PANIC is sure to begin in NYC with this revelation of a DWB / MSF doctor testing positive for Ebola after arriving on 14 OCT 14 from Guinea. To keep yourself from an anxiety attack I offer links as educational tools about Ebola and also suggest New Yorkers check the NYT Ask Well column for honest, accurate information about the disease. This from +Mother Jones and Pressing Issues and the +The New York Times Ask Well column. Don't keep yourself ignorant, uninformed and afraid, get your information from experts and share with family, friends and coworkers. AND don't be suckered by politicians looking to exploit Ebola in the U.S., instead consider this from the +agenda project
The New York Times reports
Craig Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders physician who had recently
been to West Africa to help treat Ebola patients, has tested positive for the disease. Spencer is the first person in New York to be diagnosed.
As Spencer's identity had been confirmed late Thursday afternoon, it became known he had been bowling in Brooklyn on Wednesday, traveling via an Uber ride to and from Manhattan.
"Ebola is very difficult to contract, being on the same subway car or living near someone with Ebola does not put someone at risk," de Blasio told reporters at a news conference Thursday evening.
Since coming back to the United States on October 14th, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, confirmed Spencer used the subway's A, 1, and L lines and bowled at The Gutter in Williamsburg. Bassett said the city has been preparing for the possibility of an outbreak for the past few weeks, with Cuomo emphasizing healthcare workers have been well-trained for such an event.
Earlier Thursday, Spencer was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after suffering from Ebola-like symptoms, including a 103-degree fever and nausea.
The New York City Health Department released a statement indicating Spencer had returned to the United States within the past 21 days.
CNN producer Vaughn Sterling tweeted the following:
Vaughn Sterling ✔ @vplus Follow
This post has been updated throughout.
Okay, there's one new possible Ebola victim in NYC (though test not
confirmed), and people freaking over fact he rode the subway while
sick. So worth reviewing this from recent NYT "Well" column:
| Thu Oct. 23, 2014 4:38 PM EDT
As Spencer's identity had been confirmed late Thursday afternoon, it became known he had been bowling in Brooklyn on Wednesday, traveling via an Uber ride to and from Manhattan.
"Ebola is very difficult to contract, being on the same subway car or living near someone with Ebola does not put someone at risk," de Blasio told reporters at a news conference Thursday evening.
Since coming back to the United States on October 14th, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, confirmed Spencer used the subway's A, 1, and L lines and bowled at The Gutter in Williamsburg. Bassett said the city has been preparing for the possibility of an outbreak for the past few weeks, with Cuomo emphasizing healthcare workers have been well-trained for such an event.
Mayor Bill de Blasio Hosts Press Conference with Governor Cuomo
Earlier Thursday, Spencer was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after suffering from Ebola-like symptoms, including a 103-degree fever and nausea.
The New York City Health Department released a statement indicating Spencer had returned to the United States within the past 21 days.
The New York Post first identified Spencer, who returned from Guinea on October 14 and reported his fever this morning.The patient was transported by a specially trained HAZ TAC unit wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). After consulting with the hospital and the CDC, DOHMH has decided to conduct a test for the Ebola virus because of this patient’s recent travel history, pattern of symptoms, and past work. DOHMH and HHC are also evaluating the patient for other causes of illness, as these symptoms can also be consistent with salmonella, malaria, or the stomach flu.
Police escort of possible Ebola patient in NYC
CNN producer Vaughn Sterling tweeted the following:
Vaughn Sterling ✔ @vplus Follow
BREAKING: Possible NYC #Ebola didn't self-quarantine; took an über to Williamsburg bowling alley yesterday; now has fever/pain/nausea
This post has been updated throughout.
Ebola and NYC Subway and Bowling Balls
It is extremely unlikely to spread through public transit, for several reasons.
