Ebola

Anyone going to Africa????!!!

So what is this Ebola thing we're hearing about, and why am I posting about it?

To answer the second question, I'm interested in virology a little bit, but moreso this recent outbreak differ's from others in that it is in a more developed and connected areas and which happens to be quite a bit closer to Europe then other outbreaks, and it's growing. Since it can take 21 days from infection before symptoms even begin it could in theory spread quite fast.

Hopefully it wont spread much more, and the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a travel advisory for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The CDC’s warning recommends against nonessential travel to the three countries. Frieden also said the CDC is sending an additional 50 disease-control specialists into the three countries over the next 30 days in order to establish emergency operation centers in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The centers will provide resources and fast diagnoses, according to Frieden. The CDC already has workers tracking the epidemic and its spread.

“The bottom line is Ebola is worsening in West Africa,” said Frieden. “CDC, along with others, are surging to begin to turn the tide. It is not going to be quick. It is not going to be easy. But we know what to do. The current outbreak is bad. It’s the biggest, the most complex, and the first time it’s been present in this region.”

It's also been found in nearby Nigeria.

So armed with a little bit of knowledge I thought I'd make a post to try and talk about some of the details in more understandable language.

Did you know - it is the same 'type' of virus as influenza, and perhaps that is why it's such a worry to authorities about its capacity to spread.

Did you know - it only contains 7 set's of gene's!! Virus are often quite small because many of them use the target cell's existing machinery to do all the work for them. Perhaps it's the small size and efficient design which makes these types so prevalent.

Did you know - it's a virus, Lol, yes of course you did. Specifically it's a -RNA filovirus, which is a tiny fragment of genetic code (negative sense RNA) in a protein capsule, wrapped in a cylindrical protein shell.



This virus shell protects it while it travels around, and when ending up at a target cell it fuses into the cell's outer layer to release inside the target cell the virus protein capsule, which breaks down to release the virus -RNA genetic code into the target cell's insides.

Once inside the target cell, the cell think's its part of itself and will start reading the genetic code and producing the end products (incubation period). What is produced then manipulates the cell's own internal machinery to produce more and more of the virus, which is then released out to reinfect other cells (infectious period and where symptoms develop). This continues at an increasing rate until the body fails, or the body defeats the viral infection.

That's it. The whole 'lifes purpose' of the virus is to reproduce and spread.

What makes it really different then the flu, is its target cell's are vital to our health, and the Ebola virus has been reported to at times have a fatality rate as high as 90%!!!

The virus's target cells look to be the types of cells in your veins and arteries, immune cells and liver cells. It seems to hijack the immune system to transport itself and spread. Apparently it is the damage to the circulatory system and liver which cause that symptom of bleeding you might have heard in the news about the effects of Ebola.

So the important stuff, mostly from the CDC page;

Prevention
Barrier nursing techniques include:

• wearing of protective clothing (such as masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles)
• the use of infection-control measures (such as complete equipment sterilization and routine use of disinfectant)
• isolation of Ebola patients from contact with unprotected persons.

The aim of all of these techniques is to avoid contact with the blood or secretions of an infected patient. If a patient with Ebola HF dies, it is equally important that direct contact with the body of the deceased patient be prevented.

Despite this, adequately an prepared Doctor and Nurse have been infected and died in this recent outbreak.

Transmission
Any secretions or blood (wording from CDC)... will update specifics in near future.

Signs and Symptoms
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to ebolavirus though 8-10 days is most common.
Some who become sick with Ebola HF are able to recover, while others do not.
Symptoms of Ebola HF typically include (all the normal influenza stuff like):

• Fever
• Headache
• Joint and muscle aches
• Weakness
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Stomach pain
• Lack of appetite

Some patients may experience:

• A Rash
• Red Eyes
• Hiccups
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Chest pain
• Difficulty breathing
• Difficulty swallowing
• Bleeding inside and outside of the body

I heard somewhere you can be infectious up to around 3 months after having had Ebola!!
Luckily some who become sick with Ebola HF are able to recover, so don't panic, but act fast on contacting authorities - and isolation seems to be important so not to spread it further.

Check out this page for more information, and to follow any official releases about its spread;
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/

Current status;


Source: http://time.com/3065176/ebola-outbreak-cdc/

Visit this page for daily updates;
http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-programmes/dpc/epidemic-a-pandemic-alert-and-response/outbreak-news.html

Anyone who knows more let me know if I got anything wrong, or feel free to add developments if this becomes a story. Otherwise I hope some people might have learned a little about it.

Note: I deliberately didn't use the correct terms for some things, to try and make it easier to understand.

That was really interesting, thanks Adder.

Ever notice how some of the most devastating viruses seem to come from "the cradle of life" region....shows how important hygiene,and clean water are...

I wonder how long before a zombie virus is discovered....

