Ebola and South Sudan: Kiir's expat expulsion

[veritas]

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Is there a link between Kiir's expat expulsion and a fear wazungus are spreading this disease? What are they spraying?

[Brynn]

Verita

This is not the time to speculate on the genesis/origins of Ebola. Africa is facing its worst existential threat since colonialism and potentially much more devastating due to the risk of severe depopulation. I'm still waiting for WHO statistics updates for last week to analyze if the intensified efforts are somewhat working. The good news is that Nigeria has set a very impressive example of how this virus can be nipped in the bud before it even germinates and other countries should take notes. The situation is beyond dire.

[George Lamming]

I was listening a senate hearing last night. CDC was reporting that Uganda has had more outbreaks that we don't hear about, because they have very well equipped to detect and contain it. She was basically saying that E.A. is ahead, or rather those countries are ill prepared...but she cited Nigeria's outstanding example on how well they contained the situation.

[veritas]

Brynn, you expose the head and it's detractors desist. Killing aid workers is an expedient stunt. Very common political strategy.

George, EA has Ebola centres which have contained the virus for decades.

[Brynn]

Veritas you've been to medical school. Away with that backward mentality. We are looking at a potential Black Plague 2. If the virus mutates and gets transmissible by air it's all over. The Africans left will be us in diaspora. I better conserve my DNA.

[George Lamming]

Madam Brynn,

thinking aloud

I do not think that we need to worry much about the mutation. We are already at an eighth generation mutation and research here in Boston is showing that there is nothing intelligent in subsequent mutation thus far. However, they are watching that remote possibility of this virus mutating to a type that is transmissible by air...but that seems to be as remote as a mutation that kills it's self. The other concern is that this virus is also known to go to sleep/hibernate.

Two quick points....a military lawyer I was talking with last night was suggesting that Ebola is not a crisis it sounds to be...not to downplay the seriousness, and it is good that we are talking about it as a crisis, better to hype it than hid it. But he was suggesting that the real crisis seams to be elsewhere, as in culture etc...so let's look at Ebola for a second, and compare to other virus like HIV.Is it a crisis? Ebola seems to be a crisis because of its very short gestation of 21 days, very physical manifestation such as bleeding from all open body parts...that quick that manifest, will scare anyone. But if we isolate the the 'tyranny of the urgent', is this virus more or less serious than that of other threats like HIV? HIV has a gestation of about 12 yrs before it manifests to AIDS. There are millions who have died with it and did not know they had it. Perhaps passed it on. Not sure we know how far it has mutated. In comparison to Ebola, I think that HIV is far much more serious because it is creepy and uncanny virus slow as compared to this Ebola that is on your face and suddenly. By the time you are discovering an HIV Crisis, your scope is in millions and your space to contain is overwhelmingly wide. But with Ebola, you discover it, on your face, gory, but arms-wide space, we can contain it, with care and risk. My second point, and I am borrowing from what my senator Elizabeth Edwards is asking...what is the relation with burial rites and Ebola? Lets be open. In Jamhuri I know, only the 'Mutiso the Mortician' touches the dead body. Luos and Luhyas look at the body and run cyring, kikuyus pass by view and wipe chicken tiers, and we are say 'hiyo ilikuwa ni siku yake'. Question is...what are west Africans doing in funerals that is aiding the spread of Ebola. All I am hearing is stuff like 'unacceptable' funeral rituals blabla...what is going on

[veritas]

Interesting George...

Brynn, black plague 2? you're joking. If it gets that bad, they'll just isolate Africa.

[Brynn]

GLM

Ambia your military buddy he needs to take probability and statistics 101 hahaha. His analytical skills will cost him in a battlefield against Ebola. That's one serious enemy even top dawg doctors doing all the right things are taking hits. And that is also precisely why it's suspected that there could be an aerial element to the spread. Unfortunately the last time some serious field studies were done, 5 doctors were buried with the results, this thing needs serious military karate ka ka ka.

Veritas Liberia, Guinea and SL are pretty much isolated as we speak. At the port of Monrovia ships are dropping aid supplies in the water without docking.

[veritas]

By my estimate, it's too soon for an epidemic of black plague proportion. I've been having dreams about body bags, diseased bodies washed up on the shores since I was a little kid, at least once a month and sometimes up to 5 times a day. Trust me, it's too soon.

[George Lamming]

Brynn: you know I listen to you and know how informed you are. I am 50 ft on this kind of issues, but on policy making, I get down to zero ground. My view, we are not at an epidemic level, unless one of you Very/Brynn educate me on the dynamics of transmissibility of Ebola. Are the people eating corpses????? Bird flu is more of a scare because Transmissibility is air borne. We need to know why Ebola in West AFrica is sounding an alarm. Is there more to it than we are being told.

By my estimate, it's too soon for an epidemic of black plague proportion. I've been having dreams about body bags, diseased bodies washed up on the shores since I was a little kid, at least once a month and sometimes up to 5 times a day. Trust me, it's too soon.