rickair7777

(CNN) -- The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has hit "unprecedented" proportions, according to relief workers on the ground.
"The epidemic is out of control," Dr. Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement.
There have been 567 cases and 350 deaths since the epidemic began in March, according to the latest World Health Organization figures.
Ebola virus outbreaks are usually confined to remote areas, making it easier to contain. But this outbreak is different; patients have been identified in 60 locations in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Officials believe the wide footprint of this outbreak is partly because of the close proximity between the jungle where the virus was first identified and cities such as Conakry. The capital in Guinea has a population of 2 million and an international airport.

Inside Guinea's Ebola crisis
People are traveling without realizing they're carrying the deadly virus. It can take between two and 21 days for someone to feel sick after they've been exposed.
Inside an Ebola isolation ward in Guinea
Ebola is a violent killer. The symptoms, at first, mimic the flu: headache, fever, tiredness. What comes next sounds like something out of a horror movie: significant diarrhea and vomiting, while the virus shuts off the blood's ability to clot.
As a result, patients often suffer internal and external hemorrhaging. Many die in an average of 10 days.
"We have reached our limits," Janssens said.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, is the only aid organization treating people affected by the virus. Since March, they have sent more than 300 staff members and 40 tons of equipment and supplies to the region to help fight the epidemic.
Still, they warn, it's not enough.
"Despite the human resources and equipment deployed by MSF in the three affected countries, we are no longer able to send teams to the new outbreak sites."
The good news is that Ebola isn't as easily spread as one may think. A patient isn't contagious -- meaning they can't spread the virus to other people -- until they are already showing symptoms.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta works in WHO's mobile lab next door to MSF's Ebola isolation treatment area in Conakry, Guinea.


Health officials have urged residents to alert MSF or local physicians at the first sign of flu-like symptoms. While there is no cure or vaccine to treat Ebola, MSF has proved it doesn't have to be a death sentence if it's treated early.
Inside isolation treatment areas, doctors focus on keeping the patients hydrated with IV drips and other liquid nutrients. It's working. Ebola typically kills 90% of patients. This outbreak, the death rate has dropped to roughly 60%.
MSF says they'll continue to isolate and treat Ebola patients in West Africa with the resources they have available but urge for a "massive deployment" by regional governments and aid agencies to help stop the epidemic.
World Health Organization officials say they're planning high-level meeting for the Minister of Health in the subregion July 2 and 3 to discuss the deployment of additional resources and experts to the area.
The outbreak will be considered contained after 42 days with no new Ebola cases -- that's twice the incubation period.

satpak77

I would never bet against the trend, which is generally up, for the market and airline stocks, presently.

9GulfTango

While ebola is very scary, it is not the kind of disease that will spread like wildfire through a first-world country.

rickair7777

This is true, there's not going to be any sort of global pandemic. But given the unusually prolific outbreak, you could end up with one or two cases getting on international airplanes and reaching other continents, possibly even infecting someone at the destination. That could be enough to cause either government of customer induced reductions in air travel. Remember SARS?

9GulfTango

I concede that one or two cases could cause a panic once the cable news networks find out.

FDXLAG

The chance of someone you know getting a disease from an illegal alien are exponentially greater than Ebola.

Sum Ting Wong

Wave upon wave of diseased illegals are pouring across our border.
Don't worry. Any minute now, Dear Leader will give a speech about
global warming and transsexual bathrooms for grade schoolers.

satpak77

they are casting a WIDE net via gay marriage legalization, LGBT "recognition", and programs for the unemployed 16-24 year old crowd (in two years, those 16 year olds can vote)

mathematically, the Republican party has no chance for 2016.

Numbers just aren't there (sadly)