"Treat the feverish African immigrant, you don't need protective gear they said, it'll be fine they said.'
Posted on 05/19/2017 1:46:28 PM PDT by dynachrome
The number of suspected cases of Ebola has risen to 29 from nine in less than a week in an isolated part of Democratic Republic of Congo, where three people have died from the disease since April 22, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
The W.H.O. was criticized for responding too slowly to an outbreak in West Africa in 2014 that left more than 11,000 people dead, and Dr. Peter Salama, the executive director of the organization’s health emergencies program, said at a briefing that it was essential to “never, ever underestimate Ebola” and to “make sure we have a no-regrets approach to this outbreak.”
The risk from the outbreak is “high at the national level,” the W.H.O. said, because the disease was so severe and was spreading in a remote area in northeastern Congo with “suboptimal surveillance” and limited access to health care.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ebola polka
Democratic Republic?
Well, I guess that they have around the same governing “excellence” as our Democrats.
Bump
For those who don’t know:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an active war zone, making it dangerous for medical staff, especially foreign medical staff, to go into affected areas. Kidnapping and murder of foreigners is common.
Therefore, we can expect this outbreak to quickly become as bad as or worse than the 2014 outbreak, as doctors and nurses get exposed and die. 6.7 million infected with malaria. Half a million with HIV. Over 100,000 new cases of measles per year reported (more unreported). 4 million orphans. Population 82 million. Estimated number of doctors: less than 10,000. Although there exists a national health plan, no funding since 2010. So many of the less than 10,000 doctors have emigrated to where they can get paid.
Note to self: cancel planned 6-week walking/cultural tour of the wonderful Republic of Congo.
Ebola bump for later.....
Send your money instead, that’ll fix it!
/
"Treat the feverish African immigrant, you don't need protective gear they said, it'll be fine they said.'
The DRC has the advantage that Ebola is a known disease there, unlike the case when Ebola broke out in Guinea. The name of the virus, in fact, is the name of the river in the Congo where the first outbreak was discovered. Thus, when there are Ebola cases in the Congo, they are recognized almost immediately.
That fact alone makes an outbreak the size of the one in West Africa unlikely.
The outbreak in Guinea, which spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, went misidentified for months. It was thought to be Lassa fever, a disease with similar symptoms. By the time Ebola was correctly diagnosed, hundreds of people were already sick and hundreds more were exposed. So it took a massive effort to stop the outbreak.
I expect the outbreak in the Congo will run its course in a manner more like the typical outbreak.
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
Thanks for the info.
Thanks.
Their own doctors can treat them, one would think.
Oh wait. Average IQ of persons in Democratic Republic of Congo is 78. Not many native doctors. So, as you point out, those who live there leave for better pay.
I have nothing against black people or doctors. My own personal physician is from Nigeria. Brilliant and personable fellow educated in the USA.
That said, I don’t see a rush of native doctors from the DRC racing back to help their countrymen. During last ebola outbreak, natives decided doctors were to blame for the disease, because when they appeared, people died.
Repeat of bIlluminati post #6 :" The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an active war zone, making it dangerous for medical staff, especially foreign medical staff, to go into affected areas.
Kidnapping and murder of foreigners is common.
Therefore, we can expect this outbreak to quickly become as bad as or worse than the 2014 outbreak, as doctors and nurses get exposed and die.
6.7 million infected with malaria.
Half a million with HIV.
Over 100,000 new cases of measles per year reported (more unreported).
4 million orphans.
Population 82 million.
Estimated number of doctors: less than 10,000.
Although there exists a national health plan, no funding since 2010..(Emphasis mine)
So many of the less than 10,000 doctors have emigrated to where they can get paid."
Hat tip to bIlluminati, metmom, and null and void
Looks like measles will kill more than the ebola
One word - quarantine.
the traditional way to treat an unknown fatal infection is to put the patient alone in a hut and bring food and water to the door, not going in.
If no one comes out in ten days, you burn the hut.
However, some tribes insist on caring for the sick (Christian and Muslim influence) and that, alas, spreads the disease.
There simply isn’t enough gloves or protective equipment in hospitals.
In Liberia, the Catholic hospital in Monrovia had a lot of their staff die. Sigh. I knew the hospital when I worked in that city. Sad.
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