To wonder why there isn't more resource being thrown at Ebola?

[Roonerspism]

There are now reports this outbreak could kill a million people in West Africa. It could mutate. Countries like Spain cannot contain it properly.

I don't understand why countries have been so slow to react. It could have been controlled so much easier had we responded sooner. Now we seem to be dealing with a catastrophe for Africa. What if it spreads to India? It seems likely to hit most countries, even if contained.

It seems unbelievable we have slept walk into this.

To be fair to the OP, the strongest response should be when it reached Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the large towns.

In one of those (can't remember which) they were tearing up slumps at some point. While slumps are not ideal to control the disease, nor is spreading the patients and those infected through a larger area of the country or the town.

But agencies can't work properly or enter without the agreement of the affected countries, and sometimes that can be tricky.

The good news is that two other African countries have got patients and it seems that it has been contained. So, there is hope that it actually won't spread to the rest of Africa.

Lweji it was found in Madrid yesterday. A densely populated city of millions.

But did nobody hear the poor president of Liberia on the radioma few weeks ago desperately pleading with us to help? He shouldn't have had to do that.

Close contact:

Ebola often causes a haemorragic fever. Blood cells will be on the skin, eyes, mucosa of the patients. Those particles carry the virus.
But the virus can be present in body fluids like saliva.
It is not airborne as it doesn't linger in the air in very small droplets like flu.
So far, it has required much closer contact, like taking care of an ill person or washing the body of a patient.

It doesn't immediately die with the body, as not all of the cells in the body die immediately. That is why we can do organ harvest and take organs from one place to the other. But it will die eventually, as the body decomposes.

Lweji it was found in Madrid yesterday. A densely populated city of millions.

Yes, and?
One nurse who took care of the patient seems to have been in contact with the virus. Only those close to her are in observation.

Liberia is asking for help and help is being sent.
But nobody will be sending unprepared and underequiped staff. They will have to be volunteers. And they will have to be physically protected from the mobs.
It's not easy.

Agreed that the ball was dropped when MSF sounded the alarm and not enough was done to sort it out.

In another thread I've likened it to a fire. We have let the forest fire grow too big to tackle it easily. However, 'we' have up until this point been very good at stamping out the embers of ebola. There have been lots of small outbreaks that have been contained and stopped in much more difficult circumstances than say Madrid. Nigeria managed to stamp out their outbreak despite some challenging circumstances and very soon they will be declared ebola free once more. If they can do it, we can.
There will be more embers flying out, but we know how to stamp them out and we will continue to do so.

I'm going to ask mn to rename the old swine flu section in health as an ebola section, cos there are a lot of people who are worried and it's hard to find reasonable facts in the media storm that is starting.

I feel sorry for the dog.

I think rather than lamenting what people perceive hasn't been done, we now need to look forward and work on what can be done.

I don't think for one moment that the powers that be wouldn't do everything they can to contain it, but I imagine that the ferocity of this outbreak has provided a learning curve.

Agreed TBW - every effort needs to be made to help those who are being enormously affected at present. People can do their teeny little bit by a) being sensible and not spreading fear and b) donating to organisations such as MSF. That won't provide volunteers but it will help with resources they need.

There is one Ebola bed in England, this is not enough!

I'm a little confused by the specific info that Ebola lives in warm bodily fluids (vomit, blood, feces, saliva) ... and yet lives on in cold dead bodies and can be caught while cleaning a room that a patient has been in. A virus that contagious can most certainly be caught from contact with surfaces then?

One of the people the Spanish nurse has been in contact with is now showing signs of fever.

I feel uneasy about this - and i'm not usually a worrier. I find it shocking and worrying that a major Spanish hospital failed to provide adequate protection for their nurses.

I think the situation is horrendous but that there is only so much worry and news coverage because of the perceived threat to us in the developed world. Malaria kills many many more people, and the prevention measures are simple and cheap. But we don't hear about it as a major crisis and all get worried. Because it is not seen as "our" problem.
The response to Ebola is largely about responding to an emerging threat to ourselves, not assisting those in need in Africa. Apart from those wonderful people who volunteer to help on the ground like MSF who have been there throughout.

