Cos it will at some point, already a suspected case in Europe…

Or are you confident the WHO will sort it out ? (not The who the band)

Its coming your way and their aint nothing to stop it…

Is it the 90’s again?

Is it the 90’s again?

Sadly, no.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26835233

…although the story is dated 1st April, so might just be a prank.

On a side note.

I don’t know why, but I have this image of the OP pulling these hot button topics out of a black velvet bag, like they do for the draw for the FA Cup.

He shuts his eyes, has a rummage around, pull out a slip of paper to reveal today’s topic will be….

The Ebola Virus.

It loves to nest in old cardigans.
Make a fire pit and burn all your old clothes,it’s the only way to be sure.

Nothing to stop it?
In the unlikely event of an actual outbreak then a travel ban would suffice.
It’s too effective at killing its host. So, bad news for anyone infected but good news for the rest of us as without air travel infected people aren’t able to travel far before they die.

More likely causes of death to wrry about IMO.

Si

I’m steering clear of fruitbat burgers for the time being.

In the unlikely event of an actual outbreak then a travel ban would suffice.
It’s too effective at killing its host. So, bad news for anyone infected but good news for the rest of us as without air travel infected people aren’t able to travel far before they die.

This. Not a real threat to the West.

Cos it will at some point

“has done already, a number of times” was my understanding

as mentioned, bit too effective at killing the host toot sweet to spread far and wide

Listen to the STW doomster. Ebola is not a threat to us. A disease with such a high mortality rate will burn itself out because it will kill all its hosts before they can spread it further.

Zombie Apocalypse!

Would Ebola victims be fast or old skool slow zombies?

Pros-

1) Long(ish) incubation period (two days to three weeks)
2) Also infectious for up to seven weeks after (if!) patient recovered

Cons-

1) High mortality rate (average to date 68%)
2) Spread through contact with bodily fluids.

I think the important point is that it’s not an airborne disease. It’s pretty nasty, but could be contained with strict hygiene practice.

Cheery wikipedia food for thought 🙂 –

“The mean incubation period, best calculated currently for EVD outbreaks due to EBOV infection, is 12.7 days (standard deviation = 4.3 days), but can be as long as 25 days….”

“The virus has been confirmed to be transmitted through body fluids. Transmission through oral exposure and through conjunctiva exposure is likely[28] and has been confirmed in non-human primates.[29] Filoviruses are not naturally transmitted by aerosol. They are, however, highly infectious as breathable 0.8–1.2 micrometre droplets in laboratory conditions…”

One day, Ebola will go airbourne. I believe airbourne transmission routes have been demonstrated in pigs and monkeys in the lab.

Pandemic influenza is more of a concern.