The good news, the virus is not a death sentence, people survive the virus. Does this mean we ignore the situation and go back to watching reality TV? HELL NO! This is not like a common cold or just a bad flu. Odds are you will die if you come down with this virus! Period, end of sentence, do not pass 'GO' and collect $200.00, your dead!!! The following information is from the World Health Organization;
Year, Ebola virus fatality %
2012 Democratic Republic of Congo Bundibugyo..51%
2012 Uganda Sudan.............................57%
2012 Uganda Sudan.............................71%
2011 Uganda Sudan............................100%
2008 Democratic Republic of Congo Zaire.......44%
2007 Uganda Bundibugyo........................25%
2007 Democratic Republic of Congo Zaire.......71%
2005 Congo Zaire..............................83%
2004 Sudan Sudan..............................41%
2003 (Nov-Dec) Congo Zaire....................83%
2003 (Jan-Apr) Congo Zaire....................90%
2001-2002 Congo Zaire.........................75%
2001-2002 Gabon Zaire.........................82%
2000 Uganda Sudan.............................53%
1996 South Africa (ex-Gabon) Zaire...........100%
1996 (Jul-Dec) Gabon Zaire....................75%
1996 (Jan-Apr) Gabon Zaire....................68%
1995 Democratic Republic of Congo Zaire.......81%
1994 Cote d'Ivoire Taï Forest..................0% (one person had the virus and survived)
1994 Gabon Zaire..............................60%
1979 Sudan Sudan..............................65%
1977 Democratic Republic of Congo Zaire......100%
1976 Sudan Sudan..............................53%
1976 Democratic Republic of Congo Zaire.......88%
I changed some of the information contained in the chart to make the point this virus is a killer! Ebola has a long history of killing people and there is no vaccine for the virus. Why did I change the information? To unclutter what you were looking at. Notice how the percent of people who were infected and died is not in the 10% or even 20% on average?
Good news? Taking the regular precautions we all take during flu season will go along way to making sure you are not infected!
From the CDC;
"If you travel to or are in an area affected by an Ebola outbreak, make sure to do the following:
•Practice careful hygiene. Avoid contact with blood and body fluids.
•Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids.
•Avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of someone who has died from Ebola.
•Avoid contact with bats and nonhuman primates or blood, fluids, and raw meat prepared from these animals.
•Avoid hospitals where Ebola patients are being treated. The U.S. embassy or consulate is often able to provide advice on facilities.
•After you return, monitor your health for 21 days and seek medical care immediately if you develop symptoms of Ebola."
Wash your hands, use alcohol based hand sanitizer and get out of the habit of touching your face all the time. If you do get sick do not freak out and think you have the virus. Here is a list of symptoms;
From the CDC;
"Symptoms of Ebola include
•Fever (greater than 38.6°C or 101.5°F)
•Severe headache
•Muscle pain
•Weakness
•Diarrhea
•Vomiting
•Abdominal (stomach) pain
•Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days. Recovery from Ebola depends on the patient’s immune response. People who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least 10 years."
If someone you know or live with starts showing these symptoms make sure you use gloves to clean up the mess, a mask will help and treat the vomit or diarrhea mess as if it was nuclear waste! Do not do a half ass job of cleaning up! And for god sake TAKE THEM TO THE HOSPITAL!
While I was writing this I took a smoke break (yeah I know I shouldn't smoke) and read information provided on another forum. Let me be absolutely clear on this......................... If you or someone you know is sick to the point they are running a fever of over 100.00, puking and having diarrhea TAKE THEM OR YOURSELF TO THE HOSPITAL!!! Do not sit at home and take some mixture of granola oil and butterfly spit! GO TO THE &^%$#ING HOSPITAL!!!!
These other things can help and for certain ailments they work wonders. If someone is burning up and losing fluid out of both ends they need more medical attention than most people can provide at home. Do not be a dumbass, especially if you are taking care of the very young or the old. Get the help they or you need.
Let's not freak out over this situation. One of the first things you do when an emergency arises is???????? Do not panic, take stock of the situation, figure out how to mitigate the negatives and plan for what you will do next to improve your situation. For most of us this will not be an issue. By taking simple steps we can improve the chances of this not becoming an issue in our lives. If we spread the word on people following proper hygiene practices we can limit the chances of this or other viruses becoming an issue in our lives. Heck, if we all start washing our hands more, cleaning surfaces and using safer hygiene practices now the flu season this year might not be worth talking about!
Not sure if the links I added on here are going to work. If you need further information look up the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control websites. Googling 'Ebola Virus' should also give you a lot of information, just watch where the information is coming from. Just like any other post on here, I encourage everyone to research this or any subject on their own to increase their knowledge.
As always,
Stay Safe
