Ebola outbreak in Dallas Texas.

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**Frazzled**

Not a lot of flu in Texas right now...

**d-usa**

If you have a fever, you could have Ebola.
If you have body aches, you could have Ebola.
If you have nausea, you could have Ebola.
If you have diarrhea, you could have Ebola.
If you have general weakness, you could have Ebola.

Ebola has a set of symptoms that it shares with almost every common run-of the mill gastrointestinal bug, cold virus, and the flu. I bet 50 internet dollars that every person in this thread has exhibited signs of Ebola at least once in the last 12 months.

Keep in mind that we have isolated and tested a lot of people with signs of Ebola, and we only have 1 case so far out of all those people.

It is also interesting to see people who are quick to post "oh no, another possible case of Ebola" but who never post the followup news of "they didn't have Ebola".

**ScootyPuffJunior**

This one should be right up Peter's alley:

Did Washington tell responders to prep for Ebola months ago? No

As if Ebola were not frightening enough in its own right, it is a breeding ground for conspiracy theories. One of the latest comes from Morgan Brittany, a former actress from the original television soap opera Dallas who is now a commentator with the conspiracy-minded blog WND. Brittany suggests that Ebola is part of a larger White House plan to control the nation.

Brittany’s column describes a Los Angeles dinner party where the conversation turned grim.

"One of the men brought up the fact that Washington has known for months if not years that we were at risk for some sort of global pandemic," Brittany wrote. "According to a government supplier of emergency products, the Disaster Assistance Response Team was told to be prepared to be activated in the month of October for an outbreak of Ebola. Hmm, that’s just like the fact that they knew 60,000 illegal children were going to be coming across our southern border eight months before it happened."

A few months ago, we debunked that last eyebrow-raising bit about the government being behind the surge of undocumented children at the border.

Now, we examine whether something called "the Disaster Assistance Response Team" was told to get ready for an outbreak of Ebola.

Brittany’s column provided a link to Global Research, another conspiracy website. Global Research had its own alarming article.

"A large government supplier of emergency response products specializing in ‘high risk events’ says that Disaster Assistance Response Teams were told to prepare to be activated in the month of October. The shocking revelation, made on the Golden State FIRE EMS Twitter page, suggests that not only did someone know that the Ebola virus would be reaching America, but that they knew exactly when it would happen."

Global Research even had a screenshot of the Twitter exchange from Sept. 30, and indeed, there we found, "DART teams were notified months ago they would be activated in October. Timing seems weird. Source: current DART member."

The tweets are authentic.

What’s lacking is anything of substance behind them.

We spoke to Ed Castillo, president of Golden State FIRE EMS. Castillo was regretful.

"A couple of EMS guys were talking about conspiracy theories," Castillo said. "There are no facts to support it. It can be written off as a couple of guys shooting the breeze."

Golden State is based in Woodland Hills, Calif. Among other services, it contracts with Hollywood film companies to have a medical team on hand when they shoot stunt sequences.

Castillo said the company’s only goal now is to "extinguish the flames" and stop hearing from conspiracy theorists.

"These guys came out of the woodwork left and right," Castillo said. "We had to tear down our Twitter account. Now we’re just sticking to Facebook and our Web page. We just want to get back to work."

The Golden State tweets might have been vacuous blather taken as reality, but the Global Research and Brittany posts went beyond even what the tweets said. Their reference to a "large government supplier of emergency response products" seems to have greatly reimagined Golden State’s line of work.

To write about "the Disaster Assistance Response Team" as a singular entity also seems odd. Such a name applies generically to any group that jumps in to help in a disaster.

Brittany doesn’t write definitively that these theories are accurate but closed her article on a note of fear.

"Maybe the current administration needs this to happen so martial law can be declared, guns can be seized and the populace can be controlled. Once that happens … game over."

Our ruling

Brittany passed along as fact that a government supplier knew that emergency responders had been told well in advance to get ready for Ebola. The rumor was based on tweets from a private California medical and safety services company, which now says the tweets were based on nothing.

The reckless use of implausible assertions earns this claim Pants on Fire.

source

**d-usa**

Frazzled wrote:
Not a lot of flu in Texas right now...

It's not just "flu". It has "flu like" symptoms, which is a whole lot of diseases.

