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What do these findings mean? First and foremost, Ebola is not suddenly an airborne disease. As expert commentators at ProMED stated, the experiments “demonstrate the susceptibility of pigs to Zaire Ebolavirus and that the virus from infected pigs can be transmitted to macaques under experimental conditions… they fall short of establishing that this is a normal route of transmission in the natural environment.” Furthermore, because human Ebola outbreaks have historically been locally contained, it is unlikely that Ebola can spread between humans via airborne transmission.
However, the study does raise the possibility that pigs are a host for Ebola. If this proves to be true in the wild, there are direct ramifications for prevention and control measures. It is still unclear what role pigs play in the chain of transmission. To continue work on answering this question, the team plans to take samples from pigs in areas known to have recently experienced Ebola outbreaks.
- See more at: http://healthmap.org/site/diseasedaily/article/pigs-monkeys-ebola-goes-airborne-112112#sthash.TrWwQG3h.dpuf
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2014/10/01 13:34:46
What do these findings mean? First and foremost, Ebola is not suddenly an airborne disease. As expert commentators at ProMED stated, the experiments “demonstrate the susceptibility of pigs to Zaire Ebolavirus and that the virus from infected pigs can be transmitted to macaques under experimental conditions… they fall short of establishing that this is a normal route of transmission in the natural environment.” Furthermore, because human Ebola outbreaks have historically been locally contained, it is unlikely that Ebola can spread between humans via airborne transmission.
They established that pigs can get sick, and that if you put pigs in cages next to monkeys the monkeys can get sick. They did not establish how the monkeys got sick: could be airborne, could be droplet (more likely), could be that the workers themselves spread the disease. Species to species transmission is also not indicative of human to human transmission as we can see from our monitoring of flu viruses each year.
Just another case of gakky reporting and people not understanding what they are reading.
What do these findings mean? First and foremost, Ebola is not suddenly an airborne disease. As expert commentators at ProMED stated, the experiments “demonstrate the susceptibility of pigs to Zaire Ebolavirus and that the virus from infected pigs can be transmitted to macaques under experimental conditions… they fall short of establishing that this is a normal route of transmission in the natural environment.” Furthermore, because human Ebola outbreaks have historically been locally contained, it is unlikely that Ebola can spread between humans via airborne transmission.
They established that pigs can get sick, and that if you put pigs in cages next to monkeys the monkeys can get sick. They did not establish how the monkeys got sick: could be airborne, could be droplet (more likely), could be that the workers themselves spread the disease. Species to species transmission is also not indicative of human to human transmission as we can see from our monitoring of flu viruses each year.
Just another case of gakky reporting and people not understanding what they are reading.
Not sure you understood my post and jumped to your conclusion:
Not sure if this was posted, but an update to ebola transmission : it can be airborne.
Which means there is the possibility of airborne transmission, NOT that there IS airborne transmission.
Automatically Appended Next Post: A more current article from this past September:
Can Ebola Go Airborne?
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A study in the journal Science, released last week, shows that the Ebola strain spreading across Western Africa has undergone a surprisingly high amount of genetic drift during the current outbreak. Experts say the mutations could eventually make the virus harder to diagnose and perhaps treat with a new therapeutic, should one come along.
In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, I wrote that in response to the crisis, the Obama administration has stressed that the disease is unlikely to spread inside America. We will certainly see cases diagnosed here, and perhaps even experience some isolated clusters of disease. For now, though, the administration’s assurances are generally correct: Health-care workers in advanced Western nations maintain infection controls that can curtail the spread of non-airborne diseases like Ebola.
********************************************
It’s already possible that Ebola can spread, in rare cases, through direct contact with respiratory secretions. This might occur, for example, when an infected person coughs or sneezes directly on another, uninfected individual. The Centers for Disease Control specifically recommends “droplet protection” be taken in the hospital setting when healthcare workers are treating patients infected with Ebola. This kind of direct spread is sometimes referred to as “droplet contact,” but it’s distinct from airborne spread.
