OMG Ebola like disease is lose in Germany
Fälschung Schwindlerin Stimme des Volkes Deutschland:
“Workers were accidentally exposed to tissues of infected grivets (Chlorocebus aethiops) at the city's main industrial plant, the Behringwerke, part of CSL Behring. Medical authorities stated they were gravely concerned 21 laboratory workers became ill and 7 died. The medical community was shocked to see how rapidly became ill and some basically disintegrated, dissolved into infectious goo.”
- - - - - - - - -
OK the above paragraph is almost true…
Now please take a deep, cleansing breath and relax.
This really happened back in 1967.
And the world didn’t end.
I posted most of this before, but I ran this past a couple of epidemiologists I recently met and I have made minor corrections based on their comments.
The husband was in Africa several years ago during a minor Ebola outbreak. He had personal experience with Ebola. He “treated” patients who died. He related the experience and it was a Twilight Zone moment. His only criticism was I have failed to capture the raw panic that griped the medical community. They had never seen anything that turned bodies in to infectious goo.
He showed me some photographs of people who died from Ebola. And the simple description, “they dissolved into puddles of goo” does not capture the reality. I saw a sequence of photographs of a woman who had cleaned her dead brothers body for burial. It was a given she would contract Ebola. She had numerous small cuts in both hands and the brother was an index (patient zero) case for that outbreak. The photos showed her healthy for 5 days, and then she rapidly declined. On day 6 her vibrant facial expression vanished, her face turned into a blank mask and as the day progressed she developed a small rash. The next day (7) she had a whole body rash. On day 7 she became bedridden and had blood leaking from her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, rectum, vagina, nipples. She got worse with every passing hour. The rash had turned to lesions. The lesions started leaking blood. She crashed on day 7, hour ~14. By that time her body had basically disintegrated. He offered to let me see a HD video they made, but I really wish I hadn’t seen those photos. I passed on the video. As it is I need some mind floss to scrub those images.
Believe me if (when) Ebola starts knocking people down on the streets, the government will not be able to keep it quite. People are too connected, and people talk. The EMS people who handle the first cases will be beyond freaked out. They will tell friends and family and they in turn will tell others. They may be able to hush the first one or two cases up, but work will leak.
- - - - - -
Marburg virus entered the world’s consciousness in 1967 when it appeared in a research facility in the West German town of Marburg. Viruses are commonly named after the place where they are first identified. While ‘native’ peoples in Africa had most certainly been getting ill and dieing for a very long time, people in the ones and twos dieing of odd diseases in Africa were of interest only to their family and friends.
This isn’t to minimize the loss of any life, but in an area where several forms of Malaria killed hundreds of thousands, the few deaths were simply “lost in the noise”.
The lab in Marburg used monkey kidneys to grow vaccines. The monkeys where imported from Africa and brought the Marburg virus with them. Human animal care technicians contracted Marburg from the monkeys. A total of 23 people became ill and 7 died, for a lethality rate of about 23%. Over the intervening years Marburg has popped up in around the world, but only in the “wild” in Africa. There were two accidents in the USSR (biowarfare?) research labs that infected people in ones person in each accident. One person died and one person recovered.
In Africa in the 1998~2000 time frame at least 154 people became infected and 128 died for a lethality rate of about 83%. In 2004~2005 252 people were infected with Marburg in Angola, 227 died. (~90%)
Marbarg appears to kill between 23% and 90% and this is on a par with Ebola.
From the limited information available from the initial outbreak in West Germany it is apparent it took the medical community a while to realize something bad was happening.
Somehow I would have thought people getting sick, bleeding out every opening in the body, and turning to goo, would have been a clue something really bad was happenng ….but I was an engineer, so what do I know?
But in spite of the initial confusion, only two people who didn’t work at the lab became ill.
A worker recovered from Marburg and engaged in sexual relations with his wife. His seminal fluid was loaded with Marburg virus and the wife became ill.
A morgue attendant who became infected handling infected corpses.
The important ‘take away’ is that even when confronted with a brand new illness that scared the crap out of the medical community, the disease did not run “rampant” in the larger community. It was contained in the lab with only two breaches, the wife and the morgue worker. It did not become an epidemic. Other then the wife and morgue worker, no one outside the lab became ill. West Germany and central Europe were not depopulated. Marburg was contained, even though the medical community had no idea what they were dealing with.
Standard medical procedures, quarantine, and barriers, stopped Marburg from spreading.
