Topic: Now the Ebola has made it to North America...

[IronDioPriest]

Dallas Sheriff's Deputy: Negative for Ebola

[trapeze]

Surfaces? 

This guy is reported to have had zero physical contact with the carrier...and if he indeed contracts it...

It means only one thing - airborne!!!

They keep dancing around this because they do not want to set off a panic...or because they do but at a more opportune time...like when dozens or hundreds start dropping like flies...

Surfaces are absolutely a hazard. The victims are literally pumping out hot viral material from every part of their body during the latter stages of the disease. If they get perspiration on a door knob, if their vomit is not thoroughly removed, etc. and these surfaces are 1) touched by someone who then 2) touches their own eyes, nose or mouth...that's all it takes.

Now, that said, the viral material cannot stay viable on a surface forever. I am guessing that it will cease to be dangerous after several hours. So, one of the people entering the apartment (not to mention those who were prevented from leaving) could have contracted the disease under the right circumstances without direct contact with the victim.

Fortunately the sheriff's deputy tested negative.

And...I am also guessing that the virus is probably not viable in a sewer system (too much water and not enough appropriate cellular material). But that's just a guess.

I think that a more serious danger for the USA will be from our southern border. If the disease gets started up in any of the third world cesspools that lie to our south we can expect a flood of refugees (both infected and otherwise) to start heading north. That would be bad.

Another thought: Perhaps this situation will result in otherwise stupid and ignorant people learning that the world is an exceedingly dangerous place. Modern society in an industrialized country is, if nothing else, insulated from the reality of nature. That reality? Damned near everything wants to or can kill you. Maybe some people will begin to figure out this rather uncomplicated truth.

[trapeze]

Oh, and by the way...did anyone hear about the UK guy who croaked in Macedonia? No test results yet but I would probably bet on it being ebola or Marburg. The guy showed up at a hospital vomiting and bleeding inside and out from everywhere. Then he died. Quickly.

And he was traveling with a friend who is now symptomatic.

They quarantined the entire hotel where he was staying. Plus the EMS people who were involved with him.

I'm guessing that we will hear more about this one.

Dr. Jovanka Kostovska of the ministry's commission for infectious diseases said the man had been suffering from fever, vomiting and internal bleeding, and that his condition deteriorated rapidly.

'These are all symptoms of Ebola, which raises suspicions with this patient,' Kostovska told a news conference, adding that samples had been sent to Germany for tests to confirm the cause of death.

Staff of the hotel where the two Britons stayed have also been quarantined, as have the ambulance team and medical staff that treated the deceased.

UPDATE: Now they are saying that he probably died from binge drinking. They are saying that the symptoms are similar. Hmm...well, I get the vomiting from a serious round of drinking but I've never heard of fever, diarrhea and massive internal bleeding (and reportedly three days of these symptoms) being symptoms of drinking.

[Libertas]

Well, I'm glad the Deputy is negative, and hopefully this thing dies out...but there are a lot of people potentially exposed to this that may not be out of the woods yet, nor anybody they've been in contact with.

But...

We still have idiots like this running the CDC that think the more the merrier!

We still have the math issue regarding virus reproduction.

We have idiots from Obola on down who know or are clueless like this moonbat about what aleady is pouring across our borders unimpeded.

But somehow we have suited-up goons ready to take guys down on airplanes after they sneeze and announce "I have Ebola...you're all screwed" ...

Yeah...

I'm sure we'll all be just fine!

PS-Should have realized...

http://weaselzippers.us/202075-family-of-ebola-patient-thomas-duncan-gearing-up-for-lawsuit/

...whereever one of the Justice Bro's goes, there's a shakedown about to unfold!

Hey, Duncan family idiots?  Maybe he would have had better care back in Africa from a Witch Docter!   

 

[trapeze]

And on related good news we are getting ever closer to the point in time where anyone in contact with Duncan should have gotten sick by now.

That's good news.

[Glock32]

UPDATE: Now they are saying that he probably died from binge drinking. They are saying that the symptoms are similar. Hmm...well, I get the vomiting from a serious round of drinking but I've never heard of fever, diarrhea and massive internal bleeding (and reportedly three days of these symptoms) being symptoms of drinking.

My guess would be that he had acute liver failure from alcohol poisoning, and the other symptoms were due to the liver no longer doing its job.

[Libertas]

More on that pesky math stuff...

Ebola cases in West Africa double about every 3-4 weeks...maybe that math only works in West Africa...

We can rest easy...

[IronDioPriest]

Dallas Health Care Worker Tests Positive For Ebola
Was wearing protective gown, gloves, mask and shield

[Pandora]

If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

Yeeaahhhh, the "firsts" just keep on keeping on, don't they.

[Libertas]

If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

Yeeaahhhh, the "firsts" just keep on keeping on, don't they.

First POTUS to contract Ebola...why can't we get that one?

[Glock32]

If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

Yeeaahhhh, the "firsts" just keep on keeping on, don't they.

Same thing with the nurse in Spain.  She was wearing all the standard protective gear and still contracted it.

[Pandora]

The nurse in Spain "admitted" she touched her face.  Go figure.
 
So, what I'm reading now is there is a proper way to take off the protective gear in order to not infect yourself or anyone/anything else with what's on it.  I'm no rocket scientist, but they haven't thought of decontamination chambers where the hazmat suit is sprayed down before undressing?

[Libertas]

Spain is near collapse....budgets cuts or never saw a need is what I am guessing.

[Predator Don]

Is it time to order the gas masks?

[Pandora]

Is it time to order the gas masks?

