The BBC News reports that:
A Saudi man who was being treated for Ebola-like symptoms has died at a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's health ministry says. If confirmed, this would be the first Ebola-related death outside Africa in an outbreak that has killed more than 900 people this year. The man recently visited Sierra Leone, one of four countries in the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the BBC News also reports that:
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency as the country grapples with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. Speaking on national television she said some civil liberties might have to be suspended. The Ebola outbreak has also hit Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, killing more than 930 people. World Health Organization (WHO) experts are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss a response to the outbreak. The two-day meeting will decide whether to declare a global health emergency.
I'm not sure why it will take two days to decide but Asky Airlines and British Airways are cancelling flights.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 07 2014, @10:15PM
> I'm not sure why it will take two days to decide but Asky Airlines and British Airways are cancelling flights.
Professor Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who discovered Ebola in the 1970s, told AFP that he was not worried about a major pandemic - even if an infected person flew to Europe or the US.
"Spreading in the population here, I'm not that worried about it," he said. "I wouldn't be worried to sit next to someone with Ebola virus on the Tube as long as they don't vomit on you or something. This is an infection that requires very close contact."
-- Ebola Outbreak: Is it Safe to Travel by Plane? [ibtimes.co.uk]
(Score: 1) by Linatux on Thursday August 07 2014, @11:18PM
Last I heard, 8 passengers from a plane that transported an infected man were being tested after displaying symptoms.
I find it very surprising that people with the disease are being repatriated.
(Score: 2) by Joe on Thursday August 07 2014, @11:32PM
In a plane full of people, how many would you expect to display one or more of these symptoms:
"fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat ... vomiting, diarrhoea, rash" (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/ [who.int])
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday August 07 2014, @11:39PM
about 8000% more than the statistical average for a plane, as soon as you tell them about the passenger with Ebola, or AIDS, or a spreadable form of Zygomaticus Major laceration.
Make that 50000% more if it's the US. Especially in a Cessna.
(Score: 4, Funny) by elgrantrolo on Friday August 08 2014, @07:42AM
If it's with Ryanair, then about 180 people per flight. It might be just in my experience though.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Linatux on Thursday August 07 2014, @11:42PM
Last month, Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian finance ministry employee who was also a naturalized American citizen, brought the virus to Lagos.
Sawyer had traveled to Nigeria from Liberia via Togo's capital Lome, and was visibly sick upon arrival at the international airport in Lagos on July 20.
He died in quarantine on July 25.
As many as seven people who had close contact with Sawyer have fallen ill with Ebola, Nigeria's Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said.
One of them, a nurse, died on Tuesday.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 07 2014, @11:55PM
Hahah. I was wondering why you didn't provide a link to your source.
Surprise, it is breitbart.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/07/Ebolas-spread-to-US-is-inevitable-says-CDC-chief [breitbart.com]
Meanwhile, parse it carefully:
>As many as seven people who had close contact with Sawyer have fallen ill with Ebola,
You'll note that does not say they were on the plane with him.
Nor does it say all seven, it could be zero people and it would still make that sentence true.
(Score: 1) by GmanTerry on Friday August 08 2014, @03:29AM
Nothing to worry about. The government has said it's totally safe and we all are aware that our government never lies to us. We just don't understand the meaning of the words they speak. It's all the truth, we just don't understand Washington speak.
Since when is "public safety" the root password to the Constitution?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @05:02AM
Just because the government has lied does not mean the government is lying in this particular situation.
What does the government have to gain by lying here? We are always talking about how they seem to "never let a serious crisis go to waste" so why would the downplay this instead of overplaying it? The 24-hours news channels seem to be doing their best to help them make it into a crisis. Why wouldn't they seize the opportunity?
Or is this a case of you just being a cowering child, grasping as straws to try to justify your fear, no matter how irrational?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @07:41PM
> As many as seven people who had close contact with Sawyer have fallen ill with Ebola,
Surprise! None of the people on the airplane with Sawyer have fallen ill with ebola.
