8 ms·

It's just a question of time before it reaches the US. We were lucky with Dallas. It likely will escape the next time into the general population since many peo

It's just a question of time before it reaches the US. We were lucky with Dallas. It likely will escape the next time into the general population since many people without health insurance are unlikely seek medical care in time and when they do at the last minute, it will spread.

raverbashing 7y ago
Ebola is much less contagious than people think https://www.businessinsider.com/ebola-discoverer-would-sit-next-to-someone-with-the-virus-2014-8?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/ebola-discoverer-would-sit-n...
low_roar1 7y ago
Ebola should actually be easier to contain in any civilized country such as the US. Quarantine measures and disposing of infected bodies properly would limit the pandemic. In Congo Kinshasa, it's just the chaos politically, there is no real government in many parts of this country, the real danger is that it is not a small country at all, 80+ millions of inhabitants, many can't be reach by the WHO because of the wars and infighting between the "government" and militias. So the crisis there has great chances of getting worse, not better. Furthermore, many many many people locals despise foreigners and particularly white people, for historical reasons, or just ignorance, and the culture is extremely unsanitary (touching and living with the dead, consuming bush meat or worse, ritualistic cannibalism, and what not), some straight out think Ebola is a white conspiracy. This isn't a problem only money can solve this time.
- edubs25 7y ago
  >Ebola should actually be easier to contain in any civilized country such as the US. Quarantine measures and disposing of infected bodies properly would limit the pandemic. I would be careful of the use of the word 'civilized' in this context. You're implying DRC and/or other African countries are uncivilized. Which is just not true.
  - natalyarostova 7y ago
    What is the politically appropriate word instead of civilized to enumerate the difference between taking a public health first approach vs. killing first responders on conspiracy?
    - roboys 7y ago
      I would call them suspicious instead of uncivilized. Europeans have tested harmful drugs on Africans without their knowledge for more than 2 centuries (including injecting live cancer cells and spreading HIV in very recent cases). I don't think we can blame them for avoiding this treatment like the plague.
      - natalyarostova 7y ago
        I'm empathetic to the idea that for entirely uneducated populations differentiating between legitimate treatment and experimentation is impossible, so their instinct is to avoid it. I'd still be wary of making too many excuses for their wanton attack and murder on health-care workers as mere suspicion, as that gives off an impression of racism of lower expectations, in my humble opinion. Or, I mean, even if it doesn't, at a certain point we need to draw the line at acceptable behavior. Whether it's their upbringing, or they are justifiably suspicions, they are evil, or they are uneducated, in the end it sort of doesn't matter, right? It's still some other group trying to kill other people, where we have a belief on which one is correct and which one isn't.
        edubs25 7y ago
        I get your point - my issue was with the long history of cultures being called 'civilized' or 'advanced'. These terms are still too commonly used and mostly out of ignorance of their origins. Just to throw it out there - I don't live there, I'm not a citizen of their community - why does my values judgement matter? Why am I judging what is acceptable for them to do in their neighborhoods and communities? I'm a white american, married into an Cameroonian family, spend my time 90-10 split between US and Cameroon. If Cameroon was having a crisis over 'X', I'd ask my family and our friends what they think should be done in their cities about 'X.' I might ask questions or offer critiques but at the end of the day, they are the only ones that understand their communities, can solve their problems and judge a situation. Similarly, if my city was having an issue, I might be curious what they thought or how they solved similar issues, but I wouldn't expect them to dictate solutions or make a values judgement on my community.
duxup 7y ago
Unless you're talking about some unknown evolved version, in a first world country the risk of spreading to a large scale is pretty low. Ebola is not very contagious / risky for the first world as it stands now. Could it be? Yes but you could argue for any number of diseases that "if it changed" would create devastating consequences.
nostrademons 7y ago
Note that the death rate of Ebola in developed countries in "only" about 10%, and all of those have been people that were severely ill before seeking medical attention. Ebola's one of those diseases that responds well to modern hospital care: sanitation, isolation, and IV rehydration are very effective at keeping patients alive while the disease runs its course. When looking at death rates, it's important to remember that most Ebola outbreaks have occurred in countries with pre-modern sanitation & medical systems. It's like saying that cholera, scarlet fever, and bubonic plague are deadly diseases: true, but significantly less true in the developed world.

