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The alert has been caused by a patient flying to Nigeria - the theory is that it isn't easy to catch Ebola [1] so this is a test. The disease has spread from G

The alert has been caused by a patient flying to Nigeria - the theory is that it isn't easy to catch Ebola [1] so this is a test. The disease has spread from Guinea to Liberia [2] so this would be a jump Eastward [3] [1] http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/25/324941229/could-the-ebola-outbreak-spread-to-europe-or-the-u-s http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/25/324941229/could-t... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_West_Africa_Ebola_outbreak#mediaviewer/File:Guinea_Sierra_Leone_Ebola_Map_April_14_2014_png.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_West_Africa_Ebola_outbreak... [3] https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/West+Africa/@14.6336215,-1.8552252,5z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0xe26e8142c8c27c9:0xd456c5cbdb66949 https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/West+Africa/@14.6336215,...

kmfrk 12y ago
Use this Google map of the outbreaks instead: https://maps.google.com/maps/u/0/ms?msid=202977755949863934429.0004c658eb30f9c4fb1c0&msa=0&dg=feature https://maps.google.com/maps/u/0/ms?msid=2029777559498639344.... Not sure how to filter the non-2014 outbreaks, though.
TillE 12y ago
Not sure what you mean by "the theory." Ebola is not airborne. It's relatively easy to isolate in areas with good hygiene and medical care.
- richardwigley 12y ago
  Indeed, my 'theory' comment was a response to an infected case arriving on an airplane - which this is news story is an example of. I'm only aware of these cases (are there others?) Hence, I used theory until you've had a few more occurrences. The first link in the previous comment documents: 1) 1996 a man in Gabon travelling to Johannesburg and he didn't infect anyone. 2) 2004, a man with Lassa fever, similar to Ebola, travelling to the US and not infecting anyone.
  - EdwardMSmith 12y ago
    3) 2014 Lassa fever to Minnesota: http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0404-lassa-fever.html http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0404-lassa-fever.htm...
steven2012 12y ago
The lead doctor in Sierra Leone in charge of fighting ebola himself got Ebola. If it's not that easy to contract ebola, you would have thought the foremost expert would have easily been able to avoid this.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Doctors are always at risk of exposure. If you deal with patients with virulent diseases all day long then that's equivalent to playing the lottery every day all your life. All it takes is a single mistake, or one vector of transmission that was not yet known, or one patient sneezing at exactly the wrong moment or simply not having the tools and supplies to do the work safely. Being a doctor in this field is a very high risk occupation, doing it in Africa is simply very brave.
- jonnathanson 12y ago
  Actually, you might expect him to be a lot more likely to catch Ebola. He's coming into deliberate vicinity of the virus on what one assumes is a weekly or even daily basis. Frequency effect is in play. For similar reasons, you'd expect the world's foremost expert on avoiding shark attacks to be attacked by a shark more often than the general population. He's out there practicing his theories and doing his research every day. The rest of us aren't going in the water as often. The best way to avoid being attacked by a shark in the ocean is not to go in the ocean. The best way to avoid contracting Ebola is to stay as far away from Ebola as possible. An expert might be better able to handle himself around Ebola, or around sharks, than the rest of us. But he's also more likely to be around Ebola (or sharks) in the first place.
- jahewson 12y ago
  On the other hand if it were easy to contract, he would have got it ages ago.

kmfrk 12y ago

Use this Google map of the outbreaks instead: https://maps.google.com/maps/u/0/ms?msid=202977755949863934429.0004c658eb30f9c4fb1c0&msa=0&dg=feature https://maps.google.com/maps/u/0/ms?msid=2029777559498639344.... Not sure how to filter the non-2014 outbreaks, though.

TillE 12y ago

Not sure what you mean by "the theory." Ebola is not airborne. It's relatively easy to isolate in areas with good hygiene and medical care.

richardwigley 12y ago
Indeed, my 'theory' comment was a response to an infected case arriving on an airplane - which this is news story is an example of. I'm only aware of these cases (are there others?) Hence, I used theory until you've had a few more occurrences. The first link in the previous comment documents: 1) 1996 a man in Gabon travelling to Johannesburg and he didn't infect anyone. 2) 2004, a man with Lassa fever, similar to Ebola, travelling to the US and not infecting anyone.
- EdwardMSmith 12y ago
  3) 2014 Lassa fever to Minnesota: http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0404-lassa-fever.html http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0404-lassa-fever.htm...

steven2012 12y ago

The lead doctor in Sierra Leone in charge of fighting ebola himself got Ebola. If it's not that easy to contract ebola, you would have thought the foremost expert would have easily been able to avoid this.

jacquesm 12y ago
Doctors are always at risk of exposure. If you deal with patients with virulent diseases all day long then that's equivalent to playing the lottery every day all your life. All it takes is a single mistake, or one vector of transmission that was not yet known, or one patient sneezing at exactly the wrong moment or simply not having the tools and supplies to do the work safely. Being a doctor in this field is a very high risk occupation, doing it in Africa is simply very brave.
jonnathanson 12y ago
Actually, you might expect him to be a lot more likely to catch Ebola. He's coming into deliberate vicinity of the virus on what one assumes is a weekly or even daily basis. Frequency effect is in play. For similar reasons, you'd expect the world's foremost expert on avoiding shark attacks to be attacked by a shark more often than the general population. He's out there practicing his theories and doing his research every day. The rest of us aren't going in the water as often. The best way to avoid being attacked by a shark in the ocean is not to go in the ocean. The best way to avoid contracting Ebola is to stay as far away from Ebola as possible. An expert might be better able to handle himself around Ebola, or around sharks, than the rest of us. But he's also more likely to be around Ebola (or sharks) in the first place.
jahewson 12y ago
On the other hand if it were easy to contract, he would have got it ages ago.