Posted on 10/06/2014 2:26:07 PM PDT by blam
Kevin Loria
October 6, 2014
The idea that Ebola could go airborne is terrifying.
Once you are infected, few diseases are more likely to kill you — and death by hemorrhagic fever, diarrhea and vomiting often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure, sounds particularly awful. At present it's hard to get infected — healthcare workers and family members caring for victims are at highest risk — but that would change if the virus were to mutate so that it could be transmitted through the air while keeping its present lethality.
That's a nightmare scenario.
But it's more the stuff of bad dreams than of reality. There's no known precedent for a virus to change in that way.
It is theoretically possible — everything in nature changes and evolves. Some health officials highlight this as a reason to act now to contain the disease. Anthony Branbury, the UN's Ebola chief (who is not a doctor or an Ebola researcher), recently said the possibility of an airborne mutation shouldn't be ruled out.
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, floated the possibility of airborne Ebola in a New York Times op-ed titled "What We're Afraid to Say About Ebola." He made the argument that since there are so many more Ebola cases now, more than there have ever been, the virus has more opportunities to mutate than it ever has, which makes an airborne mutation more possible.
Osterholm wrote "that virologists are loath to discuss [this possible mutation] openly but are definitely considering [it] in private."
This argument is supposed to motivate governments to act to get the virus under control before the devastation in West Africa gets worse — and that's important.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
The first known outbreak killed about 300 people over a similar time frame, and was not a slow burn. Neither was the 1995 outbreak.
“THE STAND” here we come!
Let’s face it, Bill Ayres would do it in a NY nano second. Not the slightest doubt in my mind...
In other words, it's easy to get infected.
Plus it’s in a cooler climate now. Its offspring might like that since it known that it survives longer without a host the lower the temp gets.
The proper term is aerosol.
Wow. This gets more interesting. The FDA and WHO sure has a lot of influence in Africa.
http://www.thescoopng.com/fg-says-will-longer-give-nano-silver-ebola-patients/
ummm - they’re already said it cold b e transported thru a victims sneezes - that’s AIRBORNE
Wow. This gets more interesting.
http://www.thescoopng.com/fg-says-will-longer-give-nano-silver-ebola-patients/
For anyone who has a nose. Take my posts here in order.
There’s no known precedent for a virus to change in that way.
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http://richardpreston.net/preston-books/hot-zone
“Infectious dose is believed to be 1-10 virus particles by aerosol. So says:”
Aerosol, does that have something to do with air, like in airborne ?
Yes, by all means - when threatened by a lethal plague, endorse taking comfort from... cheery wishing and hoping.
It’s already “airborne” in the respect that we still inexplicably* have unrestricted international flights landing here from risk nations ...
NPR has a recent article explaining this by comparing the contagiousness of Ebola to other diseases, which is worth reading.
The reason medical personnel wear protective gear when treating Ebola patients is that they are in close proximity to symptomatic patients who are thus actively shedding Ebola virons. Unless you are in close proximity to an infected individual who is in this state, there is very little danger of contracting the disease.
The one "wildcard" in the equation is the mobility of the host population. In remote African villages people tend to stay close together, which is why it spreads locally but doesn't move around a lot. But as people become more mobile, an infected individual can cover a wider area, potentially shedding virus along the way, before not being able to move further, thereby containing their ability to propagate the virus to new areas. So the time between onset of symptoms and how far you can go before you're bed-ridden, is one of the key measures that I don't believe anyone is really addressing right now.
It needn't be airborne to spread, though. the CDC says: "Ebola dried on surfaces such as doorknobs and countertops can survive for several hours."
A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread
Right about Hantavirus. There was an outbreak in Montana years back, too.
Thanks for the ping!
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
no matter how slim the chance it mutates like that its simply too high considering the devastating nature of the disease to act in any fashion except to assume it will. Never has the phrase better safe than sorry been more applicable.
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