<p>What could he be splashed with? If he doesn’t know what it is it must be a very small amount. And yet he got infected. Just helping someone sick get you infected. I don’t know how that is hard to spread.</p>
<p>I would go there myself if needed to. My chances of getting MRSA, TB, HIV or any other nasty infection are higher than picking up Ebola. </p>
<p>Well, first of all, he was barely an NBC cameraman. He had been hired on Wednesday and started experiencing symptoms on Thursday. He has been living in Liberia for the past three years and working as a freelance cameraman. He had been covering the epidemic for U.S. media outlets. Again, they do not have the sanitation abilities in Liberia, and therefore, it is much easier for disease to spread due to lack of sanitation and abysmal health care, much less, lack of capable clinics. Anyone who is in Liberia is going to be at a higher risk of contracting this disease than if they were in the U.S. because we have things like hazmat agencies that can go in and clean up areas suspected of infection; that is basically non-existent there. By virtue of the job, a cameraman has to be up close and in person to capture photographs and video, unlike a reporter, who might be able to cover the story by interviewing officials and talking to people on the phone. </p>
<p>Igloo, do you always trust the people when they say, oh it was a splash of something? I’m skeptical. </p>
<p>In the case of the man helping that pregnant woman, he carried her into the house while she was sweating, bleeding, etc. - in that case, wiping the mouth with a hand that touched bodily fluid, touching the eyes, etc. would be enough of a contact. </p>
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This is precisely what I said:
I was assuming more of a insect –>bat approach, rather than a hoard of bats descending on the sidewalk. But make fun of people’s posts if you wish. At least it adds levity to the situation.</p>
<p>Sanitation doesn’t makes it less cintageous just reduces the likelihood of coming into contact. Some virus are forgiving and you are ok after in a direct contact. With Ebola, it looks hard to escape once you come in a direct contact. BTW the head of NIH said just last week they had a drill in preparation and the Texas hospital has had an isolation unit ready. I feel a little better.</p>
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<p>Where does this all or none logic come from? Nothing is all or none, but to not limit just seems to not make much sense.</p>
<p>Laws exist not to completely stop crime, but to limit it by raising the costs of engaging in crime, thereby limiting it - same logic applies here.</p>
<p>Banning direct or connecting flights from those countries would do the same thing: 1) It would make it harder and more expensive to spread the disease here because need to fly elsewhere first, 2) it adds monetary cost to the trip. This alone would limit the people from those countries who carry the virus. And 3) if people have to wait a few days for another flight that may be just the amount of time needed for them to become symptomatic, thus giving isa chance to stop. </p>
<p>This is also similar to having bees outside your house. Yes, a few will get in regardless, but do you then purposely just leave all your windows open because a few might sneak in? Of course not. </p>
<p>The key to limiting transmission is make it harder and more expensive to get here. This entire concept that banning flights would not work at all defies logic in how we limit many other things. The point is not 100% stoppage, but to cut the number down considerably, by over 1/2 or 3/4ths. That right there lowers our risk.</p>
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<p>And that is the purpose of such a ban. How many people can afford to do this? Very, very few. Therefore, it limits how many get here and expose in the US, so flies in the face of logic a ban would not do anything. </p>
<p>The quarantined family has been moved to a private house.</p>
<p><a href=“http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/hazmat-cleanup-crew-welcomes-chance-to-clean-up-ebola-with-open-arms.html/”>http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/hazmat-cleanup-crew-welcomes-chance-to-clean-up-ebola-with-open-arms.html/</a></p>
<p>I am sure flight ban will stop some but they can get around that easily. They can first fly to Belgium and book a flight to the US for example. 21 day quarantine is the only way. They are already keeping health workers returning home from the affected area for 21 days. Probably a logistic nightmare but they may not have a choice. It’s a life and death matter for infected people. If they can leave their country, they will live. How do you stop that kind of incentives? Just look at our southern border. Hope for a better life, they risk a lot to cross borders.</p>