raverbashing 7y ago

Ebola is much less contagious than people think https://www.businessinsider.com/ebola-discoverer-would-sit-next-to-someone-with-the-virus-2014-8?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/ebola-discoverer-would-sit-n...

low_roar1 7y ago

Ebola should actually be easier to contain in any civilized country such as the US. Quarantine measures and disposing of infected bodies properly would limit the pandemic. In Congo Kinshasa, it's just the chaos politically, there is no real government in many parts of this country, the real danger is that it is not a small country at all, 80+ millions of inhabitants, many can't be reach by the WHO because of the wars and infighting between the "government" and militias. So the crisis there has great chances of getting worse, not better. Furthermore, many many many people locals despise foreigners and particularly white people, for historical reasons, or just ignorance, and the culture is extremely unsanitary (touching and living with the dead, consuming bush meat or worse, ritualistic cannibalism, and what not), some straight out think Ebola is a white conspiracy. This isn't a problem only money can solve this time.

edubs25 7y ago
>Ebola should actually be easier to contain in any civilized country such as the US. Quarantine measures and disposing of infected bodies properly would limit the pandemic. I would be careful of the use of the word 'civilized' in this context. You're implying DRC and/or other African countries are uncivilized. Which is just not true.
- natalyarostova 7y ago
  What is the politically appropriate word instead of civilized to enumerate the difference between taking a public health first approach vs. killing first responders on conspiracy?
  - roboys 7y ago
    I would call them suspicious instead of uncivilized. Europeans have tested harmful drugs on Africans without their knowledge for more than 2 centuries (including injecting live cancer cells and spreading HIV in very recent cases). I don't think we can blame them for avoiding this treatment like the plague.
    - natalyarostova 7y ago
      I'm empathetic to the idea that for entirely uneducated populations differentiating between legitimate treatment and experimentation is impossible, so their instinct is to avoid it. I'd still be wary of making too many excuses for their wanton attack and murder on health-care workers as mere suspicion, as that gives off an impression of racism of lower expectations, in my humble opinion. Or, I mean, even if it doesn't, at a certain point we need to draw the line at acceptable behavior. Whether it's their upbringing, or they are justifiably suspicions, they are evil, or they are uneducated, in the end it sort of doesn't matter, right? It's still some other group trying to kill other people, where we have a belief on which one is correct and which one isn't.
      - edubs25 7y ago
        I get your point - my issue was with the long history of cultures being called 'civilized' or 'advanced'. These terms are still too commonly used and mostly out of ignorance of their origins. Just to throw it out there - I don't live there, I'm not a citizen of their community - why does my values judgement matter? Why am I judging what is acceptable for them to do in their neighborhoods and communities? I'm a white american, married into an Cameroonian family, spend my time 90-10 split between US and Cameroon. If Cameroon was having a crisis over 'X', I'd ask my family and our friends what they think should be done in their cities about 'X.' I might ask questions or offer critiques but at the end of the day, they are the only ones that understand their communities, can solve their problems and judge a situation. Similarly, if my city was having an issue, I might be curious what they thought or how they solved similar issues, but I wouldn't expect them to dictate solutions or make a values judgement on my community.

duxup 7y ago

Unless you're talking about some unknown evolved version, in a first world country the risk of spreading to a large scale is pretty low. Ebola is not very contagious / risky for the first world as it stands now. Could it be? Yes but you could argue for any number of diseases that "if it changed" would create devastating consequences.

nostrademons 7y ago

Note that the death rate of Ebola in developed countries in "only" about 10%, and all of those have been people that were severely ill before seeking medical attention. Ebola's one of those diseases that responds well to modern hospital care: sanitation, isolation, and IV rehydration are very effective at keeping patients alive while the disease runs its course. When looking at death rates, it's important to remember that most Ebola outbreaks have occurred in countries with pre-modern sanitation & medical systems. It's like saying that cholera, scarlet fever, and bubonic plague are deadly diseases: true, but significantly less true in the developed world.