Apparently they're flying patients here to the US to treat them further. Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen? I mean, we're one of the wealthiest countries in the world and people still don't wash their hands or act smartly about avoiding getting sick (and that's just for the garden variety of illnesses).

Hey Adder,

great post. Could you repost it in the Jedi Bystander Thread?

Thanks

@jamie, that was my first thought, but remember developed nations have much more readily available treatment and knowledge...plus they were transported under quarantine...still crap happens on occasion...

[strike]Correction: Looks like its not transmitted by sneezing and coughing. [/strike]

Might be that the target cells are in the arterial/liver areas as oppossed to the influenza which is "typically in the nose, throat, and lungs of mammals, and intestines of birds" - the location/type of a virus's target cells would seemingly indicate how its transmitted most easily.

Sorry for the error! :ohmy:

Update Edit: Looks like it might be transmitted by sneezing and perhaps coughing, though sufficient research has not been done yet to know for sure.

Therefore, treat it as highly infectious!!

Adder wrote: Correction: Looks like its not transmitted by sneezing and coughing.

Might be that the target cells are in the arterial/liver areas as oppossed to the influenza which is "typically in the nose, throat, and lungs of mammals, and intestines of birds" - the location/type of a virus's target cells would seemingly indicate how its transmitted most easily.

Sorry for the error! :ohmy:

Oh, Really? I just got my information from http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/ten-things-you-really-should-know-about-ebola and thought them to be a good source of knowledge. But don't Bodily fluids include saliva as well? If so, coughing and sneezing are risk of transmission, because, as we now, when coughing and sneezing, we expel a fair amount of saliva.

Also, I think if the first people start dropping dead in one of the "developed" countries, people might rapidly raise their hygiene standards.

They would not bring somebody to the US who posed a threat to the whole country. Have a little more faith that the people in charge do not want an outbreak. That would not serve them well at all.

If you think from a "selfish" point of view, which is the view of most humans, I can't see them doing anything to endanger anybody's lives, lest they end up with no job.

They're taking the patients to a very secure space. I am not worried at all.

Joe wrote: Oh, Really? I just got my information from http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/ten-things-you-really-should-know-about-ebola and thought them to be a good source of knowledge. But don't Bodily fluids include saliva as well? If so, coughing and sneezing are risk of transmission, because, as we now, when coughing and sneezing, we expel a fair amount of saliva.

Also, I think if the first people start dropping dead in one of the "developed" countries, people might rapidly raise their hygiene standards.

That's what I thought too!!! The CDC said' secretions' and I thought saliva was a secretion. I'll dig deeper when I get some more time and update if I find anything more concrete.

Connor L. wrote: They would not bring somebody to the US who posed a threat to the whole country. Have a little more faith that the people in charge do not want an outbreak. That would not serve them well at all.

If you think from a "selfish" point of view, which is the view of most humans, I can't see them doing anything to endanger anybody's lives, lest they end up with no job.

They're taking the patients to a very secure space. I am not worried at all.

Oh, 'they' wouldn't? I'm not so sure. I can think of a lot of people who could stand to gain in many ways, not just financially, from weaponizing and controlling Ebola. I can also envision it leading to the next zombie apocalypse. Oh well.

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/

Hm. So I guess saliva counts as a secretion.

It saddens me to read that one of the factors of this outbreak is poor hygiene that stems from ignorance again.
The best way to treat these diseases seems to be is to educate the inhabitants of those infected countries about proper prevention. There are a lot of people there who believe in the craziest things.

Desolous wrote: I can think of a lot of people who could stand to gain in many ways, not just financially, from weaponizing and controlling Ebola.

Yeah... but that's not just letting it out into the open. (Yet).

Just to hopefully clarify that question about transmission. Yes, it does include saliva.

CDC wrote: Although the disease is rare, it can spread from person to person, especially among health care staff and other people who have close contact* with an infected person. Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood or body fluids (such as saliva or urine) of an infected person or animal or through contact with objects that have been contaminated with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person.

The likelihood of contracting Ebola is extremely low unless a person has direct contact with the body fluids of a person or animal that is infected and showing symptoms. A fever in a person who has traveled to or lived in an area where Ebola is present is likely to be caused by a more common infectious disease, but the person would need to be evaluated by a health care provider to be sure.

Note they define "close contact" as having cared for or lived with a person with Ebola or having a high likelihood of direct contact with blood or body fluids of an Ebola patient. Close contact does not include walking by a person or briefly sitting across a room from a person.

BUT

"In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated (1, 6, 13). The importance of this route of transmission is not clear."