When a viral infection becomes “airborne,” like ordinary influenza, it means that discharged microbes remain suspended in the air for long periods of time. Generally speaking, this is what is meant by “airborne transmission.” In this case, the organisms must be capable of surviving for long periods of time outside the body and must be resistant to drying. Airborne transmission allows organisms to enter the upper and lower respiratory tracts. This sort of transmission is sometimes also referred to as “droplet contact” or “viral droplet nuclei transmission.”
For this article, I am focused on the latter circumstance — whether or not Ebola could mutate in a way that makes it highly contagious through the air, by allowing the individual viral particles to survive for long periods suspended in dry air.
Right now, Ebola is spread through direct contact with the body fluids of actively infected individuals. Indirect transmission is also possible by means of contact with an object (fomite) that has been soiled by the body fluids of an infected individual.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2014/10/01 13:35:18
1) I replied to your post before the edit and the highlighting of the word "can". It still doesn't change the fact that it was a crap article and that it doesn't indicate that it "can" be airborne between humans. They selected a species and injected it with Ebola, and the species they selected suffers from respiratory symptoms when infected with Ebola. Humans don't suffer from respiratory symptoms with Ebola, so it's a pretty useless story when looking at human-to-human transmission. Especially when you consider that nothing int he study even proves that the virus was ever spread via airborne transmission to begin with.
2) Droplet Transmission is vastly different than Airborne Transmission. I know it probably doesn't sound like much of a difference for non-medical folks, but the distinction is pretty huge when we consider disease transmission. Droplet precautions usually extend around 6 feet from the person, as far as you can sneeze. It is also important to realize WHY droplets may be contagious: not because the virus is airborne but because the virus is transmitted the exact same way it has always been transmitted, via infected body fluids. And you probably have heard about one of the symptoms of Ebola, bleeding from mucous membranes. So if an Ebola patient bleeds from the gums and coughs, tiny drops of blood can be sprayed. That is not an airborne transmission. If an Ebola patient has a nose bleed and sneezes, tiny drops of blood can be sprayed. That is not an airborne transmission. If an HIV patient has a nose bleed and sneezes blood in your eye, you could theoretically get HIV. But HIV is not airborne. If a Hepatitis patient has bleeding in his mouth and coughs some blood into your eyes, you could theoretically get Hepatitis. But Hepatitis is not airborne.
3) The second article posted is an opinion piece with zero science behind it that just says "it could mutate, maybe...".
Edit:
But hey, if you guys want to be scared because crappy reporters are writing crappy articles then be my guest. I'm just telling you why the articles are crap by explaining to you why they are crap. It's not like there are a few of us actually trained in the whole "taking care of sick people, how do diseases work and get transmitted" thing.
Edit 2: Also interesting what you didn't copy from the second article:
Could Ebola mutate in a way that confers these qualities on the virus?
Anything is possible. But such a scientific feat would rate as highly unlikely. A lot of the speculation that Ebola could be airborne stems from a set of earlier studies that showed Ebola virus may have been able to spread through the air between infected pigs and monkeys. There are reasons why these studies are not applicable when it comes to questions around human-to-human transmission. In animals, Ebola behaves differently than it does in people, for example concentrating in lung tissue.
Interestingly, the authors note that other experimental studies that have looked specifically at airborne, primate-to-primate transmission of Ebola have come up negative, and that swine are known to generate “infectious short range large aerosol droplets more efficiently then other species.” Is there something specific about pig physiology that may make them better respiratory virus shedders?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/10/01 14:04:49
1) I replied to your post before the edit and the highlighting of the word "can". It still doesn't change the fact that it was a crap article and that it doesn't indicate that it "can" be airborne between humans. They selected a species and injected it with Ebola, and the species they selected suffers from respiratory symptoms when infected with Ebola. Humans don't suffer from respiratory symptoms with Ebola, so it's a pretty useless story when looking at human-to-human transmission. Especially when you consider that nothing int he study even proves that the virus was ever spread via airborne transmission to begin with.
