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CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
- MrZongle2 12y agoThe first questions that came to mind were: a) how did this person become exposed to Ebola and b) how did they end up in Dallas, Texas?
- ProAm 12y agoThe article says they placed them in quarantine based on their symptoms and recent travel history.
- MrZongle2 12y agoYes, but was this person intercepted at a point of entry into the United States, or did they go to a healthcare facility voluntarily once they started noticing symptoms, after they were already in the country? The former implies that there may be sufficient mechanisms in place to prevent a repeat incident. The latter does not.
- sjm-lbm 12y agoFWIW, though DFW is a very big airport, there are no direct flights from Africa that land there. If they ended up in Dallas, they at least stopped somewhere outside Africa before they got there.
- rjsw 12y agoThat would have to be somewhere in Europe.
- thrownaway2424 12y agoITA thinks there are routes from Monrovia to DFW which do not transit Europe. For example there is one via Casablanca and Montreal.
- saryant 12y agoThere are flights from west Africa to both Atlanta and Houston, plus some other cities. United services Nigeria and Ghana out of Houston and Dulles respectively, Delta has some flights to the same cities out of their hubs. It is most certainly possible to fly from west Africa to the US without transiting a third region.
- HillRat 12y agoI've always traveled through De Gaulle on my way to and from West Africa (used to take Air Afrique, but these days Air France, Ethiopian and Air Maroc all go to Bamako). However, since the patient wasn't symptomatic until they were in Dallas, transits and port-of-entry don't have to worry. There's a large, fairly dense immigrant neighborhood just east of the hospital in question (the IRC does a lot of refugee relocations there), so there may have been exposure in that area.
- endersshadow 12y agoFrom the article: "The patient developed symptoms days after returning to Texas from West Africa and was admitted into isolation on Sunday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas."
- res0nat0r 12y agoThe person left Liberia on 19 Sept and arrived here on 20 and had no symptoms when entering the country. On the 24th he developed symptoms, on the 26th he sought care and the 28th was admitted to the hospital. This is from the CDC briefing happening now.
- ChuckMcM 12y agoSo everyone he came in contact with for four days between the 24th and 28th is potentially infected. Hopefully a small set of people.
- ArtDev 12y agoRecently traveled, self-admitted to hospital. Bad news.
- ZanyProgrammer 12y agoWhy? I thought Ebola wasn't transmissible until symptoms appear.
- callahad 12y agoYou're correct. For instance, there's a lot of ill-founded concern around the flight the patient took into the US. The CDC is doing its damnedest to quell fears around it -- the patient wasn't symptomatic until four days after arrival -- but reason isn't always effective at moderating hysteria. The New York Times' headline, for instance, is currently "Airline Passenger With Ebola Is Under Treatment in Dallas," which is downright irresponsible. As for "bad news," the patient self-referred to the hospital, Ebola was not suspected, and the patient was initially sent home to recover. (S)he returned once conditions worsened and was then diagnosed with Ebola. Specifically, the patient arrived in the US on the 20th, became ill on the 24th, visited the hospital on the 26th, and was admitted on the 28th. Which means that Dallas had someone symptomatic in its midst for four days, which is rather unfortunate. Cite: http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/s930-ebola-confirmed-case.html http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/s930-ebola-confirmed-...
- comrh 12y agoAm I correct in assuming that cultural differences concerning death and the dead along with our healthcare system mean Ebola in America would be relatively containable?
- gtaylor 12y agoProbably. Ebola spreads through bodily fluids. This isn't the major, world-ending epidemic that the apocalypse chasers are looking for.
- Tyrannosaurs 12y agoYou're also not infectious until you're symptomatic which makes it easier to identify and contain. Ultimately it should be manageable so long as people follow instructions.
- Karunamon 12y agoI was about ready to ask that. The guy who's being treated wasn't symptomatic until days after he left the airport, which is encouraging to hear.
- Tyrannosaurs 12y agoApparently though he was symptomatic for a few days before going to hospital which is significantly not good.
- jonrimmer 12y agoIf it mutates and becomes airborne, it might be. That's why containment is so important, even if it doesn't seem so threatening in its current form. Viruses constantly mutate, and every extra person they infect gives them a million more opportunities to do so. All it takes is one of those mutations to make the virus airborne, and we're in big trouble.
- santosha 12y ago
- angersock 12y agoWas thinking about going to the state fair...nope nope nope.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y agoYour big risks in going to the state fair are mostly related to fried grease products.