Not all viruses build up to infectious doses in all bodily fluids. For example, measles is coughed out because it first invades cells at the back of the throat, while H.I.V. is not. Norovirus is not a respiratory virus, but such small doses are needed to infect a person that aerosolized vomitus is thought to have sickened many cruise ship passengers. Normally, Ebola does not at first make victims cough or sneeze, although someone who also had the flu could, in theory, spray vomitus or blood. Once Ebola invades the lungs, the body will cough to clear them. But passengers that deathly ill are not likely to be on public transit.
According to the recent W.H.O. statement, high levels of Ebola virus in saliva are rare except in the sickest victims, and whole virus has never been found in sweat. The fluids known to build up high viral loads are blood, feces and vomit.
How much virus is needed to cause illness is not exactly known. Viruses differ that way. In any group that shares needles, hepatitis C will spread more readily than H.I.V. because smaller doses infect.
One tantalizing possibility is that very small doses of Ebola act as a vaccine. Scientists working in Gabon have found that more than 30 percent of the populations of some villages have Ebola antibodies, although they have never been sick or in contact with anyone who was. They may have swallowed some virus by eating infected bats or fruit contaminated with bat saliva. (Alternatively, said W. Ian Lipkin, a virus expert, they may have had an unknown virus that cross-reacted in antibody tests.)
No one has tested Ebola transmission on subways. But no case of transmission to a human from a dry surface has ever been confirmed. The C.D.C. has said there is “no epidemiological evidence” for transmission from hospital surfaces, including bed rails and door knobs – which are as close as a hospital room gets to having a subway pole and a bus handle. A 2007 study cited by C.D.C. experts shows that swabs of 31 surfaces — including bed frames, a spit bowl and a used stethoscope — in a very dangerous environment, an active Ebola ward in Uganda, — did not have virus in a single sample.
So how might Ebola be passed on a subway? If someone ejected bloody mucus or vomitus onto a subway pole, and the next passenger were to touch it while it was still wet and then, for some unimaginable reason, were to put those wet fingers into an eye or mouth instead of wiping them in disgust — then yes, it could happen. Similarly, if an extremely ill passenger with high viral saliva loads were to sneeze large, wet droplets directly into the mouth or eyes of another passenger, the infection might be passed. But the influenza route — sneeze to hand to pole to hand to eye — has never been known to happen and is considered extremely unlikely.
Africa is full of overcrowded public transport — buses, minivans and some trains. There are no known instances of transmission in those environments.
And update tonight:On July 20, a dying Liberian-American flew to Nigeria and was vomiting on the plane. All 200 people aboard were monitored; none fell ill.
Can you get Ebola from a bowling ball?
A. Although the surface of a shared bowling ball is a likely place to find germs — and some people avoid bowling for this very reason — it is extremely unlikely that Ebola could be passed that way.
There is no evidence that it has been passed, as colds or flu sometimes are, by touching surfaces that someone else touched after sneezing into their hand. Ebola is normally passed through contact with blood, vomit or diarrhea.
Ask Well: How Does Ebola Spread? How Long Can the Virus Survive?If someone left blood, vomit or feces on a bowling ball, and the next person to touch it did not even notice, and then put his fingers into his eyes, nose or mouth, it might be possible. But, the Ebola virus does not not normally build up to high levels in saliva or mucus until very late in the disease — several days after the initial fever sets in — and it is unlikely that someone that ill would have just gone bowling. Also, the Ebola virus is fragile and susceptible to drying out. It does not normally survive for more than a few hours on a hard, dry surface.
Q.
Can I get Ebola from public transportation? As in, if a passenger
coughed into their hand and then held onto the pole, and then another
passenger held onto that pole and inadvertently wiped their eye?
A. Updated on Oct. 23. | My original answer was simply no. A more nuanced answer is that it is extremely unlikely to spread through public transit.
Many readers have argued that the original answer was inconsistent with some statements
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health
Organization. In fact, some C.D.C. and W.H.O. statements are
inconsistent with each other and shifting as more questions are raised.
The W.H.O. on Monday issued a new Ebola situation assessment entitled “What We Know About Transmission of the Ebola Virus Among Humans.”
