Thread: Ebola

Sarah Palin has expressed her sympathies and is praying for all the sick and suffering people living in Ebola.

Originally Posted by DickWhitman

Sarah Palin has expressed her sympathies and is praying for all the sick and suffering people living in Ebola.

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face early on this Friday morning.

I think everyone needs to get a grip. How many people are killed in car accidents every year? How many die of influenza? How many die of gunshots? How many die of flesh eating bacteria? The list goes on and on. No one seems to be that concerned about these killers. Yet folks are fixated on something that has killed one person and infected how many?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think everyone needs to get a grip. How many people are killed in car accidents every year? How many die of influenza? How many die of gunshots? How many die of flesh eating bacteria? The list goes on and on. No one seems to be that concerned about these killers. Yet folks are fixated on something that has killed one person and infected how many?

That is true. OTH if this is just a test run with a minimal number of cases to be processed by the system designed to manage diseases such as Ebola then people have cause to ask questions and be a little worried. Not panic but be concerned.

Bob

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think everyone needs to get a grip. How many people are killed in car accidents every year? How many die of influenza? How many die of gunshots? How many die of flesh eating bacteria? The list goes on and on. No one seems to be that concerned about these killers. Yet folks are fixated on something that has killed one person and infected how many?

On the other hand,how many tens of thousands have died in Africa from Ebola?granted, Americans really do not care what happens in Africa IMO.
We have a disease that has no cure and is a plane ride away,It is here as we speke,it needs to be addressed no matter how few have been infected.
I remember 15 yrs ago when MRSA was very rare,Than people started to die from it,Than the CDC got off thier butts and it can now be treated to a point.
In 2001 the NIH was on the verge of creating ebola vaccine,Than the feds pulled the funding,no more research was done.
Today we might have had a Vaccine for Ebola,But what happens in Africa, stays in Africa,Wrong

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

On the other hand,how many tens of thousands have died in Africa from Ebola?granted, Americans really do not care what happens in Africa IMO.
We have a disease that has no cure and is a plane ride away,It is here as we speke,it needs to be addressed no matter how few have been infected.
I remember 15 yrs ago when MRSA was very rare,Than people started to die from it,Than the CDC got off thier butts and it can now be treated to a point.
In 2001 the NIH was on the verge of creating ebola vaccine,Than the feds pulled the funding,no more research was done.
Today we might have had a Vaccine for Ebola,But what happens in Africa, stays in Africa,Wrong

There are two vaccines in trial right now. Human trials. All they need to do is do the testing in low dose up to high dose and make sure that the people taking it produce antibodies and don't get sick (not ebola sick, just sick) from it. The makers say it's impossible to actually get ebola or marburg from it and it has produced antibodies in non-human primates. The low dose group has already started the trial.

I wonder how much it got fast tracked when ebola suddenly became a first world problem?

There are other vaccines apparently 6 months away, which doesn't help much now. I think GSK is the maker of the vaccine 6 months away. The current trial vaccine is Canadian, but I don't know who is making it.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

On the other hand,how many tens of thousands have died in Africa from Ebola?granted, Americans really do not care what happens in Africa

More like 4.5 thousand.

If we don't care what happens in Africa then why have we had troops deployed there for over 6 yrs in like 50 different outposts? It's called Africom.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think everyone needs to get a grip. How many people are killed in car accidents every year? How many die of influenza? How many die of gunshots? How many die of flesh eating bacteria? The list goes on and on. No one seems to be that concerned about these killers. Yet folks are fixated on something that has killed one person and infected how many?

The "Herd" is easily manipulated with fear and idle talk. This is where we are in this day and age. We have been this way for a very long time but, we have perfected our Herding techniques in this modern age.

If there is a demand there would be a supply - FDA warns consumers about fraudulent Ebola treatment products

As long as they don't claim directly that their products prevent or treat the infection they could sell as much of it as they want.
As they say the free market would find a solution, and the not-too chained market would find too... may be because it always solves the exact same problem.

Ouch !!!!!

The following letter to the editor of the Lewiston Morning Tribune is interesting (and ironic)

Editor, Lewiston Morning Tribune:

If I wish to import a horse into the United States from Liberia or any African country other than Morocco, the horse needs to undergo a 60 day quarantine period at a USDA approved quarantine facility prior to mingling with the general population of horses in this country. Africa has a disease called African Horse Sickness that does not exist in the US; this is the way we have kept it out of this country. African Horse Sickness does not cause disease in people, only horses; our government has determined that it would be devastating to the US horse industry if it were to come here.

The United States (and virtually all other countries) require a myriad of tests and often quarantine prior to bringing in a foreign animal.

I can’t legally cross state lines in the United States with a horse or cow without a health certificate signed by a USDA accredited veterinarian stating that the animal has been inspected and found free of infectious disease. In most cases blood tests are also required. In fact I can’t legally cross the Snake River and ride my horse in Idaho without a health certificate and a negative blood test for Equine Infectious Anemia.

I’m not complaining; the United States of America, the States of Idaho and Washington as well as the other 48 states take the health of our livestock very seriously, and we have a very good record at keeping foreign animal diseases out of our country. I am happy to do my part to maintain biosecurity in our animal population.

If I am a resident of Liberia incubating Ebola, to enter the United States all I need to do is present a valid visa, and lie when asked if I have been exposed to Ebola. Within hours (no quarantine required) I can be walking the streets of any city in the United States.

I feel very fortunate to live in a country that values our animals so highly.

David A. Rustebakke, DVM