There is speculation among many that the Ebola strain has already left Africa. I laugh out loud every time someone says this conspiratorially and ask if they have considered the probability that west Africans, probably infected, had attended the recent World Cup event in Brazil and that they would not have shown any signs of being sick during the 21 day incubation period. I remind these same people that this strain of Ebola is contagious during that incubation period, just the same. I usually receive horrified stares as a reward. Has it left Africa, you think?!
I hadn’t even thought about the world cup! The slums of Brazil are a prefect breeding ground if it made it over.
Can you help me with that?
That's a very, very big deal.
This recent outbreak of Ebola has not followed normal epidemiological patterns for the disease.
The pattern of the current out break is of multiple simultaneous larger scale outbreaks in high population density areas.
One possible explanation is that the disease is being intentionally spread to create the outbreaks.
This strain of Ebola is not contagious during the incubation period.
The incubation period for someone who has been exposed is between 2 to 21 days. People are not contagious during this time, only after symptoms appear.
I chose that link almost at random. There are hundreds saying the same thing in the news today.
http://www.kctv5.com/story/26153300/ebola-101-what-the-us-needs-to-know-about-the-virus
21 day incubation period; over-excites the immune response; kills mostly people in their prime while sparing the very young, the elderly and sick (compromised immune systems). Sounds a lot like the Spanish Flu of 1918 - 1922.
didn’t they just put a person in Canada in containment?
“west Africans, probably infected, had attended the recent World Cup event in Brazil”
If your scenario were correct, it would be possible for Ebola now to be in every corner of the world.