The CDC lies: Ebola is likely becoming aerosolized

Sneeze AerosolizedAn admission up front:

I am still of the opinion there is much about Ebola that isn’t being transmitted to the public, with the thought of “panic” in mind. The problem with that philosophy is that it tends to lend itself to governmental and agency UNDERreaction and, conversely, it lends itself to the public filling in the vacuum with their own theories.

Frankly, I can tell you that I have masks and gloves for my own family, as well as two MSA  closed respirators with appropriate filters. It is my duty as head of my family to be so prepared.

I also believe that Ebola is mutating because of the larger number of human targets found.

I do not trust that Ebola has not mutated and cannot be passed in some airborne fashion.

That is because the US government, the CDC and involved hospitals have already lied to the American public. It’s in their DNA, it’s in their job descriptions as bureaucracies: they can’t NOT lie.

The Washington Post already refers to Mr Obola’s “Blizzard of Lies.”  In my opinion, I cannot hear Mr Obola’s voice any more and not find it akin to nails on a chalkboard or the increased and jagged volume of Fran Drescher’s voice.  Quote:

“Think about that: 81 percent of Americans believe that Obama lies to them at least ‘now and then’ on ‘important matters.’ “

When it comes to my family and my friends and those who read me, it is not my job to trust any government given their histories, with my life and their lives.  It’s not a matter of “I may possibly become inconvenienced” — it’s now a matter of “I may and they may die.”

That said, a new article appears on the topic today, from ZeroHedge.com:

CIDRAP: “We Believe There Is Scientific Evidence Ebola Has The Potential To Be Airborne”

by Tyler Durden

When CDC Director Tim Frieden first announced, just a week ago and very erroneously, that he was “confident we will stop Ebola in its tracks here in the United States“, he hardly anticipated facing the double humiliation of not only having the first person-to-person transmission of Ebola on US soil taking place within a week, but that said transmission would impact a supposedly protected healthcare worker. He certainly did not anticipate the violent public reaction that would result when, instead of taking blame for another epic CDC blunder, one which made many wonder if last night’s Walking Dead season premier was in fact non-fiction, he blamed health workers for “not following protocol.”

And yet, while once again casting scapegoating and blame, the CDC sternly refuses to acknowledge something others, and not just tinfoil blog sites, are increasingly contemplating as a distinct possibility: namely that Ebola is, contrary to CDC “protocol”, in fact airborne. Or as, an article posted by CIDRAP defines it, “aerosolized.”

Who is CIDRAP?  “The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP; “SID-wrap”) is a global leader in addressing public health preparedness and emerging infectious disease response. Founded in 2001, CIDRAP is part of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota.”

The full punchline from the CIDRAP report:

We believe there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles both near and at a distance from infected patients, which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks.

In other words, airborne. And now the search for the next LAKE, i.e., a public company maker of powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR), begins.

Allow me to access the Department of Redundancy Department for the cruxist quote: “which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks.”

Please read the article in its entirety.

Further, from the LATimes.com:

Some Ebola experts worry virus may spread more easily than assumed

by David Willman

Yet some scientists who have long studied Ebola say such assurances are premature — and they are concerned about what is not known about the strain now on the loose. It is an Ebola outbreak like none seen before, jumping from the bush to urban areas, giving the virus more opportunities to evolve as it passes through multiple human hosts.

Dr. C.J. Peters, who battled a 1989 outbreak of the virus among research monkeys housed in Virginia and who later led the CDC’s most far-reaching study of Ebola’s transmissibility in humans, said he would not rule out the possibility that it spreads through the air in tight quarters.

“We just don’t have the data to exclude it,” said Peters, who continues to research viral diseases at the University of Texas in Galveston.

Yes.  To exclude data indicating Ebola is not airborne.

