What might be making you a tad apprehensive, but might not, as it's too soon to tell

[Griff]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

I think there is much they're not telling us.

The CDC is kind of serving two masters on this. They have the legitimate public health agenda followed by the sunshine and lollipops agenda to avoid a panic. Its an interesting tension. The funny thing is the gov sees no problem with creating paranoia about ISIS but has reservations about it for Ebola.

Fun question, who beheaded the most humans this year Saudi Arabia or ISIS? hint: Saudi Arabia

[Clodfobble]

I think the populace here is smarter (Jesus fucking Christ, my phone autocorrected that to "white"...) So you'd see a lot of people in face masks and gloves, and nobody leaving dead bodies in the street. So maybe preparing would mean stocking up on those. Large portions of our workforce can telecommute, so I bet anyone who could, would.

I think it would be more of a "everything grinds to a halt" scenario, rather than loss of basic necessities like in Katrina. Personally, I really wonder whether we're truly out of the ZMapp drug, or whether we're just keeping it for ourselves.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

you'd see a lot of people in face masks and gloves, ...So maybe preparing would mean stocking up on those.

Already have a bunch, but could probably use more. Maybe I'll take a look at our supply this weekend. Haven't checked them out in a few years.

[Clodfobble]

On the other hand, we've got plans for the weekend too... Although Minifob IS a little sick.

[infinite monkey]

Well, um, Dallas...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/health...use/index.html

[Carruthers]

The UK Government has announced screening of passengers at the two main London airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, and the Eurostar rail terminal in London.
Flights from the worst affected countries tend to arrive at Paris and/or Brussels and passengers can then easily make their way to London via the Eurostar rail link.

One or two passages from a substantial article in today's Daily Telegraph are worth reproducing here.

When SARS – severe acute respiratory syndrome – appeared in Asia in 2002, we were told that it had a 25 per cent chance of killing “tens of millions”. There were calls for borders to be locked down, and new arrivals showing symptoms to be locked up. But despite a spike in sales of surgical masks, and the hurried cancellation of thousands of holidays to Hong Kong and Thailand, the disease ended up killing only 775 people worldwide.

It was a similar story in 2009 with swine flu. The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, warned that 65,000 Britons could die, and the government duly spent more than £1.2 billion to prepare for the viral apocalypse. Yet while the disease was incredibly contagious, infecting millions worldwide, it turned out to be relatively mild. In Britain, only 457 people died – a significant number, but 25 times fewer than the 12,000 who are carried away by normal seasonal flu every year. To make matters worse, some experts later claimed that the £424 million spent on stockpiling 40 million doses of Tamiflu had essentially been wasted: its average effect, they said, was to shorten the disease’s duration from seven days to 6.3 (a finding which its manufacturer, Roche, disputed).

Ebola’s strengths are, however, outweighed by its weaknesses. If you get it, you’re in very big trouble, but the odds of that are quite small. It is not, unlike the pathogens of our worst nightmares, airborne: it is spread via infected bodily fluids, which have to enter the body via the eyes or mouth or a cut or wound. Moreover, it is quite fragile, meaning that it does not survive long outside of its host – and can be defeated by the simple act of washing one’s hands.

As a result, the “R0” figure of the current outbreak – the technical term for the number of further victims that one sufferer can be expected to infect in turn – is somewhere around 2. That makes it a much slower spreader than Sars, smallpox or the strain of Spanish flu that killed tens of millions of people in the wake of the First World War.

Daily Telegraph

It's worth noting, that the British nurse who was repatriated to the UK having been infected by Ebola in Sierra Leone, made a full recovery.

William Pooley plans return to the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone

[infinite monkey]

Wow. Good points.

Wagging the dog, like.

This is very interesting to me.

[orthodoc]

Ebola is bound to slip its leash here (has already done so) and turn up all over the continent in minor outbreaks. It's inevitable, given that there are really no constraints on travel. The more important issue is whether/when it will undergo an antigenic shift, as it passes through many more thousands of humans than it ever has before, and take on different characteristics.

It could become less virulent; it could become a nightmare, infecting millions via airborne transmission. It could fade away as SARS did.

In the meantime, carry on. Has anyone noticed that Marburg virus has resurfaced in Uganda?

[orthodoc]

Seven-hour exam tomorrow on which my career depends ... so I'm grilling a steak 5 hours before I have to get up, because I can't sleep. Hopefully will sleep after this.

[Undertoad]

You're supposed to grill for an exam!

[Griff]

Just breathe Ortho.

[DanaC]

Good luck Ortho!

[orthodoc]

It's done. I'd better have passed, because I never want to have to do that again. So tired I can't think straight - just crawled into bed and don't have to move again for 11 hours! Thanks for the good wishes, they're much appreciated.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by orthodoc

It's done. I'd better have passed, because I never want to have to do that again. So tired I can't think straight - just crawled into bed and don't have to move again for 11 hours! Thanks for the good wishes, they're much appreciated.

Excellent. Good work, enjoy your rest.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by orthodoc

It's done.

Good! I'm sure you did well.