Is there not an Ebola in Dallas thread yet?

[staceyobu]

Well, let me start it.  We are all going to die.  

 

 

 

Seriously, though.  It kills me that they said on the news that this guy had previously been to the hospital and sent home.  Really, people?  Someone just back from Liberia walks into your ER sick and you send him home?

[katilac]

Yes, there is. It is titled, What a Surprise and is one of the first few topics on the Chat Board. 

[Mrs Mungo]

It's already been locked, so it might be better to avoid as a topic? :p

 

I thought it was a strip mall style box clinic that sent him home, not an ER?

[Audrey]

It's already been locked, so it might be better to avoid as a topic? :p

 

I thought it was a strip mall style box clinic that sent him home, not an ER?

 

 

It's my fault.  I brought football into it.  I should have known better. :blushing:

[Mrs Mungo]

It's my fault.  I brought football into it.  I should have known better. :blushing:

So, too many Sooners and Texans in the thread? Was that the problem? LOL I had to go to the grocery store before payday tomorrow, so I missed a lot of it.

[Audrey]

So, too many Sooners and Texans in the thread? Was that the problem? LOL I had to go to the grocery store before payday tomorrow, so I missed a lot of it.

 

 

There is no such thing as too many Sooners. ;)

[Slartibartfast]

So, too many Sooners and Texans in the thread? Was that the problem? LOL I had to go to the grocery store before payday tomorrow, so I missed a lot of it.

I only made one Texas joke, that's pretty tame for me.

[stripe]

Someone just back from Liberia walks into your ER sick and you send him home?

How many people do you know who are familiar with African geography? Even the TV news said "Riots in Africa!" when there was one protest in the downtown of the capital of Liberia.

 

Find me three random people who can point to Liberia on a map. Find me three random people who could find Texas on a map!

[Χά�ων]

I whored out all my likes on the now locked thread.

[Seasider]

There's one thing I really need clarified.

 

Do people in Liberia actually eat bats?

 

(Truly, this is a sincere question!)

[OneStepAtATime]

So, too many Sooners and Texans in the thread? Was that the problem? LOL I had to go to the grocery store before payday tomorrow, so I missed a lot of it.

 

 

How many people do you know who are familiar with African geography? Even the TV news said "Riots in Africa!" when there was one protest in the downtown of the capital of Liberia.

 

Find me three random people who can point to Liberia on a map. Find me three random people who could find Texas on a map!

After reading the now apparently locked thread earlier, I started to wonder how many people have noticed that Africa is rather large?  And encompasses a rather significant number of countries?  And that it is not actually a country itself?  'Cause apparently not everyone has.  :)

 

From the reverse point of view, I know that as a Texan I was rather shocked as a kid when my family and I first drove across the East Coast and we covered 5 states in one day.  Wow!  Those states are so tiny and cute!  :)

 

And just like you, Mrs. Mungo, I had to go grocery shopping, too, and missed the lock down.  Embarrassingly, I did bring up Texas in that thread.  So sorry if I added to the kerfuffle, my bad....  :blushing:

[texasmama]

Mention of Texas can only improve a thread. ;)

 

(The state, not the college football team. I don't care about football, and UT is not my alma mater.)

 

ETA: corrected auto correct error of mater to matter. Stupid iPhone making me look dumb.

[OneStepAtATime]

Mention of Texas can only improve a thread. ;)

 

(The state, not the college football team. I don't care about football, and UT is not my alma matter.)

:hurray:  :iagree:

 

But for those of you who disagree, I support your desire to be an individual, not a blind follower.  :)

[Liz CA]

Jinnah's thread is already locked? Geez. Those Texans...

[Seasider]

I dunno about Liberia, but they are eaten in Guam, Taiwan and I think Australian Aborigines maybe too? It is...not good for you, ebola or no. Anthony Bourdain said it reeks while it cooks, but tastes like chicken lol

I suppose there are some bats (ie, flying foxes) that are large enough to eat; what first came to mind was our local bats that are mostly fluff and bony wings. That would be like eating leather- wrapped mice.

