Why Countries Should Now Enforce Strict Quarantine Laws, Before This Deadly Disease Is Rampant Across The Globe.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2805488/Doctor-treated-Ebola-patients-Africa-rushed-New-York-hospital-103F-fever-nausea.html

[jno]

as I recall, there was an outbreak of foot and mouth about 10 years ago that turned out to have been blown here on the wind, coming north with one of those Sahara sandstorms that make their way here periodically. I'm not sure quarantines are as simple as they sound.

[Tilly2]

Not as rampant as TB or malaria, though. Not yet.

[Zacs-Master]

The hospital where my wife works is now having drills and the first question they ask if you call 111 is 'Have you recently returned from East Africa'.

[anotheoldgit]

Tilly2

/// Not as rampant as TB or malaria, though. Not yet. ///

That is true, but there is a cure for TB and Malaria, and regarding those last two words "NOT YET" that is the whole point.

[anotheoldgit]

jno

/// as I recall, there was an outbreak of foot and mouth about 10 years ago that turned out to have been blown here on the wind, coming north with one of those Sahara sandstorms that make their way here periodically. I'm not sure quarantines are as simple as they sound. ///

Ebola cannot be carried by the wind, and if one is quarantined until after the incubatory period surely that has got to be safe?

[Sqad]

AOG.....I am not sure what you mean

if you mean quarantine to all patients and their contacts, then that is happening already, both in West Africa and in the countries where it is diagnosed....i.e USA and Spain.

I fear that I have missed your point.

[Baldric]

//Dr Spencer, who had been self-monitoring his symptoms, went to a bowling alley in Brooklyn by subway and taxi//

He must have had an idea it could be Ebola, is he not guilty of wilfully endangering public health or something similar?

[Tilly2]

There may be cures for TB and malaria, AOG but both those diseases kill thousands of people every year.

[Svejk]

Heard a NY spokesman this morning saying they didn't want people panicking and not getting the subway to work,,,,,,,,,just because he travelled on the A? line. Lol, bet the A line was empty this morning.

[anotheoldgit]

Tilly2

/// There may be cures for TB and malaria, AOG but both those diseases kill thousands of people every year. ///

As does many other things.

[anotheoldgit]

Sqad

/// AOG.....I am not sure what you mean ///

/// if you mean quarantine to all patients and their contacts, then that is happening already, both in West Africa and in the countries where it is diagnosed....i.e USA and Spain. ///

No that is not what I mean.

// I fear that I have missed your point. ///

What I do mean is to quarantine all persons (such as the doctor in question) who have come into contact with victims of the disease and who are planning to come over to other countries, .

[Sqad]

AOG...Ah! sorry.

You mean sealing off the West African Countries involved from the rest of the world.

It may well come to that AOG.

[woofgang]

apparently the foot and mouth outbreak started with contaminated swill probably from illegally imported meat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_United_Kingdom_foot-and-mouth_outbreak

[anotheoldgit]

Sqad

/// You mean sealing off the West African Countries involved from the rest of the world. ///

No not the West African Countries per-Se, that would be isolating them from any aid, just those individuals that have gone out there and then decided to return home.

[jno]

Defra thought that was the likeliest cause, woofgang

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/fmd/documents/fmdorigins1.pdf

They considered, and didn't rule out, an African origin and airborne transmission, however.

[Peter Pedant]

ZM // The hospital where my wife works is now having drills and the first question they ask if you call 111 is 'Have you recently returned from East Africa'.//

hahaha good one ZM - which hospital is that ?

I only did a years' geog ( much more Latin and Greek )
BUT I'm pretty sure that Liberia Sierra Leon and Guinea ( Mali and Senegal ) are all in er West Africa.

but you are quite within your rights to ask: what on earth are you on about again ?

[Sqad]

AOG

\\\\just those individuals that have gone out there and then decided to return home.\\\

Quarantine them for 21 days before they left for their home countries?
Yes, a good idea, but i guess, just guess, that that is the routine procedure.

[Peter Pedant]

Sqad must have crossed someone's mind.

Quarantine in Liberia - er I can see obvious drawbacks to that

so it would have to be quarantine in this country
and it all depends on how many you are looking at

as for banning travel - I imagine they would all walk to Mali and fly from there....


as for people responses I suppose Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year may be worth a re-read

[Sqad]

PP

\\\\Sqad must have crossed someone's mind. \\\\\

You would have thought so, but if it did, it went in one ear and out of the other.

perhaps more common sense is needed and less science and I think that is AOG's point. if the American doctor had been quarantined for 21 days on his return to the USA, this "panic" would have been avoided.
My point about treating this disease as a STD was ignored as fanciful some weeks ago, but maybe, just maybe, the infected Dr had intercourse with his fiancee on return......not an unusual welcoming home.....then she will likely develop Ebola..........time will tell.

I also mentioned that to contain the virus, we would need a bit of luck and i am just wondering if we are starting to run out of this commodity.

[joggerjayne]

"quarantine"

When the plague was spreading across Europe, Venice thought they would be okay, because they were separate from the mainland.

But the plague did reach Venice.

When they realised that the plague had been carried by rats on merchant ships, the Venetians imposed an order that all ships coming to Venice must anchor offshore for 40 days before being allowed into Venice. After 40 days, if the crew were still healthy, the ship was allowed into Venice.

The significance of 40 days is that the Italian word for 40 is QUARANTA.

Hence, the procedure became known as "quarantine".