Ebola

Been thinking about making a topic on this subject for awhile but kept putting it off for one reason or another, however, now that President Obama says that the United States will send a couple thousand (around 3,000 is the total now) of our Military troops to West Africa to help assist with this disease, I'd like to know what everyone thinks of this?

Should the US send military troops over there, or not, and why? Will other countries step up and help also or will the US find itself going this one alone as well? And, is there any danger that any of these military people going over there could become sick themselves??

I know something needs to be done to help those sick, but what? I have to admit that I was a bit cautious when they said they were bringing some of those other US workers that had been affected with ebola back home to the US. However, with experimental drugs and specialized treatment, those folks seem to have recovered and are doing fairly well. It sounds like we (and West Africa) could use more of that experimental drug but last I heard they had used up all their supplies and it takes a long time to make more.

Any comments or opinions?

http://news.msn.com/us/us-to-assign-300 ... ight-ebola

Also, I thought about putting this topic in the "Political Ponderings" thread but decided to put it here instead atleast for now.

It's a tough call. I'm not so sure about why military troops...seems more health people would be better, but whatever. As far as it spreading, well, it spreads via contact with bodily fluids. The concern, as I listen to a radio show about it, is the potential of it to mutate so it can spread through the air like influenza. A reason it spreads so virulently there is cultural burial practices that include touching and kissing the dead body, thus spreading the virus. We don't have that here in the US, and much of the rest of the world.

These drugs show promise, and we need more of them to get this outbreak under control in Africa. I'm not afraid of it spreading beyond Africa, at least not on a large scale.

The US, however, is hardly acting alone. The World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders are calling for global aid and response. Doctors and health workers from Cuba are there. China, Canada, and the EU countries have contributed aid, financial and in personnel. So I'd hardly say the US is in anyway acting alone.

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/

The CDC has upgraded this current event from outbreak (local spread) to epidemic (spreading regionally, from city to city, place to place, quickly).

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/ ... =nocontent

I also read several articles that researchers are warning that this present epidemic may become endemic to West Africa. Previously, Ebola usually burns itself out, but this (now epidemic) may never do that.

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencen ... story.html

Ebola may be here to stay.

First Ebola case in the US has been found in Dallas.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/healt ... .html?_r=0

Apparently, the victim was recently traveling in Liberia recently took a passenger to Texas, and is now under strict isolation. Public health officials are already tracing back anyone who the victim may have been in contact with while symptomatic, which is when the disease can spread via direct contact with bodily fluids. The hospital, like many others around the country, has already prepared for the possibility of Ebola cases traveling here, and seems well equipped to handle the case.

I've been hearing about this on the news all day today. Hard to believe that the hospital sent this guy back home when he first went there in pain for treatment. I guess they just didn't know or realize that he had been in Liberia. I hope he and everyone he came in contact with over here, especially the children, will be okay.

So very sorry to hear on the TV news this morning that the ebola patient in Dallas had passed away. Condolences to his family. It makes you wonder if they had been able to treat him sooner if it would have made any difference, or not. I also read something about they had tried a different experimental drug with him. If that is so, it looks like it did not do very well for some reason, imho. I heard they are still monitoring his other family and people he came into contact with to see if they come down with something or not. Sad that this had to happen to this man who from what I have read tried to help someone else that had this disease. May he r.i.p.

Also another sad note, I read that they had to put to sleep the pet dog of the nurse that died with this disease overseas in case the pet may also have the disease. That is really sad and breaks my heart.

Yup, saw that all over the news when I checked during lunch. Sad, but...not surprising, given Ebola's virulence. I bet had he been treated sooner he would have had a better chance. The experimental may have been more effective if administered earlier. It has been interesting to see the story unfold of this man and how he originally contracted the disease out of what could only have been an act of kindness. May the man rest in peace.

Whoa, this ebola thing seems to be getting a bit out of hand here in the US. Now we have atleast 2 nurses from Texas who have shown signs of having it. This last nurse I read about traveled on an airplane trip to another State in the US knowing she was running a slight fever....say what??? Should not that have been a sign to her that she was possibly contagious and she may put others at risk? Now, we wonder what is to happen to all those people she flew with on the plane and any others she may have come in contact with, and anyone they may have come in contact with. It never seems to end.

I know it is not nearly as bad here as it is in other countries overseas where thousands have already died and many more probably will, and my heart does go out to them all, but I think we have a major problem here in the USA also right now!

I was really sorry to hear about these two healthcare workers who contracted Ebola. In all honesty it really irritated me that the CDC director immediately indicated that the first incident was the result of a breach of protocol, and wouldn't have happened had the worker taken the recommended precautions; it seems too much like blaming the victim in this case, and this woman was brave enough to risk her life and health in order to treat this disease. From what I've read the nursing unions are very angry with the CDC and with hospitals for not providing the necessary training and precautions for treatment of this virus.

Definitely a concerning situation, though. I remember reading The Hot Zone years back, about a near outbreak of an Ebola-related disease in the U.S. due to improper handling of contaminated primates. Scary book, and that was back in 1994. One of the points stressed there is that, as horrifying as it is in terms of human consequences, the major thing preventing a catastrophic outbreak in Africa at the time was the severe mortality rate; the virus is so lethal and efficient, and tended to be found in such remote locations, that it burned itself out by killing its human hosts. In the event of an outbreak in a more populated region, such as is happening in Africa now and in Europe and the U.S., the epidemiology may be very different. I do believe Ebola can be contained, and that we have a pretty sound understanding of how, but the transmission of the disease in the U.S. so far shows just how far human error can increase even a scientifically minimal risk.

Rachel Maddow had a really good segment on her show last night about it. Containing it isn't that hard...but all it takes is one mistake. She likened it to pilot's checklists. Before taking off pilots and their co-pilots go through a checklist of everything that must be done before a plane takes off in order to lessen the risk of a crash immediately after takeoff. They do this because even highly trained, expert pilots are prone to human error. In a case like taking an airplane into flight, and handling ebola, one mistake, even a tiny little breach of protocol, is all it takes. And it seems that unfortunately, protocols are being breached and thus the virus spreads. Whether its human error or lack of training, or probably a bit of both, one little mistake is all it really takes. This is something where people just need to be careful. What the nurse did was both personally irresponsible, but also indicates a weakness in terms of public health infrastructure and monitoring health workers working with ebola patients. This is easy to contain...if we just do it right.

You can watch the segment on Maddow's show here.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show ... 2615107998

As scary as ebola is, I still think it's being a tad too hyped up. The chances, in the US, of dying of ebola are incredibly remote. And we're approaching flu season in the US. Influenza is far more likely to kill an American than ebola is, and it's much more contagious as it can spread via the air (which ebola cannot do).