Ebola Megathread

[Cyrisnia]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/17/world/africa/ebola-liberia-attack/

Great. Just GREAT.

[Oneracon]

As awful as it is, we need to use force to help contain the infection.

We should already have been using force weeks ago to contain the infection and maintain order, now we're seeing clinic attacks. The fact that ebolavirus is endemic to a region of the world where governments and law enforcement are incapable at the best of times only magnifies the issue.

There should be stricter travel bans and restrictions being enacted both on those countries' external borders and on the "borders" between infected and uninfected areas, transport links should be severed, and health workers should be given much more armed protection (by UN peacekeepers if necessary).

If this goes on for much longer I expect more extreme measures will begin to come to the table.

[Ximea]

As awful as it is, we need to use force to help contain the infection.

We should already have been using force weeks ago to contain the infection and maintain order, now we're seeing clinic attacks. The fact that ebolavirus is endemic to a region of the world where governments and law enforcement are incapable at the best of times only magnifies the issue.

There should be stricter travel bans and restrictions being enacted both on those countries' external borders and on the "borders" between infected and uninfected areas, transport links should be severed, and health workers should be given much more armed protection (by UN peacekeepers if necessary).

If this goes on for much longer I expect more extreme measures will begin to come to the table.

I say again, you would need an absurd amount of troops to do that. This is not a small place, and a great deal of transport is on foot or on back roads.

[Greed and Death]

http://news.yahoo.com/ebolas-spread-us-inevitable-says-cdc-chief-205903838.html

so the US government changed its stance from "ebola isn't going to come here, but if it somehow does, any cases will be easily isolated" to "there will be an outbreak here, but it'll be small."

It spreads through bodily fluids.

Once we have IDed people with Ebola it is easy to isolate them and keep them clean while nurses where protective gear here.

In Africa not only do the nurses lack protective gear, they lack the nurses to clean. Instead family members end up coming to the hospital to clean and comfort their dying relatives.

[Oneracon]

We should already have been using force weeks ago to contain the infection and maintain order, now we're seeing clinic attacks. The fact that ebolavirus is endemic to a region of the world where governments and law enforcement are incapable at the best of times only magnifies the issue.

There should be stricter travel bans and restrictions being enacted both on those countries' external borders and on the "borders" between infected and uninfected areas, transport links should be severed, and health workers should be given much more armed protection (by UN peacekeepers if necessary).

If this goes on for much longer I expect more extreme measures will begin to come to the table.

I say again, you would need an absurd amount of troops to do that. This is not a small place, and a great deal of transport is on foot or on back roads.

I am under no illusion that the area of the outbreak is a small place.

I would, if I had the ear of the powers-that-be in global politics, be suggesting those options merely because I don't think the nations of the world would particularly respond well to a firebombing of west Africa.

[Ximea]

http://news.yahoo.com/ebolas-spread-us-inevitable-says-cdc-chief-205903838.html

so the US government changed its stance from "ebola isn't going to come here, but if it somehow does, any cases will be easily isolated" to "there will be an outbreak here, but it'll be small."

It spreads through bodily fluids.

Once we have IDed people with Ebola it is easy to isolate them and keep them clean while nurses where protective gear here.

In Africa not only do the nurses lack protective gear, they lack the nurses to clean. Instead family members end up coming to the hospital to clean and comfort their dying relatives.

Or occasionally break them out and loot the clinic.

I am under no illusion that the area of the outbreak is a small place.

I would, if I had the ear of the powers-that-be in global politics, be suggesting those options merely because I don't think the nations of the world would particularly respond well to a firebombing of west Africa.

All I'm saying is that it's pretty easy to say "we need to completely seal off an area slightly larger than California, split between three weak and corrupt central governments." They're actually trying to quarantine smaller areas, and that might help, but it's unrealistic to expect to completely isolate an area that large.

[Slobozhanshchyna]

Does anyone else here see the filovirus as an agent to regulate the population of the affected areas?

[L Ron Cupboard]

...and so the idiot conspiracy theories begin.

[Slobozhanshchyna]

...and so the idiot conspiracy theories begin.

Learn some population genetics, mate. There's no need for conspiracy if nature's doing the job by itself.

[L Ron Cupboard]

...and so the idiot conspiracy theories begin.

Learn some population genetics, mate. There's no need for conspiracy if nature's doing the job by itself.

If I was replying to you I would have quoted you.

[Pope Joan]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/17/world/africa/ebola-liberia-attack/

Great. Just GREAT.

That "health care facility" was euphemistically called a "holding center". They had NOTHING for the patients. No medicine for pain, not even aspirin. The staff had run out of gloves, so they could not even come near the inmates.

Better to die at home than in what is nothing more than a death camp.

[Ximea]

Does anyone else here see the filovirus as an agent to regulate the population of the affected areas?

Certainly - that's why it happened in sub-Saharan Africa instead of Hong Kong or Mexico City...
...wait.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/17/world/africa/ebola-liberia-attack/

Great. Just GREAT.

That "health care facility" was euphemistically called a "holding center". They had NOTHING for the patients. No medicine for pain, not even aspirin. The staff had run out of gloves, so they could not even come near the inmates.

Better to die at home than in what is nothing more than a death camp.

Which is why they turned themselves in, I suppose.

Look, care and comfort are good, and we owe our fellow human beings whatever succor we can provide in a time like this - but comforting the infected is not the priority right now. Quarantining suspected cases whenever feasible must be the priority, or there will be a lot more people filling up these "holding centers" before they go on to fill up body bags.

Incidentally, it's not even known definitively whether these individuals are or were infected, so they're not quite "patients" yet.

[Oneracon]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/17/world/africa/ebola-liberia-attack/

Great. Just GREAT.

That "health care facility" was euphemistically called a "holding center". They had NOTHING for the patients. No medicine for pain, not even aspirin. The staff had run out of gloves, so they could not even come near the inmates.

Better to die at home than in what is nothing more than a death camp.

Maybe for the persons involved... but not for their families and the surrounding communities. Even if those places were quite unpleasant, people with EVD need to be quarantined to prevent further spread (including preventing postmortem spread of infection).

Sure they get to die at home in some modicum of "comfort", but they also put their families and their surrounding communities at risk of a horrible disease that results in an all but guaranteed death.

[Blakk Metal]

If I had the authority, then I would impose martial law on the infected regions. No airplanes, boats or any transport in or out of the areas, the quarantine of all victims, the burning of all corpses and severe punishment for those who do not follow the guidelines. More medical staff are, in my opinion, needed, as well as much more money to help fund hospitals and medical centres.

One would have to impose martial law and the closing down of transport to stop the spread. Only then can we concentrate on finding cures and treatments.

Yeah, good luck enforcing that.

Thanks for the reminder, my good man. Cheerio!

So it appears the locals are destroying the Ebola treatment centers. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jinamoore/two-d ... ws#48g2df9

They can not get people to remain in place for treatment much less quarantine purposes. The outbreak will continue.

Wait they don't even think Ebola is real?

Non, La France made them do it.

[-The Trade Federation-]

This outbreak is taking a bad turn.

Already that health services in these countries are terrible, people now believe Ebola is a hoax.

[Roski]

This outbreak is taking a bad turn.

Already that health services in these countries are terrible, people now believe Ebola is a hoax.

It was created by George Bush to sponsor another invasion of Afghanistan.

[Warpspace]

Sigh.

When is Africa going to learn that Bush Meat is bad, and nothing ever good has come of eating it? At this rate those bloody poachers will contract nurgle's rot from the wildlife.

[Ximea]

Sigh.

When is Africa going to learn that Bush Meat is bad, and nothing ever good has come of eating it? At this rate those bloody poachers will contract nurgle's rot from the wildlife.

It's easy for us to say "no eating something." Keep in mind, though, that some of these people make less in a year than you might have gotten as a weekly allowance as a kid. They have to take advantage of any source of protein they can get, or they will die.

You're right, though - bush meat, especially primate meat, is cross-species transmission waiting to happen.

[Blakk Metal]

This outbreak is taking a bad turn.

Already that health services in these countries are terrible, people now believe Ebola is a hoax.

It was created by George Bush to sponsor another invasion of Afghanistan.

No, it was made up by Big Pharma to subjugate the glorious people of Africa. This disease is actually caused by malnutrition, which be remedied by vitamin pills or sweet potatoes.

Sigh.

When is Africa going to learn that Bush Meat is bad, and nothing ever good has come of eating it? At this rate those bloody poachers will contract nurgle's rot from the wildlife.

1. It's bat and rodent meat.
2. It's only in West, Central, and Southern Africa.

[Blakk Metal]

This outbreak is taking a bad turn.

Already that health services in these countries are terrible, people now believe Ebola is a hoax.

"THE EBOLA OUTBREAK IS LIKELY A HOAX TO TRICK YOU INTO GETTING A VIRAL NANOBOT LACED VACCINE THAT WILL DESTROY YOU"

[Cyrisnia]

This outbreak is taking a bad turn.

Already that health services in these countries are terrible, people now believe Ebola is a hoax.

"THE EBOLA OUTBREAK IS LIKELY A HOAX TO TRICK YOU INTO GETTING A VIRAL NANOBOT LACED VACCINE THAT WILL DESTROY YOU"

Alex Jones?