Posted on 10/17/2014 5:40:18 AM PDT by Zakeet
As a rule, one should not panic at whatever crisis has momentarily fixed the attention of cable news producers. But the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has migrated to both Europe and America, may be the exception that proves the rule. There are at least six reasons that a controlled, informed panic might be in order.
(1) Start with what we know, and dont know, about the virus. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other government agencies claim that contracting Ebola is relatively difficult because the virus is only transmittable by direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person who has become symptomatic. Which means that, in theory, you cant get Ebola by riding in the elevator with someone who is carrying the virus, because Ebola is not airborne.
This sounds reassuring. Except that it might not be true. There are four strains of the Ebola virus that have caused outbreaks in human populations. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the current outbreak (known as Guinean EBOV, because it originated in Meliandou, Guinea, in late November 2013) is a separate clade in a sister relationship with other known EBOV strains. Meaning that this Ebola is related to, but genetically distinct from, previous known strains, and thus may have distinct mechanisms of transmission.
Not everyone is convinced that this Ebola isnt airborne.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Unfortunately, there are five more reasons to panic ... each terrifying in their own right ... listed in this article.
/mark
Funny, I was listening to the epistles in the bible on my way to work yesterday and I was specifically told not to panic, though not in those exact words.
But the hitchhiker’s guide also says “Don’t Panic”.
Life is a mist.
1) The Government has its head planted firmly up its rectum.
2) The CDC is trying to take over and micromanage the entire problem
3) Decisions are being made on the basis of political correctness over common sense and scientific fact.
4) Goal is not to prevent an epidemic but to protect the political future of the Democrat Party
5) Media will glady salute and spread false info to the public once given their marching orders to do so.
6) see above
Everything the regime puts its hands on is worrisome to me, but I’m not at panic time yet with Ebola.
Lets throw this into the mix, maybe this has been intentional all along? Didn’t Rahm Emanuel say never let a crisis go to waste? Being as Obama’s Presidency is going down in flames what better way fundamentally change the nation via martial law...
Every three weeks, the spread doubles .... Just as it has here. Our brilliant government wonks think they can contain this ..... That’s the 7th reason to panic .....
WHO claims now this strain has a incubation time of up to 45 days so someone could be infected and just not show symptoms for much longer time periods..
Just keep it down to,”...a controlled, informed panic...”
I am trying to figure out what that would look like, maybe trotting slowly in perfect little circles, I really cannot imagine.
“If you like your Ebola, you can keep your Ebola”
We are all going to die, horribly. See, the thing about Ebola is that you bleed painfully from every orifice, including your eyes and ears and even your skin pores. Your eyes gush blood, like you were a fire hydrant. In fact, you resemble a fire hydrant SO closely, that during the summer you will see young urban children were playing in the blood fountain. Your skin becomes easy to tear, so easy in fact that the slightest breeze will open huge disgusting tears in your body that make the sound of ripping cloth as they open. Your tongue sloughs off in a black bloody dead mess, and you scream and scream and scream and then your vocal cords pop out when you vomit them out, and even then the vocal cords lie on the floor and continue to scream.
And there will be consequences for those that brought about the fall. This is not the middle ages when civilization knew not from where the plague came. We know exactly who it is not defending the us from this terrible disease.
With this sort of thing I’m reminded of “Deep Impact”. You know imending doom is coming and you can’t do a thing about it.
What do you tell the people?
My understand pain medications are ineffective if you have Ebola..
I think he’s figured out the refusal to halt commercial flights from Africa: that would be the beginning of the end of our longstanding open borders policy.
I understand the points. But when someone goes hyping an R2 virus and fanning the flames of emotional panic, my hackles go up.
Values of R0 of well-known infectious diseases
Disease Transmission R0
Measles Airborne 1218
Pertussis Airborne droplet 1217
Diphtheria Saliva 67
Smallpox Airborne droplet 57
Polio Fecal-oral route 57
Rubella Airborne droplet 57
Mumps Airborne droplet 47
HIV/AIDS Sexual contact 25
SARS Airborne droplet 25
Influenza
(1918 pandemic strain) Airborne droplet 2
Ebola
(2014 Ebola outbreak) Bodily fluids 1-2
The Enterovirus is spreading through the population, brought here by our government, too. Is there a new case in your locale this week? There was in mine...four. Tell me with a reputed R-factor of 5-7 that there won’t be many, many more in the coming weeks while we’re focused on this keystone-cops routine by our medical community and government officials, with the spigot turned FULL-ON both from Africa and from Mexico.
I have all the confidence in the world in my fellow citizenry having an emotional reaction to all of this.
Theater, at its worst...and this article helps not with its title, save for the article content’s righteous critique of the response to this...
I don’t read any articles reporting that Congress’ phones are ringing off the hooks...yet. /s
-cynicus-
And number seven: Look who’s in charge!
Well the facts are still out on Ebola becoming airborne, the CDC has become a political propaganda machine and the facts coming from it is suspect. WHO seems to have a better handle on facts surrounding Ebola and they suggest it is nearing airborne status as it mutates.
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.