Hysteria is always good for business.

Nereus

kaninja

fletchj

That is awesome....except a lot of people don't wash their hands after they go to the bathroom....or after they sneeze into their hand.  After this they could touch a railing, a door handle, etc.  A 2002 report in the Southern Medical Journal found fecal matter on most U.S. paper bills, and that certain viruses could live on the bills for 48 hours to almost 2 weeks.  It isn't about seeing the person sweating, coughing, pale, dying, and not giving that person a hug.....it is just about living your life in an infected environment that will get you sick.  Washing your hands and not touching your face is the BEST defence.

Thanks KaNinja for pointing that out, and you of course are correct. So many people are in denial about it. It reminds me when people would say you had to be gay in order to 'catch' AIDS, which is clearly false. What's worse is that ebola is certainly more readily contagious than AIDS during the active period. Keeping that in mind, here's a reality check: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 36 million people have died since the first cases of AIDS were reported in 1981, and 1.6 million people died of HIV/AIDS in 2012 alone. According to WHO, in 2012, an estimated 2.3 million individuals worldwide were newly infected with HIV.
 
Yes, we should be VERY concerned about ebola.
 

I agree.  Don't be all ballistic crazy and hide in a hole in the ground wearing SCUBA gear.....but just pay attention and practice good hygiene, and maybe don't wrestle around with an Ebola patient.
 
On that note, obesity is the cause of close to 18% of all deaths in the US annually.......so in between washing your hands, maybe eat a healthy meal too.

kaninja
 
I agree.  Don't be all ballistic crazy and hide in a hole in the ground wearing SCUBA gear.....

Actually do, but make sure you live stream it on Twitch so we can be entertained by it.

Right now there is just one confirmed case of Ebola in Texas.  If they isolated him before he infected anyone else, we might be okay for the moment.  But already we are being told that there may be "a possible second Ebola patient" in Dallas...

Health officials are closely monitoring a possible second Ebola patient who had close contact with the first person to be diagnosed in the U.S., the director of Dallas County's health department said Wednesday. All who have been in close contact with the man officially diagnosed are being monitored as a precaution, Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said in a morning interview with WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth.
"Let me be real frank to the Dallas County residents: The fact that we have one confirmed case, there may be another case that is a close associate with this particular patient," he said. "So this is real. There should be a concern, but it's contained to the specific family members and close friends at this moment."

 
We have learned the name of the man that is confirmed to have Ebola.  His name is Thomas Eric Duncan and when he went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital last Friday, he told them that he was feeling quite ill and that he was from Liberia.  You would have thought that should have set off major alarm bells.  But instead, he got sent back home...

The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. initially went to a Dallas emergency room last week but was sent home, despite telling a nurse that he had been in disease-ravaged West Africa, the hospital acknowledged Wednesday. The decision by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to release him could have put many others at risk of exposure to the disease before he went back to the ER two days later, after his condition worsened. Thomas Eric Duncan explained to a nurse Friday that he was visiting the U.S. from Liberia, but that information was not widely shared, said Dr. Mark Lester, who works for the hospital's parent company.

 
So a fully contagious Duncan had the opportunity to spread the virus around for another 48 hours before he was finally admitted to the hospital for treatment. And it wasn't just adults that he potentially exposed to the disease.  It is being reported that he had "close contact" with five students that attend four different Dallas schools.  Local media is reporting that the names of those schools are Tasby Middle School, Hotchkiss Elementary School, Dan D. Rogers Elementary and Conrad High School. Predictably, many parents are already pulling their kids out of school in the Dallas area.
 
 

 
 
+
 

 
oh, and don't forget your best friend
 

That's ok, you can have everything home delivered. Just avoid Walmart and the Grocery store this month. Then again Walmart is something I'd avoid anyways because Ebola is the least of the problem of the people grazing Walmart.
 

Was reading this thread last night on my phone. I actually hadn't heard anything on this until reading it here(I never watch the news or read newspapers) Sounds potentially scary to be honest. Not sure why we are bring this uncontained? virus to the U.S. Just a terrible idea.

Ya know this is how pandemics start. I dont understand why they dont put severe restrictions on travel from that part of the world. Travelers should have A) A VERY good reason for leaving said area and B) submit to a mandatory ebola test. But I forgot that people lack common sense especially government agencies.

You should all know that if there is a major Ebola pandemic in America, all of the liberties and the freedoms that you currently enjoy would be gone.  If government officials believe that you have the virus, federal law allows them to round you up and detain you "for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary."  In addition, the CDC already has the authority to quarantine healthy Americans if they reasonably believe that they may become sick.  During an outbreak, the government can force you to remain isolated in your own home, or the government may forcibly take you to a treatment facility, a tent city, a sports stadium, an old military base or a camp.  You would not have any choice in the matter.  And you would be forced to endure any medical procedure mandated by the government.  That includes shots, vaccines and the drawing of blood.  During such a scenario, you can scream about your "rights" all that you want, but it won't do any good.
 
In case you are tempted to think that I am making this up, I want you to read what federal law actually says.  This is 42 U.S.C. 264(d).  I have bolded some points for emphasis...

(1) Regulations prescribed under this section may provide for the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease in a qualifying stage and (A) to be moving or about to move from a State to another State; or (B) to be a probable source of infection to individuals who, while infected with such disease in a qualifying stage, will be moving from a State to another State. Such regulations may provide that if upon examination any such individual is found to be infected, he may be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary. For purposes of this subsection, the term “State” includes, in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term “qualifying stage”, with respect to a communicable disease, means that such disease—
(A) is in a communicable stage; or
(B) is in a precommunicable stage, if the disease would be likely to cause a public health emergency if transmitted to other individuals.

 
 
In addition the CDC already has the authority to isolate people that are not sick to see if they do become sick.  The following is what the CDC website says about this...

Quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms. Quarantine can also help limit the spread of communicable disease.  

 
 
 

 
http://news.yahoo.com/texas-ebola-patient-critical-condition-hospital-193314995.html

 
http://www.ibtimes.com/ebola-virus-us-2014-homeless-man-possible-ebola-found-1699572

 
http://news.yahoo.com/video/health-worker-contracted-ebola-wore-134118850.html
 
 
Even the full suit-up didn't help.

Nereus

XrayMan
http://news.yahoo.com/video/health-worker-contracted-ebola-wore-134118850.html
 
Even the full suit-up didn't help.

Watch the spin and denials..
 

Shhhhh! That must be kept under wraps. This is the no spin zone.          ;)

Here comes the Zombie Apocalypse.

 
Laugh it up while you can buddy.
 
Go check out NEJM or top medical journals like that - all they have been talking about for weeks is ebola. If the top doctors and scientists in the world are extremely concerned about the spread of ebola, it's probably not very smart to think otherwise. I'd rather err on the side of caution and stay alive than die in excruciating pain with my internal organs hemorrhaging because I couldn't be bothered heeding the warnings of experts (or at least the experts who aren't working for the CDC and apparently trying to pretend this is just a minor concern).