- jgroszko 12y agoDo you frequently come into contact with other people's bodily fluids at the state fair?
- th0br0 12y agoLive feed: http://feed.matthewkeys.net/cbs-newspath/ http://feed.matthewkeys.net/cbs-newspath/
- FollowSteph3 12y agoWhat's going to be a real struggle is how do you differentiate between symptoms of the stomach flu, influenza, Ebola, and so on...
- giarc 12y agoWell someone that hasn't been to an affected country, or been in contact with the current case won't have Ebola.
- FollowSteph3 12y agoFor now...
- FollowSteph3 12y agoMy comment is getting down other yet not that log ago it was said our system was so good that someone with Ebola would be immediately quarantined: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/06/30/could-ebola-spread-to-united-states/ http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/06/30/could-ebola-spread-... I guess we missed the boat on that one. They were sent out and continued to expose people to the virus. Also the odds of it leaving Africa and coming to the us were virtually non-existant: 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... I guess that's another oops. People are underestimating this virus and whenever you underestimate something you generally later regret it. Hopefully I'm wrong for example, but I see too many people sending their sick kids to school and so on. I just think that although we can stop it, it's not nearly as easy as it's made it to be. And we need to stop it sooner than later. I hope I'm wrong but I dont want to find out the hard way. Assuming were bettr than a virus is never wise...
- wmgries 12y agoThey have a blood test...
- scragg 12y agoWe should be cautious and prepared for Ebola and not assume we can contain it. We use isolation chambers and a massive team of doctors in special rooms at the CDC just to take care of 2 people. I take a look at the hospitals in DFW and I doubt they can properly contain a handful of cases concurrently.
- giarc 12y agoAll hospitals can contain Ebola. This is not an airborne disease and therefore negative pressure isolation is not needed (unless performing aerosol generating procedures). All you need is a private room and proper PPE use and infection control procedures.
- aroch 12y agoMost modern / renovated hospitals (last ~10-15 years) have designed their isolation rooms to be negative pressure anyway and standard patient rooms also operate under negative pressure because of how airhandling is setup (albeit a very light negative pressure)
- giarc 12y agoPerhaps the US is different(I work in IPC in Canada), but most isolation rooms are not negative pressure capable. It is very expensive to design a room to accommodate negative pressure (separate air handling, HEPA filtered exhaust, sealing the room to the true ceiling). Most isolation rooms are designed to handle contact isolation patients, and therefore no negative pressure is needed.
- aroch 12y agoI'm mostly familiar with ER design so I may be off, as far as what "normal" rooms are like. But from my recollection there was a push after 9/11 to move any new isolation rooms to negative pressure and there were subsidies in place to encourage that. There was also a push to redo airhandling for standard rooms to approximate negative pressure but with less stringent scrubbing.
- pdeuchler 12y agoI'd be willing to bet a lot of money that the mass hysteria and paranoia coming from this will cause far greater damage than any actual cases
- dguaraglia 12y agoYup, time to buy some GSK shares...
- this_user 12y agoTKMR, BCRX and SRPT are the tickers that you are looking for.
- function_seven 12y agoWow, those after-hours bumps are quite pronounced. Now wondering if I should short them, go long, or keep my sanity and stay out altogether.
- Grazester 12y agoIf you wanted to long this stock you should have been on board more two months now. You are a lot late to the party.
- SapphireSun 12y agoIt's probably more appropriate to short it. Developed health systems aren't going to need ZMAPP to deal with ebola. Quarantine and a steady supply of sterile protective gear will do the trick.
- nether 12y agomass hysteria == internet posts about being scared Oh god the mayhem.
- 12y ago
- andrewchambers 12y agoI personally would be concerned if I was sat next to that person on the flight back home. Even if the fear is unrealistic. Don't tell me you would happily sitting and eating next to someone with confirmed ebola for 8 hours plus, because they haven't started showing symptoms at that very moment. I would at the very least go to a doctor to be sure.
- jMyles 12y ago...because during the flight you'd exchange bodily fluids? Or something?
- stephencanon 12y agoEven if you had, they weren’t contagious at that point. Sigh.
- andrewchambers 12y agoEven if that is true, would you be happy about the unnecessary risk. Only after it already happened they confirm if it is safe. On a global safety issue it isn't a problem, but on an individual level, it is scary.
- stephencanon 12y ago> Only after it already happened they confirm if it is safe. The passengers were screened for fever before boarding the plane. On the individual level there are thousands of better things to worry about.