Marburg is a filoviruse related to Ebola. Based on differences between Ebola and Marburg, geneticists believe the two separated a few thousand years ago. Marburg functions the same way Ebola. It basically converts the body’s living cells into blocks of crystalline masses of virus. This is a nasty way to die.
Considering that Marburg was “sprung” on the western world by surprise, and the medical community didn’t have a clue what they were dealing with. And in spite of not knowing exactly what was happening, they were able to stop Marburg dead in its tracks.
Please note the “they were able to stop Marburg dead in its tracks.”
Marburg and Ebola are close enough to almost be the same species. The geneticists say Marburg and Ebola separated a few thousand years ago. There are two species of Marburg, Ebola Virus is nearly identical to marburgvirions in structure, ebolavirions are antigenically distinct. This means they produce different antigens in survivors.
From a practical perspective they can be considered the same disease.
Very few of us have any idea how poor Africa is. How poor the health care “system” is.
The distrust the locals have for white folks and medical white folks has to be experienced to be understood. The epidemiologist told me how they had to have bodyguards every time they left the hospital. How difficult it was to convince people to turn the bodies of loved ones over for properly burial.
Somehow I think that the medical community here in the USA is at least as competent as the physicians in West Germany were back in 1967. Based on the numerous outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg, I suspect we have enough knowledge to contain it.
But please don’t let any facts get in the way of your panic.
I am a lot more worried about the short and long-term effects of the California Drought on domestic food price and availability then Ebola stalking the countryside.
- - - - - -
About ‘my’ epidemiologists…they have a consultancy that specializes in racehorses.
Very few equine diseases pass to humans. Racehorses in Kentucky are big business and may cost millions. Like up to 25 million. Stud fees run from $50K to $300K. It is a >big business<, >high finance<. The husband wouldn’t let his then pregnant wife join him in Africa. Partially because Africa is no place for a white woman. And partially because Ebola has a particular affinity for fetuses. He told me he was offered a permanent position that would have been very prestigious. But that he decided to go for the easy gold. Dealing with racehorses pays well and is very safe.
The history of Epidemiology is kind of fascinating. It started when a French (French, why did it have to be French!) physician noticed there was no difference between patients who saw a doctor and those who didn’t. I wonder how that study would work today.....
Terry
Fälschung Schwindlerin Stimme des Volkes Deutschland:
“Workers were accidentally exposed to tissues of infected grivets (Chlorocebus aethiops) at the city's main industrial plant, the Behringwerke, part of CSL Behring. Medical authorities stated they were gravely concerned 21 laboratory workers became ill and 7 died. The medical community was shocked to see how rapidly became ill and some basically disintegrated, dissolved into infectious goo.”
- - - - - - - - -
OK the above paragraph is almost true…
Now please take a deep, cleansing breath and relax.
This really happened back in 1967.
And the world didn’t end.
I posted most of this before, but I ran this past a couple of epidemiologists I recently met and I have made minor corrections based on their comments.
The husband was in Africa several years ago during a minor Ebola outbreak. He had personal experience with Ebola. He “treated” patients who died. He related the experience and it was a Twilight Zone moment. His only criticism was I have failed to capture the raw panic that griped the medical community. They had never seen anything that turned bodies in to infectious goo.
He showed me some photographs of people who died from Ebola. And the simple description, “they dissolved into puddles of goo” does not capture the reality. I saw a sequence of photographs of a woman who had cleaned her dead brothers body for burial. It was a given she would contract Ebola. She had numerous small cuts in both hands and the brother was an index (patient zero) case for that outbreak. The photos showed her healthy for 5 days, and then she rapidly declined. On day 6 her vibrant facial expression vanished, her face turned into a blank mask and as the day progressed she developed a small rash. The next day (7) she had a whole body rash. On day 7 she became bedridden and had blood leaking from her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, rectum, vagina, nipples. She got worse with every passing hour. The rash had turned to lesions. The lesions started leaking blood. She crashed on day 7, hour ~14. By that time her body had basically disintegrated. He offered to let me see a HD video they made, but I really wish I hadn’t seen those photos. I passed on the video. As it is I need some mind floss to scrub those images.
Believe me if (when) Ebola starts knocking people down on the streets, the government will not be able to keep it quite. People are too connected, and people talk. The EMS people who handle the first cases will be beyond freaked out. They will tell friends and family and they in turn will tell others. They may be able to hush the first one or two cases up, but work will leak.
