Ebola Virus in the US

[SignMeUp]

I heard about another case today, but it's an American camera man who is working in Liberia.

[Michael]

As far as the level of sanitation in this country is concerned, I'm thinking we may be far ahead of other places in the world but....employees still show up at work when they're sick, parents still drop off their kids at day care and schools when they're sick. Often, when I visit the ladies' room anywhere, I see people using the facilities and walking out without washing their hands - some going back to the kitchen to prepare food. I've seen pee and feces on toilet seats and on the floor of the stall. In the news today, there was an unrelated story about parents who changed their baby's diaper on the top of a restaurant table. I'm sure someone came along and sat down at that same table, never giving any thought to the germs or bodily fluids left on that table top. There are so many opportunities for this disease to spread that it's very scary to me.

No one has said yet that washing hands kills the virus. How long is it active once on a door handle? Will a hand sanitizer work? I doubt it. One good thing is that daycare providers use a bleach solution to sanitize. I bet that works.

As far as cleanliness; I was at the LAX airport men's bathroom a few weeks ago. Out of the four men in there, I was the only one to wash my hands before leaving.

[midaycare]

Why here in America? Most from that part of the Africa would end up in India or Europe.

Likewise, we are a very mobile country and travel a lot. I worry about keeping this virus contained. We will always be waiting for those 21 days of incubation to pass and the flu season will mask it. This one (ebola) worries me. I'm preparing but I hope I'm wrong.

I know everyone says it won't spread here and it's not a big deal, yada yada. But just yesterday dcg had her finger in her mouth and when I was reading a book shoved that finger into my mouth when it was open . So if dcg had ebola, well, then I would too. It's really not that hard to travel if saliva is an option.

[e.j.]

No one has said yet that washing hands kills the virus. How long is it active once on a door handle? Will a hand sanitizer work? I doubt it. One good thing is that daycare providers use a bleach solution to sanitize. I bet that works.

I was thinking more in terms of the fact that so many people don't even follow basic, easy sanitation practices like washing hands after using the bathroom. How can we expect that everyone will take more time consuming measures that require some effort to keep Ebola from spreading? I read this morning that "Ebola dried on surfaces can survive for several hours." The fact that hand washing, after possibly touching a contaminated surface, may not help just makes it all the more frightening to me.

[Cat Herder]

I found this timeline and it is fascinating to me. It has been around (known/studied) since 1976 and has a pattern.

Info listed in this order: 1. Year(s) 2. Country 3. Ebola subtype 4. Reported number of human cases 5. Reported number (%) of deaths among cases 6. Situation

1976 Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo - DRC) Ebola virus 318 280 (88%) Occurred in Yambuku and surrounding area. Disease was spread by close personal contact and by use of contaminated needles and syringes in hospitals/clinics. This outbreak was the first recognition of the disease. 1

1976 Sudan (South Sudan) Sudan virus 284 151 (53%) Occurred in Nzara, Maridi and the surrounding area. Disease was spread mainly through close personal contact within hospitals. Many medical care personnel were infected. 2

1976 England Sudan virus 1 0 Laboratory infection by accidental stick of contaminated needle. 3

1977 Zaire Ebola virus 1 1 (100%) Noted retrospectively in the village of Tandala. 4

1979 Sudan (South Sudan) Sudan virus 34 22 (65%) Occured in Nzara, Maridi. Recurrent outbreak at the same site as the 1976 Sudan epidemic. 5

1989 USA Reston virus 0 0 Ebola-Reston virus was introduced into quarantine facilities in Virginia and Pennsylvania by monkeys imported from the Philippines. 6

1990 USA Reston virus 4 (asymptomatic) 0 Ebola-Reston virus was introduced once again into quarantine facilities in Virginia, and Texas by monkeys imported from the Philippines. Four humans developed antibodies but did not get sick. 7

1989-1990 Philippines Reston virus 3 (asymptomatic) 0 High mortality among cynomolgus macaques in a primate facility responsible for exporting animals in the USA. 8
Three workers in the animal facility developed antibodies but did not get sick. 9

1992 Italy Reston virus 0 0 Ebola-Reston virus was introduced into quarantine facilities in Sienna by monkeys imported from the same export facility in the Philippines that was involved in the episodes in the United States. No humans were infected. 10