Starting off my answer
with a blanket “No” was wrong. But I would consider it irresponsible to
have responded “Yes.” Implying that Ebola is caught as easily as flu or
colds would be untrue and inflammatory.
It is extremely unlikely for the Ebola virus to spread through public transit for several reasons.
Not all viruses build
up to infectious doses in all bodily fluids. Usually, Ebola does not at
first make victims cough or sneeze, although someone who also had the
flu could, in theory, spray vomitus or blood. Once Ebola invades the
lungs, the body will cough to clear them. But passengers that deathly
ill are not likely to be on public transit.
According to the
recent W.H.O. statement, high levels of Ebola virus in saliva are rare
except in the sickest victims, and whole virus has never been found in
sweat. The fluids known to build up high viral loads are blood, feces
and vomit.
How much virus is
needed to cause illness is not exactly known. Viruses differ that way.
In any group that shares needles, hepatitis C will spread more readily
than H.I.V. because smaller doses infect.
No one has tested
Ebola transmission on subways. But no case of transmission to a human
from a dry surface has ever been confirmed. The C.D.C. has said there is
“no epidemiological evidence” for transmission from hospital surfaces, including bed rails and door knobs – which are as close as a hospital room gets to having a subway pole and a bus handle. A 2007 study
cited by C.D.C. experts shows that swabs of 31 surfaces — including bed
frames, a spit bowl and a used stethoscope — in a very dangerous
environment, an active Ebola ward in Uganda — did not have virus in a
single sample.
So how might Ebola be
passed on a subway? If someone ejected bloody mucus or vomitus onto a
subway pole, and the next passenger were to touch it while it was still
wet and then, for some unimaginable reason, were to put those wet
fingers into an eye or mouth instead of wiping them in disgust — then
yes, it could happen. Similarly, if an extremely ill passenger with high
viral saliva loads were to sneeze large, wet droplets directly into the
mouth or eyes of another passenger, the infection might be passed. But
the influenza route — sneeze to hand to pole to hand to eye — has never
been known to happen and is considered extremely unlikely.
Africa is full of
overcrowded public transport — buses, minivans and some trains. There
are no known instances of transmission in those environments. On July
20, a dying Liberian-American flew to Nigeria and was vomiting on the
plane. All 200 people aboard were monitored; none fell ill.
Dr. Craig Spencer, the
patient with Ebola currently in isolation in Bellevue Hospital, did
ride the subways since arriving in New York on Oct. 14. He rode the A, L
and No. 1 trains, according to Dr. Mary Bassett, the New York City
health commissioner. Dr. Bassett said Dr. Spencer had been taking his
temperature twice a day since he left Guinea. Until Thursday morning,
his temperature was normal and he was not experiencing any of the early
symptoms of Ebola disease, such as nausea or diarrhea. Ebola experts
say the disease cannot be transmitted before the appearance of symptoms.
Q. How long does the Ebola virus live on contaminated surfaces, such as bed sheets, door knobs, etc.?
A. It’s
different in every set of circumstances. The Ebola virus eventually
dries out in the air and dies. It’s not like anthrax, which forms a hard
capsule around itself and can survive for months or a year. Ebola is a
virus that is meant to live inside blood or fluid in your cells. It’s
not meant to live in the open air, so it dies. A sheet that has wet
blood in it is more dangerous than one with dried blood, because by then
it would have dried out. There’s not one answer, but it is considered
to be fairly safe after about 24 hours, certainly in environments that
are cleaned regularly like hospitals.
Q. Can a blood test show if a person has the Ebola virus before they are symptomatic?
A. With
blood tests that we have now, no. In fact, in order to be fairly
certain, you have to have the first symptom, which is a fever, for about
three days before there’s enough virus coursing around in your blood
for the blood test to be accurate.
Q. Many viruses (such as herpes) can be transmitted before a person shows symptoms. Why is that not the case for Ebola?
A. The
basic answer is that all viruses are different. In the case of Ebola,
you have to get a basic all-over body infection with infected blood and
vomit coming out of you before you can pass the disease on to anybody
else.
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