Can we talk about Ebola?

[mrsrumfkin]

It sucks. Those poor people who are having to deal with it, losing and not being able to engage with their loved ones, and it's spreading so fast. I get that it's far, far away, but it's still scary, yo. And who the heck hasn't read Hot Zone by now? 

[dana86]

I'm scared. It was one flight away from entering out country.

[MrsPotatohead]

yes, super sad

[madDawg228]

From what I've read, while it has a high mortality rate, it isn't very easy to contract. At least not as easy as something like the made-up disease in the movie Contagion. With Ebola, you aren't contagious until you show symptoms and the disease tends to kill people too quickly before they can spread the disease too much further.

But yes, very scary. Whenever I hear a news story about Ebola, I think about the garbage bags of liquid monkeys I read about in the Hot Zone.

[Deleted]

I don't find it scary so much as incredibly sad and worrisome and my heart hurts for West Africa.

[Deleted]

Jul 29, 2014 16:21:49 GMT -5 madDawg228 said:

From what I've read, while it has a high mortality rate, it isn't very easy to contract. At least not as easy as something like the made-up disease in the movie Contagion. With Ebola, you aren't contagious until you show symptoms and the disease tends to kill people too quickly before they can spread the disease too much further.

But yes, very scary. Whenever I hear a news story about Ebola, I think about the garbage bags of liquid monkeys I read about in the Hot Zone.

The thing I read said that it is kind of easy to contact. It's passed through bodily fluids.

m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/28/this-is-the-worst-ebola-outbreak-in-history-heres-why-you-should-be-worried/

Maybe MrsPotatohead can weigh in on the validly of this article? I just liked it because it broke it down in layman's terms.

[mrslefty]

No we cannot talk about ebola! *sticks head in sand*

[kwpnjumper55]

The virus in Contagion was modeled after the Nipah virus. Unfortunately, although it was dramatized, it is very possible that a pandemic of such wide spread death could occur.

I am afraid of Ebola, not for myself but for my boys. H and I have discussed about how if there was a large spread viral/bacterial illness, that as a healthcare worker, I would be on the front lines.

[MrsPotatohead]

Jul 30, 2014 2:28:55 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

Jul 29, 2014 16:21:49 GMT -5 madDawg228 said:

From what I've read, while it has a high mortality rate, it isn't very easy to contract. At least not as easy as something like the made-up disease in the movie Contagion. With Ebola, you aren't contagious until you show symptoms and the disease tends to kill people too quickly before they can spread the disease too much further.

But yes, very scary. Whenever I hear a news story about Ebola, I think about the garbage bags of liquid monkeys I read about in the Hot Zone.

The thing I read said that it is kind of easy to contact. It's passed through bodily fluids.

m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/28/this-is-the-worst-ebola-outbreak-in-history-heres-why-you-should-be-worried/

Maybe MrsPotatohead can weigh in on the validly of this article? I just liked it because it broke it down in layman's terms.

From what I know it is spread fairly easily, but not through aerosol (sneezing/caughing), so depending on how you interpret it, it's not as easy to spread.  It also only spreads when there are symptoms unlike the flu, or HIV for that matter.  But you do have to come in contact with bodily fluids.

The thing is, humans are not the natural host for Ebola, we're incidental so the virus hasn't really evolved to 'perfectly' take advantage of us as hosts - basically it tends to kill us too quickly to effectively spread.  If you think about the cold or flu, there's a longer infectious period where you either are feeling ok and/or aren't dying in bed, so you can spread it around.  Ebola, sadly, burns out basically so overall that's why they haven't been as concerned about a pandemic.  Also, I know it says 90% on their site, but I (and H) had always thought it was 50% and based on the number if cases vs. deaths it currently sounds more like 50% to me...

[madDawg228]

Jul 30, 2014 9:16:33 GMT -5 MrsPotatohead said:

Jul 30, 2014 2:28:55 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

The thing I read said that it is kind of easy to contact. It's passed through bodily fluids.

m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/07/28/this-is-the-worst-ebola-outbreak-in-history-heres-why-you-should-be-worried/

Maybe MrsPotatohead can weigh in on the validly of this article? I just liked it because it broke it down in layman's terms.

From what I know it is spread fairly easily, but not through aerosol (sneezing/caughing), so depending on how you interpret it, it's not as easy to spread.  It also only spreads when there are symptoms unlike the flu, or HIV for that matter.  But you do have to come in contact with bodily fluids.

The thing is, humans are not the natural host for Ebola, we're incidental so the virus hasn't really evolved to 'perfectly' take advantage of us as hosts - basically it tends to kill us too quickly to effectively spread.  If you think about the cold or flu, there's a longer infectious period where you either are feeling ok and/or aren't dying in bed, so you can spread it around.  Ebola, sadly, burns out basically so overall that's why they haven't been as concerned about a pandemic.  Also, I know it says 90% on their site, but I (and H) had always thought it was 50% and based on the number if cases vs. deaths it currently sounds more like 50% to me...

Yeah, that is what I was thinking about when I said "not very easy."

One of my closest friends works at the CDC, and I've told her that she needs to notify me ASAP when the US has an outbreak of either Ebola (we were both nerdy kids who read the Hot Zone young, and we went through a stage where we were obsessed with it), or Zombies

[mrslefty]

madDawg228 you'll need to alert us all when the zombie apocalypse begins. I need plenty of warning to initiate my zombie emergency action plan. Step one get really excited because this is what I've been training for! Step two realize the AZ isn't going to be quite as fun as previously thought.