But even if we just look at the flu we will find that in the most recent reported week in Texas there were 1,060 patients that presented to Texas providers with symptoms of influenza like illness, and those are just the cases that were actually reported to the appropriate monitoring network. Influenza activity started to rise in Texas three weeks ago, so you will see a lot of people who are going to freak out because the disease that presents like Ebola is on the rise right now.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Edit:

Here is a map of all the places in Texas that are reporting cases of ~~Ebola-like~~ Influenza-like Illness right now:

And like I said above (and like the report itself states): those are just the cases actually reported.

**AgeOfEgos**

Frazzled wrote:
Not a lot of flu in Texas right now...

While ebola does share a few symptoms of influenza (fever, fatigue, really generic signs of any infection), true influenza does not typically present with diarrhea or vomiting. 'Stomach flu', which is really gastroenteritis, shares almost all of ebola's symptoms however and would be a difficult differential.

**d-usa**

AgeOfEgos wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Not a lot of flu in Texas right now...

While ebola does share a few symptoms of influenza (fever, fatigue, really generic signs of any infection), true influenza does not typically present with diarrhea or vomiting. 'Stomach flu', which is really gastroenteritis, shares almost all of ebola's symptoms however and would be a difficult differential.

And that's part of the difficulty.

The only screening tool we have to differentiate is asking "west Africa?" and the only definitive diagnosis is a laboratory test.

We might be able to develop an Ebola version of the Rapid-Flu swaps, but if they perform as well as the flu version I wouldn't trust them to contain an outbreak.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the scare will cause more people to demand antibiotics (anybody in healthcare knows that people always want antibiotics for their viral infections), resulting in more cases of c-diff, resulting in more "I can't quit pooping, I have Ebola" cases.

**Peter Wiggin**

PhantomViper wrote:
Peter Wiggin wrote:

No, I mean 8 "confirmed" cases.

Meanwhile, Frederic Vincent, a spokesman for the European Commission, told CNN on Wednesday that there have been eight confirmed cases of Ebola in European countries. There is one case in the United Kingdom that has been treated and the person has recovered; one case in France like that; two cases in Germany in which patients are receiving treatment; and three cases in Spain: two deceased Spanish missionaries and a nurse's assistant who is being treated.

Lets also remember that "recovered" persons still have ebola virus in their semen, breast milk, etc. In semen the virus can live up to 6 months, and is an STD. No idea how long the virus lives in female reproductive cells.

So you are counting people that have finished treatment and have recovered and also people that have already died... Right, no fear mongering there at all.

No I'm saying the same thing I've been saying since the get-go. The virus can and is spread through sexual contact, post-recovery and that semen is specifically cited as a method of transmission.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness

Some sites say its a period of 6 months, WHO says 7 weeks. At any rate, there are multiple links about healthcare workers telling ebola survivors to wear condoms etc.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/10/07/health-ebola-condoms-idINKCN0HW1TS20141007

"In a convalescent male, the virus can persist in semen for at least 70 days; one study suggests persistence for more than 90 days," the WHO said in an information note on Monday.

"Certainly, the advice has to be for survivors to use a condom, to not have unprotected sex, for 90 days,"

**Dreadclaw69**

AgeOfEgos wrote:
Yes, some major mistakes have been made.

And by the health care providers that we rely upon as a first line of defense. And if protocol is not followed by other healthcare providers like the now infected nurse then we run into the issue that not only do hospitals have more patients, but some of those patients are doctors/nurses.

AgeOfEgos wrote:
Outside of everything else, one of the more worrisome aspects of this is how long ebola remains in a male body after he is non symptomatic/contagious. I remember studies completed in the 80s finding ebola present in a man's semen up to 7 weeks after they were non-symptomatic and I believe the WHO suggested that survivors use condoms for up to 90 days post infection. The second part that will be concerning after this outbreak is contained, will be breast milk of mothers--as I believe ebola lives for a couple of weeks in breast milk. They've theorized in past outbreaks on how certain females acquired ebola, since they can find the virus in downstream semen, but the truth is--I don't think they are sure what will happen.

Of course, condoms and formula would help alleviate any post infection issues but those are not exactly easy to acquire goods in West Point/Monrovia nor is the community at those areas trusting of western supplies/instruction. That's why I said earlier in the thread, there is a very real chance we could be looking at an ebola virus that becomes endemic to certain areas of west africa, with regular human to human transmission---instead of a bush meat/cluster scenario (which I believe has been the origin of all previous outbreaks).

That Ebola can survive for so long in bodily fluids is also a concern, as it opens up a route for the infection of others long after someone has recovered from the virus. Add in some of the superstitions, fears and practices relating to other viruses like HIV and you hope that myths that salt water and raw onions cures Ebola does not become sex with a virgin cures Ebola.

