7 ms·

Tracing Ebola’s Breakout to an African 2-Year-Old

67 points by denzil_correa 12y ago

pinar747 12y ago
How did the 2-year-old contract the virus in the first place?
- Pxtl 12y ago
  The article makes it clear that this is the big question. Suspects are fruit bat poop and bush meat.
  - iaw 12y ago
    Wouldn't fruit bat poop be more likely? I mean, if it were bush meat I'd suspect it was prepared for the child in which case there would have been a second patient-zero. Whereas fruit bat poop can easily get into a 2 year-olds mouth without anyone noticing.
    - Pxtl 12y ago
      I think they're less sure that humans can catch it from fruit-bat poo.
    - meepmorp 12y ago
      > I mean, if it were bush meat I'd suspect it was prepared for the child in which case there would have been a second patient-zero. Just speculating, but maybe cooking the meat attenuated the virus, and it was only able to take hold in a person with an underdeveloped immune system. Or, maybe, the disease merely progressed faster in the child and so s/he only looks like patient zero, despite the rest of the people eating having gotten infected at the same time.
      - iaw 12y ago
        Good point. I hadn't thought of that, but it is completely plausible.
      - Pxtl 12y ago
        I'm sure the epidemiologists considered that possibility. If it was likely, they would have mentioned it.
- wilsonfiifi 12y ago
  Contaminated vaccine?
Zaheer 12y ago
The last piece of the article is painful to read. Anyone know how we can contribute to supplies, etc to fight Ebola? "A Desperate Call for Help By June and July, Sierra Leone was becoming the center of the outbreak. At the government hospital in Kenema, Dr. Sheik Umar Khan was leading the efforts to treat patients and control the epidemic. But he was desperate for supplies: chlorine for disinfection, gloves, goggles, protective suits, rudimentary sugar and salt solutions to fight dehydration and give patients a chance to survive. Early in July, he emailed friends and former medical school classmates in the United States, asking for their help and sending a spreadsheet listing what he needed, and what he had. Many of the lines in the “available” column were empty. One of his requests was for body bags: 3,000 adult, 2,000 child. Before his friends could send the supplies, Dr. Khan contracted Ebola himself. He died on July 29."
- cmrivers 12y ago
  Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) is an excellent choice. They have been integral to controlling several past Ebola outbreaks, and have been fighting this one since the beginning. They are almost entirely tapped out right now. http://www.msf.org http://www.msf.org I can't vouch for them, but the Liberian Ministry of Health also has donation instructions: http://www.mohsw.gov.lr http://www.mohsw.gov.lr
  - ihodes 12y ago
    Not sure why you say MSF is "almost entirely tapped out"—from MSF's website "Please note that Doctors Without Borders' response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is fully funded." Nevertheless, they're a pretty excellent charity to donate to (c.f. http://www.givewell.org/international/charities/doctors-without-borders http://www.givewell.org/international/charities/doctors-with... and note they spend over 85% of funds on programs [~12% on fundraising, and ~1% on management]).
    - cmrivers 12y ago
      You're right, I revisited the article that gave me that impression [0], and it's very clear that staffing is the resource that is exhausted. Nonetheless, it's an excellent organization and a worthy cause in my opinion. [0] http://www.msf.org.uk/article/ebola-official-msf-response-who-declaring-epidemic-extraordinary-event http://www.msf.org.uk/article/ebola-official-msf-response-wh...
jhonovich 12y ago
"Unlike most previous outbreaks, which occurred in remote, localized spots, this one began in a border region where roads have been improved and people travel a lot. In this case, the disease was on the move before health officials even knew it had struck." What if someone in a major US city got infected? How bad could it get? Could they even contain it at that point?
- SoftwareMaven 12y ago
  The US has far better medical facilities, better supplies, better communication tools, better handling procedures for corpses and a society that doesn't stigmatize infectious diseases. Taken together, an outbreak here would look very different than an outbreak in Africa, even if a sick patient was dropped into Times Square.
  - Raticide 12y ago
    But what if poor people in America get Ebola? They can't afford health care, so may end up hiding their illness to avoid the insane amounts of debt they would get themselves into.
    - SoftwareMaven 12y ago
      Nobody in the US can be denied emergency medical care, regardless of ability to pay. Poor people already know this, which is why inner-city emergency rooms are overwhelmed with things like "my baby has a cough", making a $50 office visit a $400 bill that will get written off.
      - erichocean 12y ago
        > Poor people already know this, which is why inner-city emergency rooms are overwhelmed with things like "my baby has a cough" The idea that poor children are just left to fend for themselves on basic healthcare like treating a cough in the US is blatantly false. Poor people who know about the emergency rooms also know that normal healthcare is available for poor children for free from the government, which they get and then take their kids to the doctor like everyone else when they have a cough. Seriously, the hysteria around people not having healthcare in the US is just incredible relative to the actual facts on the ground. Even if you believe Obama's "40 million without healthcare" claim (I don't), that's just 12% of the country, and the two most vulnerable populations—children and the elderly–were fully covered by the state already without the Obamacare regs. There are real problems with the US healthcare system; we don't need to start spouting nonsense like poor children can only get a cough treated at the emergency room for free.
basicplus2 12y ago
Nobody can be serious about containing this outbreak unless they stop the planes flying and close all borders.
- NkVczPkybiXICG 12y ago
  ...or just move to Madagascar.
alukima 12y ago
Does the usage of African instead of Guinean bother anyone else? Africa is widely not recognized as a continent of distinct countries and this isn't helping. It's like referring to people from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as North Americans.
- zachrose 12y ago
  Yeah, the mistake of referring to Africa as a single nation is unfortunately common in the U.S., made by everyone from from leading Republican politicians to, more sadly, Clayton Kershaw. [1] http://www.africaisacontinent.com/common-mistake http://www.africaisacontinent.com/common-mistake [2] http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101220&content_id=16350030&vkey=news_la&c_id=la http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101220&content_id=...
- FollowSteph3 12y ago
  Most people compare it to the flu but what about norovirus. It's spread in a versus similar way and pretty much everyone in the US has had it at one time or another...
- IvyMike 12y ago
  There are countries named Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Guyana and French Guiana. I think I'm pretty well traveled but even I have difficulty sorting these all out. So even though "Guinean" would be accurate, it would still cause some confusion.