 

Nasty disease vectors, I am sure. I really had not heard that folks anywhere actually eat them.

 

I grew up in the swamp, though, so it's actually kind of a wonder that I'm surprised by the thought of people eating unusual critters. But bats, blech.

[Slartibartfast]

There's one thing I really need clarified.

 

Do people in Liberia actually eat bats?

 

(Truly, this is a sincere question!)

 

Yes, I was very sincere while talking about the bats.

 

Guinea even recently put out a "stop eating bats already!" warning.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-ebola-bushmeat-idUSBREA2Q19N20140327

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/08/11/338666715/graphic-warnings-ebola-posters-keep-the-virus-on-peoples-minds

 

Unfortunately there are not a lot of good alternative sources of protein.

[Seasider]

Yes, I was very sincere while talking about the bats.

 

Guinea even recently put out a "stop eating bats already!" warning.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-ebola-bushmeat-idUSBREA2Q19N20140327

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/08/11/338666715/graphic-warnings-ebola-posters-keep-the-virus-on-peoples-minds

 

Unfortunately there are not a lot of good alternative sources of protein.

Fascinating!

 

I knew about bushmeat, but somehow never considered bats. Thanks for that link.

[Amy in NH]

I agree with Jinnah.  :leaving:

 

Seriously, how many people could that one man have infected in the days between when he was sent "home" and was finally quarantined?  And now how many of them will just think they have the normal stomach flu before they realize what they actually have, and will pass it around to all their school chums the same way a normal stomach virus is shared before a state of emergency is declared?  So the CDC is there... now.  Are they going to be able to handle the spread that happened when the guy vomited all morning, boarded the bus, wiped his nose/mouth with his hand and touched the seats and railings?  The seats in the hospital waiting room?  The bathrooms everywhere in between?  Regular stomach viruses spread quickly even in the US; why would ebola be different?

 

I've been following this in the news for the past few weeks, and listened to epidemiologists talking about the unprecedented exponential curve of the rate of new infection and the current unusual spread of ebola through African cities where there is sanitation.  According to the news reports I've heard on NPR over the past weeks, some towns in affected African countries have set up armed roadblocks to keep infected people in/out.  Those countries should have been on lockdown to prevent further spread, even if it means people can't travel outside the country until the crisis is over.  Too bad, so sad, if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  IMO, if you want to go over and help you should plan to stay there until there aren't any more infections.

 

I sure hope I'm wrong and you're all right...

[Desert Strawberry]

I suppose there are some bats (ie, flying foxes) that are large enough to eat; what first came to mind was our local bats that are mostly fluff and bony wings. That would be like eating leather- wrapped mice.

 

Nasty disease vectors, I am sure. I really had not heard that folks anywhere actually eat them.

 

I grew up in the swamp, though, so it's actually kind of a wonder that I'm surprised by the thought of people eating unusual critters. But bats, blech.

I have a squirrel in my freezer, so I'm withholding judgement on the bats. 

[Slartibartfast]

I agree with Jinnah.  :leaving:

 

Seriously, how many people could that one man have infected in the days between when he was sent "home" and was finally quarantined?  And now how many of them will just think they have the normal stomach flu before they realize what they actually have, and will pass it around to all their school chums the same way a normal stomach virus is shared before a state of emergency is declared?  So the CDC is there... now.  Are they going to be able to handle the spread that happened when the guy vomited all morning, boarded the bus, wiped his nose/mouth with his hand and touched the seats and railings?  The seats in the hospital waiting room?  The bathrooms everywhere in between?  Regular stomach viruses spread quickly even in the US; why would ebola be different?

 

I've been following this in the news for the past few weeks, and listened to epidemiologists talking about the unprecedented exponential curve of the rate of new infection and the current unusual spread of ebola through African cities where there is sanitation.  According to the news reports I've heard on NPR over the past weeks, some towns in affected African countries have set up armed roadblocks to keep infected people in/out.  Those countries should have been on lockdown to prevent further spread, even if it means people can't travel outside the country until the crisis is over.  Too bad, so sad, if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  IMO, if you want to go over and help you should plan to stay there until there aren't any more infections.