“I see the reasons to dampen down public fears,” (virologist Dr Phillip K) Russell said. “But scientifically, we’re in the middle of the first experiment of multiple, serial passages of Ebola virus in man…. God knows what this virus is going to look like. I don’t.”

Note in the story:

Peters, Russell and Bailey, who in 1989 was deputy commander for research of the Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, in Frederick, Md., said the primates in Reston had appeared to spread Ebola to other monkeys through their breath.

“Those monkeys were dying in a pattern that was certainly suggestive of coughing and sneezing — some sort of aerosol movement,” Bailey said. “They were dying and spreading it so quickly from cage to cage. We finally came to the conclusion that the best action was to euthanize them all.”

Today:

BZ HH Ebola TweetMr Obola cannot acknowledge the Ebola problem.  It would be bad for him.  As Hugh Hewitt Tweeted, “It is increasingly apparent that we don’t have wider screening or an outright travel ban because it will embarrass POTUS before an election.”

I certainly could not have said it better myself.

If you wish to trust the Obola government, go ahead.  Blessings be upon you.  Salaam alaikum.

Me?

I’m a non-trusting sonofabitch.

Look, people, let me be blunt.  I read Preston’s The Hot Zone back in 1994 when it was first published.  The book documented the origins of both Ebola and Marburg viruses, and Preston.  I’m not stupid.  I recognized the hazards back then and, of course, now.  I am nothing if not well-read.

This isn’t some 1918 influenza virus — which between 1918 and 1920 ended up killing 3% to 5% of the then-world’s population, or between 50 and 100 million persons.

It had a 10% to 20% mortality rate.

Ebola has, at minimum, a 90% mortality rate and, as yet, there is no cure. Period.

In 1918, the world didn’t have to deal with transit between continents in five hours via air flights.

It’s Ebola, people.  It is a Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) pathogen, the highest possible rating for a virus.

Having read The Hot Zone, that’s all I needed to know.

I repeat at risk of being repetitive: I’m not stupid.

BZ

 

Dallas Ebola patient dead

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas TXFrom the Associated Press:

1st Ebola patient diagnosed in the US has died

by Nomaan Merchant

DALLAS (AP) — The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States died in a Dallas hospital Wednesday, a little more than a week after his diagnosis exposed gaps in the nation’s defenses against the disease and set off a scramble to track down anyone exposed to him.

Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, was pronounced dead at 7:51 a.m. at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where he was admitted Sept. 28 and had been kept in isolation, according to spokesman Wendell Watson.

Equally important:

The hospital has changed its explanation several times about when Duncan arrived and what he said about his travel history. It has acknowledged that Duncan told them on his first visit that he came from West Africa.

Let me make this quite clear: I do not trust the hospitals involved, I do not trust the CDC, and I do not trust this federal government.  All of these entities have provided abundant reasons for mistrust.

And I do not trust that Ebola has not mutated and cannot be passed in some airborne fashion.

From the LATimes.com:

Some Ebola experts worry virus may spread more easily than assumed

by David Willman

Yet some scientists who have long studied Ebola say such assurances are premature — and they are concerned about what is not known about the strain now on the loose. It is an Ebola outbreak like none seen before, jumping from the bush to urban areas, giving the virus more opportunities to evolve as it passes through multiple human hosts.

Dr. C.J. Peters, who battled a 1989 outbreak of the virus among research monkeys housed in Virginia and who later led the CDC’s most far-reaching study of Ebola’s transmissibility in humans, said he would not rule out the possibility that it spreads through the air in tight quarters.

“We just don’t have the data to exclude it,” said Peters, who continues to research viral diseases at the University of Texas in Galveston.

Yes.  To exclude data indicating Ebola is not airborne.

“I see the reasons to dampen down public fears,” (virologist Dr Phillip K) Russell said. “But scientifically, we’re in the middle of the first experiment of multiple, serial passages of Ebola virus in man…. God knows what this virus is going to look like. I don’t.”