1994 Gabon Ebola virus 52 31 (60%) Occured in Mékouka and other gold-mining camps deep in the rain forest. Initially thought to be yellow fever; identified as Ebola hemorrhagic fever in 1995. 11

1994 Ivory Coast Taï Forest virus 1 0 Scientist became ill after conducting an autopsy on a wild chimpanzee in the Tai Forest. The patient was treated in Switzerland. 12

1995 Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) Ebola virus 315 250 (81%) Occured in Kikwit and surrounding area. Traced to index case-patient who worked in forest adjoining the city. Epidemic spread through families and hospitals. 13

1996 (January-April) Gabon Ebola virus 37 21 (57%) Occured in Mayibout area. A chimpanzee found dead in the forest was eaten by people hunting for food. Nineteen people who were involved in the butchery of the animal became ill; other cases occured in family members. 11

1996-1997 (July-January) Gabon Ebola virus 60 45 (74%) Occurred in Booué area with transport of patients to Libreville. Index case-patient was a hunter who lived in a forest camp. Disease was spread by close contact with infected persons. A dead chimpanzee found in the forest at the time was determined to be infected. 11

1996 South Africa Ebola virus 2 1 (50%) A medical professional traveled from Gabon to Johannesburg, South Africa, after having treated Ebola virus-infected patients and thus having been exposed to the virus. He was hospitalized, and a nurse who took care of him became infected and died. 14

1996 USA Reston virus 0 0 Ebola-Reston virus was introduced into a quarantine facility in Texas by monkeys imported from the Philippines. No human infections were identified. 15

1996 Philippines Reston virus 0 0 Ebola-Reston virus was identified in a mokey export facility in the Philippines. No human infections were identified. 16

1996 Russia Ebola virus 1 1 (100%) Laboratory contamination 17

2000-2001 Uganda Sudan virus 425 224 (53%) Occurred in Gulu, Masindi, and Mbarara districts of Uganda. The three most important risks associated with Ebola virus infection were attending funerals of Ebola hemorrhagic fever case-patients, having contact with case-patients in one's family, and providing medical care to Ebola case-patients without using adequate personal protective measures. 18

October 2001-March 2002 Gabon Ebola virus 65 53 (82%) Outbreak occured over the border of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. 19

October 2001-March 2002 Republic of Congo Ebola virus 57 43 (75%) Outbreak occurred over the border of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. This was the first time that Ebola hemorrhagic fever was reported in the Republic of the Congo. 19

December 2002-April 2003 Republic of Congo Ebola virus 143 128 (89%) Outbreak occurred in the districts of Mbomo and Kéllé in Cuvette Ouest Département. 20

November-December 2003 Republic of Congo Ebola virus 35 29 (83%) Outbreak occured in Mbomo and Mbandza villages located in Mbomo distric, Cuvette Ouest Département. 21

2004 Sudan (South Sudan) Sudan virus 17 7 (41%) Outbreak occurred in Yambio county of southern Sudan. This outbreak was concurrent with an outbreak of measles in the same area, and several suspected EHF cases were later reclassified as measeles cases. 22

2004 Russia Ebola virus 1 1 (100%) Laboratory contamination. 23

2007 Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola virus 264 187 (71%) Outbreak occurred in Kasai Occidental Province. The outbreak was declared over November 20. Last confirmed case on October 4 and last death on October 10. 24 25

December 2007-January 2008 Uganda Bundibugyo virus 149 37 (25%) Outbreak occurred in Bundibugyo District in western Uganda. First reported occurance of a new strain. 26

November 2008 Philippines Reston virus 6 (asymptomatic) 0 First known occurrence of Ebola-Reston in pigs. Strain closely similar to earlier strains. Six workers from the pig farm and slaughterhouse developed antibodies but did not become sick. 27 28

December 2008-February 2009 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus 32 15 (47%) Outbreak occurred in the Mweka and luebo health zones of the Province of Kasai Occidental. 29

