Leading Ebola doctor dies of ... Ebola

[Steak Snabler]

Gives a whole new meaning to "he died doing what he loved" ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/29/ebola-doctor-dead-sheik-umar-khan_n_5630878.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

 

[Armchair_QB]

Gives a whole new meaning to "he died doing what he loved" ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/29/ebola-doctor-dead-sheik-umar-khan_n_5630878.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Bleeding to death internally?

 

[Football_Bat]

"Gotta love Lou Gehrig. Jesus Christ, poor Lou Gehrig. Died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. How the hell do you not see that coming? You know. We used to tell him, Lou, there’s a disease with your name all over it, pal!"

 

[LongTimeListener]

Maybe this makes me too prudish here, but I'm not grabbing the humor. This isn't some irony or accident, this is a tragic but foreseeable outcome for a doctor who knew this risk and took the assignment anyway. Many other health workers (including some Americans) have died or are fighting for their lives doing the same work.

This is like making fun of Father Damien for contracting leprosy by working in a leper colony.

 

[Vombatus]

Leprosy
All my skin is falling off of me
I'm not half the man I used to be
Oh how did I get
Leprosy

Sung to "Yesterday" for those who don't know John Valby.

 

[KJIM]

Yeah, there's no humor in it. It's tragic. Ebola is a terrifying disease that's killed close to 700 people.

A friend of mine is posted in Freetown. It's not a nice thing to be going on right now.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Yeah, threads apparently get locked now upon the first sign of humor. Straighten up, assholes.

 

[YankeeFan]

U.S. charity workers infected:

A U.S.-contracted medical charter flight left Cartersville, Georgia, Thursday to evacuate two American charity workers in Liberia infected with Ebola hemorrhagic fever, a source told CNN.

A CNN crew saw the airplane, a long-range business jet, depart shortly after 5 p.m. ET. The plane matched the description provided by the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately known when the two Americans -- identified as Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol -- would arrive in the United States, or where the plane would land.

At least one of the two will be taken to a hospital at Emory University, near the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, hospital officials told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Brantly and Writebol are described in stable but grave condition, with both reportedly taking a turn for the worse overnight, according to statements released Thursday by the faith-based charity Samaritan's Purse.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/31/health/ebola-outbreak/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

[YankeeFan]

Sounds like some people at Emory might be a little worried:


Dear Physicians,

You may hear in the media that Emory University Hospital plans to receive a patient with Ebola virus infection in the next several days. We do not know at this time when the patient will arrive. Please be assured that our hospital is prepared and ready. We have a highly specialized, isolated unit in the hospital that was set up in collaboration with the CDC to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious diseases. This unit is physically separate from other patient areas and has unique equipment and infrastructure that provide an extraordinarily high level of clinical isolation. In fact, Emory University Hospital is one of just four facilities in the entire country with such a specialized unit.

Emory University Hospital physicians, nurses and staff are highly trained in the specific and unique protocols and procedures necessary to treat and care for this type of patient. For this specially trained staff, these procedures are practiced on a regular basis throughout the year, so we are fully prepared for this type of situation.

We will provide you with any updates as needed.

Thank you for your commitment to the privacy and well-being of our patients.

Bob, Bill, Ira and Chris

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/31/first-ebola-case-coming-to-atlanta-for-treatment.html#sthash.y4S9ix8Y.dpuf

 

[joe]

Make that nearly 1,000 dead now, and the number keep rising every day. ****ing ebola might be the end of us — for real. There is no cure.

With international air travel, no spot on the globe is immune. The world might be getting ready to hit the reset button.

 

[Stoney]

I'm curious what the latitude/climate limitations on the virus are. Has there ever been an outbreak in a non tropical region?

 

[Football_Bat]

Ebola outbreaks in the past have inexplicably flamed out. Hope that's the case this time too.

 

[KJIM]

This one's been going on since March.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Ebola doesn't spread in a way that effectively leads to widespread global outbreaks. In part because people who have it are most often too sick to travel, and in part because it spreads most efficiently in primitive settings.

Outbreaks can be intense, but mostly contained to relatively small geographical areas.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Now we have disease control experts on this site.
What are you guys doing here?
Go help ameliorate the crisis.

 

[Stoney]

Ebola doesn't spread in a way that effectively leads to widespread global outbreaks. In part because people who have it are most often too sick to travel, and in part because it spreads most efficiently in primitive settings.

Yep, I believe I've read that the virus' deadliness is the very thing that prevents it from spreading into a pandemic.

What made something like AIDS, for example, so sinister is that the HIV virus can hibernate for years before the disease/symptoms show themselves. So infected people would spend years traveling around infecting others before they realized they even had it. But with Ebola the infected get terribly sick within a week or two after contraction. Which is horrible for them and those in near proximity, but the bright side is it limits how far they can spread it.

 

[deskslave]

There was a bit of a panic at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow when an athlete from Sierra Leone had to be quarantined for four days over possible Ebola. Given the all-clear, but apparently a number of the athletes from Sierra Leone are going to make full use of their three-month entry visas ...

 

[Bubbler]

Ebola doesn't spread in a way that effectively leads to widespread global outbreaks. In part because people who have it are most often too sick to travel, and in part because it spreads most efficiently in primitive settings.

Yep, I believe I've read that the virus' deadliness is the very thing that prevents it from spreading into a pandemic.

What made something like AIDS, for example, so sinister is that the HIV virus can hibernate for years before the disease/symptoms show themselves. So infected people would spend years traveling around infecting others before they realized they even had it. But with Ebola the infected get terribly sick within a week or two after contraction. Which is horrible for them and those in near proximity, but the bright side is it limits how far they can spread it.

Not only that, but it's a contact disease, so if you don't come into physical contact with it, you don't get it.

Now if it ever developed an airborne strain? Then it would be time to panic.

 

[Football_Bat]

I've heard Ebola compared to HIV in that it's spread mainly by bodily fluids. But I've been told for Ebola that includes feces and urine, which in undeveloped areas are abundantly present. And obviously, Ebola is much more fast-acting.

For us, it's not exactly Captain Trips, but for vast areas of Africa already hammered by HIV, it could be the aforementioned reset.

 

[Batman]

Two of the infected are heading to the U.S. A couple of American missionaries who contracted the disease are being flown by the CDC to Atlanta for treatment.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/u-s-scrambles-retrieve-ebola-patients-n170461