Will the virus also persist in other fluids like sweat, tears, saliva, mucus?

As well as that we run into issues of education, culture, infrastructure, and religion in parts of Africa which may make the use of condoms for such a lengthy period after recovery problematic.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

d-usa wrote:
We might be able to develop an Ebola version of the Rapid-Flu swaps, but if they perform as well as the flu version I wouldn't trust them to contain an outbreak.

Those are being worked on, in conjunction with the DoD, as a diagnostic tool.

**cygnnus**

Ouze wrote:
Spacemanvic wrote:
Which firearm has you pulling the trigger as the first step of field stripping? I sell/own/train on guns, dont know of any....

Here's at least one.

Regardless of the degree of Ashley's skill and knowledge about how to field strip and clean a Glock 23, that might just be the most amazing website in the history of the interwebz!

Valete,

JohnS

**Peter Wiggin**

Dallas deputy hospitalized with possible Ebola symptoms.

The patient -- who was transported from Frisco, Texas -- had reported being in the Dallas apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan had been staying and having "some contact" with Duncan's family members

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/ebola-up-to-speed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

CNN's headline is pretty sensationalist, truth be told. Still....better safe that sorry I guess.

**AgeOfEgos**

Dreadclaw69 wrote:

Will the virus also persist in other fluids like sweat, tears, saliva, mucus?

As well as that we run into issues of education, culture, infrastructure, and religion in parts of Africa which may make the use of condoms for such a lengthy period after recovery problematic.

Agreed. The ebola issue crosses over into the unholy triad of culture, politics and abject poverty. It's really, a perfect storm for the poor African slums experiencing the nightmare. Vice did a couple of videos inside the outbreak that are pretty heartbreaking to watch and, not to use a trope, puts a human face on the crisis.

Part of the issue is many Americans don't really understand what 'airborne' means. If, for example, I were to tell a handful of people on the street that ebola is now being transmitted in droplets when people cough---they would probably say "Oh, it's airborne now!!---when it's been transmitted that route all along (saliva is infectious in advanced infection for example, even tears depending on how 'hot' the person is). Basically, treat every fluid emanating from a person as infectious as if they are really 'hot', you might get a load of virus.

If it were to truly go airborne (TRUE airborne), it would be apocalyptic. Not only would someone cough, sending a mist of virus that floats along the air like dandelion seeds, they would also be able to pass the virus when they were asymptomatic. Which is why the flu is so damn hard to stop, people are spreading it before they even know they have it.

Luckily, due to the way ebola is constructed (Lipid layer on the outside that can't sustain the virus very long), it is very unlikely it will change in that manner. It's a non-zero number but fairly astronomical. The bad news is, every new person that harbors the gene is adding more dice to the pool for that mutation to happen--which is why it benefits all of us to help the African community out and stamp the damn thing in the dirt. And hey, we might even save some human beings we don't know while we're at it.

And it is also helpful to be critical of the administrators and hold their feet to the fire. The Spanish nurse said she told health agencies three times she was sick, had a low grade fever and was one of a very small handful of people that treated a hot, ebola laden patient that died. The fact they didn't immediately throw her into isolation and instead told her to go home---should cost someone their job.

**Goliath**

d-usa wrote:
If you have a fever, you could have Ebola.
If you have body aches, you could have Ebola.
If you have nausea, you could have Ebola.
If you have diarrhea, you could have Ebola.
If you have general weakness, you could have Ebola.

Ebola has a set of symptoms that it shares with almost every common run-of the mill gastrointestinal bug, cold virus, and the flu. I bet 50 internet dollars that every person in this thread has exhibited signs of Ebola at least once in the last 12 months.

gak. I have some of those, OH GOD EBOLA.

**Jihadin**

Goliath wrote:
d-usa wrote:
If you have a fever, you could have Ebola.
If you have body aches, you could have Ebola.
If you have nausea, you could have Ebola.
If you have diarrhea, you could have Ebola.
If you have general weakness, you could have Ebola.

Ebola has a set of symptoms that it shares with almost every common run-of the mill gastrointestinal bug, cold virus, and the flu. I bet 50 internet dollars that every person in this thread has exhibited signs of Ebola at least once in the last 12 months.

gak. I have some of those, OH GOD EBOLA.

Whew.....for a moment there you could have Herpes...Like Eddie Murphy said. "Its a crap shoot"

**Dreadclaw69**

AgeOfEgos wrote:
Agreed. The ebola issue crosses over into the unholy triad of culture, politics and abject poverty. It's really, a perfect storm for the poor African slums experiencing the nightmare. Vice did a couple of videos inside the outbreak that are pretty heartbreaking to watch and, not to use a trope, puts a human face on the crisis.

