TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

2014 Ebola Virus Outbreak

Go To

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#76: Aug 9th 2014 at 3:08:53 AM

Oh God's angry at Liberia alright. Might have just a tiny bit more to do with the rivers of shit running in the streets and otherwise just general lack of care for hygiene and less to do with sexuality if the VICE documentary on the country is any indication....

EDIT- Did not want to pagetop with that.

How about news on the spread? The latest map on wikipedia shows Sierra Leone almost ALL red.

edited 9th Aug '14 3:09:37 AM by FFShinra

SgtRicko Since: Jul, 2009
#77: Aug 9th 2014 at 4:42:43 AM

It probably will be all red by next week, given how poorly the nation is reacting to the virus. This could be a whole lot easier to contain but it's becoming clear that the REAL vector of infection is incompetence and paranoia from the public, which is allowing more and more to get sick.

Gabrael from My musings Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
#78: Aug 9th 2014 at 6:47:39 AM

Some areas are under blockade, but there is also the problem of making sure the burials are deep enough and secure enough.

So many people have died, they're not going to the hospital, they're dying in the streets and at home, spreading infection.

They don't have the proper equipment or enough people over there to help isolate and contain people. The easiest way to catch Ebola is exposure to blood or bodily fluids. Without a secure patient with the ability to properly dispose of these materials, the containment, even the very blankets and clothes the person was wearing, it's going to spread like wildfire.

Another thing to consider is this is a mostly Islamic population. When a person dies they are supposed to be washed by a family member of the same gender then buried loose so they may rejoin the earth. This cannot be allowed if that person died from Ebola. Contrast it with the cholera epidemics of china and south america where burial was also the custom. In China, burial near water was required, but that also meant you were infecting water supplies for miles around.

Canada has a patient in isolation until tests can be confirmed. They are a Canadian citizen recently back from Nigeria who is showing flu like symptoms.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
probablyinsane Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#79: Aug 9th 2014 at 8:32:57 AM

Please do not mutate into air-borne variant.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#80: Aug 9th 2014 at 8:37:41 AM

That will take far more rearrangement than a mere mutation - air is a very different environment than water. Plus, given the presence of free radicals and UV radiation an air borne virus has its range limits as well.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
IraTheSquire Since: Apr, 2010
#81: Aug 9th 2014 at 6:59:10 PM

[up]i wouldn't say that because the Reston ebolavirus is suspected to be air-borne, though it is entirely harmless to humans (but deadly to monkeys) so the mutations required might render it completely harmless to humans.

SgtRicko Since: Jul, 2009
#82: Aug 10th 2014 at 5:06:01 AM

Another factor that helps viruses mutate or evolve is the amount of people a particular strain can effect. Right now this ebola strain requires bodily fluids or moisture to spread and isn't terribly good at surviving outside of their victims for very long - probably not even a full day. But as the virus successfully spreads from victim to victim it will, over time, develop resistances and alterations. And there exists the potential for something nasty to evolve - say, a gene strain durable and small enough to survive in airborne particles.

Fortunately as one of the previous troopers mentioned the virus is too complex to survive as an aerosol, so that means it's gonna be awhile before that happens.

probablyinsane Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#83: Aug 10th 2014 at 10:07:05 AM

This is why I'm now into fermented foods, because unfriendly viruses and bacteria can evolve way way way faster than human beings, so gotta ally oneself with the friendly ones.

Note to self: Eat more century eggs.

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#84: Aug 10th 2014 at 10:08:22 AM

[up]...Does alcohol help with that?tongue Not that I need an excuse.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Pyrite Until further notice from Right. Beneath. You. Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Hiding
Until further notice
#85: Aug 10th 2014 at 10:10:11 AM

...Wut. (Century eggs are preserved by chemical methods, not biological. Also, none of the above are likely to help against Ebola, unless you use that alcohol as a disinfectant, and even then it's still a long shot.)

edited 10th Aug '14 10:58:30 AM by Pyrite

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#86: Aug 10th 2014 at 11:11:46 AM

Older customs could be brought back. The cremation of disease victims (house and all — sometimes not even when totally dead, either... sad to say <winces>) used to be practised in times of crisis. Using a dedicated suicide squad to implement the rules, usually. The moment any one member of that squad got visibly sick, they were duty-bound to join the nearest fire they had set. Once the plague seemed to be settling down: they all walked into flame. (The incentive was that their family got preferential treatment for at least a generation... and their death-names would be guaranteed to be sung in the songs of lineages as noted heroes, whatever else they had done in life, no matter if they had been sentenced to have their names wiped, before.)

The problem is... cremation of persons and possessions due to disease is a traditional African custom, not an Islamic one. <_< Sensible, but rather grim. -_-

edited 10th Aug '14 11:23:23 AM by Euodiachloris

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#87: Aug 10th 2014 at 12:10:44 PM

[up] I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen more people praising Islam for spreading ebola among all those evil, evil black muslims.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
MattStriker Since: Jun, 2012
#88: Aug 10th 2014 at 12:15:37 PM

Open up the comments sections on those news articles being linked here and you'll find countless shitheads saying exactly that.

As usual with internet comments it's hard to tell how many of them are just trolling, but there's a fair chance that at least some of them are actually serious...

SgtRicko Since: Jul, 2009
#89: Aug 10th 2014 at 10:55:34 PM

[up]Unfortunately if Facebook and the histories of many of the commenters there is any indication, a disturbing amount really do believe in the crap they're spewing. Seems to be mostly amongst the older generation over 40 years of age and older though. I've always wondered why is that the case...

edited 10th Aug '14 11:02:09 PM by SgtRicko

Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#90: Aug 10th 2014 at 11:17:17 PM

AFP reports that a Spanish priest with ebola has arrived in Madrid to be treated in a secured hospital.

SgtRicko Since: Jul, 2009
#91: Aug 10th 2014 at 11:39:36 PM

Any word on which country was he working in when he became infected?

Gabrael from My musings Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
#93: Aug 11th 2014 at 11:45:09 AM

Nigeria has 10 confirmed cases. So far all of the cases have to do with people who were in contact with Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American financial consultant who flew in that way from Liberia. Both Sawyer and another nurse who treated him are dead.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
SgtRicko Since: Jul, 2009
#94: Aug 11th 2014 at 8:13:50 PM

[up]And that's only what we know - so far. definitely willing to bet we'll be hearing about more infected popping up in Nigeria in the next week or so soon.

Gabrael from My musings Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
#95: Aug 11th 2014 at 9:19:49 PM

Regretfully. I fear you are right.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
IraTheSquire Since: Apr, 2010
#96: Aug 11th 2014 at 9:47:56 PM

The more people getting infected, the more the likelihood of mutations that make this harder to deal with. sad

edited 11th Aug '14 9:48:27 PM by IraTheSquire

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#97: Aug 11th 2014 at 9:51:46 PM

So when are we allowed to panic?

Oh really when?
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#98: Aug 11th 2014 at 10:52:15 PM

I am guessing once a few cases start occurring in the US or Europe despite strict containment.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
probablyinsane Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#99: Aug 12th 2014 at 2:49:54 AM

/stocks up on yogurt

Plants are aliens, and fungi are nanomachines.
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#100: Aug 12th 2014 at 5:37:19 AM

The priest died of ebola in Madrid. I suspect that the disease got to him hard despite the efforts of the doctors to treat him.


Total posts: 730
Top