32 replies to this topic

[Rogal Dorn]

http://www.bbc.com/n...canada-28221185


I sure am glad I got a free smallpox vaccine from ze military! Never know when someone is going to find some smallpox in a cardboard box and a worldwide epidemic would ensue....

[KiWi]

Tests will be conducted on the material to determine if it is viable before it destroyed, the CDC said.

Grammar?

[Manoka]

That's right kids, don't go exploring out unused storage space, you might find smallpox in there! 

 

...actually, fuck that, go into all of them, find all the smallpox you can, EHEHEHEHEHEHE!

 

 

"Government agencies were notified of the discovery on 1 July, after National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees discovered the vials labelled "variola", also known as smallpox.

 

The vials were located in an unused area of a storage room in a Food and Drug Administration laboratory on an NIH campus in Bethesda."

Edited by Manoka, 09 July 2014 - 12:31 AM.

[Thrash]

Well, gee, we got scabies coming over the border every day, Ebola is due to show up here soon..  might as well just let it all loose.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

So THAT'S where we left the smallpox!  

[Redezra]

Nah, Ebola won't rock up. It kills too quickly, and is easily quarantined.

[Rogal Dorn]

Tell that to the Africans in west Africa, Red the current outbreak there is the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history already and shows no sign of slowing. Shit, people are attacking and raiding the doctors without borders clinics for some unknown reason

[Dre4mwe4ver]

I love this.

"Where did we put the smallpox?" "Don't worry, it'll turn up."

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Ebola outbreaks burn themselves out too quickly to threaten large populations.  Basically, the virus kills its host too quickly for the contagion to spread beyond a certain point.  Of course, that's cold comfort to those who contract it.  And it does tend to cause panic and mayhem at the local level when there's an outbreak.  When people's internal organs liquify and bleed out every orifice, that tends to happen.  It's a type of illness called a hemorrhagic fever, and it has about a 90% death rate.  By comparison the Marburg virus has only an 80% death rate.  What a loser.

[the rebel]

Nah, Ebola won't rock up. It kills too quickly, and is easily quarantined.

 

Ebola outbreaks burn themselves out too quickly to threaten large populations.  Basically, the virus kills its host too quickly for the contagion to spread beyond a certain point.  Of course, that's cold comfort to those who contract it.  And it does tend to cause panic and mayhem at the local level when there's an outbreak.  When people's internal organs liquify and bleed out every orifice, that tends to happen.  It's a type of illness called a hemorrhagic fever, and it has about a 90% death rate.  By comparison the Marburg virus has only an 80% death rate.  What a loser.

 

Sure if you both ignore the upto 21 days incubation period before any noticable symptoms and if you are one of the lucky few who recover.... don't be having sex for 7 weeks afterwards as you can still  transmit the virsus.

 

Once it travels from localised remote villages to towns and cities with international travel...then be worried as people can travel a whole lot in 3 weeks.

 

But as with other killers like that the chances on catching it are slim.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Well, speaking as someone with experience in public health, all I will say is that Ebola is not worth worrying about.  It's the movie star of contagious illnesses — sexy and glamorous, but the odds of meeting it are slim enough as to be virtually nonexistent.  The common flu virus kills WAY more people.

 

And Ebola does not require sexual contact to be transmitted.  It is a fluid-borne disease, any body fluid will do.  It's not airborne, but if someone coughed a big, wet Ebola cough on your face there's a good chance you'd be infected.

[Manoka]

Ironically perhaps a lot of this was classified, with the intent of just keeping it in places that seemed innocuous, so no-one would know how to target it.

 

It's possible, if not likely, that all the people who knew about it retired and forgot about it or even died, so, this kind of information just disappears after a long enough period of time; imagine burning a bunch of classified files, then you're like, oh yeah, only WE had that information, and exact locations are hard to memorize, so everyone is like "oh well". Losing track of it is easier than you might think. Sometimes they almost want it to get lost, so it can't be stolen, but can be recovered if needed after a long enough time. 

 

 

The mentality is that a thief has like 10 minutes, maybe a few years to find it, but hundreds of government workers have like, forever. 

Edited by Manoka, 09 July 2014 - 05:04 PM.

[the rebel]

And Ebola does not require sexual contact to be transmitted. It is a fluid-borne disease, any body fluid will do. It's not airborne, but if someone coughed a big, wet Ebola cough on your face there's a good chance you'd be infected.

I know it isn't just through sexual contact, I added that tidbit because no one mentioned it since according to the WHO male survivors can transmit the virus for up to 7 weeks after recovery via their seamen.

[Rogal Dorn]

Well, speaking as someone with experience in public health, all I will say is that Ebola is not worth worrying about. 

how come you're the only health care professional that says Ebola is no big deal? It seems like every article I read they're like "zomg, could be the end of the world!!!!!"

not trying to sound condescending, just genuinely curious.

[KiWi]

Well, speaking as someone with experience in public health, all I will say is that Ebola is not worth worrying about. 

how come you're the only health care professional that says Ebola is no big deal? It seems like every article I read they're like "zomg, could be the end of the world!!!!!"

not trying to sound condescending, just genuinely curious.
 

Frontlines vs. the type interviewed by bad journalists?

[Dre4mwe4ver]

Well, speaking as someone with experience in public health, all I will say is that Ebola is not worth worrying about.

how come you're the only health care professional that says Ebola is no big deal? It seems like every article I read they're like "zomg, could be the end of the world!!!!!"

not trying to sound condescending, just genuinely curious.

Frontlines vs. the type interviewed by bad journalists?

my vote is Jorost just isn't a pussy. "Got Ebola? Good. It'll toughen your immune system. If you survive."

[Thrash]

He's just an arrogant prick.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Well, speaking as someone with experience in public health, all I will say is that Ebola is not worth worrying about. 

how come you're the only health care professional that says Ebola is no big deal? It seems like every article I read they're like "zomg, could be the end of the world!!!!!"

not trying to sound condescending, just genuinely curious.

 

FUCK.  I just spent like half an hour typing a response to this, then accidentally bumped the wrong goddam key on my work computer and lost the whole thing.  Have I mentioned how much I hate Windows?

 

Anyway, to answer your question:  Because panic sells.

 

Ebola is a terrible illness, there is no doubt about that.  And this is not only the biggest outbreak recorded (600 confirmed dead), but the first time the infection has spread to a major urban area.  But despite all of this the threat to Western populations is still quite low.  Could an infected individual get on a plane and bring the virus to the United States?  Sure, it's possible.  But it's not likely.  Ebola tends to erupt in poor populations, and poor Africans do not often hop on planes to the United States.

 

But even if that happened, the actual threat is small in terms of overall population, and the danger to a specific individual (i.e. you, me, your cousin Sal, etc.) is so low as to be statistically nil.  Let's say the virus did spread to the US and cause an outbreak.  Even if 1000 people died that would still be only 0.0003% of the population.  Which is not to say that it would not still be a catastrophic, horrible event.  And it would undoubtedly cause widespread panic.  It would be a terrible, terrible thing, and I'm not trying to be dismissive.  But it's not the end of the world.  Not even close.

 

TL;DR:  Ebola?  I eat that shit for lunch.  

[Shokkou]

He's just an arrogant prick.

 

'Cause he's an arrogant prick, that's why. :v

[Dre4mwe4ver]

tl;dr - Jorost doesn't care about Ebola because he eats shit for lunch.