- mikeash 12y agoIt's not an unnecessary risk, because "risk" requires there to be some chance of danger. Ebola isn't contagious until symptoms appear, thus there was no risk at that stage.
- trose 12y agoWell people do tend to spit in minuscule amounts when they speak. The person could also cough and throw spit around. It wouldn't be entirely impossible to contract it by sitting near someone for several hours.
- dildog 12y agoI am more terrified by those news women's artificial appearances than by ebola, I gotta admit.
- dildog 12y ago-12 for being honest? Keep them coming then.
- nmjohn 12y agoHow are you all of you supposedly smart people (you're on hackernews - does that not mean anything anymore?) making such baseless and ignorant comments? If you don't have a degree in a related field or haven't spent any amount of time studying disease (and no, Pandemic the game does not count) you have NO BUSINESS making comments on the preparedness of the US healthcare system - or on how the disease may affect anything. All you are doing is spreading FUD - you are acting like Fox News and it is downright shameful.
- giarc 12y agoPeople should be able to critically appraise the source of the comments.
- tinalumfoil 12y agoDon't you think its a little pretentious to imply those that browse Hacker News are somehow smarter than others in a comment on Hacker News? If you have a legitimate criticism of any of these posts feel free to reply. Better yet, post the type of well-researched article you yearn for on here (you commented on this thread so I assume you have experience in studying disease).
- nmjohn 12y ago> Don't you think its a little pretentious to imply those that browse Hacker News are somehow smarter than others in a comment on Hacker News? No. Some people are smarter than others - that's a fact. Hacker news consists of technical discussions on complex topics. Those kind of discussions tend to draw in more intelligent people. Therefore, I have no problem concluding that hn readers are likely to be more intelligent than average.
- kyro 12y agoBe thankful the topic isn't mental illness.
- rnovak 12y agoI love how you're complaining about people posting without authority, meanwhile not providing a reason that we should listen. Can you say hypocrite?
- lee 12y agoAm I one of the minorities who believe that this hype about Ebola is more sensationalism and news than an actual pandemic we should be fearful for? Let's take a lot at what we can agree on: * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. * The virus doesn't appear to lie dormant, and is only contagious when the patient becomes symptomatic. The chances of contracting the disease in a western country so far is near 0. The chances of contracting the disease in AFRICA is fairly improbable too. It really sounds like sensationalism at its finest.
- jonknee 12y agoFar from the only one, but it's obvious why it is captivating. It has a high fatality rate (>50%) and is quick not to mention graphic. Oh and there's not a cure (though that may be changing!).
- timr 12y agoIs the current media frenzy "sensationalism"? Yes. Is there a risk here? Yes, a small one. I understand, but am frustrated by, the number of people who keep repeating "it's not airborne", as if this is some kind of definitive argument that a virus cannot spread here. Something like 80% of cold/flu infections happen via "bodily fluids" -- people snot on a surface, someone else touches the surface, then touch their face, etc. This is an effective means of virus transmission. A virus doesn't need to be airborne for a pandemic to occur. That said, we have a number of advantages over rural Africa in dealing with illnesses -- we have high standards of sanitation, good electricity, clean water, and our population is generally not afraid of physicians (with notable exceptions in some minority communities). But our biggest advantage, by far, is that Ebola isn't endemic here. Our best and most effective screen is "have you been to Africa recently?" If that screen loses its effectiveness, you start to have to worry about every patient presenting with a fever and diarrhea, and the epidemiology becomes quite difficult. We're not really prepared for everyone with a fever and vomiting showing up at the emergency room...and it won't take many patients (a few thousand, say) for things to get tense.
- marcelsalathe 12y ago
- samsaccone 12y agoHere is a nifty set of OS data to track the ebola outbreak https://github.com/cmrivers/ebola https://github.com/cmrivers/ebola
- tomelders 12y agoI'm having a hard time accepting the "everyone should stop being stupid and stop panicking about Ebola" argument. To me, an uneducated observer, the problem only appears to be getting worse. And it has gotten significantly worse in spite of all the reassurances that it would not get worse. i think a lot of the vitriol aimed at people who are worried and a little freaked out by Ebola is unfair. People have lost their minds over much easier to understand and less worrying issues before and those peoples concerns have been met with respectful, educated correction. Now it seems to have descended into name calling and ridicule.
- JimboOmega 12y agoI don't see anybody panicking. And if anything, I've seen calls for more resources, calls to "do more" about Ebola, etc. Mostly to control it in Africa. There's the "We are losing the fight to contain Ebola" line, and there's the "it'll never spread outside west Africa" line. Both of which can be (And are, apparently) true - it may become endemic to West Africa, but much like Malaria, it won't be a threat to the developed world.