 

I sure hope I'm wrong and you're all right...

 

 

The Americans in those areas are mostly medical staff, volunteers, aid workers, or soldiers on humanitarian missions. IMO all those people have the right to come back for treatment because while I am sitting on my hind end on the Internets they are actually doing something.

 

My dh's uncle works with Doctors Without Borders. He has been to Africa more than once, he didn't happen to be there during an Ebola outbreak but even then...I would want him to be able to get back.

[Jean in Newcastle]

People he was in close contact with are being monitored.  

[Slartibartfast]

I have a squirrel in my freezer, so I'm withholding judgement on the bats. 

 

 

Yeah...people eat all sorts of critters here. It just isn't in our wild life.

 

Most of the cases of leprosy in the continental US come from eating armadillos but people still eat them.

[Tanaqui]

Too bad, so sad, if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Wow, that's compassionate. Maybe it's different in your neck of the woods, but where I am, "too bad, so sad" is what you say when you stole the last popsicle and you really want to rub it in. Not really appropriate when discussing people a. dying of a disease or b. going hungry because the infrastructure is collapsing because of quarantines and fears about disease.

 

After reading the now apparently locked thread earlier, I started to wonder how many people have noticed that Africa is rather large?  And encompasses a rather significant number of countries?  And that it is not actually a country itself?  'Cause apparently not everyone has.   :)

 

Perhaps they're used to old Mercator maps, which are accurate with regards to direction but awful when it comes to size. On Mercators, Africa looks pretty small. In reality, Africa dwarfs North America, and comprises 1/5 of the land mass of the world, as you can see on a Gall-Peters map.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Yeah...people eat all sorts of critters here. It just isn't in our wild life.

 

Most of the cases of leprosy in the continental US come from eating armadillos but people still eat them.

Wow, I did NOT know that!  Learn something new every day!  :)

[Slartibartfast]

Wow, I did NOT know that!  Learn something new every day!   :)

 

I actually only know that because my mom's family is *serious* redneck. I recall her saying that one can get leprosy from armadillos my whole life and one day I actually thought I would look it up. :lol:

[Tanaqui]

Wow, I did NOT know that!  Learn something new every day!   :)

 

Yes, I believe that humans and armadillos are the only two animals that can get leprosy to begin with. Or Hansen's disease, rather, as you're supposed to call it nowadays. Edit: Checked Wikipedia. You can also find it in three species of non-human primates, and you can induce it in mice.

 

[staceyobu]

There is no such thing as too many Sooners. ;)

 

Wow.  I am now going to have to venture into the world of personal attack.  Maybe someone should go ahead and start another thread... I may have to get this one closed as well.

[mathnerd]

People he was in close contact with are being monitored.  

 

What about the people he was not in close contact with? I mean guys like the janitor who cleaned the public restrooms he used, people like you and me who used the same public restroom he used, the guy at the supermarket that touched the same refrigerated container this guy touched, that waiter in the restaurant who cleared his dishes etc etc. You know, if this guy had NOT washed his hands well just once and had gone out of his house from the 19th September until his recent diagnosis, then someone else out there has the same virus.

 

I wish that you are all right and that I am being alarmist. I worry a lot because I have a child who still puts his hand in his mouth and we do go to crowded places on a daily basis and if this virus spreads, my family will be in the news, because we usually pick up every germ that goes around from November to April of every year :(

 

Well, all I can do right now is to watch CNN and worry.

[Truscifi]

Between this and the other thread I've bestowed all my likes.