One question that might be posed is when did you think "they should be sending lots of help now!"
Only now?
Did you think that back in July or August?

There was a study to detect viruses in fluids. The detection rate was actually very low and only 1-2 people get infected per patient, but it's so fast and devastating that it has a big impact. Flu is so much more contagious that virtually every one will have been in contact with it at some point. But it kills a lot less. Just for some perspective.

AM I GOING TO DIE FROM SIERRA LEONE MAN COUGHING ALL OVER ME?!

Please

Uk now have TWO beds at the Royal Free... That's encouraging!!

But now the burial team is reported to be 'on strike' leaving the dead in the streets....

Lweji I think you're making the point that we're all speculating with the benefit of hindsight, but I don't think that's relevant. These various organizations are meant to consider all the possible outcomes of an outbreak, and this was an obvious one.

I was asking because if there were things that should/could be done by the government individuals here (and I expect there could be many I couldn't possibly predict) then I'd like to know. So I could either do them, or campaign for them.

Have you criticized the government for spending on foreign aid instead of the NHS or pensioners?

www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/14/budget-changes-translate-to-7bn-cut-in-foreign-aid-over-five-years

www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2013/09/by-mark-wallacefollowmarkon-twitter-as-weve-already-heard-this-week-the-debate-on-increasing-or-decreasing-spending-on-int.html

Foreign aid isn't a vote winner. And where it is discussed politicians like to have facts such as X number of children vaccinated, not we are building a state of the art isolation hospital just in case ebola comes back.

Thousands of NHS workers have volunteered to go to work in Sierra Leone and other areas - they are not, as far as I am aware, being given any financial help to do this - maybe we should pay them their usual wage whilst away?

Should we permanently fund some NHS workers to work in developing countries? Should we fund training for medical staff?

Can we make sure people have enough to eat that 'bush meat' isn't eaten?

My feeling is the West pretty much doesn't give a shit what happens in Africa as long as it doesn't affect them. However, now that it is possibly affecting them, they will wake up but this could be too late.

Funny how the west have allowed dictators to dictate in Africa for years without any intervention yet they don't like it in the Middle East! Wonder why.....

Surely the first step should have been to close borders and stop international travel.

The reports I have heard are that the staff at the hospital in Spain were using Level 2 protective equipment, whereas the highest available is Level 4. The nurse has to take some responsibility, apparently she was feeling unwell for 5 days before she sought advice, you would expect her to have known better.

From what I understand, Ebola can live in expelled bodily fluids for up to 24 hours, though obviously their numbers dwindle massively. Unfortunately you only need to come into contact with a small number of virus particles (an infected person will carry tens of millions) to be at risk of being infected.

Fluffy, theoretically you could catch Ebola from a surface, but only if you touched it then touched a mucus membrane (inside your mouth, nose, eye, etc), or if you had a cut/scratch and that came into contact with an infected surface. If you are thoroughly covered in protective equipment, and it is used properly (ie checked for damage regularly and thoroughly disinfected or destroyed after use) and you wash/disinfect yourself after potential contact, the risk is very minimal.

The fact is that an Ebola victim is only contagious once they are showing symptoms, by this stage the vast majority of people are house bound so those most at threat are immediate family/friends and health care professionals.

They've always had 2 beds at the Royal Free. IIRC they're the only two beds of their type in Europe.

They're not 'Ebola' beds, they're for airborne diseases such as SARS and provide much more protection then is actually needed for a patient with Ebola. In the unlikely event that we need more than two beds at a time the Royal Free and most other hospitals in the UK have isolation rooms that can be used for Ebola patients.

Closing the borders and stopping international travel would have been a massive and very unhelpful over-reaction.

Why? I meant from affected countries only obviously.

Time will tell if over reaction.

This disease started in one person and has now killed over 3000 officially with probably many more unofficially in less than a few months. It has the potential to kill many people.

Ebola is one of the viruses that requires BL4 containment. That is the highest level.