Why are people dooming about Ebola? It has been around for hundreds of thousands of years! Like black plague, leprosy, polio and others!

Well, of course you are.

Back to the, "No, you are!" crap again?

I don't KNOW, fuckface. I'm just speculating.

Yeah, that's really useful...

That's your personal choice. I prefer to keep my eyes open and to be watchful of world events, that may impact my life. If nothing else, this is a large humanitarian crisis, and history in the making...

To be clear, it will be far too late to worry about it when it happens. If you wait until there is an epidemic in North America to do anything, then there will probably not be much that you can do.

I'm curious why you are invested in preventing people from thinking about it.

There is a difference between wasting time on pointless fear, and just being watchful and weary of a possible global threat, and taking some reasonable precautions.

I'm not suggesting anyone should live in fear, or crawl in their bunkers right now. I am suggesting that this might be one to watch closely. If you are inclined, maybe donate to a related cause, and support it being stopped in Africa... Maybe as the time comes closer, review your own disaster plan. A wise and reasonable precaution if it arrives on continent, would be to keep enough food to survive a possible quarantine.

Maybe it's because I have been around here too long.

I have seen over the years people talk and talk and talk for hundreds or even thousands of hours about shit that never even happened. Over and over gain!

My point for this thread was for people to chill out a little and to go outside and "smell the roses".

Yes, stay aware and watch what is happening in the world, but stay detached from the madness as long as possible. Enjoy life as long as possible.

Because I actually believe that time is short! I know, that makes me sound paranoid. But, I not. I refuse to live my life in fear. It serves no purpose.

Peace

True, True. I should add that one of the most dangerous thing for the average person is car accidents. It is by far the leading cause of death for people under the age of 40...

Most people aren't terrified of cars, nor should they be. You should still look both ways before crossing the street however...

Most people never see the thing that kills them coming. I guess that's why it kills them. The one thing we can all count on is, you, and everyone you have ever known will die.

I agree.

I find people around here disgusting to be honest.

wow you are so blind, YOU are the one ranting on the thread. YOU are obviously the one in FEAR, yet you keep ranting that everyone else is. YOU need to DETACH because what you're doing is getting yourself even more worked up.

No one knows how long Ebola has been around. It was 'identified' in the 1970s when the first outbreak in a human population took place - well the first known outbreak.

Unlike the other diseases you have listed, Ebola is still not very treatable. And it is far more devastating and deadly than many others.

The problem with Ebola is that unlike plague, pox, polio, flu, one does not develop immunity to it. It is highly possible (and there are numerous cases to demonstrate probable) that a patient can contract it, recover and contract it again and then not recover.

Another aspect here is that until this outbreak Ebola burnt out rapidly in a population. Meaning it would spread rapidly cross the population, kill them off, and then die out. This new strain is more adaptable and has a longer life span and is not burning out.

If more recent reports are true, its also speeding up in its mutation rate. 300 iterations of DNA have been discovered with the most recent outbreak. Considering that there were about 300 iterations (viable mutations) in the past 40-50 years, it has definitely learned a new trick which makes it far more dangerous to humanity as a whole than it was in previous decades.

It also appears to be partially or wholly airborne. While the technical meaning of airborne means it can survive without an envelope of moisture, the reality is its now more able to survive the short distances in aerosol droplets of moisture. Meaning it can now more readily be based via coughing, sneezing and even breathing.

Those of us who have made a serious study of pandemics and death rates know that it only takes a deadly disease that can wipe out only 10% of the population in a short period of time to trigger a system wide collapse of civilization we know it. At 20% death rate, we cross the point of no return and civilization fails - epically, triggering side disasters such as every nuclear power plant with cooling ponds for waste nuclear fuels to go the way of Fukushima Japan.

Considering the hundreds of nuclear power plants around the world (map: [link to nuclearinfo.net]

With a mortality rate of 60%, it only has to spread to 1/3rd the population to end life as we know it (End Civilization) and usher in a new dark age which most likely with things like radiation, secondary diseases, the small fact that easy to reach oil and minerals are tapped out, means that humanity will never recover again.


The threats, and the potentials here make Ebola one of those potential diseases where a global pandemic will never end until the population crashes below 10%. And the only reason why it burns out then is because there are insufficient human hosts to keep it going.

But it doesn't end there. Ebola is super scary zoonic - meaning it lives and thrives in other species. Thus it will leap into local species and do the jumping back and and forth thing over and over and over again.

Those who know the virus, and understand the implications of a global spread are scared shitless by it... For very good reason.

Z

Great post. The far reaching implications are what concern me, not the immediate short term threat. It's like watching a run away train headed for what you know is a dead end.

Then what are you doing posting here? You're the one advocating going out and smelling the roses and enjoying life. If you find people around here disgusting and unenjoyable, why don't you take you're own advice and leave?