Ebola in the US

[Toonces]

Where the heck is Con?  I'd like to get his take on this.

[undercovergeek]

I think he was mid way through a post when Mrs con noticed the jiggly boobs and gave him the pan treatment Bob knows so well

[Shelldrake]

This article in The Economist is pretty good, and frightening. 

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21625813-ebola-epidemic-west-africa-poses-catastrophic-threat-region-and-could-yet

Good article. Thanks for posting Toonces.

This Forbes article puts the Ebola threat in perspective...and remember to get your flu shot, flu kills many more people than Ebola every year!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertszczerba/2014/10/22/fear-and-fiction-more-dangerous-than-ebola/

[BanzaiCat]

B-b-but...but...the MEDIA says it's dangerous!!!


::)

[Staggerwing]

More people probably die of food poisoning just in the USA each year than have died of Ebola world wide so far.



So far...

[LongBlade]

If you're traveling to West Africa, check your insurance policy:

As fear of Ebola infections spreads to developed economies, U.S. and British insurance companies have begun writing Ebola exclusions into standard policies to cover hospitals, event organizers and other businesses vulnerable to local disruptions.

As a result, new policies and renewals will become costlier for companies opting to insure business travel to West Africa or to cover the risk of losses from quarantine shutdowns at home, industry officials told Reuters.

"What underwriters are doing at the moment is they're generally providing quotes either excluding or including Ebola - and it's much more expensive if Ebola is included," said Gary Flynn, an event cancellation broker at Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Plc in London.

source: https://news.yahoo.com/virus-spreads-insurers-exclude-ebola-policies-163302758--finance.html;_ylt=AwrTWf3Z3kdUXjIAZv3QtDMD

[BanzaiCat]

More people probably die of food poisoning just in the USA each year than have died of Ebola world wide so far.



So far...

Actually, more people have died due to death than everyone that has died due to Ebola.

Comforting thought. 

[JasonPratt]

Where the heck is Con?  I'd like to get his take on this.

I know for a fact that BBCode can use Tag commands... I wonder if they're activated here.

[Tag]Toonces[/Tag]

Hmm, apparently not, unless I got your forum name slightly wrong?

[Steelgrave]

Ebola in New York City....what could possibly go wrong???

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/doctor-tests-positive-ebola-new-york-city-n232801

[Gusington]

No panic allowed. I will go shotgun shopping though.

[LongBlade]

No panic allowed. I will go shotgun shopping though.

You should probably have a rifle, shotgun, and pistol.

Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Lots of guys recommend buck shot, but #2 duck shot should do quite well, too.

[GDS_Starfury]

Mossberg Marine Gus.

[Toonces]

This article in The Economist is pretty good, and frightening. 

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21625813-ebola-epidemic-west-africa-poses-catastrophic-threat-region-and-could-yet

Good article. Thanks for posting Toonces.

This Forbes article puts the Ebola threat in perspective...and remember to get your flu shot, flu kills many more people than Ebola every year!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertszczerba/2014/10/22/fear-and-fiction-more-dangerous-than-ebola/

This is a true enough article (yes, flu is going to kill more Americans than Ebola this year) but it ignores the long view.  Americans are too focused on the threat of Ebola actually coming to America and killing them.  The threat to America is how this disease can completely destabilize the globe/global economy by killing millions of people in Africa and other parts of the world. 

The threat isn't just getting the disease.  It's the bigger ramifications it has for us and our security. 

[Con]

Ok its too late for a long explanation but the bottom line is this

You have to work really hard at catching Ebola.  Those who have gotten it in the US are almost all health care workers who were around the worst aspects of the victims (copious blood, diarrhea, sputum etc.)  Here is what makes the government get nervous - Ebola once the patient is truly contagious debilitates them and without intervention kills them quick.  This means that it is much more easily contained.  Flu on the other hand is airborne (little known fact those surgical masks do absolutely nothing to prevent you catching the flu) and has evolved to be a real efficient human killer.  The last part is that you can be a carrier for the flu and be asymptomatic (not even know you have it) and be a carrier (some reports that as many as 70% of the population in a typical flu season are asymptomatic carriers).

Lastly since the  H1N1 flu in 09 the US has really stepped up vaccine particularly cell based flu vaccine manufacturing in the US (prior to this we had almost 0% manufacturing capability it was almost 100% outsourced).  My company which is one of the largest suppliers to the drug an vaccine manufacturing industries alongside with our competitors are now regulated with a mandatory pandemic response and manufacturing readiness plan.  This is not being implemented for Ebola because all the science and data shows that while it is a deadly disease it will not reach pandemic proportions.

1918 Spanish Flu killed roughly 600,000 in the Us alone or about 0.5% of the population.  IMO it would be much deadlier nowadays due to rapid travel but if we assume same mortality we are looking at about ~2M dead. 

So relax until you see a lot of birds and then pigs dying in Asia because that is the major warning sign of a flu pandemic.  Ebola is bad but three cases does not make a pandemic.

Here is some information on the new flu pandemic manufacturing sites in the US.  I have been to the Holly Springs one and it is running at less than 3% capacity (always the problem with pandemics you dont need it until you do and then you need it by the boatload very hard to run a business that way which is why it needs so much government underwriting)

http://www.fiercepharmamanufacturing.com/story/fda-approves-novartis-us-vaccine-plant-it-trying-sell/2014-06-16

Con

[GDS_Starfury]

Damn!

I was so looking forward to our dystopian Groghead fortress.   >:(