Stay Calm and Carry On: Why it’s nearly impossible for Ebola to spread in the US
Well, it finally happened: The US just got its first case of Ebola. Health officials have confirmed that a man recently admitted to a Dallas hospital has come down with the deadly virus, which has already killed more than 3,000 people in West Africa. The patient was admitted based on both symptoms and “travel history“—presumably he had been in West Africa—and is now being held in “strict isolation,” say officials.
Below are excerpts from an earlier Quartz piece on a New York patient suspected of carrying the Ebola virus that explore why Americans would do well not to panic:
If your Twitter feed is anything like mine, news that Ebola might have turned up in Manhattan is freaking out a lot of Americans. “Helpful” bits of commentary include as that it’s “deadly uncurable,” has a 90% fatality rate, and causes “a hemorrhagic fever that eventually leads to a complete bleed-out.” Today’s news merely amplifies the anxiety that’s been building since word got out that two Americans infected with Ebola have been moved to US hospitals for treatment.
There are plenty of people who should be protecting themselves against Ebola’s spread—and they live in West Africa. Those of us who are in the US should feel comforted by the following:- Ebola’s not airborne. It can only be spread through bodily fluids. The virus spreads when blood, semen, urine, vomit, feces, or other bodily fluids of an infected person come into contact with someone else’s mucus membranes.
- And it’s not just any infected person—it’s a symptomatic infected person. People can only catch ebola from someone actually exhibiting symptoms. Those include vomiting, diarrhea, and, in some cases, hemorrhaging of mucus membranes, such as nose, nail beds and eyes—in other words, pretty hard to miss.
More: http://qz.com/273972/stay-calm-and-carry-on-why-its-nearly-impossible-for-ebola-to-spread-in-the-us/
= new reply since forum marked as read
we touch, juuuuust in case. 
Glad you found it interesting and were amused. 
They're a lot worse.
Response to uppityperson (Reply #14)
Response to pnwmom (Reply #23)
Response to Texasgal (Reply #16)
hazmat suit on, but....??????
That's bullshit and a flat out lie. The vomiting and diarrhea come later in the disease, and hemorrhaging is toward the end.
The first symptom is *very* easy to miss, which is why health care workers in the epidemic areas check their temperatures repeatedly from morning until night. You can have a low grade fever and not even be aware of it.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/symptoms/
"The virus spreads when blood, semen, urine, vomit, feces, or other bodily fluids of an infected person come into contact with someone else’s mucus membranes."
Incomplete and misleading. The fluids can also enter through broken skin. Note that at any given time, everybody has tiny scratches and even invisible to the naked eye "microcracks" in their skin.
Health care workers don't just wear gloves to protect patients. They wear gloves to protect themselves. That is why in epidemic areas they are wearing 2 and even 3 layers of gloves, as well as all the biohazard PPEs. To keep any body fluids from contacting any part of their skin.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/transmission/index.html
"It isn’t curable, but people survive it. In fact, this outbreak has a 57% mortality rate—much lower than that oft-cited 90%."
This outbreak does NOT have a 57% mortality rate. WHO is quoted as stating the outbreak is greater than 70%. Again, flat out wrong.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1411100?query=featured_home&&
"That pig study doesn’t mean anything."
The pig study suggests that transmission can be by large droplet or fomite. The latter is especially important, if it remains viable on door handles, counters, and other surfaces.
http://healthmap.org/site/diseasedaily/article/pigs-monkeys-ebola-goes-airborne-112112
"Nearly every hospital in the US is equipped to treat Ebola patients and keep them in isolation."
Tell that to the people who were sitting in the waiting room on 9/26 when the Dallas patient was there. Every hospital does NOT have biohazard suit levels of protection. We do have ordinary PPEs, eg lab coats and gloves. Once we know a patient is at risk, we can add gowns, caps and masks. We don't have leg protection or goggles that I'm aware of. We do NOT have containment units such as the ones that Brantly, Writebol and others have been treated in.
I'm all for not panicking. But spreading misinformation and outright lies is not the way to prevent panic.
Found in all modern EDs. As for leg protection, they're called pants. We do also have disposable booties that extend to the knee.
What I said is that the 1st symptom is a low fever, which is easily missed. You are considered symptomatic with a fever of 101.5 F per the CDC. That is why, for example, Dr. Brantly immediately isolated himself when he developed a fever.
But nice try at rewriting my post and countering CDC information with the same incomplete information provided by Qz, whoever that is. 
