Another poster pointed out that at the funerals there it could easily be transmitted to 20 people (the kissing the forehead goodbye). Which would account for an upper limit of 20.
The question I have is this. What’s the transmission rate for public conveyances there. How many people can be contaminated by a cab. The seat, doorhandle, backrest, floorboards, etc.
I certainly hope that the 5-20 range is from fomite transmission to direct contact at a funeral. Because on this chart:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_reproduction_number
The only things with numbers that high are airborne or airborne droplet transmitted...
From CNN, July 29, 2014
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/health/ebola-outbreak-american-dies/index.html
“Brantly’s family had been with him in Liberia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but left for the United States before he became symptomatic; as such it is highly unlikely that they caught the virus from him. Out of an abundance of caution they are on a 21-day fever watch, the CDC said.
Nancy Writebol from Charlotte, North Carolina, has also been infected. She is employed by Serving in Mission, or SIM, and had teamed up with the staff from Samaritan’s Purse to help fight the Ebola outbreak in Monrovia when she got sick. She, too, is undergoing treatment.
It is believed one of the local staff was infected with Ebola and came to work with the virus on Monday and Tuesday, Isaacs told CNN. “We think it was in the scrub-down area where the disease was passed to both Nancy and Kent,” he said. That staff member died on Thursday.”
This “New Ebola” is leaving people well enough, while they are infectious, to both travel and work without being detected.
That and its fomite traits makes this new Ebola pandemic-capable.
“I certainly hope that the 5-20 range is from fomite transmission to direct contact at a funeral. Because on this chart:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_reproduction_number
The only things with numbers that high are airborne or airborne droplet transmitted...”
That’s why the CSPAN thing looked so Kabuki to me as well.
Behind closed doors, they are telling them its airborne. Reston is the precedent.
Talk of the genealogy of this bug has stopped too. I never bought into Zaire as being the daddy. This looked like Reston from the get go.
I get why they need to deploy the military to roll out a response in Africa, but 3000 ain’t going to do it.