Only people who worked at the hospital and had direct contact with him and waste that came from him. [washingtonpost.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @03:30PM
Glad I'm not the only one that finds it very surprising. Then again, if it's only passed on by vomiting on people...sorry, that's so stupid I can't even dignify it with sarcasm. Has Prof. Peter Piot become so old and mentally decrepit that he thinks this only spreading by vomiting 'or something'?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @03:25PM
Awesome! You can only get Ebola if someone 'vomits on you or something'! Those west-africans must really know how to party!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Joe on Thursday August 07 2014, @11:15PM
"The World Bank is allocating $200m (£120m) in emergency assistance for countries battling to contain Ebola."
I hope the money will be spent on basic healthcare infrastructure instead of a very scary disease that doesn't kill very many people.
It seems that the case-fatality rate has dropped to 54% (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ebola_outbreaks). It would be interesting to compare the initial isolates to the current virus and see if the virus is becoming attenuated or if the increased attention is leading to identification of people that got infected, but didn't get sick.
(Score: 1) by kaszz on Friday August 08 2014, @01:48AM
If we wait until Ebola get a chance to mix with say a flu virus in the gut of someone where it can exchange genes with other viruses. There's a probability that we end up with a virus that is easily airborne and kills 50% of infected persons. So perhaps 2 biljon dead within a year. I would say like Clint Eastwood.. Do you feel lucky?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @03:17AM
Go away and take your rando conspiracy theories with you.
The idea that influenza and hemorrhagic fever will "combine" into some sort of super-virus is a hollywood plot, not reality. You might as well be shitting yourself over an asteroid hitting planet.
Ebola is just this year's swine flu.
The reason it is spreading in africa is political, not biological. [economist.com]
(Score: 2) by geb on Friday August 08 2014, @11:35AM
There have been suspected airborne strains of ebola in past outbreaks. Those variants lost their lethality in the mutation, and didn't spread very far.
The ebola virus is tiny, with very few genes, and highly specialised for a certain type of replication. If you change parts of it, critical components stop working, and it becomes much less dangerous.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday August 08 2014, @04:42PM
It spread between monkeys. Might have been species specific. But it seems you have a serious point. But I wouldn't bet my life on that a serious bad mutation will not happen. Even a professor virology mentioned his fear for this.
(Score: 2) by MozeeToby on Friday August 08 2014, @01:21PM
The problem with the outbreak isn't the deadliness of Ebola, it's the public perception. It's taken a months long epidemic for many people to finally accept that they shouldn't wash their dead relative's bodies at home. They only just started cremating victims a few days ago, despite the fact that it's by far the easiest and safest way to reduce the risk of infection. There have been health care workers threatened, treatment centers burned down, entire organizations literally run out of town by people too scared and ill-informed to think rationally.
The containment procedures are well understood and extremely effective but the reality on the ground is making it difficult or impossible to put them fully into place. And the more the disease spreads, the more "surface area" there is to cover and the more panic and distrust there will be.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday August 08 2014, @01:57AM
The usual behaviour pattern is to avoid stirring up people and avoid costs. Thus it won't happen here, it's not that bad, keep calm and get a sneaky surprise, and if you need help it's available only initially in reality (where the real people live). Thus be suspicious of any "keep calm" messages.
But this pattern of West Africa, Nigeria and now Saudi Arabia is a real bad one. It means containment is leaking. But also that detection is fairly good (I hope). Otoh, close contact is still needed. If it gets bad enough perhaps mass production of ZMapp will be initiated.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @07:03AM
There are a lot of people really pissed off in the world right now.
How cheap is it to get that class A bioweapon and start spreading it as a terrorist?
When just one person wants to make a point, the headlines are going to light up, no?
Can I venture a guess?
Israel and America are prime easy targets for a transfer.
What a brave new world we live in.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Friday August 08 2014, @08:02AM
Does a vial of Ebola get through airport security theater? I presume yes.
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 08 2014, @02:26PM
Vial?
If you have a religious agenda, you can just make yourself the vial.
All those virgins are just waiting for you.
Hit the Airports, Terminals and Market places.
Zombie Apocolypse to order.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Rivenaleem on Friday August 08 2014, @10:00AM
Does a Saudi man dying of Ebola count towards the 50 white people needed before a vaccine is found? He's probably not VERY white, but also might be somewhat rich, so is he like 1/2 a white person?
Context:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/experts-ebola-vaccine-at-least-50-white-people-awa,36580/ [theonion.com]