 

 

The nerdy joke thread may have gotten a few too. :leaving:

[vonfirmath]

I agree with Jinnah.  :leaving:

 

Seriously, how many people could that one man have infected in the days between when he was sent "home" and was finally quarantined?  And now how many of them will just think they have the normal stomach flu before they realize what they actually have, and will pass it around to all their school chums the same way a normal stomach virus is shared before a state of emergency is declared?  So the CDC is there... now.  Are they going to be able to handle the spread that happened when the guy vomited all morning, boarded the bus, wiped his nose/mouth with his hand and touched the seats and railings?  The seats in the hospital waiting room?  The bathrooms everywhere in between?  Regular stomach viruses spread quickly even in the US; why would ebola be different?

 

I've been following this in the news for the past few weeks, and listened to epidemiologists talking about the unprecedented exponential curve of the rate of new infection and the current unusual spread of ebola through African cities where there is sanitation.  According to the news reports I've heard on NPR over the past weeks, some towns in affected African countries have set up armed roadblocks to keep infected people in/out.  Those countries should have been on lockdown to prevent further spread, even if it means people can't travel outside the country until the crisis is over.  Too bad, so sad, if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  IMO, if you want to go over and help you should plan to stay there until there aren't any more infections.

 

I sure hope I'm wrong and you're all right...

 

When I hear described what happened in Nigeria to get the outbreak there under control.  Yeah. We can do that here. CDC can rack down every person affected and take temps everyday and check for symptoms, etc. If they can do it in Nigeria, they can do it here.

 

[Slartibartfast]

What about the people he was not in close contact with? I mean guys like the janitor who cleaned the public restrooms he used, people like you and me who used the same public restroom he used, the guy at the supermarket that touched the same refrigerated container this guy touched, that waiter in the restaurant who cleared his dishes etc etc. You know, if this guy had NOT washed his hands well just once and had gone out of his house from the 19th September until his recent diagnosis, then someone else out there has the same virus.

 

I wish that you are all right and that I am being alarmist. I worry a lot because I have a child who still puts his hand in his mouth and we do go to crowded places on a daily basis and if this virus spreads, my family will be in the news, because we usually pick up every germ that goes around from November to April of every year :(

 

Well, all I can do right now is to watch CNN and worry.

 

You should not watch CNN and worry. Watch something else.

 

I like watching Buffy when in the dumps...or Grey's Anatomy. Things are never as bad as Grey's Anatomy.

[Slartibartfast]

When I hear described what happened in Nigeria to get the outbreak there under control.  Yeah. We can do that here. CDC can rack down every person affected and take temps everyday and check for symptoms, etc. If they can do it in Nigeria, they can do it here.

 

They had to lock down an area and send people door to door, in the US hypochondriacs are probably breaking down the doors of the ERs in Dallas. It is a different attitude.

[Jean in Newcastle]

What about the people he was not in close contact with? I mean guys like the janitor who cleaned the public restrooms he used, people like you and me who used the same public restroom he used, the guy at the supermarket that touched the same refrigerated container this guy touched, that waiter in the restaurant who cleared his dishes etc etc. You know, if this guy had NOT washed his hands well just once and had gone out of his house from the 19th September until his recent diagnosis, then someone else out there has the same virus.

 

I wish that you are all right and that I am being alarmist. I worry a lot because I have a child who still puts his hand in his mouth and we do go to crowded places on a daily basis and if this virus spreads, my family will be in the news, because we usually pick up every germ that goes around from November to April of every year :(

 

Well, all I can do right now is to watch CNN and worry.

 I am immuno compromised.  I wash my hands after going out in public.  I wipe down my shopping cart with sanitizing wipes. I do not go out during flu season.  I am responsible to taking care of my own health because I don't know who I'm going to be in contact with.  If I were to have worrisome symptoms I'm glad that I am in an area with excellent healthcare.  I don't watch CNN.  And I don't worry.  

[Slartibartfast]

 I am immuno compromised.  I wash my hands after going out in public.  I wipe down my shopping cart with sanitizing wipes. I do not go out during flu season.  I am responsible to taking care of my own health because I don't know who I'm going to be in contact with.  If I were to have worrisome symptoms I'm glad that I am in an area with excellent healthcare.  I don't watch CNN.  And I don't worry.  

