Contagion: A thread about epidemic diseases

[BurtReynolds]

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

[Norah]

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mol ... han-ebola/

[broken iris]

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/molecules-to-medicine/2014/09/30/superbugs-scarier-than-ebola/

Viral airborne vs. droplet transmission - courtesy Ian MacKay.

He's in the waiting room.

[broken iris]

No we shouldn't.

We should, not because it's likely to wipe out any major portion of the population next week, but because the more diverse the environments the virus experiences and with the variance of treatments that are applied, the more likely advantageous mutation becomes. For example, Ebola does not have the binding proteins that would allow for easy airborne transmission in people, but it is entirely possible it could, and in an era of "government by big data analytics" we are unlikely to build any future defensive strategy against a mutation as we direct all of our energy into whatever the low information voters perceive as the immediate threat.

Ebola (not today's trendy version) goes airborne from pigs to macaques:
http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/ ... 00811.html

[E.H. Ruddock]

One time when I was in a village in a north/central African country there were a shitload of sick people there. I remember thinking to myself that it wasn't rebels that would kill me but some unnamed disease. That would have really pissed me off.

[Rangi Guy]

[Sgt. Crackpot]

Should we run a betting/drafting thread on which American RMers are going to die first?

I draft chud, I know he'll want to catch it early just to say he had it before everyone else.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Should we run a betting/drafting thread on which American RMers are going to die first?

I draft chud, I know he'll want to catch it early just to say he had it before everyone else.

I think Mickey already contracted it.

[broken iris]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

[McParadigm]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

Acorn Scums = NEGROES
Obamacare Navigator Scums = NEGROES
Mobs robbing stores = NEGROES
Knockout game assaulting and Killing Whites = NEGROES
Brought AIDS to America = NEGROES
Brought EBOLA to America = NEGROES
Lazy Welfare Mooches = NEGROES
Car Jackers = NEGROES
Rapists = NEGROES
Murderers = NEGROES
Destroyers of Inner Cities = NEGROES
Gimmiedats = NEGROES
The Real Racists = NEGROES
Why white people need concealed carry permits = NEGROES
Unknown Baby Daddies = NEGROES
Drug Dealers = NEGROES
Pimping out young White Girls for Prostitution = NEGROES
Sons and Daughters of Ham = NEGROES
Cursed by Noah to be the 'Servants of Servants' = NEGROES
Destroyers of Nations Worldwide = NEGROES
98% who voted for Obama only because he's Black = NEGROES
Will Sucker Punch you because you're White = NEGROES
Will Murder you for your Sneakers = NEGROES
Will Murder you for your Cell Phone = NEGROES
Will Riot and Pillage just so they can Steal stuff = NEGROES
Destroyers of America = NEGROES

Cue Futurama pic about not wanting to live on this planet

[Simple Torture]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

There's a guy on there whose username is: "Obama uses a dead mans ssn"

[Alex]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

Acorn Scums = NEGROES
Obamacare Navigator Scums = NEGROES
Mobs robbing stores = NEGROES
Knockout game assaulting and Killing Whites = NEGROES
Brought AIDS to America = NEGROES
Brought EBOLA to America = NEGROES
Lazy Welfare Mooches = NEGROES
Car Jackers = NEGROES
Rapists = NEGROES
Murderers = NEGROES
Destroyers of Inner Cities = NEGROES
Gimmiedats = NEGROES
The Real Racists = NEGROES
Why white people need concealed carry permits = NEGROES
Unknown Baby Daddies = NEGROES
Drug Dealers = NEGROES
Pimping out young White Girls for Prostitution = NEGROES
Sons and Daughters of Ham = NEGROES
Cursed by Noah to be the 'Servants of Servants' = NEGROES
Destroyers of Nations Worldwide = NEGROES
98% who voted for Obama only because he's Black = NEGROES
Will Sucker Punch you because you're White = NEGROES
Will Murder you for your Sneakers = NEGROES
Will Murder you for your Cell Phone = NEGROES
Will Riot and Pillage just so they can Steal stuff = NEGROES
Destroyers of America = NEGROES

Cue Futurama pic about not wanting to live on this planet

broken iris: your rebuttal?

[surfndestroy]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

I'm amazed at two things about that link. How ugly the website is and how people smart enough to use a computer can be as ignorant as the comments make them out to be.

[broken iris]

Two people here in the DC area are in isolation with Ebola-like symptoms. Scary times.


Edit: Apparently the NIH, just two miles away, he been treating an exposed American citizen on site since 27.September.

[Alex]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

I'm amazed at two things about that link. How ugly the website is and how people smart enough to use a computer can be as ignorant as the comments make them out to be.

would you let your daughter date an internet commenter?

[surfndestroy]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/02/2 ... ovirus-68/

Scary article, scarier comments section.

I'm amazed at two things about that link. How ugly the website is and how people smart enough to use a computer can be as ignorant as the comments make them out to be.

would you let your daughter date an internet commenter?

I wouldn't let my daughetr date anyone other than someone elses daughter. Men are pigs. I wouldn't let her date the web designer either.