Note in the story:

Peters, Russell and Bailey, who in 1989 was deputy commander for research of the Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, in Frederick, Md., said the primates in Reston had appeared to spread Ebola to other monkeys through their breath.

“Those monkeys were dying in a pattern that was certainly suggestive of coughing and sneezing — some sort of aerosol movement,” Bailey said. “They were dying and spreading it so quickly from cage to cage. We finally came to the conclusion that the best action was to euthanize them all.”

As Abigail wrote in the comments section, isn’t it odd how there seems to be a curious lack of urgency in US response and preparation?  I submit that a large component of that is this: victims are black Africans and we mustn’t “stigmatize” or “draw conclusions” about them.  In other words, fear of race is involved.

BZ

 

Again: HOW did the Spanish nurse contract Ebola?

Check here.  She says she followed all normal protocols, masks, gloves, gowning, etc.  She does not know how she contracted Ebola.  It’s a mystery.

Dare I mention the word: airborne?

BZ

 

How did the Spanish nurse contract Ebola?

Obama EbolaFrom ABCNews.com:

New Concern Worldwide as Nurse in Spain Gets Ebola

By CONNIE CASS and LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press

Raising fresh concern around the world, a nurse in Spain on Monday became the first person known to catch Ebola outside the outbreak zone in West Africa. In the U.S., President Barack Obama said the government was considering ordering more careful screening of airline passengers arriving from the region.

In Spain, the stricken nurse had been part of a team that treated two missionaries flown home to Spain after becoming infected with Ebola in West Africa. The nurse’s only symptom was a fever, but the infection was confirmed by two tests, Spanish health officials said. She was being treated in isolation, while authorities drew up a list of people she had had contact with.

I have just two questions: 1) if officials are unsure how the nurse, a trained and experienced medical professional, managed to contract Ebola — what does that say about the cadre of roughly 3,000 American troops that Mr Obama plans to place in harm’s way in West Africa, when they are not so trained?

I’d care to have someone answer that question.  To me, it would appear those are nothing more than potential victims.  It is an extremely ill-advised move.

Question 2: if Ebola can only be contracted through bodily fluids, then any given individual should be able to safely stand in a room with an Ebola patient, in street clothes.  If that is true, then why is everyone coming in contact with Ebola victims gowned and gloved and masked to the Nth degree?

Correct.  No one trusts Ebola.

And no one should.

BZ

 

Another HOT ZONE entry: now creeps deadly Marburg into Uganda, mid-eastern Africa

Africa, UgandaRichard Preston wrote THE HOT ZONE back in 1994.

In it, he mentions the then-little-known viruses known as Ebola and Marburg.  Ebola got all the press; Marburg didn’t.

Marburg is now back “in the news,” in a way you didn’t wish.  From YahooNews:

Man dies from Ebola-like Marburg virus in Uganda

Kampala (AFP) – A hospital technician has died of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in Kampala, the Ugandan government announced on Sunday

The man, aged 30, died in the Mengo hospital where he worked in the capital of the east African country on September 28, 11 days after falling ill, the authorities said. 

Tests confirmed the presence of the disease two days later. 

The Marburg virus is one of the most deadly known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. 

The victim’s brother and one other person he was in contact with have so far “developed signs” of the disease, the ministry of health said in a statement. 

But here is the paragraph of note:

“So far, a total of 80 people who got into contact with the initial confirmed case have been identified and isolated” for the 21-day incubation period, it added. 

R2 indeed?  Now, R=80?

“These include 38 health workers from Mengo hospital and 22 health workers from Mpigi Health Center IV.”

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids and fatality rates range from 25 percent to 80 percent.

From apparently only one Index Case?

Ebola vs Marburg?

The Mayo Clinic delineates the symptoms of both Marburg and Ebola here.

Ebola and Marburg disease manual here.

Marburg virus described here.

As if we needed any more complications.

Heads up.

I don’t write this for my own comfort.

Clearly.

BZ