2) Droplet Transmission is vastly different than Airborne Transmission. I know it probably doesn't sound like much of a difference for non-medical folks, but the distinction is pretty huge when we consider disease transmission. Droplet precautions usually extend around 6 feet from the person, as far as you can sneeze. It is also important to realize WHY droplets may be contagious: not because the virus is airborne but because the virus is transmitted the exact same way it has always been transmitted, via infected body fluids. And you probably have heard about one of the symptoms of Ebola, bleeding from mucous membranes. So if an Ebola patient bleeds from the gums and coughs, tiny drops of blood can be sprayed. That is not an airborne transmission. If an Ebola patient has a nose bleed and sneezes, tiny drops of blood can be sprayed. That is not an airborne transmission. If an HIV patient has a nose bleed and sneezes blood in your eye, you could theoretically get HIV. But HIV is not airborne. If a Hepatitis patient has bleeding in his mouth and coughs some blood into your eyes, you could theoretically get Hepatitis. But Hepatitis is not airborne.
3) The second article posted is an opinion piece with zero science behind it that just says "it could mutate, maybe...".
Edit:
But hey, if you guys want to be scared because crappy reporters are writing crappy articles then be my guest. I'm just telling you why the articles are crap by explaining to you why they are crap. It's not like there are a few of us actually trained in the whole "taking care of sick people, how do diseases work and get transmitted" thing.
Edit 2: Also interesting what you didn't copy from the second article:
Could Ebola mutate in a way that confers these qualities on the virus?
Anything is possible. But such a scientific feat would rate as highly unlikely. A lot of the speculation that Ebola could be airborne stems from a set of earlier studies that showed Ebola virus may have been able to spread through the air between infected pigs and monkeys. There are reasons why these studies are not applicable when it comes to questions around human-to-human transmission. In animals, Ebola behaves differently than it does in people, for example concentrating in lung tissue.
Interestingly, the authors note that other experimental studies that have looked specifically at airborne, primate-to-primate transmission of Ebola have come up negative, and that swine are known to generate “infectious short range large aerosol droplets more efficiently then other species.” Is there something specific about pig physiology that may make them better respiratory virus shedders?
Hulksmash wrote: Got a Wedding in Dallas we have to go to this week. I'll let you guys know if the Ebola get's me.
.... First wedding ever where no one wants to catch the bouquet !
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We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Hulksmash wrote: Got a Wedding in Dallas we have to go to this week. I'll let you guys know if the Ebola get's me.
Just don't lick your fingers. Or anybody else's fingers. You'll be fine.
Also, keep yer pants on.
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-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
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From what I can tell this is just a precaution. it's called Contact Tracing and is standard in Ebola cases. You find everyone who had contact with the patient and monitor them closely for several days to see if they develop symptoms. Media sources are blowing it up because this one person claimed to be feeling ill, which could just be a coincidence.
From what I can tell this is just a precaution. it's called Contact Tracing and is standard in Ebola cases. You find everyone who had contact with the patient and monitor them closely for several days to see if they develop symptoms. Media sources are blowing it up because this one person claimed to be feeling ill, which could just be a coincidence.
Articel says they were doing that, but this one looks like they have it.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
No argument from me. We've got more than enough weapons and resources to be utterly self sufficient.
This made me smile.... are you going to shoot the virus?
I dunno, are our soldiers in Africa going to shoot the virus?
The amount of self deception and complacency in this thread scares the living crap out of me. Seriously and with no exaggeration.
They are going to shoot the virus with science, by which I mean decent emergency healthcare facilities and experience.
I still want to know what you have against your own country doing its best to try and help other countries whose healthcare system can barely cope with a pretty nasty vector.
d-usa wrote: - posts that Ebola can be airborne
- posts two articles countering his claim as proof
- says everybody else suffers from self-deception
This thread is giving me E-bola.
That's what we call Internet induced nausea and diarrhea now right?
It's not E-bola unless you read something that makes you bleed from the eyes.
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?)
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
3000
4000 
The Undying Spawn of Shub-Niggurath 
Desert Hunters of Vior'la 
The Purge 
Iron Hands 
Adepts of Pestilence 
Tallaran Desert Raiders 
Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
Caledonian 95th (undergoing regimental reorganization)
Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?) 