 

I have an autoimmune disease, I am the same way.

 

I don't watch the news but I do research and read articles from sources that I trust to be rational. I also have anxiety, if I sat around watching people whose job it is to just blather on for 24 hours whether or not there are actually updates then I would probably be feeling a wee bit hysterical.

[mathnerd]

You should not watch CNN and worry. Watch something else.

 

I like watching Buffy when in the dumps...or Grey's Anatomy. Things are never as bad as Grey's Anatomy.

 

OK :) I will take your advise and switch to watching Buffy (I always loved the original TV Buffy with Sarah Michelle Gellar - I need to google to see if there were new ones after that).

[Slartibartfast]

OK :) I will take your advise and switch to watching Buffy (I always loved the original TV Buffy with Sarah Michelle Gellar - I need to google to see if there were new ones after that).

 

Only the Angel show but I always found him to be kind of mopey.

[blondeviolin]

Only the Angel show but I always found him to be kind of mopey.

But super hot as Booth in Bones. Forget Johnny Depp, David Boreanaz is it.

[Slartibartfast]

But super hot as Booth in Bones. Forget Johnny Depp, David Boreanaz is it.

 

I like him MUCH better as Booth.  I am a sucker for crazy socks.

[Laura Corin]

It's my fault.  I brought football into it.  I should have known better. :blushing:

 

i used the words 'dinghy' and 'whence' in the same sentence.  It had to go bad.

[Laura Corin]

I suppose there are some bats (ie, flying foxes) that are large enough to eat; what first came to mind was our local bats that are mostly fluff and bony wings. That would be like eating leather- wrapped mice.

 

 

Calvin suggested that it would be like eating owls - not enough meat for the trouble, as they are mostly fluff.  Then he suggested that what one should really do with owls is shake them over dishes - it would taste like whipped cream.

 

L

[creekland]

How many people do you know who are familiar with African geography? Even the TV news said "Riots in Africa!" when there was one protest in the downtown of the capital of Liberia.

 

Find me three random people who can point to Liberia on a map. Find me three random people who could find Texas on a map!

 

Middle son returned from a medial mission trip to Cote D'Ivoire this past July.  A month later, in August, we were crossing the border at Niagara Falls (into the US) and the border agent looked at his passport.   "Cote D'Ivoire!  What's that?" the guy asked (not even "where's that," but what).  "It's a small country in Africa" my guy replied.  "What in the world were you doing there?" the agent asked.  "A medical missions trip."  "WHY would you want to do that?"  That one stumped my guy... but after a short pause the agent switched to "Anything to declare?" and life continued on as it normally does when crossing a border.

 

We all shook our heads afterward and were glad my guy didn't tell him it was in West Africa in a country right next to the affected ones.  Then we pondered what he would have done/said if my guy had told him it was an island in the South Pacific or next to France or similar and he went there to attend a bigwig's wedding.  ;)

 

Silly us... we really would have expected border agents to know what countries are out there - even if they couldn't point to them on a map.

 

To be fair though, the Canadian border agent also looked perplexed when she looked at his passport, but she didn't actually say anything about it.  She just stared at it for a bit, then continued on with our typical Canadian entry question - "You bringing money in?"   :lol:  (JK with that last bit, but it's close.)

[creekland]

Calvin suggested that it would be like eating owls - not enough meat for the trouble, as they are mostly fluff.  Then he suggested that what one should really do with owls is shake them over dishes - it would taste like whipped cream.

 

L

 

Whipped cream?  I would think it would be more like croutons, bacon bits, and pepper (shaking out the owl pellets).   :tongue_smilie:

[Lisbeth]

I see normalcy bias. It's everywhere. It doesn't know it's not reality.

Sorry, had to.

Telling someone to watch fiction instead of the news in this case strikes me a bit like the comments that begin: "Now don't you worry your pretty little head about..."

