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca...
Actually, I'm not saying anything of the sort in terms of whether there could be a chance of a widespread Ebola epidemic in the USA. There was absolutely nothing in my post that should have led to that impression of yours. You're barking up the wrong tree.
My opinion (and you can check all of my Ebola posts) is that the US is not Africa. Just about every year, we have people in the US coming down sick from hantavirus or even the plague and yet, we still do not have a Black Death like epidemic emanating from such infections as a result. Anyone comparing the US to Africa is ignoring cultural differences (we don't eat fruit bats), the high levels of HIV within the population of Africa, th tendency towards malnutrition in many areas (why they eat fruit bats) and the consequences those factors all have on the strength of the immune system of the given population. And that's not even including differences in availability of medical care. There's a reason why many US doctors head to Africa to help offer their services there--Africa has a distinct shortage of doctors and facilities.
but sure, if you want to suggest that there is even a slim chance that an Ebola epidemic could erupt here, then fine--there's a slim chance that an Ebola epidemic could occur on US soil. The reason why I say that isn't because I necessarily believe it's going to happen. It's because I didn't simply take immunology and pathology or microbiology in college. I also took statistics. You're never going to find me projecting anything with 100% certainty. Even if more cases erupted from the Duncan case, however, it is in no way going to be even remotely like W. Africa but hey, if it gets people thinking about regularly washing their hands, whether they should send their kid to school sick or go to work sick themselves, and being aware of methods of transmission--cool beans. Learning experience for everyone.
PS. I know you're under attack by several on this thread but you might want to try to distinguish between posters and their intents before making potentially erroneous assumptions about everyone on this thread.
originally posted by: WhiteAlice
As far as infectious banknotes, not many people actually carry cash these days. However, the possibility of transmitting contagions via a bank note does still absolutely exist...
Now let's hypothesize that Duncan went to Walmart and bought some antacid with cash. He was a foreigner so hey, could've happened. Those dollars that Duncan handed over would not have an endless stream of virus on it. Viruses don't work that way. What viruses do is very specific in that they only become activated when in contact with a genetically amenable host. That's why they say that viruses are this weird sort of half-life. They seem dead until they come into contact with a cell that actually triggers them to do all that they do to reproduce. Stick a few viruses on any surface for a week even and check back on them a week later and you're going to find the same number of viruses (if they survived). Viruses are not like bacteria which are self-reproducing. Viruses need to basically hijack a host cell to trick it into reproducing itself.