Ebola outbreak

BBC wrote:Investigations are under way at a hospital in Madrid after a Spanish nurse became the first person known to have contracted the deadly Ebola virus outside west Africa.

The nurse had treated two Spanish missionaries who died of the disease after being flown home from the region.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has announced plans to screen passengers flying to the United States.

Some 3,400 people have died in the outbreak - mostly in West Africa.


The 40-year-old nurse was part of the Madrid team that treated Spanish priests Manuel Garcia Viejo and Miguel Pajares, who both died of the virus, Spanish officials say.

The nurse began to feel unwell on 30 September, but only sought medical advice on Sunday.

Thomas Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US, is being treated at a Dallas hospital in isolation. He caught the virus in his native Liberia.

Mr Duncan's condition is critical but stable, doctors said on Monday.

Guardian wrote:Health authorities said on Monday night that the nurse was in stable condition. She had alerted them to a slight fever on 30 September, said Antonio Alemany from the regional government of Madrid, and checked into a hospital in Alcorcón with a high fever on Sunday. Ebola protocol was immediately activated at the hospital and initial and secondary tests were both positive for the virus.

The patient, who is married with no children, was on holiday when she began showing symptoms, said Alemany.

Kick wrote:I wouldn't be worried, unless you plan of kissing people with it.

Most Western countries have the correct medical systems to deal with it which will stop any western outbreak.

Kick wrote:I wouldn't be worried, unless you plan of kissing people with it.

Most Western countries have the correct medical systems to deal with it which will stop any western outbreak.

Art Morte wrote:

Kick wrote:I wouldn't be worried, unless you plan of kissing people with it.

Most Western countries have the correct medical systems to deal with it which will stop any western outbreak.

I'm pretty sure the nurse wasn't kissing the patient she was treating

More like wearing overalls, gloves, masks, the whole thing.

rwo power wrote:So far Ebola only spreads via body fluids. That is, don't get coughed in the face, don get pricked by a needle used to inject an Ebola patients etc. Problem is that Ebola patients bleed and sweat profusely, and if you get any of the stuff into the eye, mouth, some tiny open wound, you have a problem.

A bigger problem would be if there would be some DNA exchange between Ebola and an air-transmittable virus (i.e. influenza) that creates an air-transmittable Ebola virus. So far this hasn't happened yet, though.

JespSwe wrote:
WHO should be already sounding alarm bell!!!! what baffles me is that WHO has yet to make serious announcement regarding this, than they did with Swine flu

Nishy wrote:

JespSwe wrote:
WHO should be already sounding alarm bell!!!! what baffles me is that WHO has yet to make serious announcement regarding this, than they did with Swine flu

Thats because Swine flu hit parts that matter like Europe and USA.

Basically because its contained in a very specific part of the world right now. Its yet to affect 5 countries, Swine flu affected 6/7 continents of the world.

JespSwe wrote:well they have been saying that but if even the full protective gear cant protect people then i say this is as serious as it can get.

rwo power wrote:

JespSwe wrote:well they have been saying that but if even the full protective gear cant protect people then i say this is as serious as it can get.

So far it is not known whether the protective gear wasn't compromised. It is pretty easy for a needle to go through the gloves, for example. Moreover, so far they are only using class 2 protective gear and not the heavy duty class 4 protective gear.

Nishy wrote:Basically because its contained in a very specific part of the world right now. Its yet to affect 5 countries, Swine flu affected 6/7 continents of the world.

rwo power wrote:

JespSwe wrote:well they have been saying that but if even the full protective gear cant protect people then i say this is as serious as it can get.

So far it is not known whether the protective gear wasn't compromised. It is pretty easy for a needle to go through the gloves, for example. Moreover, so far they are only using class 2 protective gear and not the heavy duty class 4 protective gear.

rwo power wrote:

Nishy wrote:Basically because its contained in a very specific part of the world right now. Its yet to affect 5 countries, Swine flu affected 6/7 continents of the world.

Actually the difference is that swine flu is transmitted via air, which makes it *really* serious, while Ebola is only transmitted via body fluids.

Plus, to put things a bit in perspective - the normal flu (!) kills 15 000 (fifteen thousand!!) people per year in Germany alone. So you should consider the (real) flu (not common cold, btw) a bit more problematic than an infection that is pretty difficult to transmit in comparison.