1. Plague. (2004). In R. G. Darling, & J. B. Woods (Eds.), USAMRIID's Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook (5th ed., pp. 40-44). Fort Detrick M.D.: USAMRIID.
6. Mwanatambwe, M., Yamada, N., Arai, S., Shimizu-Suganuma, M., Shichinohe, K., & Asano, G. (2001). Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF): mechanism of transmission and pathogenicity. Journal of Nippon Medical School = Nihon Ika Daigaku Zasshi, 68(5), 370-375.
13. Feigin, R. D. (Ed.). (2004). Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (5th ed.). Philadelphia, USA: Elsevier, Inc.

So yea, it explains why they wear the whole regalia of protective gear with it.

Ignoring the risk is easy.... until it's not. I'm not a panic merchant, but I like to consider the higher risk possibilities.

Here is an interesting commentary from the person who discovered Ebola.

Perfect Storm?
The man who discovered Ebola in the 1970s says the situation in West Africa is a perfect storm for the disease.

Peter Piot co-discovered Ebola in 1976 and is considered one of the leading authorities on the haemorrhagic virus. He has told a French magazine the epidemic was exploding in countries where health services were not functioning.

He also said nothing could be done until the public started to trust the health authorities.

Official messages seem to indicate it is more controllable in nations with effective health care systems, but nearly 10% of death's are healthcare workers, which might indicate it is quite difficult to work with. I'm sure the rate for healthcare workers would be lower in the West, but they did already seem to be taking extraordinary procedures there.

At least 1,427 people have died and 2,615 have been infected since the disease was detected deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March. A separate outbreak was confirmed in Democratic Republic of Congo at the weekend.

The WHO said it had withdrawn staff from the laboratory testing for Ebola at Kailahun - one of only two in Sierra Leone - after a Senegalese epidemiologist was infected.

The WHO has deployed nearly 400 of its own staff and partner organisations to fight the epidemic of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, which has struck Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. One of the world's deadliest diseases, Ebola is transmitted by contact with body fluids and the current outbreak has killed at least 120 health care workers.

Remembering the incubation period can be up to 21 days from initial exposure to becoming symptomatic and contagious..... given the population's reaction on the ground (near panic in some parts) the next 5 week's might be an important period to assess its spread in West and Central Africa... maybe at that time I'll start considering if we all need full body contagion suits in the cupboard!!!!

Previously these outbreaks need to be contained to stop them, but sometimes a virus can mutate itself in such a way that it dies off naturally - unfortunately for that to happen it usually has to infect lots of people along the way. Hopefully the response has been sufficient to contain its spread. Otherwise we'd need a vaccine, antigen etc

Apparently there is an experimental treatment, and so far it seems to be working on the 2americans that have been treated with it...time will tell for certain though

RyuJin wrote: Apparently there is an experimental treatment, and so far it seems to be working on the 2americans that have been treated with it...time will tell for certain though

ZMapp, its not 100%, a Doctor who was infected had it but died anyway. Seems to make the odd's more favorable though. Apparently it takes months to produce!!!

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

It's a boring read, but these things are needed I guess for agencies to ramp up allocation of staff and resources in some organized manner;

"WHO issued this roadmap for scaled-up response to the Ebola outbreak. The goal is to stop Ebola transmission in affected countries within 6-9 months and prevent international spread.

The roadmap will assist governments and partners in the revision and resourcing of country-specific operational plans for Ebola response, and the coordination of international support for their full implementation. The objectives are:

1.to achieve full geographic coverage with complementary Ebola response activities in countries with widespread and intense transmission.
2. to ensure emergency and immediate application of comprehensive Ebola response interventions in countries with an initial case(s) or with localized transmission.
3. to strengthen preparedness of all countries to rapidly detect and respond to an Ebola exposure, especially those sharing land borders with an intense transmission area and those with international transportation hubs."

You can download the 1.4mb PDF here

Bad news is that it might peak during the Northern Hemisphere winter (since it seems to be able to be spread by sneezing in someones face if they have a flu or something), which is good news if it can be contained to Africa because it will be the Summer for Central and Southern Africa during this period.

The deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa could infect more than 20,000 people before it is brought under control, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

The dire prediction came as more than 3,000 people had been registered as being infected with the virus. However the WHO said the true figure could be much higher. More than 1,500 people have already died from the virus, with most of the deaths occurring in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

In a new anti-Ebola plan, the UN health agency said it aimed to reverse the trend within three months, with the final aim of stopping "all residual transmission within six to nine months". It said the number of infections "could exceed 20,000 over the course of this emergency".

"This roadmap assumes that in many areas of intense transmission the actual number of cases may be two to fourfold higher than that currently reported," it said. The plan, which has a price tag of $490 million during the six-month campaign, called for a massive ramping up of efforts to contain and defeat the epidemic.

PS: I dont intend to update this thread all the time, just thought this might be of interest for organisational deployment more generally.

Edit: here's a chart!!

I might be over there in 6 months or so. It's definitely a concern. I won't be in any areas directly affected right now, but in 6 months quite a bit could happen.