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Ebola ?


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It seems common sense to suggest that any plague threat has to be confined and isolated asap. The west appears to have been rather slow in doing this; and we've had ebola victims transported to the US and Europe, with a Spanish nurse now falling victim in Spain. Shouldn't travel from W/Africa to restricted and anyone returning from there be quarantined?

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Now then! obs that is talking common sense, a man of your intelligence should realise that sensible decisions are not made like that in the UK they have to be chewed over, regurgitated and then spat out by Westminster, the powers that be will wait until we have a pandemic then go into panic mode until someone comes to the conclusion that you have suggested.

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One has to question the UN and the WHO; in the slow and piecemeal approach to this.  Any possible pandemic has to be "closed down" asap, and contained and confined to the smallest area possible. All air and other traffic out of these countries should have been shut down weeks ago; and anyone arriving in the UK should have been quarantined. Just let's hope it doesn't get to the UK, as I fear the NHS just won't cope with ensuing panic.

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It said on the news yesterday that the UK only has TWO isolation beds that are suitable for people with Eboli and both of those are in the same hospital in London.  That's not good !!

Another news report on the radio questioned why the UK are not screening incoming passengers... the answer from the 'health' person being interviewed was that people travel from west Africa by various routes through many other airports and countries so it would make it very difficult to know who to screen when they arrived in the UK and that 'they might miss some'.

A very strange answer I thought as that's like saying YES people carrying the disease WILL inevitably land here but if we can't catch them all there's no point looking.  

Very scarey as the initial stage one symptoms (according to the NHS) are the same as I've had with my cold so would that mean that every person arriving in the UK or other countries showing signs of a cold would need to be tested... and what if their symptoms hadn't started to show yet as they can start anytime between 1 and 21 days of becoming infected.

I think I'm worrying myself again now.... I might have another strepsil

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I've just listened to "an expert" on the news; who said, screening passengers at airports is pointless, because symptoms and contagion don't present for up to 21 days. So we let these folk roam around society, until they start feeling ill, by which time they are contagious, and will have passed the bug to others. If this is all "the experts" can offer, we've no chance. Why not, requisition hotels around our airports and send suspect cases to them, for 21 days quarantine, under medical observation?  If they present with symptoms - straight to isolation and treatment: if they are OK, they can go.

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Very scarey as the initial stage one symptoms (according to the NHS) are the same as I've had with my cold

Oh bugger you will have me worrying now as i have just had my flu jab and usually end up with a mild dose of flu like symptoms. will be wondering if it is the jab or ebola :unsure: :unsure: :unsure:

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I should think the odds against getting ebola are even worse than winning the lottery....at present. Apparently beds will also be available in Liverpool ,Newcastle & Sheffield .

If Ebola comes to the UK it's not beds you should be worrying about it' booking a slot at at the Crem or a plot in the graveyard that might be a problem, they will be pushing them round on handcart similar to the plague days and dropping them in lime pits!.

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A while ago, there was a TV drama/documentary based on Gov Emergency Planning for an epidemic. If it were shown again, no doubt it could cause panic in itself. It finished up with curfews and affected folk literally being confined to their houses, with red paint on the doors. Try telling the public not to go to A&E or their GP'S where they can infect everyone else ! You'd be right about the lime pits too Alg; civilization would rapidly collapse, as cases increased exponentially.

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I agree with most of what you say Obs but I don't agree with putting suspect cases in hotels near our airports. It wouldn't be secure enough, who would staff it? and what if it's an airborne virus? it would spread anyway.

 

The answer I think would be to immediately stop all passenger flights to and from Africa. Drop medical supplies to the affected areas from the air. Do not allow anyone to board any flights for the UK unless they can prove without any doubt whatever that they have not been in Africa since at least 6 months before the outbreak. Do not allow anyone on flights to the UK from any country which is allowing people from Africa to enter their country. Obviously same kind of thing with ships, trains etc. and put armed guards all around our coastline. Death penalty for anyone attempting to sneak them in.

 

The best way to contain this virus is to stop it getting out of Africa in the first place. No-one should be allowed to leave Africa until the virus has been eradicated - no matter how long that takes - then, anyone leaving should be quarantined firstly in Africa and again in the country they travel to. 

 

I think it was extremely irresponsible of Spain to allow an infected person into their country, as a nurse has now tested positive it shows that whatever safeguards are put in place they are not fail safe! 

