L. R. Fast
2014-04-16 10:12:24 UTC
Nearly 40 years after first striking fear with a painful,
grotesque set of symptoms, the Ebola virus has now killed at
least 88 people in the West African countries of Guinea and
Liberia.
And the worry is: It could get a lot worse.
It is a terrifying virus, highly infectious, quick to kill, with
no vaccine and no cure. Doctors in Guinea are dealing with the
most aggressive strain. Only one out of ten victims survives.
Michel Van Herp, an epidemiologist for the aid group, Doctors
Without Borders, said that they were facing an epidemic on an
unprecedented scale -- not in numbers of victims, but because
the cases are so spread out in Guinea and across its borders.
The only way to stop Ebola is to find and isolate everyone who
has come into contact with it.
The virus, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding and
eventually organ failure, spreads through contact with body
fluids.
Doctors Without Borders is setting up quarantine clinics, but
they're battling against a suspicious and scared public.
People are so afraid, one man said, they've stopped shaking
hands. An Air France flight from Guinea to Paris was quarantined
on Friday after a passenger was sick in the bathroom. No one was
infected with Ebola.
The 1995 movie Outbreak showed an Ebola-like virus spreading
through a fictional California town, while the real virus killed
off nearly an entire village in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"You have a lot of people who have recovered from civil war and
are living in war-ravaged areas with very poor infrastructures,"
said Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health with the
Council on Foreign Relations.
"Well as soon as word goes out of quarantine, you have people
start trying to escape and get away from the clutches of
authorities."
Guinea is trying to cope with the threat by banning bushmeat
from bats, monkeys and apes, a possible source of Ebola, and
educating the public on how to stay alive.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-breaks-out-on-a-scale-never-
seen-before/
Comments:
GADGETPAT 4 hours ago
There is a company that has a potential cure just starting human
trials on a $140 million dollar contract from the Pentagon.
FLAGSHARELIKEREPLY
WEARETHEUSA 5 hours ago
Colloidal silver, apple cider vinegar, hydrogen peroxide
inhalation.
FLAGSHARELIKEREPLY
RATIONAL_1 6 hours ago
That's it - I've eaten my last bat! However, I'm not sure if I
can part with that batch of monkey tartare I made up last week.
FLAGSHARELIKEREPLY
BAJUNAJEWELRY.ETSY.COM 23 hours ago
I don't think we will stop ebola. Ebola can be found in remote
caves in bat feces and can be spread to surrounding animal
populations that dine on the bats. Both the animals and the
bats can be carriers and show no sign of sickness. Ebola is
ever adapting and since it kills so fast, the hosts die most of
the time before medicine will help.
The best cure is prevention. Don't hunt in or near caves.
Don't eat mammals that eat bats. If you do go in a cave wear
protective eye gear and clothing. Try not to step in or touch
places where feces are accumulating. If you do, wash with
alcohol or bleach. Hunters should live a quarantined lifestyle
and police each other for any signs of sickness.
You can't go on a witch hunt and kill bats we need them to help
pollinate flowers and spread seeds of the fruit trees. You
can't kill the monkeys or apes either.
Quarantine and blood testing of bush meat might be a solution if
people were trained correctly. Possible breeding of bats might
be a solution.
Another might be to develop a bat vaccine or medicine that can
be used at the ground zero level. Put the medicine in caves,
the bats drink it and ward off the disease somewhat until it
loses strength in the colony.
grotesque set of symptoms, the Ebola virus has now killed at
least 88 people in the West African countries of Guinea and
Liberia.
And the worry is: It could get a lot worse.
It is a terrifying virus, highly infectious, quick to kill, with
no vaccine and no cure. Doctors in Guinea are dealing with the
most aggressive strain. Only one out of ten victims survives.
Michel Van Herp, an epidemiologist for the aid group, Doctors
Without Borders, said that they were facing an epidemic on an
unprecedented scale -- not in numbers of victims, but because
the cases are so spread out in Guinea and across its borders.
The only way to stop Ebola is to find and isolate everyone who
has come into contact with it.
The virus, which causes vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding and
eventually organ failure, spreads through contact with body
fluids.
Doctors Without Borders is setting up quarantine clinics, but
they're battling against a suspicious and scared public.
People are so afraid, one man said, they've stopped shaking
hands. An Air France flight from Guinea to Paris was quarantined
on Friday after a passenger was sick in the bathroom. No one was
infected with Ebola.
The 1995 movie Outbreak showed an Ebola-like virus spreading
through a fictional California town, while the real virus killed
off nearly an entire village in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"You have a lot of people who have recovered from civil war and
are living in war-ravaged areas with very poor infrastructures,"
said Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health with the
Council on Foreign Relations.
"Well as soon as word goes out of quarantine, you have people
start trying to escape and get away from the clutches of
authorities."
Guinea is trying to cope with the threat by banning bushmeat
from bats, monkeys and apes, a possible source of Ebola, and
educating the public on how to stay alive.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-breaks-out-on-a-scale-never-
seen-before/
Comments:
GADGETPAT 4 hours ago
There is a company that has a potential cure just starting human
trials on a $140 million dollar contract from the Pentagon.
FLAGSHARELIKEREPLY
WEARETHEUSA 5 hours ago
Colloidal silver, apple cider vinegar, hydrogen peroxide
inhalation.
FLAGSHARELIKEREPLY
RATIONAL_1 6 hours ago
That's it - I've eaten my last bat! However, I'm not sure if I
can part with that batch of monkey tartare I made up last week.
FLAGSHARELIKEREPLY
BAJUNAJEWELRY.ETSY.COM 23 hours ago
I don't think we will stop ebola. Ebola can be found in remote
caves in bat feces and can be spread to surrounding animal
populations that dine on the bats. Both the animals and the
bats can be carriers and show no sign of sickness. Ebola is
ever adapting and since it kills so fast, the hosts die most of
the time before medicine will help.
The best cure is prevention. Don't hunt in or near caves.
Don't eat mammals that eat bats. If you do go in a cave wear
protective eye gear and clothing. Try not to step in or touch
places where feces are accumulating. If you do, wash with
alcohol or bleach. Hunters should live a quarantined lifestyle
and police each other for any signs of sickness.
You can't go on a witch hunt and kill bats we need them to help
pollinate flowers and spread seeds of the fruit trees. You
can't kill the monkeys or apes either.
Quarantine and blood testing of bush meat might be a solution if
people were trained correctly. Possible breeding of bats might
be a solution.
Another might be to develop a bat vaccine or medicine that can
be used at the ground zero level. Put the medicine in caves,
the bats drink it and ward off the disease somewhat until it
loses strength in the colony.