Posted on 10/20/2014 10:30:10 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
What are body fluids? Ebola has been detected in blood and many body fluids. Body fluids include saliva, mucus, vomit, feces, sweat, tears, breast milk, urine, and semen.
Can Ebola spread by coughing? By sneezing? Unlike respiratory illnesses like measles or chickenpox, which can be transmitted by virus particles that remain suspended in the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes, Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with body fluids of a person who has symptoms of Ebola disease. Although coughing and sneezing are not common symptoms of Ebola, if a symptomatic patient with Ebola coughs or sneezes on someone, and saliva or mucus come into contact with that person’s eyes, nose or mouth, these fluids may transmit the disease.
What does “direct contact” mean? Direct contact means that body fluids (blood, saliva, mucus, vomit, urine, or feces) from an infected person (alive or dead) have touched someone’s eyes, nose, or mouth or an open cut, wound, or abrasion.
How long does Ebola live outside the body? Ebola is killed with hospital-grade disinfectants (such as household bleach). Ebola dried on surfaces such as doorknobs and countertops can survive for several hours; however, virus in body fluids (such as blood) can survive up to several days at room temperature.
Are patients who recover from Ebola immune for life? Can they get it again - the same or a different strain? Recovery from Ebola depends on good supportive clinical care and a patient’s immune response. Available evidence shows that people who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years, possibly longer.
We don’t know if people who recover are immune for life or if they can become infected with a different species of Ebola.
If someone survives Ebola, can he or she still spread the virus? Once someone recovers from Ebola, they can no longer spread the virus. However, Ebola virus has been found in semen for up to 3 months. Abstinence from sex (including oral sex) is recommended for at least 3 months. If abstinence is not possible, condoms may help prevent the spread of disease.
Can Ebola be spread through mosquitos? There is no evidence that mosquitos or other insects can transmit Ebola virus. Only mammals (for example, humans, bats, monkeys and apes) have shown the ability to spread and become infected with Ebola virus.
My concern is that they don’t know what they don’t know...
Hey Obama, be a MAN - Implement a travel BAN!!
“Although coughing and sneezing are not common symptoms of Ebola”
What if a person has a cold + obola?
Almost impossible to get two viral infections at the same time. The first virus triggers a cellular mechanism that makes it very very difficult for another virus to infect the cell.
And through the little droplets expelled by breathing.
So contracting a cold would be a protective measure?
Interferon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, parasites or tumor cells. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to ramp up their anti-viral defenses.
IFNs belong to the large class of glycoproteins known as cytokines, molecules used for communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that help eradicate pathogens. Interferons are named for their ability to "interfere" with viral replication by protecting cells from virus infection. IFNs also have other functions: they activate immune cells, such as natural killer cells and macrophages; they increase host defenses by up-regulating antigen presentation by virtue of increasing the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens. Certain symptoms of infections, such as fever, muscle pain and "flu-like symptoms", are also caused by the production of IFNs and other cytokines.
More than twenty distinct IFN genes and proteins have been identified in animals, including humans. They are typically divided among three classes: Type I IFN, Type II IFN, and Type III IFN. IFNs belonging to all three classes are important for fighting viral infections and for the regulation of the immune system.
So a perpetual cold could prevent any virus?
Coughing and sneezing are both common symptoms of being alive. Few of us can get through a single day without coughing and sneezing.
Unless Ebola actually prevents a person from the everyday events of coughing and sneezing, then being anywhere within 15 feet of someone with Ebola is a dangerous undertaking.
If that is the case, then you might want to steer clear of people who aren't coughing and sneezing.
Hmmm, any friendly virus available to trigger that response?
So is it considered contagious with aerosol transmission or not?
There ya go.
here is an interesting piece of info I had not heard..wonder what it means:
“worried because Ms. Pham had become ill, Ms. Vinson was assured that her fears were unfounded, and her request for special arrangements to bring her home a day early were denied, the family’s statement said.”
So is Billy Martin trying to claim that Vinson wanted a special arrangement not to infect other passengers and was denied???????????????????????????? They are really worried about lawsuits.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/21/us/texas-officials-clear-43-people-after-ebola-monitoring.html
Here’s one for them .....
We know diseases can affect people differently. We know that large numbers of native American Indians were wiped out from disease they got from the Europeans. The Europeans had become immune to many things that the Indians had not — potential diseases from farm animals like chickens, pigs, etc.
Are we at greater risk to the ebola virus? Can it spread more rapidly in the USA than it has in Africa? Are they more immune to it than we are?
WE DON’T KNOW THOSE ANSWERS. No one does. There are too many unknowns. That’s why we should play it safe and suspend all travel from western Africa until we have a better understanding. It’s not worth the risk.
There have been lab cases where blood splatter on painted aluminum surfaces have survived in the dark at ambient temperatures for up to 51 days.
The concentrations have substantially decreased when not in an environment promoting their growth, but they are not fully disinfected with several hours of dry exposure to ambient conditions.
The trick in reading the CDC warnings is recognizing they are in the habit of reading statistics into their advisories. Compared to the measles, ebola isn’t very infectious.
Compared to a virus which is dieing out, ebola is over twice as infectious.
Conditions which allow the virus to replicate at exponential rates need to be identified and controlled within the first 5 days of symptoms, or else they tend to become fatal.
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