- aeturnum 12y agoI think that it's totally appropriate to be alarmed by Ebola and the damage it's doing to the people and communities affected. It seems like people understand person concern, and are more trying to discourage un-informed reactions. I don't mean I know better - just that I'm not trained in public health and neither are most of the people who are being alarmist. The WHO has encouraged the international community to react more strongly to ebola, and I certainly support that. However, I can still look askance at people with no expertise who think we should all be more frightened / upset / etc.
- heurist 12y agoSame here. There have been seemingly credible sources saying it will go nowhere and other seemingly credible sources saying we're too late to stop it from spreading. It's hard to figure out where to fall on this as an uneducated, relatively detached observer.
- WettowelReactor 12y ago
- nikolaj 12y agoThe headline variations are quite interesting: CNBC: First confirmed case of Ebola confirmed in the United States: CDC NYT: Airline Passenger With Ebola Is Under Treatment in Dallas BBC: First Ebola case diagnosed on US soil CNN: Ebola case is the first diagnosed in the U.S. FOX: EBOLA HITS AMERICA CDC identifies first case on US soil Obviously Fox takes the FUD crown, but I thought the NYT actually misrepresented it a bit..
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- k-mcgrady 12y ago>> "Obviously Fox takes the FUD crown, but I thought the NYT actually misrepresented it a bit.." I actually think they were closest to accurate. The other headlines all make it sound like this man caught ebola in the US. They are the only one to indicate he was abroad. I think they've undersold it a bit as he spent several days in the US before being isolated but everyone else has sensationalised to an extent imo (or written the headline in a way that allows us, the reader, to accidentally sensationalise it).
- GrinningFool 12y agoLooking just at the headline, you only know that he was an airline passenger and not abroad. Too, you know immediately that he was in an airliner - a small metal tube, with hundreds of people breathing the same air! It's actually a pretty masterful headline, in that it doesn't actually come out and say any of that. It seems calm and fairly accurate, but is worded very carefully to encourage fear. Nothing accidental there.
- hga 12y agoUntil he was symptomatic, 4 days after arriving, he wasn't infectious. Or so we believe, with a fair amount of data; obviously we'll be drastically extending our knowledge over the next few years.
- davycro 12y agoCould be worse. The pandemic will start if Ebola spreads to a low-resource country with a large urban population. Worst case, in my opinion, would be an Ebola case diagnosed in Johannesburg.
- sanxiyn 12y agoEbola already spread to Nigeria, but it seems to be contained now. Nigeria has more urban population but less resource than South Africa, so I don't think South Africa is the worst case.
- buyx 12y agoIt would be cause for concern if it started spreading in the South African public healthcare system, where infection control (or doing their work) is not a high priority for many staff (http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S0256-95742010000700009&script=sci_arttext http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S0256-95742010000700...). On the other hand, private hospitals have the same, or similarly trained nurses, who do a great job. So hopefully the nurses' self-preservation instincts will kick in, and similar levels of isolation to those found in advanced healthcare systems will be deployed quickly if it starts spreading in the public healthcare system.
- nl 12y agoJohannesburg has a population of ~10 million (including connected urban areas) and is quite a long way from the affected areas. OTOH, Lagos has a population of around 20 million and is within hundreds of kilometers of active cases. It's almost 10 times more densely populated than Johannesburg too (20,008/km2 vs 2,900/km2).
- EtienneK 12y agoThere were cases of Ebola here in Johannesburg in 1996 [1]. Seems like we did a good job of containing it then, since no other cases have been reported since. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease#mediaviewer/File:EbolaSubmit2.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease#mediaviewer...
- captainbenises 12y agoMeanwhile, over 3000 dead in west africa.
- Grazester 12y agoI have always been a bit of a hypochondriac and I was worried about ebola spreading world wide in 1995 during the Zaire outbreak. I was 12 years old at the time and my classmates laughed at me. I just hope that I wouldn't have the last laugh(more like cry).
- dreamweapon 12y ago"It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual...could develop Ebola in the coming weeks," Frieden said, but added that "there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here," Frieden said. General rule of thumb: Anytime someone says "there is no doubt in my mind about X", you can be pretty sure that yeah, they do have a lot of doubt in their mind about X.
