Ebola is already in the United States

[SidDithers]

http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2014/08/02/ebola-is-already-in-the-united-states/

It’s odd to see otherwise pretty rational folks getting nervous about the news that the American Ebola patients are being flown back to the United States for treatment. “What if Ebola gets out?” “What if it infects the doctors/pilots/nurses taking care of them?” “I don’t want Ebola in the US!”

Friends, I have news for you: Ebola is *already* in the US.

Ebola is a virus with no vaccine or cure. As such, any scientist who wants to work with the live virus needs to have biosafety level 4 facilities (the highest, most secure labs in existence–abbreviated BSL4) available to them. We have a number of those here in the United States, and people are working with many of the Ebola types here. Have you heard of any Ebola outbreaks occurring here in the US? Nope. These scientists are highly trained and very careful, just like people treating these Ebola patients and working out all the logistics of their arrival and transport will be.

Second, you might not know that we’ve already experienced patients coming into the US with deadly hemorrhagic fever infections. We’ve had more than one case of imported Lassa fever, another African hemorrhagic fever virus with a fairly high fatality rate in humans (though not rising to the level of Ebola outbreaks). One occurred in Pennsylvania; another in New York just this past April; a previous one in New Jersey a decade ago. All told, there have been at least 7 cases of Lassa fever imported into the United States–and those are just the ones we know about, who were sick enough to be hospitalized, and whose symptoms and travel history alerted doctors to take samples and contact the CDC. It’s not surprising this would show up occasionally in the US, as Lassa causes up to 300,000 infections per year in Africa.

How many secondary cases occurred from those importations? None. Like Ebola, Lassa is spread human to human via contact with blood and other body fluids. It’s not readily transmissible or easily airborne, so the risk to others in US hospitals (or on public transportation or other similar places) is quite low.

snip

So, sure, be concerned. But be rational as well. Yes, we know all too well that our public health agencies can fuck up. I’m not saying there is zero chance of something going wrong. But it is low. As an infectious disease specialist (and one with an extreme interest in Ebola), I’m way more concerned about influenza or measles many other “ordinary” viruses than I am about Ebola. Ebola is exotic and its symptoms can be terrifying, but also much easier to contain by people who know their stuff.

Tara C Smith - Associate Professor, lab rat (microbiologist/infectious disease epidemiologist) and occasional blogger, full-time nerd


Be rational. That's a really good message when dealing with most science.

More at link.

Sid

[TwilightGardener]

1. Meh. They don't have a handle on why this is spreading so quickly, especially

to health care workers who are educated and taking precautions. So forgive me if I have little faith in the "experts". It's not panic, for me, BTW. It's concern.

[louis-t]

2. I remember Lassa fever....

It was a big deal on General Hospital in the '70s.

[conservaphobe]

3. Ignorance and fear go hand in hand. nt

[In_The_Wind]

4. Kickin' this because we should be thinking rationally.

[William769]

5. Kick & recommended.

[pinboy3niner]

6. K&R

[MikeW]

7. except

Theres a HUGE difference between handling it in a lab and having an infectious patient in contact with health care workers.

Fear is a good thing ... it keeps you smart and alive.

What I fear the most is not the virus .. but complacency from working with something that infectious routinely. As in CDC and their recent serious lapses in protocol. I have zero confidence in some doctor at a teaching hospital no matter how much training they have had.

[Cali_Democrat]

8. DU rec

Last edited Sat Aug 2, 2014, 05:30 PM - Edit history (1)

I can't believe DUers are freaking out about this.

I would expect this from reactionary conservatives, but not from people who allegedly believe in science.

Pathetic.

[MikeW]

9. theres a difference

between believing in science and believing in the people handling the situation.

The CDC hardly has a stellar reputation lately dealing with deadly viruses.

[jeff47]

12. Yes, look at the massive piles of dead bodies from the CDC mishandling viruses.

Oh wait, those don't exist.

[MikeW]

15. you should read this

Before you post stupid comments like that. But thank you for your mature reply.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/07/28/want-to-avoid-a-pandemic-heres-a-good-way-to-start/

I stand by the previous comment ... the CDC wouldnt have shut down 2 labs because they found no problems.

[jeff47]

18. You should learn to count

What's the number of dead?

Zero.

Heck, what's the number of people exposed who actually developed symptoms?

Zero. At least, zero reported.

So perhaps we could stop the stupid panic and deal with reality instead of what someone thinks might possibly happen without even knowing what the specific problems at the lab are.

[LisaL]

19. Number of researchers who died while studying some deadly disease is not zero.

"Dr. William Schaffner, president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., said procedures and protocols can never eliminate the hazards of working with infectious diseases."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/death-highlights-hazards-infectious-disease-research/story?id=16270071

[jeff47]

22. Good thing "all scientists who ever studied diseases" isn't what he's talking about.

Instead, he's claiming the CDC is dangerous. And quoting articles demanding we stop all research on influenza.

[LisaL]

26. Luckily people haven't died in a latest mishap.

But a bunch of chickens did. Who is it going to be next time, that is the question.

"In one newly disclosed incident, CDC scientists contaminated samples of low-pathogenic bird flu viruses with a highly pathogenic strain and in March shipped them to a Department of Agriculture lab, where the viruses promptly killed all the chickens exposed to them."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2693747/Eleven-scientists-biosafety-panel-FIRED-CDC-reveals-bird-flu-breach-following-anthrax-debacle.html#ixzz39L4lo4yK
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[jeff47]

34. Yes, clearly it's time to leave all research up to the pharmaceutical industry

I'm absolutely sure they wouldn't screw anything up, and be 100% accountable if they did.

The claim above is that if the CDC keeps doing research, large swaths of people will die. So we need to have the CDC stop all research into deadly human viruses.

Those viruses will still be around. And they'll still be killing people. And leaving it all up to the private sector is a terrible idea if you are actually concerned about accountability.

[MikeW]

20. YOU SHOULD LEARN TO READ AND COMPREHEND!!

My point was NOT referring to deaths ... THE POINT WAS A PATTERN OF NEGLIGENCE in handling hazardous materials!!!!!

[jeff47]

21. As should you

My point is the "pattern" is not actually there. It's overblown by people who want you to panic, and thus read what they are saying about it.

And you're doing an excellent job.

If there actually was a pattern, someone would have gotten sick by now.

Did they screw up? Yes. But you're quoting people who demand we stop all research on influenza.

[MikeW]

23. no pattern I see so ...

The CDC director orders 2 labs closed immediately for no reason.

And his azz is hauled up to testify for no reason ... I see ... no alarm

Let me tell you something ... Ive worked for the government for 22 years and I can tell you with GREAT confidence the same

laxness that exists in my own organization exists in every agency because during that career Ive worked with many other

agencies and I see the same song over and over.

There is NO accountability for employees when they screw up big. NONE.

[jeff47]

25. So we need to let people die by stopping all research on influenza.

Flu vaccines? Too dangerous to develop. Possible treatments? Let's leave that all that to the pharmaceutical industry. I'm sure they're 100% accountable when their labs screw up.

Again, if the situation is as awful as you claim, that would have been true for a long time now. So how come nobody's gotten sick?

[MikeW]

27. heres what Im saying

Tighten up the labs

Fire those who were responsible for the incidents as well as management that oversaw the programs. This is the single biggest problem working for the government. Im pretty confident the individuals in the CDC responsible for those incidents (esp. the freezer bags ) were moved to other jobs but rec. no reprimand or were terminated. There is NO accountability in the gov. everything is swept under the rug no matter how dangerous the incident was.

HIRE a safety and health officer that has full control over the labs how they operate and give that individual full authority to

Immediately shut the lab down if there is a violation until it is corrected.

[KurtNYC]

30. Yes. There are issues that need addressing and some labs have been closed

In one episode last month, at least 62 C.D.C. employees may have been exposed to live anthrax bacteria after potentially infectious samples were sent to laboratories unequipped to handle them. Employees not wearing protective gear worked with bacteria that were supposed to have been killed but may not have been. All were offered a vaccine and antibiotics, and the agency said it believed no one was in danger.

In a second accident, disclosed Friday, a C.D.C. lab accidentally contaminated a relatively benign flu sample with a dangerous H5N1 bird flu strain that has killed 386 people since 2003. Fortunately, a United States Agriculture Department laboratory realized that the strain was more dangerous than expected and alerted the C.D.C.

In addition to those mistakes, Dr. Frieden also announced Friday that two of six vials of smallpox recently found stored in a National Institutes of Health laboratory since 1954 contained live virus capable of infecting people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/science/cdc-closes-anthrax-and-flu-labs-after-accidents.html?_r=1

[MikeW]

31. managespeak ... no one was fired or disciplined

[bvar22]

10. " Have you heard of any Ebola outbreaks occurring here in the US?"

I never heard of Boa Constrictors in the Florida Everglades either......
until I did.

[dembotoz]

11. for me it is not panic-don't let em in it is damn Ebola is some nasty shit and we better have our

game on.

[jeff47]

13. If it wasn't panic, you'd have noticed the entire point of the OP

which is Ebola was already in this country.

[Lurks Often]

14. Do you really expect the CDC and the others to say otherwise?

I certainly hope the CDC and others are right and I will be extremely happy to be wrong on this.

But does any really expect the CDC and others to come out public and say "This is a horrible idea and if Ebola breaks quarantine a great many people are going to die, because the hospitals and medical workers will never be able to treat all of them"?

[sheshe2]

16. DU Rec!

[steve2470]

17. k&r nt

[Avalux]

24. Ebola is its own worst enemy anyway.

Unless it mutates so as to allow for airborne transmission (highly unlikely), ebola burns itself out before a pandemic can occur. In its current form, a pandemic is not biologically possible. So what we see are limited epidemics in the poorest parts of Africa where poor medical infrastructure and lack of infection control allow it to spread. It takes awhile to contain, hopefully that will occur soon.

There are all sorts of scary bugs in US labs; no need to spend energy worrying about them. And no need to spend energy worrying about an Ebola outbreak here in the US. What we need to worry about are the regulations governing the labs, and funding to ensure they're secure.

[SidDithers]

28. Really good post...

Thanks for adding that very sane and informed opinion to the thread.

Sid

[Avalux]

29. You're welcome....

I've got a perverse fascination with bacteria and viruses; spent the bulk of my career researching infectious diseases, mostly HIV infection. 10 years of that time working for the government.

Another thought which I haven't seen yet - most of those affected by this Ebola outbreak are not in optimal health anyway. If a population is malnourished and underweight, and has various comorbidities, then the mortality rate will be much higher. A healthy person has a much better chance of survival.

I'm more worried about community-acquired pan-resistant bacteria. There isn't enough work being done to develop novel antibiotics.

[TeeYiYi]

32. k+r...

...for your contributions to this thread. Thank you Avalux.

TYY

[Proud Liberal Dem]

33. I'm trying to remain calm

I have been reading the increasingly concerning reports coming out of Africa about the Ebola outbreak and worrying about it breaking out of its space over there and jumping across the pond over here come to find out that we are actually BRINGING IT OVER HERE ourselves. The CDC and other experts don't seem that concerned about it, which, I guess, makes me feel a little better but I also know that nothing is foolproof despite our best intentions. Also, although our health care infrastructure in our country is light years above Africa, we still have too many not covered with health insurance (especially in "red" parts of the country like, well, Georgia) whom might be reluctant to take themselves to their doctor or to the ER and go about their normal business even if they were to get sick with something like Ebola (which initially mimics other things). Stuff like this seems to be the best argument for a universal health coverage system IMHO.

[NuclearDem]

35. K&R for a bit of sanity on this issue.

[longship]

36. Good one. And I love Tara Smith. R&K nt