67 points by denzil_correa 12y ago

pinar747 12y ago

How did the 2-year-old contract the virus in the first place?

Pxtl 12y ago
The article makes it clear that this is the big question. Suspects are fruit bat poop and bush meat.
- iaw 12y ago
  Wouldn't fruit bat poop be more likely? I mean, if it were bush meat I'd suspect it was prepared for the child in which case there would have been a second patient-zero. Whereas fruit bat poop can easily get into a 2 year-olds mouth without anyone noticing.
  - Pxtl 12y ago
    I think they're less sure that humans can catch it from fruit-bat poo.
  - meepmorp 12y ago
    > I mean, if it were bush meat I'd suspect it was prepared for the child in which case there would have been a second patient-zero. Just speculating, but maybe cooking the meat attenuated the virus, and it was only able to take hold in a person with an underdeveloped immune system. Or, maybe, the disease merely progressed faster in the child and so s/he only looks like patient zero, despite the rest of the people eating having gotten infected at the same time.
    - iaw 12y ago
      Good point. I hadn't thought of that, but it is completely plausible.
    - Pxtl 12y ago
      I'm sure the epidemiologists considered that possibility. If it was likely, they would have mentioned it.
wilsonfiifi 12y ago
Contaminated vaccine?

Zaheer 12y ago

The last piece of the article is painful to read. Anyone know how we can contribute to supplies, etc to fight Ebola? "A Desperate Call for Help By June and July, Sierra Leone was becoming the center of the outbreak. At the government hospital in Kenema, Dr. Sheik Umar Khan was leading the efforts to treat patients and control the epidemic. But he was desperate for supplies: chlorine for disinfection, gloves, goggles, protective suits, rudimentary sugar and salt solutions to fight dehydration and give patients a chance to survive. Early in July, he emailed friends and former medical school classmates in the United States, asking for their help and sending a spreadsheet listing what he needed, and what he had. Many of the lines in the “available” column were empty. One of his requests was for body bags: 3,000 adult, 2,000 child. Before his friends could send the supplies, Dr. Khan contracted Ebola himself. He died on July 29."