- dpcan 12y agoHi, I'm in the freaking-out crowd... Everyone with the "stay calm" attitude is lucky. This whole virus seems like such a "matter of time" situation. #1 finally showed up in the U.S. Do you really think it will just stay at 1? What are they doing with the beds he slept on, the towels he used after a shower, the glasses he drank out of? Did he go to a restaurant? A ball game? Who knows? How much time do we have until it's in a school, on a subway, or your neighbor has it. Nobody even knows what to do. The first thing Americans do when they get sick is GO TO THE STORE. They go get some over-the-counter med. Literally, the first thing people in this country are going to do is go out and expose more people once symptoms start to appear. Bodily fluids. A sweaty, feverish person is going to touch a door handle, counter, and anything else along the way. We won't even be able to pump gas without rubber gloves. My checker at Fred Meyer today blew her nose and proceeded to touch every one of my groceries and scan them. It was disgusting. I literally sterilized yogurt containers when I got home. People have no sense of how to keep their germs to themselves. Ebola starts with fever and vomiting and diarrhea, from what I've read. How are our sewer treatment facilities going to fare? Seriously, this is going to become a nightmare.
- HillRat 12y agoLet me set your mind at ease: I was actually at the hospital in question all day today (disclaimer: non-medical personnel, just coincidence) and I was in more danger from the sushi at dinner than the Ebola in the ICU. Yes, there is a small chance of a multifocal outbreak, though CDC has moved quickly to identify and isolate potential contacts. There is an infinitesimal but still nonzero chance of an honest-to-god epidemic. But medical institutions and the federal government have wargamed all sorts of epidemic scenarios in the decade and a half of OMG ANTHRAX/SMALLPOX/H-N-SOMETHING-SOMETHING panic we've endured. Even in the (vanishingly unlikely) worst case scenario, state and local authorities have extremely expansive authorities to impose and enforce isolation and quarantines, violation of which (in Texas) is a third-degree felony. (CDC, under HHS delegation, can also impose quarantines to prevent interstate spread of disease, but generally this is left up to the state.) Dallas and surrounding communities could enforce a quarantine and let the outbreak burn out that way, although the economic cost would be enormous. But even mid-tier nations like Nigeria -- which spends per-capita 1% of what the US does on its health system, and which has what could be charitably described as a less-effective government -- have been able to stop Ebola cold with far less drastic action. In truth, the greater threat comes from citizens who could mob doctors' offices and ERs, demanding nonexistent ZMAPP cocktails for garden-variety seasonal flu symptoms. Unsurprisingly, there's not much medical surge capacity in most hospitals, and beds and labs are in chronically short supply. Health system resource consumption by scared but non-sick patients is a far more likely cause of mortality than an Ebola outbreak.
- kenjackson 12y agoIf you were on a plane coming back from Europe and the guy in the seat next to you said he was just coming back from spending a year in Liberia, what would you do? Would you sit there and just make sure he didn't spit on you? Or would you go sit in the bathroom for the flight? Curious as to how people would react...
- crimsonalucard 12y agoWell it depends on whether that guy has Ebola or not.
- giarc 12y agoAs stated by the director of the CDC in the press conference, all air passengers departing the affected countries are screened for fever. Fever is most often the first symptoms present, and therefore you can logically believe that if the passenger left Liberia and is on a plane, he does not have Ebola (or is not symptomatic for Ebola). Therefore I would be fine sitting beside him.
- kenjackson 12y agoEurope isn't an affected area. No one on my flight from London was checked. It certainly wouldn't be hard to get from Liberia to Europe with no fever, and then board a plane with fever and sweats.
- giarc 12y agoI can speak to the Canadian process. Public Health Agency of Canada is stationed at all major airports and screen passengers that trips originate in an affected country. We had a suspect patient that had arrived from Germany that begin in Nigeria. Due to the routing, they were screened here when they landed in Canada. Theoretically someone could fly from an affected country to Europe. Spend a few days and book another trip to North America and not be screened. However triage process in hospitals is that patients with fever greater than 38.6C are asked if they have spent any time in an Ebola affected country within the past 21 days (high end of incubation period).
- ackalker 12y agoHeadline: "First confirmed case of Ebola confirmed in the United States: CDC" Article: "[...] an unnamed patient was being tested for Ebola [...]" (emphasis mine) Besides the obvious pleonasm in the title ("confirmed [...] confirmed" doesn't make it doubly so), nowhere in the article does it say that anyone is certain that this man actually has Ebola, as obviously, tests are still being done. Until the results of these tests are in, there is no confirmation. Is this some kind of reading comprehension test being dumped on HN? For what nefarious, crowd sourced, statistical research project? <grin>
- arrrg 12y agoThe patient was tested in two different laboratories (CDC and another one in Texas). The test is “highly accurate”. It’s Ebola. Watch the video embedded in this to get the verbatim statement of the director of the CDC: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/health/airline-passenger-with-ebola-is-under-treatment-in-dallas.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/health/airline-passenger-w...