 

As for news that a vaccine is being developed - money to be made - makes me wonder how this plague started.   

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Sha, I'm lead to believe it is not an air born virus but one that is passed on by body fluid which includes perspiration and minuscule naturally produced moisture on the skin that can be transmitted by touch, so passing someone on the street would not make them contagious to you unless you inhaled their breath or they intentionally spat on you.

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How can they be sure it isn't also air born though and would they actually tell people if it was as that would cause mass hysteria? .... blimey here I go again ignoring the experts and 'pondering' :|

Anyway they say person to person contact so I'll believe them.

The Centre for Disease Control & Prevention say it's also caught by having sex with an infected person without using a condom (the virus is present in semen for up to seven weeks after the infected person has recovered).

Other ways it can be transmitted are "by blood or body fluids including, but not limited to, urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk of a person who is sick with Ebola"....... I wonder what the other ways that they refer to as 'not limited to' ?

Does make sense what you say Sha though about stopping all flights from there and I do wonder just how sure they can be that aid workers/medical herlers etc aren't bringing the disease out of the country too or are they all quarantined for 21 days in case they start to show symptoms ?... I don't think they are :(
 

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Yes, so why have they and all the powers that be not acted sooner?    ££££££££££££' s?   $$$$$$$$$$$$$ 's?

Call me a cynic but I don't believe human life means anything to any of them other than as a commodity they can make a profit out of and I wouldn't be surprised if this latest virus came out of a test tube with the full intention of wiping out a proportion of the worlds population which is now surplus to their need.

 

The reason they won't shut down the airports etc is because the ruling rich will lose money, also if it doesn't spread the ruling rich won't make any profit selling vaccines etc. etc. etc.

 

As for it only being contagious via blood and bodily fluids - I've not heard such sh*te since they told us mad cow disease couldn't spread to humans.

It's a haemorrhagic disease like Malaria and a zoonotic like Tuberculosis and can be spread by mosquitoes and other insect bites and coughs and sneezes, it can also be spread by touch to food. (don't take any notice of recent reports they are playing down the dangers as they did with CJD  take a look at older science journals which were written before anyone would want to cover the full facts).

 

So what do we do?  As far as I can see our only chances are to fight them at their own game and hit them where it hurts - in the pocket. 

If everybody stopped buying food, or any other goods whatever from Africa  it would hit the supermarkets hard and it would be pointless flying / shipping the stuff over, hitting the airlines and shipping companies hard.

It wouldn't by any means solve the problem but it would cut out some sources of contamination and let the ruling rich know that we have some means of getting at them.

It might also persuade them to send aid to Africa to help them contain the disease and save some lives - their main purpose being able to resume trade of course!         

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It isn't an airborne virus.

 

To be honest the idea of "stopping anybody leaving Africa" had me rolling on the floor. You would have a hard job stopping anybody leaving the Isle of Man never mind a continent the size of Africa. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

As for the apparent lack of action by the "authorities", perhaps they feel they've been wrong so many times about supposed pandemics they've become a bit wary.

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Apparently it spreads by bodily fluids just like AIDS .What made me laugh was the suggestion than anyone turning up at A&E would be liable to screening on top of the horrendus wait that already takes place at A&E departments.I doubt the already creaking NHS could cope with an epidemic of ebola as well as our normal winter ailments.

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Your complacency reflects the apparent attitude of the international authorities, and is one of lack of intent, rather than lack of capability. Not one airport or port has been closed to outgoing traffic todate, a perfectly doable exercise. It would also provide the ideal excuse for the use of extreme measures to prevent illegal entry into the EU, assuming the authorities had the bottle. As for "being wrong", they only have to get it wrong once, and safe is better than sorry.  As a maritime type, you'd be aware of the historic use of a yellow flag; which suggests they had a more cautious approach in the past.

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As for it only being contagious via blood and bodily fluids - I've not heard such sh*te since they told us mad cow disease couldn't spread to humans.

It's a haemorrhagic disease like Malaria and a zoonotic like Tuberculosis and can be spread by mosquitoes and other insect bites and coughs and sneezes, it can also be spread by touch to food. (don't take any notice of recent reports they are playing down the dangers as they did with CJD  take a look at older science journals which were written before anyone would want to cover the full facts).

 

How do you know that Sha as the health bods are still saying it can't be spread by mozzies etc so are you right or are they right ?  (I'm currently looking at yet another big midge type bite on my hand but I'm not worried honest)

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