To be a bit worried about possible Ebola case in Ireland?

[BitConcernedRightNow]

Story here

Apparently the victim was a man who has passed away. He had recently returned from Sierra Leone. It may turn out to be something else but it's really worrying.

MSF have been saying for a couple of weeks that this outbreak is out of control but no one seems to be doing very much. I know it's supposed to be low risk of transmission but it's still spreading

Friday results are in.

i know, i just saw that on breaking news on my fb. cheerful stuff isn't it. I will try not to worry.

It's spreading in countries without good sanitation, healthcare, or general health awareness. In all likelihood, if it turns up here then it won't be a big issue because we're much better equipped to deal with it.

It's a terrifying disease, though.

Hopefully it will turn out to be something else entirely. The poor man though and I'm sure his family are really worried as well as sad.

I just hate the fact that MSF are trying to tell the world this is in danger of becoming a really major outbreak (and already is a huge outbreak in Africa) but no one really seems to care. The last I read the WHO was being wildly optimistic and MSF were saying there was no way the disease would be contained on the timescale WHO suggested.

Apart from donating to MSF is there anything practical people can actually do?

Yes Kiwi you are right of course and it seems that the burial traditions etc in West Africa haven't helped. But it really is a horrible disease. We live in Ireland although further south but we have family in that area. They must be

That doctor who was treated for Ebola in the US has made a complete recovery though. And I believe that there is a national emergency plan in place (which is not run by the HSE) and is supposed to be fairly robust. there is an isolation unit in the Mater? all set up and ready to go. And, if Spain have already had one fatal case without a national outbreak, who's to say that we would have an epidemic?

There have been a large number of suspected cases but so far afaik there have been none outside of west Africa, so in all probability it will be another false alarm.
At some point one of these cases may turn out to be the real deal but I think we can be assured that it won't suddenly explode in other countries. Even in Nigeria, with all of the difficulties in tracing Sawyers contacts and the very difficult circumstances in Lagos we haven't seen a big outbreak there yet.

We're doomed.......we're all doomed

That's all reassuring Tipp. I think I watched Outbreak at an impressionable age I just find it such a frightening illness but I admit this is largely based on movie representations.

Is that kitten I see? :)

I love that film, Bit, despite the level of bunkum.

It is spreading in countries where people don't understand the sanitation issues and are cleaning and burying their own dead. They also often hide cases away due to the stigma attached. Their is no way we would have an out break in this country. One or two isolated cases but it is pretty difficult to catch. It is also spread through eating bush meat and not underdtsanding the hygiene behind cooking meat

aye, Tis me!

Bushmeat is smuggled into this country and sold in markets in the larger cities.

I don't think that most of the cases in this outbreak are from bushmeat. I think they are from close human-human contact.

It transmits very similarly to HIV and we're way past thinking that can be caught from toilet seats. Really, don't worry.

Thanks all. Honestly I am the kind of person who would be out buying a tinfoil hat if I thought it would help

You don't need a tin foil hat. Just remember, should you ever bump into someone with Ebola - try not to lick them or ingest their bodily fluids.

but if a body with hiv was left on the ground, it wouldn't spread would it because the hiv virus needs a live body doesn't it? within 48 hours I think it would die? is this total rubbish? apologies if so. ebola seems to be able to thrive in a dead body.

The HIV virus dies within seconds of exposure outside a host. Ebola doesn't, this is correct. But it's not particularly transmutable, it's (probably) not an airborne virus in humans ( it has been observed in primates). You have to have direct contact with an infected person/ body to become infected. You're not contagious while it incubates and once it makes the carrier I'll they are physically wiped out and unable to easily pass it on by being in public places - they're too I'll to be out and about. While it does have a high mortality rate there have been relatively few deaths since it was identified precise because it's not very easy to catch, in general.

Even though it isn't airborne I would still be a bit worried if cases appeared outside Africa. The beginning symptoms are similar to a cold and plenty of people go into work sick. If they sneezed on a train or bus, particles could land on a handrail or something. Someone could touch that and if they touched their eyes or nose then they could catch it that way. Or if they vomited in a public toilet, anyone who used that toilet afterwards could potentially be infected. That's how norovirus spreads.

I'm Irish and I would have some concerns about how the HSE would manage an outbreak.

The Irish case is just up the road from me. Hard to believe. I do have confidence that all the proper precautions will be taken.

yes, and the poor man was in sierra leone, it's not like he got this standing in line to check in at shannon so, perhaps they can contain this.

I'm glad I could reassure you OP.

I'll say again: the HSE is not responsible for managing any possible Ebola outbreak. The Office of Emergency Planning would take responsibility in that situation.

It all depends where you had your last poo, did you see another's poo?

In which case you have ebola.