There have already been instances of health workers being attacked and killed, as well as survivors of the disease being ostracized from the communities. Given the cultural practices for handling the deceased, the lack of knowledge about the virus, the poor sanitation, limited access to healthcare, and little public assistance if the virus did become an epidemic in west Africa and law and order breaks down I can imagine a lot of neighbouring countries getting very nervous

AgeOfEgos wrote:
Part of the issue is many Americans don't really understand what 'airborne' means. If, for example, I were to tell a handful of people on the street that ebola is now being transmitted in droplets when people cough---they would probably say "Oh, it's airborne now!!---when it's been transmitted that route all along (saliva is infectious in advanced infection for example, even tears depending on how 'hot' the person is). Basically, treat every fluid emanating from a person as infectious as if they are really 'hot', you might get a load of virus.

If it were to truly go airborne (TRUE airborne), it would be apocalyptic. Not only would someone cough, sending a mist of virus that floats along the air like dandelion seeds, they would also be able to pass the virus when they were asymptomatic. Which is why the flu is so damn hard to stop, people are spreading it before they even know they have it.

Luckily, due to the way ebola is constructed (Lipid layer on the outside that can't sustain the virus very long), it is very unlikely it will change in that manner. It's a non-zero number but fairly astronomical. The bad news is, every new person that harbors the gene is adding more dice to the pool for that mutation to happen--which is why it benefits all of us to help the African community out and stamp the damn thing in the dirt. And hey, we might even save some human beings we don't know while we're at it.

I think we're all grateful for that. If Ebola was contagious before the host displayed symptoms just imagine the damage that could have been inflicted by Mr. Duncan. All that time spent on an airplane, walking up and down the aisle to use the bathroom on each plane, plus the layover time in Brussels. If the virus was also airborne at that stage the results could have been catastrophic

The other saving grace is that Ebola does not seem to endure direct sunlight well. Shame it tolerates cold so much.

AgeOfEgos wrote:
And it is also helpful to be critical of the administrators and hold their feet to the fire. The Spanish nurse said she told health agencies three times she was sick, had a low grade fever and was one of a very small handful of people that treated a hot, ebola laden patient that died. The fact they didn't immediately throw her into isolation and instead told her to go home---should cost someone their job.

If that didn't set off alarms I don't know what would have short of bleeding from the eyes.
Heads should roll for that. Or there person should be recommended for a lateral transfer to an Ebola hot zone so (s)he can get some experience in diagnosing those suffering it

**Peter Wiggin**

Jesse Jackson says that the US let ebola guy die because of racism.

"We feel he didn't get the medicine and treatment for the disease because he's African and they don't consider him as important as the other three," Josephus Weeks, Duncan's nephew, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a day before Duncan died.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who attended that press conference with Weeks and Duncan's mother as a newly appointed spokesman for the family, said, "We don't feel good about that. It's been a concern he had to wait so long."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/ebola-us-drug/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

**Jihadin**

Peter Wiggin wrote:
Jesse Jackson says that the US let ebola guy die because of racism.

"We feel he didn't get the medicine and treatment for the disease because he's African and they don't consider him as important as the other three," Josephus Weeks, Duncan's nephew, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a day before Duncan died.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who attended that press conference with Weeks and Duncan's mother as a newly appointed spokesman for the family, said, "We don't feel good about that. It's been a concern he had to wait so long."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/ebola-us-drug/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Wow...a racism angle. Did not see that one coming

**Co'tor Shas**

Jihadin wrote:
Peter Wiggin wrote:
Jesse Jackson says that the US let ebola guy die because of racism.

"We feel he didn't get the medicine and treatment for the disease because he's African and they don't consider him as important as the other three," Josephus Weeks, Duncan's nephew, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a day before Duncan died.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who attended that press conference with Weeks and Duncan's mother as a newly appointed spokesman for the family, said, "We don't feel good about that. It's been a concern he had to wait so long."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/ebola-us-drug/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Wow...a racism angle. Did not see that one coming

Do you expect anything else from him?

**Peter Wiggin**

Jihadin wrote:
Peter Wiggin wrote:
Jesse Jackson says that the US let ebola guy die because of racism.

