Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The real lesson of Ebola in Dallas: this virus is very difficult to spread
VOX ^ | 10/20/14 | Julia Belluz

Posted on 10/20/2014 8:47:21 AM PDT by TangledUpInBlue

As America loses its cool about Ebola, we need to remember one thing: the way the virus circulated here reminds us that Ebola is actually not easily spread.

This past Sunday marked 21 days — the full incubation period for the infection — since health officials began following the close contacts of Thomas Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the US. Today marks a full month since he took several flights from Monrovia to arrive in Dallas on September 20.

Thankfully none of these people, not even Duncan's fiance, got Ebola. The fact that the very people he lived with while he was running a sweaty fever and vomiting are clear of the virus is an important reminder that it is not easy to catch.

(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ebola; ebolatransmission; mutating; openborders
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-57 next last
Let's hope.
1 posted on 10/20/2014 8:47:21 AM PDT by TangledUpInBlue
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

But it would be eve harder with a travel ban.


2 posted on 10/20/2014 8:48:50 AM PDT by Maceman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

let’s tell that to the medical staff at Dallas Presby Hospital


3 posted on 10/20/2014 8:49:54 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

What happens if one of these people develops Ebola AFTER quarantine at 32 days?


4 posted on 10/20/2014 8:50:12 AM PDT by bolobaby
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

No the real lesson, is that it’s pretty easy to spread.

We have had one person with Ebola come into the country and two American healthcare workers now have it as a result.

In Africa the cases double about every 3 weeks. This one in America has already doubled plus. Two more cases doesn’t seem like much now, but 3 weeks from now, it could be 4 more people sick. And then 6 months from now it will hundreds of new sick per day.


5 posted on 10/20/2014 8:52:11 AM PDT by DannyTN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Ebola, the “October surprise!”


6 posted on 10/20/2014 8:53:06 AM PDT by Biggirl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

I think there are a lot more infections and they are covering it up.

The nurse’s boyfriend, for example, whose employer said he had it and suddenly does not, but is off the radar.


7 posted on 10/20/2014 8:53:26 AM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (RINOS like Romney, McCain, Christie are sure losers. No more!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Lets say, I dunno....Duncan’s family knew he had @#$% Ebola and they deliberately stayed away from him.

And this would further reinforce the real lesson - people with Ebola are going to try as hard as possible to get to this country, in an attempt to save themselves...

And btw, infect people like the two Americans who caugh5t the virus from him.


8 posted on 10/20/2014 8:53:28 AM PDT by lacrew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bolobaby

At least until election day, we’re supposed to forget that the virus stays in semen a lot longer.

Nothing to worry about for 15 more days... /s


9 posted on 10/20/2014 8:53:28 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Tell those at Fort Dietrick that everything is okay, they can remove their positive pressure PPE suits while working with Ebola...


10 posted on 10/20/2014 8:54:03 AM PDT by erikm88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue
...not even Duncan's fiance, got Ebola

How does that square with nurses infected by limited contact with Duncan? Is the American strain of the virus different than the one in Africa? Or is the virus devolving?

11 posted on 10/20/2014 8:54:16 AM PDT by GOPJ (The beast roams the earth... there's been a seismic shift in our world. Rabbi Shalom Lewis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Yeah, it’s no more difficult to spread than Norovirus, which seems to occasionally run rampant through senior’s centres...


12 posted on 10/20/2014 8:54:34 AM PDT by Don W (To laugh, perhaps to dream...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bolobaby

Seems when the patient starts spewing from either end is when they really are contagious. You just don’t know when that is going to start..like on a flight.
So after that you need to really limit the people exposed to the patient. It was reported that patient zero in Nigeria was euthanized when he became to hard to handle and was exposing people needlessly. Sounds rough, but it did minimize the risk.


13 posted on 10/20/2014 8:54:34 AM PDT by Oldexpat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Are we even sure that his family and people close to him didn’t get it? I thought they were taken away to a safe facility to be monitored. Have we seen them, or are we just getting reports? I’ve not followed the blow-by-blow of the story, but just asking if we absolutely know if those people are unaffected?


14 posted on 10/20/2014 8:54:36 AM PDT by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Watch the early contacts come down with ebola past the 21 day period....as per WHOs warning that it could go out to 42 days. IMHO they are safe...but I’d still keep everyone under QT until 30 days just to be safe......and they wouldn’t be getting on a damn plane, train, taxi, or ship!


15 posted on 10/20/2014 8:54:57 AM PDT by DCBryan1 (No realli, moose bytes can be quite nasti!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

I read somewhere that different strains may have longer incubation periods. The only truth about the virus is there is little knowledge about it.


16 posted on 10/20/2014 8:55:58 AM PDT by Robert DeLong (u)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Perhaps this proves to be correct. However, with the disease raging in those affected West African countries, how many more of these guys might come over here unless we really ramp up our diligence with screening, travel ban, etc.?


17 posted on 10/20/2014 8:56:01 AM PDT by Tennessean4Bush (An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist fears this is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue
This just confirms what science in general has more or less known about Ebola. And it looks like this "new" strain isn't much more communicable that the old.

What this really points out, is the absolute sh*thole that some parts of Africa are. The medicine, the sanitation, the cultural customs and norms....

18 posted on 10/20/2014 8:56:57 AM PDT by Paradox (and now here we are....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TEXOKIE
Are we even sure that his family and people close to him didn’t get it?

Exactly, how do we know? They have been locked away since the beginning. Well, of course we can trust the CDC..../s

19 posted on 10/20/2014 8:57:09 AM PDT by Envisioning (My desire to be well informed is at odds with my desire to remain sane....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: TangledUpInBlue

Hard to catch at first, but much easier when the patient is liquifying or already dead.


20 posted on 10/20/2014 8:57:17 AM PDT by Chad_the_Impaler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-57 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson