I see the ebola outbreak as a "dry run" for this country and the world.

[cali]

Sooner or later, we're going to run into a major epidemic of some viral disease. I doubt that it's this ebola outbreak, but this outbreak gives us the opportunity to learn and put into practice what we learn. We've already learned a lot. We've learned that the world can't sit back and wait and hope that MSF and other NGOs deal with outbreaks that could become major threats. We've learned that there are holes in the system. We know that in this country we still have far too many uninsured and that's a factor in epidemiology. We know that climate change is another significant factor. So is poverty. Austerity in Spain seems to be a factor regarding the woman who contracted it there.

[uppityperson]

1. Yup. k&r for getting it together sooner than later

[malthaussen]

2. Dry runs don't kill people.

I understand your intent, but I think "Dry run" is an infelicitous term choice. It implies that the people suffering and dying are inconsequential. Kind of like "real practice," you know?

-- Mal

[cali]

3. I get your point. got any suggestions to replace the phrase? I'll be happy to change it.

[malthaussen]

6. I was actually thinking about that when I posted:)

Couldn't really think of anything good, or I would have included it. "Foreshadowing," maybe, although that doesn't convey the idea that this outbreak serves as a test of procedures.

-- Mal

[fadedrose]

7. What do they call the shows

shown in other cities before they hit Broadway?

That's what this reminds me of, a full play done in front of a live audience in Nowhere, where the the actors, musicians' and dancers' performances are perfected before any large-scale harm is done.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. They call that 'an out of town try out'. But what this is should be called, perhaps, a bloody full

dress rehearsal. Except of course for the fact that this is not a premiere, it is a revival. We already did a full run of 'major viral outbreak show' in the 80's and 90's and that show is still running strong not just in the US but in markets all over the world.

[kestrel91316]

19. Dress rehearsal. A good analogy, but somebody here will bitch about that word choice, too.

And call me a horrible person who doesn't value life. In 3....2....1....

[kestrel91316]

18. Perhaps a learning opportunity? Baptism by fire?

[morningfog]

26. A precusor.

[seabeyond]

4. i kinda figured. lots of lessons learned and many more we need to figure out. nt

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

5. We have to prepare...

*******TIN FOIL HAT WARNING*********

I see a day in the near future that an ancient virus is released. We will have no warning. We will have no defense.

It will come from the poles melting.

Who knows what is in that ancient ice?

We are melting this planet faster than predicted. The freezer is being defrosted.

Conspiracy theories are only crazy if you dismiss them.

[fadedrose]

12. Disease not worst thing that could happen

On the weather channel, they mentioned that the earth is lighter in weight because of the glaciers melting, and the gravity of the planet has been very slightly reduced....

I always worried about the earth losing gravity because of all the coal and oil being sucked out of it, but that's never been a worry to anyone but me, apparently....

The weather channel found out about the gravity from 2 satellites circling the planet fairly close together, and they showed the decrease which the weather channel says will change the climate and weather.

Personally (my opinion), I think the real harm caused by our lighter weight may be the pull of our planet further or closer to the sun, and our moon getting further away......ebola eshmola, the icebergs melting are getting to be a bigger problem, maybe.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

20. Gravity has shifted...

This is very simplistic.

Mass determines the amount of gravity on any object.

Melting water from the poles shift to the equator.

Less mass at the poles, more mass at the equator. Gravity shifts. Shifts, not changes.

The earth is an enclosed system, for sake of arugument. Not much in, not much out.
Know I'll get blasted on this by more knowageable DU'ers

The relativistic weight of the earth is not changed by climate change, just rearranged.

So in regards to your worries, don't.

And edited to add...
Yes the moon has been moving away from us almost since it was formed.
Nice to know tho, we will never experience the effect of it moving too far away.

[Needa Moment]

25. Spot on

Last edited Wed Oct 8, 2014, 03:25 PM - Edit history (1)

we only would lose gravity or mass doing something wondrous like booting all our toxic garbage away toward the sun.

Wish we could all have our very own pet sun in our backyards that would chew anything we gave it and ffart it out as hydrogen for us to make use from

[fadedrose]

28. The ice is still melting

They (who?, I don't know) talk about polar shifts, and enclosed system or no, a lot could happen.

Magnetic poles have changed and will change, but a geographical change would be catastrophic, wouldn't it? Nobody would survive. And it's not so much "light at the poles," what if one pole is much lighter than the other?

And all the stuff they take out of the earth that is gradually converted to other substances, ie, cement, bridges, etc., so that wouldn't be a problem, would it? But how about stuff that is burned and released as carbon dioxide and other gases? This, combined with a tummy-heavy earth with a bad headache and strangely unevenly-in-weight poles is bound to affect the enclosed system. The relativistic weight wouldn't change because the whole thing is enclosed? So how do these asteroids get here?

Do you think the planet will last another 50, 75 or 100 years? I don't. History2 and Sci Channel do not seem optimistic either.

I too will get criticism from other DU'ers, (not unusual) for rambling on off-topic and being wrong in all subjects.

[FLPanhandle]

8. Human beings are a weird lot

There are already more contagious and deadly diseases out in this country and world wide today. Yet everyone is panicking over Ebola. Why? It's the new scary thing even though the fear is out of proportion to the risk and other causes of death.

Give Ebola a few years to become ingrained in people's minds and it'll fade from the news like every other risk (e.g. West Nile, Malaria, etc). All these are still dangerous and highly contagious and causing deaths, yet no one is worked up over them.

[logosoco]

10. Maybe it's the name...

kinda catchy. Plus it kind of sounds a lot like Obama, and they try to make him sound scary, too!

[cali]

11. I don't think people are panicking. As I said, whether it's an evolved ebola

of some flu or something else, we will see a large epidemic, and probably sooner than later. This is not just about ebola. It's about how prepared we are for any type of epidemic and what we can learn from this outbreak.

By your way of thinking, the CDC and medical community are overreacting because there are more contagious diseases circulating and more deadly diseases extant. (but not more diseases that combine the swift and high mortality rate that are contagious).

[FLPanhandle]

15. What I'm saying is Ebola isn't a good "dry run" case.

Eventually, a deadly and really contagious airborne virus (probably a super flu ala 1918) will cause a major pandemic.

Nothing we learn from this minor (though highly news worthy) Ebola virus will prepare us for a real risk. As I said, there are other diseases that are today bigger risks than Ebola and we can't stop them.

[cali]

16. Of course we can learn things to apply to a deadly flu outbreak

I don't think you can find an epidemiologist who would say differently.

[FLPanhandle]

24. Name one learning from Ebola that wasn't already already known by experiences existing viruses.

It's not even an airborne virus. In the grand scheme of viruses, it's hard to even transmit.

The only learning is how easily people panic.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Can you please offer up a list of viruses that have 'evolved' into a form that is more easily

transmitted while retaining capacity to kill? I have never heard of one. I have heard many people suggest, once upon a time, that HIV was probably going to do that. 'We don't really know, do we?' they'd say 'maybe we need to quarantine all the high risk populations now.'
I have to wonder, are those of you who fear that 'mutation to an airborne transmission' also still afraid HIV might one day do the same?

[Needa Moment]

27. super resistive forms

of TB and staph would seem to top the list in North America. I would've thought that hanta would be of some concern one day because of it's unique way of transmission through completely dry mediums (disturbing dried carcasses & feces). No moist suspensions needed for that one to continue survival.

Not that this would be on the list, or for that matter releavant, but one of the freakiest one that never had an answer for was that occurrance in Riverside CA back in the mid 90's. 'Toxic Lady'. The newspaper articles I read at the time sure captured attention:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Ramirez

Was freaky how it affected all medical staff aiding the victim almost immediately.

[RKP5637]

9. Yes, it is, but sadly some are dying during the dry run. I was watching a video sometime ago, and

it was not CT. They were discussing unregulated independent labs and the potential for perhaps serious mishaps by brilliant independent scientists in the labs.

[logosoco]

13. I hope the researchers learned a lot. And the folks would work with agencies

responsible for this type of thing.
But, as for the average person, I don't know. Too many people are still too worried about who is marrying who and what a person is doing with their own bodies to really see things like climate change that IS going to affect them, in one way or another. And the only things they seemed interested in spending money on are big airplanes with bombs.

[Fearless]

21. To be fair...

That's what they said about H1N1 and bird flu before that. That's what they've been saying basically since we've understood what germs are. The fact is we won't do anything about any disease unless it immediately impacts the wealthy.

[Hortensis]

22. Agree. I've been thinking it's very good for preparedness, if not the unfortunate victims.

[harun]

29. It works great for 1% of the people