- ackalker 12y ago'Was' obviously is in past tense. If there is high likelyhood of it being Ebola, the article should have made that clear in the very first (few) paragraphs, like stating that further tests are being done to strengthen the confirmation. Edit: Ah, I understand now that the CDC has a rather peculiar definition of "case" of illness, see giarc's comment below for a link.
- maxerickson 12y agoThe CNBC article was put up before the CDC press conference (and seems maybe a little slapped together). arrrg is pointing you at a more recent article that obviates the need to parse up the CNBC article, in the video the director of the CDC states that the lab tests have confirmed it is Ebola.
- ck2 12y agoFor something that is supposed to be hard to spread, sure is mysterious how people are getting it. This person wasn't a doctor. Also, we are relying on another country to screen people at airports before they leave. Somehow I suspect this is not being done in a serious manner, ala-TSA.
- JBiserkov 12y agoQuestion to all who suggested "Ban all flights from countries with Ebola" (myself included): Do we now ban flights from the US? I'm only half joking.
- pistle 12y agoSpeculation that the person had a hunch they were about to get sick and figured, "what the heck, might as well get to the US where they'll save me... it's kinda glum here in Liberia anyways?"
- sparkzilla 12y agoMy handy Ebola timeline: http://newslines.org/ebola/ http://newslines.org/ebola/
- FollowSteph3 12y agoWhy is it that almost all comments worried about the Ebola virus are down it's and flagged, regardless of their quality? That alone is very telling :( Ps: yes I expect to see this doe voted too :(
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- bhousel 12y agoJust reposting a comment that I made earlier today (re Syria, but apropos here too): IF you have some free time, the Humanitarian Openstreetmap Team (HOT) is always looking for volunteer mappers. The current ebola outbreak is the #1 priority for HOT. Tracing buildings, roads, and other features from aerial imagery is something that anybody can do, and it provides immediate benefit to volunteers from the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders (DWB/MSF), IFRC and other humanitarian organizations on the ground responding to the crisis. To map something now: http://tasks.hotosm.org/ http://tasks.hotosm.org/ More on HOT: http://hot.openstreetmap.org/get-involved http://hot.openstreetmap.org/get-involved "HOT benefits from contributors with a wide range of interests and experience. Almost anyone can make a tremendous contribution to our projects by contributing mapping, but we're also very pleased to hear from developers, documenters and ideas hackers that can engage with us and our work."
- DanBC 12y agoI was sad to see this post get downvotes. OpenStreet Map need to be commended for their humanitarian work. Their work helped in Haiti and could help here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8517057.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8517057.stm http://hot.openstreetmap.org/projects/haiti-2 http://hot.openstreetmap.org/projects/haiti-2 There are simple easy things that people can do that are useful.
- micro_cam 12y agoThis is a great semi formal interview with a local infectious disease specialist I heard on montana public radio yesterday that gives a rather unique view: http://mtpr.org/post/missoula-doctor-ebola-front-lines http://mtpr.org/post/missoula-doctor-ebola-front-lines As he explains, Montana has one of the few labs in the country (actually in the small town I live in) where you can work on live ebola cultures so we have medical people trained to deal with ebola etc and some also have been spending time in africa.
- hga 12y agoNot many BSL4 labs in the whole world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level And only 15 in the US planned or capable of operating at that level. At least a couple will only do BSL4 work if surge capacity is needed.
- micro_cam 12y agoAnd I bet Rocky Mountain Labs is the only such facility to include a log cabin on the grounds ;) Actually the history of RML is pretty cool. It was founded in a tent in the early 1900s to study Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and early researchers included the founder of the frozen foods industry (Clarence Birdseye). http://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/dir/rml/pages/history.aspx http://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/dir/rml/pages/hi... (The BSL 4 is in a modern building that, amongst other measures, maintains a negative air pressure os any leaks are leaks into the building.)
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- forthesheeple 12y agoWhy don't they just stop the flights to and from infected areas until it's "under control". Or why don't they stop the plane at a base and check everyone on board before allowing them back into society? This country's leaders can't be that stupid.