May 2011 Uganda Sudan virus 1 1 (100%) The Ugandan Ministry of Health informed the public that a patient with suspected Ebola Hemorrhagic fever died on May 6, 2011 in the Luwero district, Uganda. The quick diagnosis from a blood sample of Ebola virus was provided by the new CDC Viral Hemorrhagic Fever laboratory installed at the Uganda Viral Research Institute (UVRI). 30

June-October 2012 Uganda Sudan virus 11* 4* (36.4%) Outbreak occurred in the Kibaale District of Uganda. Laboratory tests of blood samples were conducted by the UVRI and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 31

June-November 2012 Democratic Republic of the Congo Bundibugyo virus 36* 13* (36.1%) Outbreak occurred in DRC’s Province Orientale. Laboratory support was provided through CDC and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)’s field laboratory in Isiro, and through the CDC/UVRI lab in Uganda. The outbreak in DRC has no epidemiologic link to the near contemporaneous Ebola outbreak in the Kibaale district of Uganda. 31

November 2012-January 2013 Uganda Sudan virus 6* 3* (50%) Outbreak occurred in the Luwero District. CDC assisted the Ministry of Health in the epidemiologic and diagnostic aspects of the outbreak. Testing of samples by CDC's Viral Special Pathogens Branch occurred at UVRI in Entebbe. 31

March 2014-Present Multiple countries(http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbrea...map.html#areas)
Ebola virus 3974* 2007 (51%)* Ongoing outbreak across multiple countries(http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbrea...map.html#areas) in West Africa.
Ongoing outbreak across multiple countries in West Africa. Number of patients is constantly evolving due to the ongoing investigation

[KiddieCahoots]

One of my daughters lives in Texas. She works with the public, I can't help but be worried too

[Blackcat31]

Well, I guess getting a monkey as a classroom pet is out of the question then...

[SignMeUp]

Hey now! I had a monkey as a pet

[NeedaVaca]

What's really bothering me are all the mistakes being made. Goes to the hospital-sent home after telling them where he's from, people told to confine themselves but aren't, 5 kids told to stay home and Wednesday one of them went to school, the relatives under quarantine still haven't had the house cleaned, people power washing the vomit off the sidewalk with no protective gear....seriously?

[Cat Herder]

And yet when you practice a shelter in place/meet up safe drill and hospital infection control techniques in a child care setting... you are mocked as an alarmist.

Pandemic Training has been around for a while. Grants were given to States. Equipment was purchased... the educational outlets and supports fell through and it is all now sitting in store rooms and county lot's, rotting. We should have been ahead of the game.... now Ebola.

[TwinKristi]

And culture. In a West Africa, it is common to touch or handle the body of the decreased during funerals. In rural areas, neighboring villages often send representatives to attend funerals. Hospitals are generally not trusted, and family members try to care for the ill themselves. Of course poverty and lack of education go hand in hand with poor sanitation.

(Anthropology nerd)

I think this is the PRIME source of transmission and they were able to trace it back to Patient Zero through this. This is what cause the vast spread in this current outbreak. They came in from other villages to touch the dead body and then take it back to their village and then the same thing happens over and over. It's scary but I honestly believe the U.S. could maintain better control of this than Africa could/can.

[Second Home]

A possible case in D C .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/10/03/d-c-hospital-evaluating-patient-who-has-ebola-like-symptoms/

[Margarete]

Possible case in DC is not very definitive yet. He wasn't even in one of the three main countries affected by the virus, but was in 'Africa', is sick, and they are being cautious (as they should). There was news of someone being tested at a hospital about 20 miles from where I live a couple of months ago... tests came back negative.

[SignMeUp]

Possible case in DC is not very definitive yet. He wasn't even in one of the three main countries affected by the virus, but was in 'Africa', is sick, and they are being cautious (as they should). There was news of someone being tested at a hospital about 20 miles from where I live a couple of months ago... tests came back negative.

He was in Nigeria.
The first U.S. citizen to die of ebola died in Nigeria over the summer. He was on his way to the U.S. to his family. He held dual citizenship in Liberia and U.S. I believe there have been around a dozen cases there since then, including deaths of his medical personnel and illness of the medical personnel's families.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/man-who-died-ebola-nigeria-was-american-citizen-wife-n167546

[KiddieCahoots]

Well, I guess getting a monkey as a classroom pet is out of the question then...

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