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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Ebola is very unlikely to go airborne
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'We've never seen a human virus change the way it is transmitted'
But why are experts so confident Ebola won't become airborne? It's worth reading this long post by Vincent Racaniello, a virologist at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.
He goes into detail about how viruses mutate, but here's his bottom line: "We have been studying viruses for over 100 years, and we've never seen a human virus change the way it is transmitted":
When it comes to viruses, it is always difficult to predict what they can or cannot do. It is instructive, however, to see what viruses have done in the past, and use that information to guide our thinking. Therefore we can ask: has any human virus ever changed its mode of transmission?
The answer is no. We have been studying viruses for over 100 years, and we've never seen a human virus change the way it is transmitted.
Hepatitis C virus has infected millions of humans since its discovery in the 1980s. It is still transmitted among humans by introduction of the virus into the body by contaminated needles, blood, and during birth.
There is no reason to believe that Ebola virus is any different from any of the viruses that infect humans and have not changed the way that they are spread.
I am fully aware that we can never rule out what a virus might or might not do. But the likelihood that Ebola virus will go airborne is so remote that we should not use it to frighten people. We need to focus on stopping the epidemic, which in itself is a huge job.
This jibes with what Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Senate in mid-September: "Very, very rarely does [a virus] completely change the way it's transmitted."
Fauci noted that viruses do mutate a lot, in ways that might make the disease more virulent or a little bit more efficient at spreading. That's why researchers are currently trying to monitor the mutations. But with all the dire things to worry about with Ebola, he said, the prospect of the disease going airborne is not "something I would put at the very top of the radar screen."
Further reading: For more on the science of Ebola transmission, check out this previous post by Susannah Locke. She notes that, yes, some pigs infected with Ebola may be able to transmit the disease by coughing and sneezing large droplets. But there's a huge caveat here: Ebola affects pigs in a completely different manner than it does humans (in pigs, Ebola shows up as an infection of the lungs; in humans, it mainly targets the liver).
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http://www.vox.com/2014/9/19/6543157/ebola-is-unlikely-to-go-airborne
There's always a first time. That said, all this scaremongering worries me more than the virus. People who should know better are spouting 'facts' like they are Republicans.
The worst thing that can happen is all out panic. Then we will really be up s*** creek. I don't believe we know the entire story but who does.
The best plan is to take precautions against infection and get checked if you have symptoms. This is true not just because of ebola. That enterovirus that's making kids sick and paralyzing some needs to be kept in mind. It could become more widespread in older populations.
zappaman
(20,606 posts)The media, both mainstream and social, is going crazy over this.
rocktivity
(44,576 posts)uppityperson
(115,677 posts)As well as the studies they reference have been proven to be faulty and have not been able to be duplicated (meaning their conclusions are not accurate).
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Barack_America
(28,876 posts)Just kidding, excellent post
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)getting flu vaccine?
Thank you for posting this. There is reason to be aware, cautious, take care of yourself. But the fearmongering panic is not helpful.
mikehiggins
(5,614 posts)were it possible to mutate ebola deliberately, this would be a perfect "Stephen King" type terror weapon.
Who's to say it cannot be done?
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Long time ago.
Who's to say it has not already been weaponized.?
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)Viruses have never changed their mode of transmission.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)it will be a mutation where infection can be spread while the infected person is asymptomatic.
That would be bad.
I don't think it's physically possible for Ebola to mutate in such a way as it becomes airborne.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)because that sort of fear mongering is a vile thing that leads to undue suffering and often to panic and injustice. It is that sort of bullshit belief that got Ryan White harassed out of school for example. That sort of panic caused Americans to openly discuss putting gay people in camps. Huckabee for one suggested it as late as 92.
Fear is no one's friend and it should be nobody's plaything.
Knowledge = Life
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)*As long as we're slinging....
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)such as when SNEEZE DROPLETS FLY, OR SPIT FLIES, OR SWEAT DRIPS---THROUGH THE MEDIUM COMMONLY CALLED "AIR."
So when we are told that one catches Ebola via sneeze or sweat or saliva, we look at the medical pooh-poohing of "airborne" and think, "Are you nuts, or just plain lying?"
HOWEVER, to the MEDICAL person who wishes to obscure truth for the "greater good" of allaying fears, "airborne" means literally "the air transmits" the disease, bad air, mal aria, as it was once thought and named. This, of course, has no relation to Ebola's currently-known transmission, and so the medical position is exquisitely factual.
But as pilots and pigeons know, air is a fluid. And Ebola IS fluid-borne.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/flight/physics.html
To drive my point further home:
From 2 years ago, when there was no reason to fudge the facts.....
CDC, you got some 'splainin' to do:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-20341423
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)sharks contracted ebola and where then sucked into tornadoes. These tornadoes begin spreading throughout the country creating some of of..... mmm.... I don't think there's a term fro it yet. But there is a documentary about this that aired not too long ago. What then smart guys??!!
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)with "very unlikelys" that occurred.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)Anything is still possible in science. "Very unlikely" is just that. Science can never say "can't ever".