Are you worried about Ebola coming to Canada?

[Mongo62]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Last night my friend told me about an Ebola case in Atlanta from 30 years ago with the Ebola infected monkeys from Africa and the disease free monkeys from Japan. They (the monkeys) were never in the same room, however the air vents of the rooms were connected, and (as you might have already suspected) the Japanese monkeys died. Apparently, they had to incinerate that CDC unit after this entire episode ended.

Your friend got the story wrong. It was actually two batches of monkeys from the same facility in the Philippines, that happened to have a strain of Ebola raging through it when the two batches were shipped to the Reston facility. Researchers at the CDC feared at the time that the virus had gone airborne (as described in the book The Hot Zone) but have since concluded that the monkeys must have been already incubating the virus when they arrived.

[SkydivePilot]

I'm not overly worried about Ebola affecting me personally; however guys, make no mistake, Ebola eventually WILL find its way into Canada.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Depends on how things unfold in the next few weeks. This thing is not getting away anytime soon and a world breakout is a very possible scenario. We're dealing with a crisis like we never seen before. I'm affraid we are underestimating the menace. Hope I'm wrong.

This is a good example of why it's important that countries like Canada help out other countries and why economic and social development in places like Africa is good for everybody.

I think we have a lot to worry about; Western countries should be concerned right now about keeping down the number of cases in West Africa. If the disease continues to spread and there are millions of cases it will become impossible or extremely expensive to contain and will most likely end up in Canada.

[SteelTown]

Not too concerned but I work at a medical hospital so if Ebola ever does reach here it'll be SARS all over again, temp checked, wash hands, show up to work late all the time, etc.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Mongo62

Your friend got the story wrong. It was actually two batches of monkeys from the same facility in the Philippines, that happened to have a strain of Ebola raging through it when the two batches were shipped to the Reston facility. Researchers at the CDC feared at the time that the virus had gone airborne (as described in the book The Hot Zone) but have since concluded that the monkeys must have been already incubating the virus when they arrived.

Plus while monkeys are sort of close to us something being transmissible by air between monkeys doesn't necessarily mean it's a threat to humans. Genetics are very complicated. Look at the various types for flus out there in other mammals that are closely related to ones that hit us but are effectively (or totally) harmless.

[travis3000]

I'm more concerned for the healthcare workers. That Duncan guy who died in Dallas exposed his family , kids, and up to 12 people directly and none of them caught it. The disease is hard to transmit unless you are dealing with bodily fluids like nurses do. That's why I'm not concerned for the general public in Canada or any of the western world. Do I think it'll come here? It's likely but not certain.

Another thing, that monkey experiment years ago that's making the rounds is not conclusive. They were in the same room just in different cages. But they keep testing this virus and it's 100% not airborne. If it was ... The entire Dallas hospital and all that guys family would have it. As would 100,000 people in Africa. Nigeria stopped this disease dead in it's tracks. They haven't had a case since August 31st. This virus is beatable but the odd case will continue to pop up until they get it under control in Africa.

[miketoronto]

I agree there is no reason to get overly worked up about it. But I do think we are not taking this as seriously as we maybe should be.

The Dallas case showed that we cannot trust fellow human beings from being truthful and taking into account the threat of exposing others to a deadly virus.

I know people who can't even have friends or family visit from certain countries, because they can't get a visa. And this is from countries without a health issue. I don't see any reason to deny non-essential travel from the effected regions to Canada at this time. Again, I do not usually advocate travel bans. But no matter how much they say it is not that easy to get, we are still putting a lot of people in some danger, as the Dallas case has shown.

Better to just isolate this now and get it under control. During SARS some places banned travel from Toronto, etc. So it is not unheard of to do something like this.

I feel bad for saying that, and I know some of it is cultural. But I do not trust the nations effected are dealing with it properly. Many of the citizens are continuing to do things they were told not to do. And if they are not going to follow instructions, or are going to lie at the airport, like that Dallas case did. Then expect a travel ban. Given how poor these nations are, most can't travel. So the ones traveling have the money, and if it is just to visit family, like the Dallas case. Then they can wait.

I am also very concerned with the way the USA has handled the Dallas case. Despite constant talks of training and being prepared, they sure let the ball drop on that case. And now someone else is sick because of it.

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by travis3000

I'm more concerned for the healthcare workers. That Duncan guy who died in Dallas exposed his family , kids, and up to 12 people directly and none of them caught it. The disease is hard to transmit unless you are dealing with bodily fluids like nurses do. That's why I'm not concerned for the general public in Canada or any of the western world. Do I think it'll come here? It's likely but not certain.

The 21 days is not up yet, and so we don't know if anyone else has caught it from him yet, besides the health worker.

And despite all this talk that it is not easy to catch because of the body fluid transmission, a lot of people are sure catching it. We are taking extreme precautions, and we would not be taking these precautions if it was as hard to catch as people make it out to be.

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

The 21 days is not up yet, and so we don't know if anyone else has caught it from him yet, besides the health worker.

And despite all this talk that it is not easy to catch because of the body fluid transmission, a lot of people are sure catching it. We are taking extreme precautions, and we would not be taking these precautions if it was as hard to catch as people make it out to be.

Because it has a 50-70% death rate . That's serious enough right there. And today is day 15 (90% of people feel symptoms by 14 days) so chances are nobody caught it. Don't you find it funny in Spain it's the same thing ... The nurse caught it. Africans are catching it because they have poor healthcare , burial traditions that involve people touching bodily fluids, and no education or sanitary measures. Of course it'll spread like wild fire. Explain how Nigeria stopped Ebola so easily ? They did it through fast action , education, and sanitary measures. Shows it can be stopped.

