American Ebola patient arrives at Atlanta hospital

boing
21

On the other hand, adding something radioactive to the mix could lead to the mutation we all worry about.

1 Like
22

Humanity is not really doomed until there is an airborne ebola strain in existence.

I think we need to get these people on the ward with human parainfluenza virus patients.

Apparently Ebola is an ssRNA virus, and thereā€™s relatively few airborne human viruses that it could hybridise with. But, hPIV is one such virus. It could workā€¦

2 Likes
23

Boing Boing: you seem to be hypocritical with your posts. You post a chart that says to shut the fuck up on social media unless youā€™ve been exposed to Ebola, then you post this article on Boing Boing, a social media blog. Which is it? Am I missing something here?

1 Like
24

Dawww, I canā€™t wait ā€“ Hybrids are sooo cute:

2 Likes
25

Or if he sneezes near them. Or sneezes into a handkerchief, but misses a relatively small number of droplets that land on a surface someone else will come into contact with. Or if he wipes his eyes or touches his mouth or even just indirectly contacts any other mucous membrane, and then touches a surface someone else can come into contact with. Or if he sweats on various objects or surfaces, which is common with people suffering fever. Or any of countless other simple, ordinary ways to come into contact with bodily fluids.

And that doesnā€™t even touch on indirect transfer through other species of animals and even plants, a process which is still poorly understood. Despite what knowledge we do have, there are still a lot of things we donā€™t know about how ebola actually is transmitted.

This is why quarantine measures are so important. People are contagious even before they show symptoms, and remain contagious even after they die. Yes, the odds of transmission in the US are low, but thatā€™s ONLY because we take the threat of the disease so damn seriously.

26

Not so farā€¦ Atlanta is pretty quiet since he arrived.

27

Please elaborate?

Also, how long can the virus survive in the external environment on its own (dried-out drop of blood, sneezed-out dropletā€¦)? How long does it take for the ambient air to destroy the viability of the virus particles?

28

I was once given radioactive isotopes by a pregnant technician. Amazing, huh? Apparently it is possible to adequately protect oneself (and a fetus) from the dangersā€¦when you know about them and thus can plan.

I forget all the things I was not allowed to do for a certain amount of time afterward.

Some days, it seems like modern medicine is one step away from alchemy.

1 Like
29

It could be worse. We could be living in the first chapter of a George RR Martin novel.

3 Likes
30

No, you catch it like influenza.

http://consciousmedianews.com/ebola-what-youre-not-being-told/

31

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.