3 Responses to Prepper News Watch for August 8, 2014

1. END TIME TUBER says:

   August 8, 2014 at 10:41 pm

   Hello Rob,

   There are some things that are incorrect on this podcast:

   About your statement of EBOLA NOT BEING AIRBORNE is also inaccurate although not entirely erroneous.

   1. The Canadian “CDC” version called PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA states & report on their website @ this link: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php …the following:

   EBOLA
   PATHOGEN SAFETY DATA SHEET – INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES

   In the laboratory, infection through small-particle aerosols has been demonstrated in primates, and airborne spread among humans is strongly suspected, although it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated (1, 6, 13)

   From other sources: It can take 1-10 drops of sweat or saliva to infect a human through an open port of entry (i.e. mucous membranes, eyes, nose, nick or cuts, sores,abrasions, etc.)

   2. You mentioned that Reston Virus that affected Reston, Virginia, USA near Washington, DC in 1989 is “Not Ebola” – that statement is incorrect. Although Reston Virus in NON PATHOGENIC to humans it is one of five strains of known Ebola viruses.

   k1st Quote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reston_virus
   It is the single member of the species Reston ebolavirus, which is included into the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales.[2]

   2nd Quote: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php

   Five Ebola subtypes have been identified: Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV), which was first identified in 1976 and is the most virulent; Sudan ebolavirus, (SEBOV; Ivory Coast ebolavirus (ICEBOV); Ebola-Reston (REBOV), and Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BEBOV) (1, 3, 8, 9). Reston was isolated from cynomolgus monkeys from the Philippines in 1989 and is less pathogenic in non-human primates. It was thought to be the only subtype that does not cause infection in humans until 2009, when it was strongly speculated to have been transferred from pigs to humans.

   3rd Quote: Subtype Ebola-Reston manifests lower levels of pathogenicity in non-human primates and has not been recorded to be infectious in humans; however, sub-clinical symptoms were observed in some people with suspected contact after they developed antibodies against the virus (8).

   About Exponential Growth: http://mathbench.umd.edu/modules/popn-dynamics_exponential-growth/page15.htm

   Quote: Viral growth
   virusesA virus will typically spread exponentially at first if there is no immunization available. Each infected person can infect multiple new people. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and Ebola are two such viruses whose impact to affected areas can be devastating. Knowing the rate at which they typically spread is important when you are trying to contain and treat an outbreak.

   Although there are many fewer cases of Ebola than SARS at the start of the outbreaks, the different growth rates means that the Ebola victims eventually outnumber the SARS victims. How many days before this happens? It’s possible to solve this mathematically, but you can also look at a graph:

   (please refer to exponential growth graph of Ebola vs. SARS @ the website)

   Lastly from other sources: This particular Ebola of West Africa appears to have adapted to humans because as you say typical Ebola kills 90% of cases however I heard and/or read and/or saw somewhere that this particular strain is killing ONLY & ONLY 60% of the people which does not allow the Ebola virus to die off quickly as the other past cases. This fact plus compounding the cultural differences has allowed this West Africa Ebola to fluorish longer than usual. The 2 Americans used Standard Precautions but it was useless against the West Africa Ebola.

   Keep up the good show. I like the presentation of the toxin in the water of Ohio.

   Say Hello to Steve of Threat Journal who spent many years in Charles Taylor’s Liberia.

   Reply
   • Rob Hanus says:

     August 9, 2014 at 1:30 pm

     When I was storm spotting, a common issue were the over-emphasized reports from those spotters who were in close proximity to a storm event. For example, when a lightning strike would occur very close to them, they talked faster, more excitedly, and their perception of the storm’s severity would increase dramatically. Those spotters who were farther way, simply saw it as just another lightning strike. IOW, proximity is everything.

     True, there is Ebola virus in the droplets projected from sneezing and coughing. However, it apparently isn’t transmitted as easily that way. Ebola seems to need a lot of contact before infection. We would have far more deaths over the past 5 months than we do now, if that weren’t the case. This is why it’s still only suspected of being airborne, as there have been no cases of infection from this vector.

     The Restonvirus is a form of Ebola, but it’s more accurately considered a HVF. Airborne and deadly to non-human primates, but not to humans. It’s a scare tactic to compare the Restonvirus to the Ebolavirus. If one is to go down this path, you would need to also start making unrelated comparisons to Marburg and the other HVFs that exist.

     One could also make a case that the reason this outbreak is worse than before is due to all of the people trying to “fix” the problem, and ending up spreading it more. Ask yourself, how did Ebola first come to the urban areas? That answer will tell you much.

     I could go on, but we don’t gain anything by nit-picking. Currently, we have a severe issue that needs to be watched carefully. It could become a massive problem, but at this time, it hasn’t reached that point. But then again, that’s why we prepare, right?

     Reply
     • Rob Hanus says:

       August 10, 2014 at 10:43 am

       I’m going to add, IMHO, the current train of Ebola poses little risk to developed countries. As my buddy Mike the EMT says, as long as you’re not eating eating fruit bats and not sticking your fingers in other people’s wet sticky stuff, you’ll be okay.

       Reply