This is a bit of a worry: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/108717/doh-monitoring-20-ofws-from-ebola-hit-west-africa "MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said it is closely monitoring seven out of 15 overseas Filipino workers who had returned to the country from Sierra Leone for any symptoms of Ebola virus infection which had killed hundreds in West Africa. Sierra Leone has declared a state of emergency as the virus has infected more than 1,300 people since the start of the year and killed more than 720 people in West Africa Health Secretary Enrique Ona urged returning Filipinos who experience sore throat, fever, headache, intense weakness, and joint and muscle pains to immediately seek help from local health authorities in the country where they are employed before flying back to the Philippines. But Ona assured the public that the Philippines remains “Ebola-free.” Ebola is an infectious, often fatal, disease in humans and primates, such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. There is no vaccine available yet for its treatment. “Health authorities in the country are not letting their guard down on the possible entry of any emerging infectious disease,” Ona said. The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised Alert Level 2 in three countries experiencing outbreaks of Ebola infection–Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Filipino workers with new contracts in the said countries were not allowed to leave the Philippines. Ona said the Health Emergency Management Staff of the DOH is monitoring daily the health condition of the seven overseas workers, who arrived between June 26 and July 15, from Sierra Leone. The DOH also directed Regional health officials to stand by in case a returning overseas Filipino worker will be found to have symptoms of the Ebola disease. They have been tasked to be in charge of the admission of patients to the nearest government hospital. Health care and laboratory workers exposed to secretions and specimens from infected individuals are most at risk to contract Ebola, said Ona. “Proper coordination of Philippine labor officials (Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Association) is now being undertaken with the DFA and the Bureau of Immigration, for possible repatriation,” he added. To those who are prone to the infection, the health secretary advised them to: Avoid close contact with infected patients; Avoid consumption of the raw meat of possible infected animals like fruit bats, monkeys or apes; Wear gloves and appropriate personal protective equipment when taking care of ill patients at home; Wash hands after visiting sick relatives in the hospital and after taking care of ill patients at home. The DOH also enumerated the signs and symptoms of infection with Ebola virus including: Fever Headache Intense weakness Joint and muscle pains Sore throat If it worsens, it might be followed by: Vomiting Diarrhea Stomach pain Rash Impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding; sometimes, rash, red eyes, hiccups bleeding from body openings" Why monitoring 7 out of 15 returnees?
I've been reading about this in the news, lets hope they can keep it out of the Philippines and elsewhere.
This one is a big issue everywhere, not just poor countries, this thing is spreading fast and needs to be locked down really soon. Historically the thing that has saved us is that it is SO fatal, any virus that is really lethal finds it hard to spread, but once it is in something as big as a city the numbers change, incubation times allow spread even though it is killing the earlier hosts, the human network and our mobility in a city is a lifeline to a monster like this! edit: If it got a foothold in any city like Manila it would decimate the place for reasons that should be obvious to most of us that have been there but I will summarise anyway, compact living conditions, poor sanitation and lack of depth of education, the latter proving a problem when you try to tell people what they need to do to isolate this thing. edit: also high mobility of population in the very small physical surface area that is the Manila metropolis.
I feel worried................... We are only a plane ride away from it, and our frontline services at the airport don't have any training in spotting symptoms in travellers...
Wouldn't matter Dom, from what I have read incubation times are typically a couple of days but can be up to 20 odd days, you could come in looking fine and be in real trouble a couple of days later.
I am pretty sure that Hong Kong and for that matter China, having suffered the horrors of the various lethal 'flus, will be prepared for this, but frankly the Philippines does not look prepared at all.
Andrew, in all honesty, no one anywhere is prepared for this, this thing is capable of erasing us, I really mean that. If it gets out it will mutate simply because of the variety of hosts available to it, things like this evolve quickly, it will eventually turn into something less deadly, otherwise it will go extinct, but not before it creates utter mayhem. If it gets out, as in really gets out, we don't have to worry about global warming because we will be back in the stone age or earlier and our contribution to the atmosphere will have pretty much vanished. edit: the mortality rate of Ebola is greater than the black death. (if not actually greater they are on a par)
I think these deadly epidemics always die out in time. Those hosts with the most deadly form of the disease die and, if their bodies are disposed of properly, no longer a risk for spreading infection. This means the lesser strains form the bulk of the epidemic and causing the epidemic to end, I think infection with Ebola requires contact with bodily fluids - it is not an airborne disease. I am not sure of the customs of those people living in the infected areas but the bodies of the deceased can spread the disease if contact is made with them. I am pretty sure that in many places, people with sick family members do not seek help and deal with the disease and subsequent death and burial within the family. These are the factors that aid transmission. In developed countries, especially those with a free health service, the risk from Ebola is far less.
Indeed Howerd and yes it's contact with bodily fluids but incubation is potentially long and that is what will let it spread. Professional people who know the risks are dying while trying to help, they know the precautions to take but they don't always work, that says something about this virus.
That is my specific worry and why I talked about it "getting out" and "human networks", the black death killed millions in what are known as the dark ages, look up the numbers, and then compare against global population at that time it was huge! And that was in a not very connected world, airborne infections are terrifying but not essential for a plague, Yersinia pestis was probably not generally airborne, it still made its way around. These pandemics do die down, my point is the devastation they have left in the past and could leave now!
My remark on Hong Kong is based on Hong Kong having recently gone through a disease so virulent that like Ebola it tended to kill doctors and nurses first. People who don't live there don't understand how terrifying that is! They are now mighty careful. But the Philippines thinks "it cannot happen here!"
I take your point Andrew but I am not sure any of them realise how bad this situation is and how hard it is to control. By 'Any' I mean the rest of us and even the Hong Kong border guards. Ebola is in a different league to anything we have seen in the wild in city environments so far.
I know a bloke who is working on our sister rig in Ivory coast, he has just joined via Liberia. He says its pretty scary and they are shutting the borders and control exposure by using "buckets of cholorine"!! Don't know how but maybe its to wash your hands in or something?! Just hoping it doesn't spread anywhere to be honest but I feel slightly nervous offshore Mozambique
Apparently, dead bodies infected with Ebola, are left lying in the streets - that is one sure way that this disease will spread. Although this outbreak has killed more people (700+) than any other previous outbreak, the mortality rate at 50%-60% is less than some previous outbreaks (around 90%). In Liberia, the government has ordered that all those dying of the disease must be cremated.