cmrivers 12y ago
Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) is an excellent choice. They have been integral to controlling several past Ebola outbreaks, and have been fighting this one since the beginning. They are almost entirely tapped out right now. http://www.msf.org http://www.msf.org I can't vouch for them, but the Liberian Ministry of Health also has donation instructions: http://www.mohsw.gov.lr http://www.mohsw.gov.lr
- ihodes 12y ago
  Not sure why you say MSF is "almost entirely tapped out"—from MSF's website "Please note that Doctors Without Borders' response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is fully funded." Nevertheless, they're a pretty excellent charity to donate to (c.f. http://www.givewell.org/international/charities/doctors-without-borders http://www.givewell.org/international/charities/doctors-with... and note they spend over 85% of funds on programs [~12% on fundraising, and ~1% on management]).
  - cmrivers 12y ago
    You're right, I revisited the article that gave me that impression [0], and it's very clear that staffing is the resource that is exhausted. Nonetheless, it's an excellent organization and a worthy cause in my opinion. [0] http://www.msf.org.uk/article/ebola-official-msf-response-who-declaring-epidemic-extraordinary-event http://www.msf.org.uk/article/ebola-official-msf-response-wh...

jhonovich 12y ago

"Unlike most previous outbreaks, which occurred in remote, localized spots, this one began in a border region where roads have been improved and people travel a lot. In this case, the disease was on the move before health officials even knew it had struck." What if someone in a major US city got infected? How bad could it get? Could they even contain it at that point?

SoftwareMaven 12y ago
The US has far better medical facilities, better supplies, better communication tools, better handling procedures for corpses and a society that doesn't stigmatize infectious diseases. Taken together, an outbreak here would look very different than an outbreak in Africa, even if a sick patient was dropped into Times Square.
- Raticide 12y ago
  But what if poor people in America get Ebola? They can't afford health care, so may end up hiding their illness to avoid the insane amounts of debt they would get themselves into.
  - SoftwareMaven 12y ago
    Nobody in the US can be denied emergency medical care, regardless of ability to pay. Poor people already know this, which is why inner-city emergency rooms are overwhelmed with things like "my baby has a cough", making a $50 office visit a $400 bill that will get written off.
    - erichocean 12y ago
      > Poor people already know this, which is why inner-city emergency rooms are overwhelmed with things like "my baby has a cough" The idea that poor children are just left to fend for themselves on basic healthcare like treating a cough in the US is blatantly false. Poor people who know about the emergency rooms also know that normal healthcare is available for poor children for free from the government, which they get and then take their kids to the doctor like everyone else when they have a cough. Seriously, the hysteria around people not having healthcare in the US is just incredible relative to the actual facts on the ground. Even if you believe Obama's "40 million without healthcare" claim (I don't), that's just 12% of the country, and the two most vulnerable populations—children and the elderly–were fully covered by the state already without the Obamacare regs. There are real problems with the US healthcare system; we don't need to start spouting nonsense like poor children can only get a cough treated at the emergency room for free.

basicplus2 12y ago

Nobody can be serious about containing this outbreak unless they stop the planes flying and close all borders.

NkVczPkybiXICG 12y ago
...or just move to Madagascar.

alukima 12y ago

Does the usage of African instead of Guinean bother anyone else? Africa is widely not recognized as a continent of distinct countries and this isn't helping. It's like referring to people from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as North Americans.

zachrose 12y ago
Yeah, the mistake of referring to Africa as a single nation is unfortunately common in the U.S., made by everyone from from leading Republican politicians to, more sadly, Clayton Kershaw. [1] http://www.africaisacontinent.com/common-mistake http://www.africaisacontinent.com/common-mistake [2] http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101220&content_id=16350030&vkey=news_la&c_id=la http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101220&content_id=...
FollowSteph3 12y ago
Most people compare it to the flu but what about norovirus. It's spread in a versus similar way and pretty much everyone in the US has had it at one time or another...
IvyMike 12y ago
There are countries named Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Guyana and French Guiana. I think I'm pretty well traveled but even I have difficulty sorting these all out. So even though "Guinean" would be accurate, it would still cause some confusion.