Ebola

[bcarrier]

A film that stayed with me http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contagion_(film)

[Nihilist]

Talking to a scientist last night who made to the following points on Ebola. Note: Some he got from a documentary.

1: No one gave a s**t about it in US until 9/11. Before that it was just another virus killing a couple 100 people every year or two somewhere in Africa. Not high on the priority list. After 9/11 money was allocated to study it as it was put in a list of potential terrorist threats which of course makes sense.

2:The biggest problem (potential threat) with Ebola is control of the virus. Because of it's mortality rate and the way viruses work it is dangerous. e.g.
At moment it is limited to approx 10,000 people (we assume). This is still a relatively low volume in terms of population % although as we know it is increasing which is a worry. If that was extended to 100,000 people then the risk to the general human population jumps way up.

This is primarily because of the chance of the virus mutating into something far more dangerous and into something that is far more resistant to any current medicines that are out there.

And that is one of the worries.

[muppet]

3,400 people have died world-wide from this 'pandemic'.

Last year 34,080 people died in road accidents in the USA. This was an increase on previous years and was 'widely expected as more people are taking to the roadways as the economy improves'. So that is obviously a good thing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/03/us-highway-road-deaths-increase/2132457/

[seafoid]

3,400 people have died world-wide from this 'pandemic'.

Last year 34,080 people died in road accidents in the USA. This was an increase on previous years and was 'widely expected as more people are taking to the roadways as the economy improves'. So that is obviously a good thing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/03/us-highway-road-deaths-increase/2132457/

Each year in the 26 counties at least 5,200 people die from diseases caused by tobacco use. This represents approximately
19% of all deaths. That's 100 people a week. .

http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TobaccoFreeIreland.pdf

What is rarely discussed is that smokers on average live 10 years less.

Our brains aren't good at relating numbers and risks. 

[johnneycool]

Dallas hospital nurse now has ebola after following all the procedures, although and unknown breach in protocol is alleged to have been made, whatever that means!

Is this more contagious than they're letting on?

[seafoid]

Dallas hospital nurse now has ebola after following all the procedures, although and unknown breach in protocol is alleged to have been made, whatever that means!

Is this more contagious than they're letting on?

They wear a protective suit but they have to take it off. Say she wiped her face without thinking. Followed all the other protocols but that lapse. The virus is not airborne but as soon as it gets access to the face it can enter the body via the nose or mouth.

People are talking about a marshall plan for west africa. The danger of letting regions deteriorate to the point where they breed disease like this Ebola is far too high for our globalised world.
Iraq could also become a disease hotspot.

[johnneycool]

Dallas hospital nurse now has ebola after following all the procedures, although and unknown breach in protocol is alleged to have been made, whatever that means!

Is this more contagious than they're letting on?

They wear a protective suit but they have to take it off. Say she wiped her face without thinking. Followed all the other protocols but that lapse. The virus is not airborne but as soon as it gets access to the face it can enter the body via the nose or mouth.

People are talking about a marshall plan for west africa. The danger of letting regions deteriorate to the point where they breed disease like this Ebola is far too high for our globalised world.
Iraq could also become a disease hotspot.

Second nurse has developed ebola in Dallas and was on an internal flight the day before with 138 other passengers on board!

Some nurses body was on TV last night saying the staff in the hospital we're properly attired to deal with the Liberian lad, not is all as it seems!

[The Iceman]

mid-term elections are coming up here. Gas is under $3 a gallon again - shock horror and we have a threat to the nation of America.
We're all being played... AGAIN

[LeoMc]

Would the lower mortality rate not make this outbreak more deadly?

[Puckoon]

Woman who handled an ebola sample (maybe contaminated waste or something?) now in self quarantine.... On a cruise ship.

Now there is the makings of a movie. We are not equipped to deal with this. Talked to a Doctor last night from the city and between our 3 hospitals in Reno - we have 5 rooms capable of housing Ebola patients. 6.

[johnneycool]

Woman who handled an ebola sample (maybe contaminated waste or something?) now in self quarantine.... On a cruise ship.

Now there is the makings of a movie. We are not equipped to deal with this. Talked to a Doctor last night from the city and between our 3 hospitals in Reno - we have 5 rooms capable of housing Ebola patients. 6.

Cuba showing the elite the way on Ebola;

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/opinion/cubas-impressive-role-on-ebola.html?action=click&contentCollection=International%20Business&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article

[Hardy]

The Borowitz Report

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report)—A new study, by the University of Minnesota, indicates that fear of contracting the Ebola virus is highest among Americans who did not pay attention during math and science classes.

According to the study, those whose minds were elsewhere while being taught certain concepts, like what a virus is and numbers, are at a significantly greater risk of being afraid of catching Ebola than people who were paying even scant attention.

Interviews conducted with people who spent math and science classes focussing on what they would be having for dinner or what the student in front of them was wearing revealed the difficulty they are currently having grasping basic facts about Ebola.

For example, when a participant of the study was told that he had a one-in-thirteen-million chance of contracting the virus, his response was, "Whoa. Thirteen million is a really big number. That is totally scary."

Davis Logsdon, who conducted the study for the University of Minnesota, puts the number of Americans who did not pay attention during math and science classes at seventy-two per cent, but adds, "I seriously doubt most people will know what that means."

[Hardy]

A very interesting take on Ebola - and, more to the point, the flu

[ONeill]

Reminds me. Must get the oul jab.

[billabong]

My Chartered Institute have emailed me wondering if I would like to volunteer and go out to West Africa in order to help and try to combat the spread of the disease!