[creekland]

Telling someone to watch fiction instead of the news in this case strikes me a bit like the comments that begin: "Now don't you worry your pretty little head about..."

 

I suspect the vast, vast majority of people worry too much and do more harm to their body via the side effects of worrying than is likely to happen to them from ebola.  If they watch fiction instead - esp comedy - they will do more medical good for their body.

 

If one feels they might have come in contact with the victim's fluids, then they ought to take the proper precautions and get help at the first sign of any issue.

 

It's always best to keep risk in perspective rather than getting alarmed at very low risk deals.

 

One is more likely to get the flu and have issues from that to be honest.

[displace]

Whipped cream?  I would think it would be more like croutons, bacon bits, and pepper (shaking out the owl pellets).   :tongue_smilie:

Ewww!

 

ETA: :ack2:

[Aelwydd]

My cubicle at work sits across from a guy whose mother-in-law just arrived a few weeks ago from the Ivory Coast.

 

I have several other coworkers from that region.

 

I work in a Dallas suburb.

 

I'm worried more about the bad case of diarrhea my dog has than about Ebola.

 

Also, Texas and Oklahoma are cut from the same cloth. So is Nebraska. DH and I refer to the whole unsightly region as Nebrahomas.

[Trish]

The Americans in those areas are mostly medical staff, volunteers, aid workers, or soldiers on humanitarian missions. IMO all those people have the right to come back for treatment because while I am sitting on my hind end on the Internets they are actually doing something.

 

My dh's uncle works with Doctors Without Borders. He has been to Africa more than once, he didn't happen to be there during an Ebola outbreak but even then...I would want him to be able to get back.

 

Not sure what this "right to come back" is, but when it comes to pubic health a 21-day quarantine sure would be nice.

 

[stripe]

You know, if this guy had NOT washed his hands well just once and had gone out of his house from the 19th September until his recent diagnosis, then someone else out there has the same virus.

Well, thank God he's not an American then. We all know about Americans, especially men, and hand washing. Even doctors and nurses have to be told to wash their hands in the US, complete with signs for patients to remind them.

 

In Liberia, per this 2012 UNICEF report

 

Reported hand washing practices among the among urban and rural households were high with over 

80% of households reporting both washing their hands before feeding the child and after cleaning up 

after the child following defecation. This did not differ greatly between counties or within urban or 

rural populations. Most households (71%) reported washing their hands most often with water and 

soap and 90% of households were observed to have soap in the household. 43% of households 

reported always or frequently washing their hands with soap before preparing food and 63% of 

households reported always or frequently washing their hands with soap after using the toilet.

 

Whereas in American hospitals, it's considered an improvement to get the rates to 50%, according to a 2009 study in the American Journal of Medical Quality:

 

Our results show that HH compliance at baseline was 26% for intensive care units (ICUs) and 36% for non-ICUs. After 12 months of measuring product usage and providing feedback, compliance increased to 37% for ICUs and 51% for non-ICUs. (ICU, P = .0119; non-ICU, P <.001). HH compliance in the United States can increase when monitoring is combined with feedback. However, HH still occurs at or below 50% compliance for both ICUs and non-ICUs.

 

 

Translation: the average Liberian washes their hands much more often than American ICU medical staff.

[DawnM]

I was out last night.....looks like I missed something quite lively and after reading it I was mad that I wasn't able to respond. 

 

I will get over it......maybe.

[TeacherZee]

Wow, that's compassionate. Maybe it's different in your neck of the woods, but where I am, "too bad, so sad" is what you say when you stole the last popsicle and you really want to rub it in. Not really appropriate when discussing people a. dying of a disease or b. going hungry because the infrastructure is collapsing because of quarantines and fears about disease.

 

Perhaps they're used to old Mercator maps, which are accurate with regards to direction but awful when it comes to size. On Mercators, Africa looks pretty small. In reality, Africa dwarfs North America, and comprises 1/5 of the land mass of the world, as you can see on a Gall-Peters map.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection