This is a great read about the Reston Strain of ebola, which was first encountered in Reston, VA. A pretty scary read.
The good thing about ebola is that it burns out very quickly. The victims die before it can be spread to very far.
Posted on 02/05/2003 5:35:14 PM PST by Neuromancer
Date: Weds 5 Feb 2003
From: ProMED-mail
Source: BBC news 5 Feb 2003 15:29 GMT
Ebola outbreak feared in Congo
------------------------------
In the north of Congo-Brazzaville, 16 people have died in a suspected outbreak of Ebola virus infection. The Congolese authorities say they are extremely concerned that the virus might spread.
There is no cure for Ebola and little is known about the virus, which causes its victims to die from internal hemorrhaging.
The Congolese Ministry of Health says 16 people are known to have died so far, but communications with the villages of Kele and Mbou, 800 kilometers north of Brazzaville in the Region of Cuvette West, are difficult. Dr Joseph Mboussa, director in the Ministry of Health, says a villager has been dying every few days since the outbreak began on 4 January, and already the death toll could be much higher than 16.
The authorities were first alerted to a possible outbreak when a clan of gorillas in the Cuvette West Region began to die. Tests carried out on the bodies confirmed that the gorillas had died from the Ebola virus, and the disease has now claimed more than 80 per cent of the gorilla clan.
Medical professionals are at great risk of contracting Ebola. The Ebola virus is easily spread just by skin contact with an infected primate or person. Dr Mboussa says this makes the virus particularly difficult to contain, as Congolese funeral rites dictate that the body of a deceased person be washed by the family before burial. The current outbreak is believed to have been caused by villagers eating primates which were already infected with Ebola.
An emergency team of health ministry workers was scheduled to leave for the region on Wednesday to investigate the outbreak and try to contain it, following delays caused by a shortage of petrol and funds for the trip. Ebola experts working for the World Health Organization in Libreville and Geneva also expect to leave soon to investigate the outbreak. Some years ago in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, then President Mobutu Sese Seko adopted a controversial policy of putting an infected village in quarantine. The Ebola virus was contained but the entire village was wiped out. The Congolese health ministry has so far asked local inhabitants not to travel, but the authorities are hopeful they will not have to resort to such drastic measures.
The forestry ministry already has several teams in place trying to make locals aware of the dangers of eating primates, but they admit it is a losing battle in a region where bush meat has formed a staple part of people's diets for centuries.
They're likely to be getting Ebola from slaughtering and eating the monkeys.
We're sending $15 billion for AIDS. (Nigeria has proven that behaviour modification begins to reduce/eliminate the AIDS problem)
This is a great read about the Reston Strain of ebola, which was first encountered in Reston, VA. A pretty scary read.
The good thing about ebola is that it burns out very quickly. The victims die before it can be spread to very far.
From the article linked in post #7.
So far ... God help the planet if it should ever go airborne or be engineered with rhinovirus genes.
It is indeed.
I found the descriptions of how the Army planned to totally quarantine the area quite interesting, especially since I had been working a quarter of a mile away at the time.
Ahhh, he's only 29. I have 30 years of knowledge on him. (...and you know what I mean here too, huh?)
The planet wouldn't even shrug; it might in relief, though.
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