<p>Sorry, sylvan. Did not mean to make fun of you. Since insects like flies that bats could potentially eat are not Ebola carriers, I did not even consider that as a possibility. Imagine if Ebola was carried by flies - the current epidemic would be much, much worse! Transmission between bats via contact of contaminated matter with mucous membranes (fruit bats eating fruit that other bats pooped on) is a possibility, but we do not have fruit bats here. I know that primates get Ebola and also some pigs (possibly), but not sure if there are any other species. </p>
<p>If this virus was as easy to contract as all the Chicken Littles would have us believe, the greater portion of west Africa should be wiped out by now, especially considering their medical infrastructure, education of citizens, etc.</p>
<p>Except, umm, it’s not. Not even close. Not even slightly, even remotely, the case.</p>
<p>I’m starting to think some people enjoy the drama, the exhilaration of running around proclaiming gloom and “but what if…” </p>
<p>I live in Dallas, very close to ground zero, so I am paying attention, and I’m not cavalier about this. But come on, let’s stick to facts and try to be rational. </p>
<p>I’ve seen on the internet people saying they are going to stay away from the State Fair because they are worried about Ebola. A friend called DH today and told him if he was a responsible husband, he would forbid me from going to work (an endoscopy center where we do many colonoscopies i.e. we are around body fluids) and move to our lake house two hours away and out in the middle of nowhere for at least the next month. </p>
<p>No, we are going about our business. We went to the State Fair today and the most dangerous thing we did was eat a corny dog and a bite of fried butter. Yes, the award winning fried butter! LOL. Oh, and I went on the Sky thingy which travels in the air over the Fair on cables-I have a big fear of heights, but DH wanted to go and I didn’t want to be a drag, so I went and my palms sweated and we survived. :)</p>
<p>“Sanitation doesn’t makes it less cintageous just reduces the likelihood of coming into contact”</p>
<p>No, spraying bleach on Ebola does make it completely non-contagious. </p>
<p>The info I have read also said that THOROUGHLY cooking any infected fruit bat kills the virus and does NOT transmit Ebola. As was posted above, it is eating raw or undercooked infected fruit bats that can spread the transmission. Perhaps the photographer may have eaten some infected undercooked or raw fruit bat (perhaps even without knowing). It is not always easy to understand what you are eating in another country, particularly if you are not fluent in the language.</p>
<p>It is good to see that someone is finally taking responsibility for the quarantined individuals.</p>
<p>Ok, so you are suggesting limiting flights. Do you know what impact this will have on already struggling airlines? The US economy? The world economies? We are not talking about a full blown epidemic here in the US to warrant such destructive, drastic measures. Remember the swine flu and SARS? There was no travel ban, and yet we survived. Cost - benefit. </p>
<p>Nrdsb4 - was watching CNN tonight for a bit, and they interviewed a couple of parents who were choosing to keep their kids home from school. I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must be to actually be living near ground zero, and hearing all this nonsense, ESPECIALLY given your connection to the medical community!</p>
<p>They were moved to the private gated home of a good samaritan which was arranged by pulling strings on a personal basis. They couldn’t find any place that would take them. This kind of works on a very small scale but is not a workable plan on a large scale.</p>
<p>The County Executive and Mayor of Dallas personally called their friends to find a place for them to stay.</p>
<p>" It is not always easy to understand what you are eating in another country, particularly if you are not fluent in the language."</p>
<p>Absolutely agree. Bush meat, anyone? </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1411244”>http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1411244</a></p>
<p>I’m not worried about getting Ebola at the state fair but I do worry about health care professionals and ancillary staff and other first responders who may be exposed to the copious fluids of one kind and another that might be associated with someone who calls for help or enters an emergency room. </p>
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<p>No, spraying bleach on Ebola does make it completely non-contagious.<<<</p>
<p>I know that. What I meant by contagious was the high rate of infection when in direct contact with live virus. They don’t always infect. Of course, killed virus is not contagious.</p>