Spanish nurse with Ebola takes turn for worse

The Globe and Mail ^ | 9 Oct 2014

[Smokin' Joe]

How I wish she might not have inadvertently touched her face. That is tragic...an itch may cost her her life.

I have suspected this as a transmission means since medical people were dying in Africa.

We all make unconscious actions which could lead to infection if we unknowingly contacted the bodily fluids of someone infected, or the fomites left behind.

Try going so much as an hour without touching eyes, nose, lips, or eating something without thoroughly washing your hands after touching any surface not continually in your direct control (which could have been contaminated by others).

Once you start thinking about it, yes, a touch could kill you with Ebola, or give you the latest bug, be it the flu, a cold, a norovirus.

You don't have to become a complete germophobe, but try it to become more aware. Relax, play the game, and see how many times you 'die' in an hour...

Most people would be stunned, but being aware ( and making little changes in your habits) might save you from the next case of office sniffles if nothing else.

[Smokin' Joe]

Dogs around the hot zone of one of the outbreaks in Africa were tested, and roughly 38% showed seropositive for the virus. They remain asymptomatic and could function as a carrier.

As gross as it is, dogs were seen eating corpses (dogs are scavengers/hunters in nature) in the slum areas during the lockdown (West Point slum), and see dead human as just another source of meat if they are hungry.

Sad to say, but assuming contact with the owner, euthanizing the dog is the prudent thing to do.