[broken iris]

Liberians Flood Airport Attempting to Flee Ebola-Struck Country
Africans infected with Ebola may be trying to seek treatment in U.S., other countries

by Kit Daniels | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014
Liberians are apparently flooding Roberts International Airport in Harbel, Liberia, in an attempt to flee the Ebola-struck country, raising fears that more people infected with Ebola will fly into America.

People stand in queues at the Roberts International Airport as they attempt to leave Liberia. #Ebola #SueTheAirlines pic.twitter.com/tnw9exglen

— Lap Dog (@chliberty) October 3, 2014

Thomas Eric Duncan, the 40-year-old Liberian national who was diagnosed with Ebola a few days after arriving in Dallas, Texas, may have started a trend of “Ebola tourism” in which Liberians leave their country to seek better treatment for the disease.

“That’s not something we should be encouraging or allowing,” Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Times.

Overall, around 200,000 people from the West African countries hit hardest by Ebola hold temporary visas to the U.S., but the Obama administration has rejected calls to enact a visa ban.

“Based on State Department nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics, I estimate that there are about 5,000 people in Guinea, 5,000 people in Sierra Leone, and 3,500 people in Liberia who possess visas to come to the United States today,” Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Examiner.

Temporary visas given to Nigerians have recently skyrocketed, with nearly 195,000 Nigerians currently holding visas, she added.

The Obama administration has similarly refused to impose a ban on travel from the Ebola hot zone into the U.S., despite pressure from a Florida Democrat and the fact that other countries have enacted similar bans.

Back in July, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) suggested the State Dept. ban citizens from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone from entering the U.S. and foreign travelers who have visited those countries in the previous 90 days.

Grayson grew concerned after an American who contracted Ebola in Liberia died in Nigeria after flying into the country through an international airport.

“This latest case is particularly troubling because Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, is the third busiest airport in Africa, and it offers direct flights to the United States,” Grayson wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry. “I urge you to consider the enhanced danger Ebola now presents to the American public, and therefore request that appropriate travel restrictions be implemented immediately.”

The administration ignored Grayson’s plea but, in contrast, British Airways, Air France, Korean Air and Kenya Airways decided to suspend flights to the Ebola hot zone in August.

“If [the Obama administration] instituted the travel ban when Alan Grayson, of all people, demanded it, [Duncan] wouldn’t be here,” Krikorian added.

[digster]

Two people here in the DC area are in isolation with Ebola-like symptoms. Scary times.


Edit: Apparently the NIH, just two miles away, he been treating an exposed American citizen on site since 27.September.

One of them I think already tested positive for another disease, and they're running Ebola tests as a precaution. The other was in Nigeria, apparently, which hasn't had a case of Ebola in over a month. Wouldn't it therefore be impossible for him to have it, unless there are cases of ebola in Nigeria no one knows about?

I just think for the next few months we're going to be hearing about an Ebola test every time someone from west Africa spikes a fever, which probably isn't a bad thing. But I guess it would be a fantasy to ask the media to handle themselves somewhat responsibly.

[broken iris]

Two people here in the DC area are in isolation with Ebola-like symptoms. Scary times.


Edit: Apparently the NIH, just two miles away, he been treating an exposed American citizen on site since 27.September.

One of them I think already tested positive for another disease, and they're running Ebola tests as a precaution. The other was in Nigeria, apparently, which hasn't had a case of Ebola in over a month. Wouldn't it therefore be impossible for him to have it, unless there are cases of ebola in Nigeria no one knows about?

I just think for the next few months we're going to be hearing about an Ebola test every time someone from west Africa spikes a fever, which probably isn't a bad thing. But I guess it would be a fantasy to ask the media to handle themselves somewhat responsibly.

Agree, but part of the problem is that the media and the government seem to be unable to balance the need to provide information without causing panic. We hear them say things like "preventative screening measures are in place at airports in western Africa", then we learn it's nothing but paper forms and $10 infrared thermometers. They say we cannot shutoff travel to the region, but most countries that border Liberia and Guinea have closed the borders with the "hot zone" countries and many of the major international air carriers (Korean Air, BA, etc.) have halted flights, so obviously some further measures could be put in place should we choose to do so. We learn that although most hospitals are required to have protocols in place to deal with an outbreak of this kind, in practical terms they don't translate to anything beyond a pamphlet/PowerPoint or expensive and wasteful overreaction. And finally the speaking in absolutes that individuals like Dr. Gupta on CNN and Friedman at the CDC seem so fond of is counterproductive to calming people as they are forced to gradually take it back or engage in doublespeak as the situation develops and people lose faith in what they are saying. I tend to think it would be better if they told the truth and explained the world is facing an unprecedented challenge that needs to be fought with diligence and caution at home and aggressive treatment and a major increase in support in Africa rather than taking the "we got this, calm down pussies" approach. No one has faith in the US government right now and a little honesty here would go a long way.

[bada]

I'm more worried about enterovirus d68. Seems it can either just give your kid the sniffles or kill them. Gonna be a fun school year.