"We feel he didn't get the medicine and treatment for the disease because he's African and they don't consider him as important as the other three," Josephus Weeks, Duncan's nephew, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a day before Duncan died.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who attended that press conference with Weeks and Duncan's mother as a newly appointed spokesman for the family, said, "We don't feel good about that. It's been a concern he had to wait so long."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/ebola-us-drug/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Wow...a racism angle. Did not see that one coming

Really? Nahhhhh, you fibbin. That was super predictable.

**Grey Templar**

I would think he didn't get the drug for a week because its not readily available and/or he may have been judged to be simply too far gone for the drug to have been any use. And wasting precious doses of the drug on someone it won't save is wrong.

**Jihadin**

I do believe he was at that "bingo" point like two days ago. Now the one they're trying with a blood transfusion. now that seems to be promising at the moment

**Frazzled**

cygnnus wrote:
Ouze wrote:
Spacemanvic wrote:
Which firearm has you pulling the trigger as the first step of field stripping? I sell/own/train on guns, dont know of any....

Here's at least one.

Regardless of the degree of Ashley's skill and knowledge about how to field strip and clean a Glock 23, that might just be the most amazing website in the history of the interwebz!

Valete,

JohnS

WHAT WAS THAT?

**Spacemanvic**

Frazzled wrote:
cygnnus wrote:
Ouze wrote:
Spacemanvic wrote:
Which firearm has you pulling the trigger as the first step of field stripping? I sell/own/train on guns, dont know of any....

Here's at least one.

Regardless of the degree of Ashley's skill and knowledge about how to field strip and clean a Glock 23, that might just be the most amazing website in the history of the interwebz!

Valete,

JohnS

WHAT WAS THAT?

I prefer her AR15 manual of arms, much more accurate:
http://www.eyehandy.com/sports/how-to-field-strip-and-clean-an-ar-15-rifle-with-ashley/

Step 1

Begin by removing your magazine and placing it to the side.

Step 2

Pull the bolt carrier assembly back using the charging handle. While pulled back, catch it with the “bolt hold open lever” on the side. Thoroughly inspect your chamber both visually and physically, making sure it is empty of any ammunition. Refer to your owner’s manual for detailed instruction.

**Experiment 626**

Grey Templar wrote:
I would think he didn't get the drug for a week because its not readily available and/or he may have been judged to be simply too far gone for the drug to have been any use. And wasting precious doses of the drug on someone it won't save is wrong.

I recall that a CTV news report up here a couple days ago mentioned that doctors had come right and said that he was too weak to undergo more aggressive treatments, and that to try any would have almost certainly killed him.

Our labs up here who are working on it, won't have any decent stocks of Zzmap (or however the hell you spell it!) ready until January. We've already shipped our country's entire supply to either Ebola hot zones and/or to use on evacuated health care workers months ago.

Mind you, I'm willing to bet $50 internet bucks that within the next week Duncan's girlfriend & family launch a $100,000,000+ lawsuit against the hospital, the doctors who treated him, the sate of Texas & the US government for supposed "wrongful death"...
Because nothing says "I'm in mourning and won't ever get over my traumatic loss" like a gaktone of money.

**Spacemanvic**

Sorry about drifting, now to get back on topic:

Followed by:

**Portugal Jones**

Goliath wrote:
d-usa wrote:
If you have a fever, you could have Ebola.
If you have body aches, you could have Ebola.
If you have nausea, you could have Ebola.
If you have diarrhea, you could have Ebola.
If you have general weakness, you could have Ebola.

Ebola has a set of symptoms that it shares with almost every common run-of the mill gastrointestinal bug, cold virus, and the flu. I bet 50 internet dollars that every person in this thread has exhibited signs of Ebola at least once in the last 12 months.

gak. I have some of those, OH GOD EBOLA.

I had lunch at Chipotle today and it gave me Ebola.

**d-usa**

Stop fear mongering!

that's not Ebola, that's Chipola.

Completely different.

**Platuan4th**

d-usa wrote:
Stop fear mongering!

that's not Ebola, that's Chipola.

Completely different.

I eat Chiptole all the time and I never have these issues.

**Ouze**

I think Chipotle tastes OK, but it's not worth the bloody underwear.

**whembly**

Ouze wrote:
I think Chipotle tastes OK, but it's not worth the bloody underwear.

Qdoba for the win!

**Portugal Jones**

Platuan4th wrote:
d-usa wrote:
Stop fear mongering!

that's not Ebola, that's Chipola.

Completely different.

I eat Chiptole all the time and I never have these issues.

You're immune to Ebola?

Quick, if we consume his flesh, his power will be ours!