Posted on 08/04/2014 9:26:06 PM PDT by BlopAndStop
Worried about the spread of Ebola in the United States? A Boston Globe-owned website has some advice for you: shut the f— up!
Unlike here, the tweet embedded in the middle of a Boston.com story about increasing fear of the virus doesn’t use the dashes. And its inclusion is no accident: the flow chart graphic is central to their coverage.
It’s just one of several stories underscoring the relatively bizarre approach our media is taking to Ebola’s spread. Number one: anyone worried about it is a paranoid, delusional freak and two, let’s use this as a new way to bash America!
If Boston.com was looking to calm concerned readers, it could’ve done so without the vulgar insults. Take a look:
(Excerpt) Read more at mediaequalizer.com ...
It’s likely that the doctor was exposed to ebola by an assistant who was helping the medics with their protective gear. The helper turned up with the bug before the doctor.
And those doctors are working very long hours in a hot climate, a recipe for mistakes.
Use of rude language like this is typical of authorities becoming auhoritarian and arrogant.
Sucks to be you.
(Seriously? what do you say to a fireman that died in a collapsing house despite training and safety-gear? Nothing; he's dead.)
We are not certain about the vector. For example "bodily fluids" can be airborne as vapor.
I don't think that's true; Ebola doesn't do airborne, and the vapor that wiki mentions is laboratory-generated. (It's been a while since I hung out with my army-medic friends.)
This uncertainty is the main reason for the current concern.
The uncertainty is essentially being exaggerated — I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but that it's being pushed as it is in order to gin up hype/concern.
ZEBOV (Zaire Ebola virus) has taken down a rather noticeable number of doctors and other medical employees.
Transmission of Ebola virus from pigs to non-human primates (Airborn)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3188965/posts
Think you’ve nailed it, Vince. They absolutely want panic over “low temperatures” at Death Valley (you think anyone there minds a 89 degree day for a change?) but Ebola is for dummies.
And those doctors are working very long hours in a hot climate, a recipe for mistakes.
Thanks.
Likely? A (non-medical) assistant may have transmitted the virus? Long hours? Heat? What else are we speculating about? Obviously even trained medical professionals are not safe.
The vector need not be an arthropod. It could be a fomite. It could be currency, towels, clothing, dishes, books, door knobs, or keyboards, for example. For the Ebola virus, we do not yet know what the vectors are. It is not true that Ebola is "not vector-borne". All they are saying is that it is not arthropod-borne.
Vapor eh?
No.....not with the Ebola we are dealing with. It does not affect the upper respiratory system, which is what it needs to do to precipitate a sneeze, for example. But even that is not "Vapor".
However it is one of the ways common flu is spread. Comprised of small droplets, each carrying 100s of viruses, these small droplet of bodily fluid can, with the aid of a fan or wind, or the force of the sneeze, travel quite some distance before hitting the ground or floor or other solid object.
But again, the Ebola we are talking about does not do that. There was one variant known to exist in 1989 that did, but it was harmless to humans and only killed a specific monkey species. It was called the Reston Strain. BTW, it was not spread through AC ducts as the AC was broke and had been for some time. In fact, they initially thought the monkeys were dying from the poor care they were receiving. The place was a animal nightmare.
Far as I know, that was the last we ever saw of it. After killing 400 or so monkeys and decontaminating the building before demolishing it. But it did appear to attack lung tissue where the human strains do not.
To the best of my knowledge on the subject.
OK....now you can return to the "we are all gonna die" thread.
because those that control the media would like nothing more then to see a plaque loosed on this country
bet on it
Well 'spit' will transmit the virus. That is acknowledged by the Berkeley Psychology PhD candidate that published a myth and Rush-buster article in Slate Monday afternoon. She also presents a long list of vectors that "do not transmit", yet examples in Africa appear to show transmission on inanimate objects, such as the doctor's assistant mentioned above who was adjusting the doctor's protective gear.
I think it’s because they don’t want another Obama admin scandal. So they are trying to circle the wagons....
I don’t think it’s anything more than the obvious.
Lastly, I also think it’s a huge distraction.
yeah, spit, poop, puke, blood...whatever...
But it’s not airborne and it’s not aerosol spread like the flu can be. Thus it tends to stay in pockets.
There are other reasons as well for the pockets. When a person reaches the end stage where they are spreading the virus, they are past the point where they can travel. This too tends to reduce the volatility of the spread.
It’s a nasty bug, but the danger to the US is minimal. not zero, but minimal, because of numerous reasons most of which Africa does not have. To include medical response capability, speed of diagnoses, quarantine protocols, general hygiene and a lack of social quirks which lead to the spreading of diseases of all kinds.
There is not a resistance to western medical care either. So the sick will not leave hospital care and return to their families for comfort.
There are dozens of reasons Ebola raises havoc in communities in Africa, why the death counts in spite of all this is still quite low, and why it would not likely gain any traction in the US.
” yet examples in Africa appear to show transmission on inanimate objects, such as the doctor’s assistant mentioned above who was adjusting the doctor’s protective gear.”
Ebola has several cousins in the normal spectrum of viruses like measles, and rabies. Viruses as a general rule cannot last long away from nutrients, but that depends on the conditions, like humidity and filth.
Again, Africa is like petri dish. far as I know, as soon as it dries up, it’s dead, but that can take a while in some conditions. Perhaps as long as 3 weeks. Ebola has a capsule so it’s resistant and can live a while in a medium like bat guano.
But you can’t kill all the fruit bats in Africa, so I think we are going to be seeing it pop up from time to time for a very long time to come. Unless it burns it’s self out. But that seems unlikely to me.
All that said, we really should not be all that concerned about it. I can assume at some point it will cross our border, likely on a aircraft. It has not happened yet that I am aware of, but it’s just a matter of time.
I think when that happens, it will not result in a brush fire, more likely just a match that failed to light.
Thanks for your responses.
The situation in Africa is a little different.
They, as usual, are not doing what they should be doing, and their culture is part of the problem as well.
For us it's a different story, and I think there is a lot we still need to learn about Ebola, that will help with other viruses.
So I don't see the entry into the US of those two American's with the disease to be a negative. In fact, it could be a opportunity.
It seems it was that event that spurred the conversation and some condemnation as well. All useful things I think.
What I fear, and it's not a big thing, is the potential for a error in creating a anti-viral for this specific disease that could backfire into a bad situation if they don't have the data and the time to run every conceivable result in a model.
The virus could overcome it's reluctance to recreate it's self by exchanging RNA with a badly thought out viral delivery system used to deliver a death blow to Ebola. The result being a super bug that actually does all the things that many here fear.
But the more data they get, especially about these unknown proteins, should keep errors to a minimum. I say this because I can only assume that this experimental treatment is a lab designed anti viral that delivers a specific load to the Ebola virus by using another virus to deliver it.
Just thinking out loud...
Don’t you mean President Obola?
uh....viruses MUTATE and Ebola has been found to airborne!!!
Of more concern is that viruses ATTENUATE. Read Pastuer.
When a case comes here, people will blame those who said “It can happen!”
We mock the African’s for their backwardness, yet we do the same things.
It is also about the financial markets.
Traders don’t care about outbreaks.
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