The few reports I've taken time to read so far seem to be in the "don't worry, the experts will handle it" vein. When do we get to "better educate yourself" and "what to do if someone in your office gets sick who might have been exposed" ?
Everybody should have an extra jug of laundry bleach and latex gloves on hand. One fact I gleaned from an official source: Anything that might have been touched by a potential ebola victim should get wiped down with bleach diluted 1:10 if it can stand it, or 1:100 if necessary to make it milder.
Edit: Here's a worrisome report that says hospitals may know what to do but logisically will be swamped in waste that no one can haul away.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102027557
Here's an old (1998) manual that gives you some idea of the precautions that are needed to work with infected patients. Scary stuff.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/abroad/pdf/african-healthcare-setting-vhf.pdf
What exposure time at what distance is needed?
Somehow i always thought you had all the answers.
If I wanted to disinfect, say a relatively non-porous dry surface such as a countertop, I would work about ten to twelve inches above it, at a rate of one foot in about five seconds. The UV light is potent, and will give you weld burn quickly if you don't protect your eyes.
There's more human plague (bubonic form) already here
As long as we're getting geared up for a bio-apocalypse; get your rat traps out with your bio-hazard gear.
Ring around the rosey, pocket full of posey....
The patient was from Liberia where ebola has killed 1800+. I wonder if old school traveler's quarantines will go into effect? Like when a ship had to anchor in a harbor for weeks? In this morning's news they have not identified the patient for I don't know what reasons. I would think they'd have photos of him all over the news in Dallas - "This is Joe. If you know him or if he came to your store you may have a problem".
>I would think they'd have photos of him all over the news in Dallas - "This is Joe. If you know him or if he came to your store you may have a problem".
Option 1: Interview the patient, recreate his steps since he's been back in the country, and contact potentially exposed individuals.
Option 2: Post his picture in the media and induce mass hysteria.
The social fabric of 21st century America is held together with old dry rotted duct tape and rusty bailing wire; I don't think anyone wants to see additional strain added to it.
Don't Panic
We're pretty sure that it won't spread. The Cowboys have proven that the people of Dallas can't catch anything.
Don't Panic
Unless they are playing my Saints.
One measure this taking place now is to screen passengers on planes for fever before boarding a flight. But as the CDC has stated it could take up to 21 days before an infected person starts to show signs of the virus.
There's more human plague (bubonic form) already here
Interesting that the dots all appear to be concentrated in the states that share a physical border with Mexico and slowly dissipate as you move north from those states.
There's more human plague (bubonic form) already here
More interesting is the fact that the largest concentration of cases is centered smack dab over a very large concentration of Indian reservations.
@36.3129662,-109.3766266,9z">Google Maps View
I wonder if there is any connection?
prairie dogs, 'digger..
In the Western US it's the cute little prairie dogs, not rats, that carry the fleas that host the bubonic plague.
....but they're soooo cute....BANG!
awwww...
prairie dogs, 'digger..
> ....but they're soooo cute....BANG!
The western part of my county is high desert. There is a spot where they grow alfalfa and there are billions of what we call "pin squirrels".
The owner of a large ranch welcomed strangers to drive out in any of his fields to shoot the squirrels. They actually got a bit annoyed at me when I approached the foreman to ask permission. He was pretty short with me - "ya go ahead".
Well I risked annoying him further by asking where we could go - "as far as you can see - go anywhere, their everywhere" as he was walking away.
It was pretty fun while it lasted. You had free roam of thousands of acres. You could shoot center fire or rimfire - whatever. You just had to find an open spot where nobody else was shooting.
The ranch recently sold and the new owners are not letting people shoot. I did a surveying job nearby and the road was literally black with squirrels. The first thing I though about was the risk of plague.
I think the owners will change their mind about shooting once they see how much money they lose to the squirrels.
prairie dogs, 'digger..
Oh boy, careful Wayne. I lived on a river back in MI for about 10 yrs with pretty good banks (7 ft or so) and when it wasn't flooded the ground rats, ground dogs, ground hogs or whatever you want to call them liked to live there in the dry season. Cute little critters at first, as they dig their way into my bank, thus causing me grief. Then they decided it was mating season and many baby ground dogs were born, all of which learned to swim upon discovery by the mean old human. Then was time for the .22 to pop Mr & Mrs Ground Dog.
A couple years of that and I guess they didn't like the neigborhood so they moved down stream, which is where they all went regardless of whether they could swim or not. Like a bunch of lemmings, and prairie doggys too. Most of them are like the fair when you play Whack A Mole. They stick their head up and you try to whack them. It seems most of them wind up flattened by some Bridgestone mega tread tires on Backwater HWY, USA.
Won't even go into goose poop.... :-/
prairie dogs, 'digger..
I think in my case the general public felt that lead poisoning was a better alternative to actual poison.
It will get real interesting when our hunting bullet ban comes into affect (only certified non-toxic bullets state wide for all hunting - no lead).
I'm not sure what will happen to the .22 rimfire here.
Don't Panic
> We're pretty sure that it won't spread. The Cowboys have proven that the people of Dallas can't catch anything.-
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that me laugh out loud!
prairie dogs, 'digger..
Skip the goose poop, they just hung out while migrating from hither to yon every year. I did have some ideal goose hangout area and they are fun to watch, right before they depart in a day or so. I always liked them at golf courses too in the middle of the fareway as I leveled my drive. Took years, but finally got one with a 3 iron from about 150 yds and he just squawked and moved on. More fun than giving Alka Seltzer to seagulls and watching them explode. Did have some year long ducks though, pretty cool critters that were just plain cool..
Now my issue is my dysfunctional neighbor lady who insists that "no cat should go hungry".... "... I was raised on a farm and made sure they had food...". I just politely replied that perhaps she should look around and realize that you no longer live on a farm (70 x 100 lot that is mostly house and garage), and cats are pretty adaptable and will not starve in this zip code - so quit feeding them.
Now I have the worlds largest cat box - my back yard. If I shoot one, I go to jail. I know where the bullet should reside, but I'm not into making headlines. "Cat hater shoots 75 yr old cat lover humanitarian in the knee cap". After 2 litters in 1.5 yrs here that have created about 25 or so fully outdoor cats, and no success with the county - I give up so I'm just moving. Advantage to renting I suppose - portability.
No, I'm not TDD or Hub Northing, she is just irresponsible. I know ranchers don't like prairie doggys any more than I liked my river ground doggys creating havoc, but we could get away with it there. Not here.
