Ebola

Just to add he was very reassuring, and explained how simple an organism it is (a long thread that can be easily broken) and that it can be very easily destroyed by hot water and soap unlike other organisms. This is one of the reasons he argues that it will never get a foot hold in countries which have access to water, and a good sewerage system unlike those countries in West Africa. He is not arguing that we will never have incidents of the ebola bug, but that it will not find life very easy in countries that have a good level of developed infrastructure like access to water and sewerage.

Yes, that as well as a lot else. Nice chappy I thought

So what did he say Whitewave?
That the virus is not airborne and can only be transmitted by contact with body fluids?

The BBC have interviewed a chap from one of the London Universities, a few time now. I think he is a Biologist. He is good, and explains things very simply.

I completely agree with Harrigan and also believe if a stop on any travel from areas with the disease had been put in place, long before now, we would not now be dealing with having to rely on screening to detect any infected travellers entering other countries.

That won't do much good though, will it?

Quarantine? (people coming from affected areas)

Screening to start tomorrow at some airports,about time I think.

I've just been reading the Cox& Kings brochure 2015 which offers a visit to West Africa with meetings with farmers and artisans and a voodoo ceremony. I'm wondering if they will have any takers for next year.

I do remember going to philadelphia in the Seventies just after an outbreak of what is now known to be Legionnaires ' Disease. At the time we were staying at the hotel where the outbreak started . People were going past with masks over their faces. They were mocked by the authorities as not understanding the disease. Actually the neurotic panickers were right. The disease is airborne. SARS survived on case notes and that was the cause of several deaths. I'm with the panickers and feel these countries should be put in quarantine.

But harrigran the stable door is open and the horse has bolted.

This is West Africa we are talking about. Yes, education is important but I'm sure most of us on this forum would breath a sigh of relief if a vaccine was available should this go pandemic.

From what I've read only the most stringent hygiene is effective when paired with protective clothing. And people are infectious before they show any symptoms which is why the screening at airports is just PR.

I feel sorry for the families of our troops who are going out there to build hospitals. All those lovely brave boys (and girls), many with young families, being exposed to the possible risk of infection actually makes me very angry. I know they joined up to possibly go to war and get killed but to me this is different....

Developing a vaccine is not the answer to this disease. Education in hygiene and the need to stop eating animals that are not actually a food.
When I was nursing we had a D&V outbreak in one of the wards, it was closed down and everyone stayed within a given space, staff were not allowed to mix with other staff. We were served meals in a room next to the ward and everything used was disposable. The outbreak was contained. If you voluntarily enter a seriously infected area you have to be prepared to remain there.

My DIL has just taken voluntary redundancy from Monarch Airlines. She was a senior flight attendant for many years but Monarch are now in financial trouble so she jumped while the going was good.

Given that her long haul flights were often to African countries I am SO relieved.

This disease has been around since about 2000. Sporadic outbreaks here and there in Africa, like other diseases such as Lassa Fever.

Why haven't vaccine been developed beforehand? I think we can all guess the answer to that.

When (hopefully) this is all over I think we should call on our leaders to put pressure on the World Health Organisation and drug companies to be proactive and develop vaccines for these deadly diseases before we face a similar outbreak in years to come.

It must be very worrying for parents with children going to university at the moment, perhaps sharing kitchens and bathrooms with students form West Africa. I would worry so much.

Regarding screening, The Chief Medical Officer has admitted it's a futile gesture:

"Dame Sally, England's chief medical officer and chief medical adviser to the UK government, said any cases in Britain would be "spill-over" from West Africa.

She said the screening was "unlikely" to pick up many cases, "if any". But she stressed the "great advantage" would be that people would be alerted to what symptoms to look for and what to do if they fell ill.

This would reduce their chances of dying and of spreading the virus to others, she said."

From the BBC news website.

So why not just tell people what the symptoms are?

The UK today ran an exercise to test its readiness to deal with an Ebola outbreak. It showed a medic arriving in full protective gear to deal with a black man who had collapsed. He (the collapsed man) then informed them he had been in an infected region.

Sorry to sound sceptical but does that mean that now every time someone collapses, medics will arrive fully kitted out - just in case?

Surely the best way to prevent this becoming a pandemic is for WHO to insist that every country throws sufficient money, resources and aid into the affected areas to contain the outbreaks?

Agree with Harrigran,steps have to be taken urgently.

Not going to add a lot as I stick to my posts at the beginning of this thread.

I still feel that this will become more of an issue than first thought and I don't see how it can be stopped.

I am not being a scare mongerer, I'm not panicking but I am being realistic about how easy this is horrible disease can spread and I hope we have in place sufficient means to deal with it, not a lot more can be done but to contain it is there.

It is time to stop pussy-footing and insist on burning of bodies and never mind screening at UK airports, stop them leaving the disease ridden areas. In major outbreaks like this people have to accept that they can't dictate to the authorities.

I remember that when the SARS fears were around they screened an awful lot of people and didn't find one

A virologist on the news this morning said that he thinks the same will happen with the screening at airports. He said that there is a 21 day incubation period for the virus so it is unlikely that it would be picked up. Apparently, the questioning relies on people being truthful about where they've been.

On another area of the news, it was said that, in Africa, the BBC is highly regarded and watched frequently - so anyone worried about being screened will simply fly to the NE of England instead.

It does make me wonder why the Government did a U-turn on screening.

Anno I wondered if tradition came into it, but surely under the circumstances that should be over-ruled.

Also, I realise they wouldn't have crematoria, but they could perhaps have funeral pyres & adapt their ceremony?

they are cremating in Liberia, out of desperation

I assume that they don't cremate the bodies because that is not the local tribal tradition. In many cases, members of the family or tribe expect to touch the body before burial. Of course this is likely to increase the rate of transmission of Ebola, but there are not enough health workers to be able to educate to population of these countries about the facts. I doubt that there are crematoria in West Africa, unless, perhaps in the cities.

The trouble is that the experts don't really know exactly how it's spread. Someone asked if it could be insect borne and the expert said it was an interesting question as with the vomiting and diarrhoea there would be insects attracted in a hot country. I remember that when the SARS fears were around they screened an awful lot of people and didn't find one . And of course people lie.oh no I've never been to......when asked at immigration.ebola spreads very quickly . I do hope they keep updates on the man's friends and family in Dallas and don't shutdown news because of panic