Point is ... Front line workers are at highest risk. I wouldn't be surprised if another nurse starts feeling symptoms in the next few days in Dallas. They need to get even more viligent in this regard , not get the public paranoid the guy next to them on the bus has Ebola.

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by travis3000

Don't you find it funny in Spain it's the same thing ... The nurse caught it. Africans are catching it because they have poor healthcare , burial traditions that involve people touching bodily fluids, and no education or sanitary measures. Of course it'll spread like wild fire. Explain how Nigeria stopped Ebola so easily ? They did it through fast action , education, and sanitary measures. Shows it can be stopped.

I would not trust sending Ebola cases to Southern European countries like Spain. They just are too corrupt and not on top of things to handle cases like this.

If these two nurses caught it, there is an issue with the idea of just using simple protective gear, compared to the full oxygen hazmat suites the hospitals in Germany, Atlanta, and Omaha are using. No one in those three places has gotten it. Yet they always go on about how you do not need the hazmat style suites to protect health workers.

Given Toronto's huge diversity and large number of African immigrants, it would not surprise me if Toronto is the place a potential case in Canada happens in. Most other Canadian cities do not have direct flights to Africa.

[middeljohn]

You know what kills more people per year than Ebola? The flu.

[MrOilers]

I am more worried about Ebola reaching Central or South America - many of those countries are in similar shape to these African countries, and the disease will spread like crazy there.

[MrOilers]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

You know what kills more people per year than Ebola? The flu.

I'd rather catch the flu.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

The 21 days is not up yet, and so we don't know if anyone else has caught it from him yet, besides the health worker.

And despite all this talk that it is not easy to catch because of the body fluid transmission, a lot of people are sure catching it. We are taking extreme precautions, and we would not be taking these precautions if it was as hard to catch as people make it out to be.

This remains to be seen. I'm not worried about high rates of infection in Africa; there's a stark difference between health care and general sanitary practices in Africa than here in North America. If there somehow becomes a high rate of infection among non-health care personnel here in the west, then there's certainly cause for concern. Until then, most of this ebola scare can be blamed on media hype. Thanks, CNN.

[Mongo62]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

You know what kills more people per year than Ebola? The flu.

The flu typically kills several hundred thousand people a year, worldwide. Ebola is on track to kill two or three times that number next January alone (unless by some miracle it is brought under control before then), and could easily kill tens of millions or even more next year if it is not contained to West Africa (and 'only' 5 million even if it IS contained to West Africa).

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

I am more worried about Ebola reaching Central or South America - many of those countries are in similar shape to these African countries, and the disease will spread like crazy there.

Most of Latin America is within the the upper tier of developing countries to the lower tier of developed. The African countries currently experiencing the ebola pandemic are firmly third world. They have some problems with crime, but otherwise the standard of living and quality & availability of health care is significantly better than what's seen in Africa, they're not at all "in similar shape".

Neighbouring African countries, South Asia, and the war-torn regions of the Middle East home to overcrowded refugee camps are most at risk.

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

I would not trust sending Ebola cases to Southern European countries like Spain. They just are too corrupt and not on top of things to handle cases like this.

If these two nurses caught it, there is an issue with the idea of just using simple protective gear, compared to the full oxygen hazmat suites the hospitals in Germany, Atlanta, and Omaha are using. No one in those three places has gotten it. Yet they always go on about how you do not need the hazmat style suites to protect health workers.

Given Toronto's huge diversity and large number of African immigrants, it would not surprise me if Toronto is the place a potential case in Canada happens in. Most other Canadian cities do not have direct flights to Africa.

NO airport in Canada has any direct flights to anywhere in these three countries (Sierra Lione, Guinea, and Liberia). And out of the 10 people flying into Canada from these three countries per week (another 10 come in from Nigeria which has had no cases in 6 weeks)... half of them arrive in Montreal. So don't be so fast to point at Toronto, although it's one of the more probable cities due to population.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Not overly. It basically spreads through the untreated sewage issues of the third world. That, combined with funeral practices where one kiss the dead farewell, extreme distrust of governments after decades of civil wars, distrust of foreign aid after colonialist abuse, and a barely existent medical system in West Africa is why it's been spreading. Last I checked there were under 10k cases. I believe in that time two to three times as many people died of the flu world wide. AIDs has probably killed about that amount. Malaria has likely killed thousands too.

In Canada ebola is basically without spread vectors. Direct family members might get it, but the virus can't survive for very long outside of a host. Like so short a time labs have trouble studying it because it falls apart before they can do anything. You're probably more likely to get killed by lightning than you are to catch ebola in Canada.

I really don't think you have any idea what your talking about.


Ebola has been doubling in number consistently for over 6 months. That's a stat that one has to be very weary of.

What is much troubling is this growth rate appears to have no impact from apparent awareness and education.

That's ignoring the trained professional that just caught it in Dallas.

So you can state all the perceptions of africa you want the reality is far off.

[1overcosc]

In the West, Ebola can't really spread much because Ebola is a disease that's easy to contain if you have the proper health infrastructure to do so (which we do).

It's not airborne, and furthermore doesn't the virus die very quickly after it loses its host (remember hearing something once about how that has made it difficult to study).

Not to downplay its significance in West Africa, though.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Most of Latin America is within the the upper tier of developing countries to the lower tier of developed. The African countries currently experiencing the ebola pandemic are firmly third world. They have some problems with crime, but otherwise the standard of living and quality & availability of health care is significantly better than what's seen in Africa, they're not at all "in similar shape".

Neighbouring African countries, South Asia, and the war-torn regions of the Middle East home to overcrowded refugee camps are most at risk.

That's completely false and true.

You really have to be specific on which countries your talking about.

Most latin american countries have both slums and suburbs.

The suburbs are fine, the slums are not.