I've been wondering about this myself.  We have a bunch of N95 masks, but from what is being discussed, needed is a full-face mask with its own respirator as the '95 doesn't seal to the face well enough.

The full-face w/respirator is not cheap - $100+ bucks apiece

[trapeze]

Some detail on the Texas nurse's situation:

As news erupted Sunday morning that a female nurse in Texas had been infected with Ebola, perhaps the most frightening part of the story was the revelation that she came in contact with the first U.S. Ebola patient during his second hospital visit — meaning she didn’t catch the virus unawares, before health workers knew the man had Ebola.

Rather, she was fully dressed in a protective suit — gown, gloves, mask and shield — when she interacted with the man who since died of his Ebola infection.

Yeah, I know...it's a duplicate of what IDP posted this morning but it ties in with the following...

Here is a thought provoking article about health care workers in the Ebola era...

When Ebola Protection Fails

Omeonga, along with two other health care workers infected in Liberia, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, has received widespread media attention for receiving an experimental cocktail of antibodies called ZMapp. All three survived; none of them knows if the treatment helped. But all three wonder about another question that has important implications for other health care workers: How did they become infected?

Surprisingly, no one has a firm answer. “Every day I'm still thinking, When was I contaminated?” Omeonga says, although he suspects the hospital director was the source. Writebol, a clinical nurse associate who worked for a missionary group called SIM at the ELWA 2 Ebola Treatment Center in Monrovia and helped health care workers don and doff PPEs, is similarly stumped. “Nobody is really sure, least of all me,” she says. Brantly, a doctor in the same center, also has only hunches but says, “I am fully convinced that I did not contract Ebola in my work in the treatment unit.”

Also, if you are interested in reading an academic paper on the viability of filoviruses on solid surfaces here is a detailed article on the topic.

The bottom line is that the "experts" just really don't know for sure how this thing can be transmitted. So, stay paranoid.

How Thomas Eric Duncan spent his final days and hours (it's pretty awful)...

By Oct. 1, sepsis had set in.

Duncan tried to remain upbeat.

"Pt requested to watch an action movie," the doctor noted. "States he is feeling better."

Duncan told his nurse he wanted to try solid food, then refused his lunch tray.

The next morning, Duncan told his attendants that his abdominal pain had lessened. He said he was "trying to keep up good spirits and 'stay strong.'"

But there was now blood in his urine. Worried about his lung function, doctors added advanced antibiotics to Duncan's medication.

That afternoon, he ate his crackers and drank less than 2 ounces of Sprite.

By Oct. 3, the situation had turned dire.

Another probable false alarm...should know tomorrow...

The Boston Public Health Commission has confirmed that the patient who walked into a Braintree medical clinic and was later transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center “does not meet criteria to be considered someone at high risk for Ebola.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

According to Harvard Vanguard, the patient had recently traveled to Liberia and came to the facility complaining of headache and muscle aches.

Doesn't say he had fever, though, so maybe they are right.

But wait, there's more: LAX has West African passenger exhibiting symptoms, too.

The Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at 1:28 p.m. to Los Angeles International Airport responding to reports that an ill patient on an in-bound flight was vomiting and exhibiting flu-like symptoms, prompting fears of an Ebola exposure, CBS Los Angeles reported.

There were 142 passengers and six crew members on the plane. Captain Jamie Moore from the LAFD said at an afternoon news conference that the department followed protocol mandated by the Centers for Disease Control, after being notified that the ill woman had contact with West Africa.

Not a great time to be traveling by plane. Not if you are in a hurry.

Army troops at Ft. Campbell, KY prepare to head to Africa...

(Reuters) - At Fort Campbell in Kentucky, spouses of U.S. soldiers headed to Liberia seem to be lingering just a bit longer than usual after pre-deployment briefings, hungry for information about Ebola.

For these families, the virus is raising a different kind of anxiety than the one they have weathered during 13 years of ground war in Afghanistan and Iraq. They want to know how the military can keep soldiers safe from the epidemic, a new addition to the Army's long list of threats.

"Ebola is a different problem set that the division hasn't (faced) before," said Major General Gary Volesky, who will soon head to Liberia along with soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division.

My son is currently stationed at Ft. Campbell but he is thankfully not with the 101st Airborne. I'm still concerned, though.

[Libertas]

I think Drudge has it about right this morning...

CDC = Center for Disease Confusion.

 

[IronDioPriest]

I personally think our military commanders should refuse the order to deploy to these zones. For Christ's sake, make a stand for your men and your country against this malevolent CiC!!!

Their oath to defend the constitution does not include wallowing in bio-toxic sludge for no militaristic purpose. If they were being deployed to airports to oversee a ban on flights out of the country or some such thing, fine. But providing medical/humanitarian assistance at ground-zero for a plague endangers them for no reason, and endangers their own families, and our entire country. The possibility of a plague running rampant through our military jeopardizes our nation's ability to defend itself.

[Libertas]

They would rather get everyone killed than to fight stupid orders let alone defy PC/diversity/multi-culti doctrine...

The Purges have not been random, most of what is left behind from general staff to senior field commanders and down is strutting yes-men.

Welcome to the Latter Days of America...

If I were in now, I'd be getting out by any means necessary...even if it meant a less than honroable discharge...after all, who cares what they say?  Just GTFO!  This is not our father's military any more...

[Predator Don]

Why is the military involved at all? Are there not dozens of "humanitarian" type groups to do the "humanitarian" type things?  Somebody better grow a spine before a disease turns their bones to jelly.

My group is watching this very carefully. It may be time for some more ammo and foodstuffs....and a full face mask.