- - - - - -
Marburg virus entered the world’s consciousness in 1967 when it appeared in a research facility in the West German town of Marburg. Viruses are commonly named after the place where they are first identified. While ‘native’ peoples in Africa had most certainly been getting ill and dieing for a very long time, people in the ones and twos dieing of odd diseases in Africa were of interest only to their family and friends.
This isn’t to minimize the loss of any life, but in an area where several forms of Malaria killed hundreds of thousands, the few deaths were simply “lost in the noise”.
The lab in Marburg used monkey kidneys to grow vaccines. The monkeys where imported from Africa and brought the Marburg virus with them. Human animal care technicians contracted Marburg from the monkeys. A total of 23 people became ill and 7 died, for a lethality rate of about 23%. Over the intervening years Marburg has popped up in around the world, but only in the “wild” in Africa. There were two accidents in the USSR (biowarfare?) research labs that infected people in ones person in each accident. One person died and one person recovered.
In Africa in the 1998~2000 time frame at least 154 people became infected and 128 died for a lethality rate of about 83%. In 2004~2005 252 people were infected with Marburg in Angola, 227 died. (~90%)
Marbarg appears to kill between 23% and 90% and this is on a par with Ebola.
From the limited information available from the initial outbreak in West Germany it is apparent it took the medical community a while to realize something bad was happening.
Somehow I would have thought people getting sick, bleeding out every opening in the body, and turning to goo, would have been a clue something really bad was happenng ….but I was an engineer, so what do I know?
But in spite of the initial confusion, only two people who didn’t work at the lab became ill.
A worker recovered from Marburg and engaged in sexual relations with his wife. His seminal fluid was loaded with Marburg virus and the wife became ill.
A morgue attendant who became infected handling infected corpses.
The important ‘take away’ is that even when confronted with a brand new illness that scared the crap out of the medical community, the disease did not run “rampant” in the larger community. It was contained in the lab with only two breaches, the wife and the morgue worker. It did not become an epidemic. Other then the wife and morgue worker, no one outside the lab became ill. West Germany and central Europe were not depopulated. Marburg was contained, even though the medical community had no idea what they were dealing with.
Standard medical procedures, quarantine, and barriers, stopped Marburg from spreading.
Marburg is a filoviruse related to Ebola. Based on differences between Ebola and Marburg, geneticists believe the two separated a few thousand years ago. Marburg functions the same way Ebola. It basically converts the body’s living cells into blocks of crystalline masses of virus. This is a nasty way to die.
Considering that Marburg was “sprung” on the western world by surprise, and the medical community didn’t have a clue what they were dealing with. And in spite of not knowing exactly what was happening, they were able to stop Marburg dead in its tracks.
Please note the “they were able to stop Marburg dead in its tracks.”
Marburg and Ebola are close enough to almost be the same species. The geneticists say Marburg and Ebola separated a few thousand years ago. There are two species of Marburg, Ebola Virus is nearly identical to marburgvirions in structure, ebolavirions are antigenically distinct. This means they produce different antigens in survivors.
From a practical perspective they can be considered the same disease.
Very few of us have any idea how poor Africa is. How poor the health care “system” is.
The distrust the locals have for white folks and medical white folks has to be experienced to be understood. The epidemiologist told me how they had to have bodyguards every time they left the hospital. How difficult it was to convince people to turn the bodies of loved ones over for properly burial.
Somehow I think that the medical community here in the USA is at least as competent as the physicians in West Germany were back in 1967. Based on the numerous outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg, I suspect we have enough knowledge to contain it.
But please don’t let any facts get in the way of your panic.
I am a lot more worried about the short and long-term effects of the California Drought on domestic food price and availability then Ebola stalking the countryside.
- - - - - -
About ‘my’ epidemiologists…they have a consultancy that specializes in racehorses.
Very few equine diseases pass to humans. Racehorses in Kentucky are big business and may cost millions. Like up to 25 million. Stud fees run from $50K to $300K. It is a >big business<, >high finance<. The husband wouldn’t let his then pregnant wife join him in Africa. Partially because Africa is no place for a white woman. And partially because Ebola has a particular affinity for fetuses. He told me he was offered a permanent position that would have been very prestigious. But that he decided to go for the easy gold. Dealing with racehorses pays well and is very safe.
The history of Epidemiology is kind of fascinating. It started when a French (French, why did it have to be French!) physician noticed there was no difference between patients who saw a doctor and those who didn’t. I wonder how that study would work today.....
Terry
