There is something very, very important that the
corporate media and public health officials are not telling you regarding the
Ebola outbreak in west Africa.
The information I'm about to present here is
frightening. There's really no way around that. However, I request that you do
your very best to maintain a calm state of mind.
Right now in West Africa the worst Ebola outbreak inhistory is in full swing and is jumping borders at an alarming rate. Already it
has spread to four countries, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and now Nigeria.
This latest jump into Nigeria is particularly serious since the infected
individual carried the virus by plane to Lagos Nigeria, a city with a
population of over 21 million. Doctors without borders has referred to the outbreak
as "out of control".
To make matters worse, there is something very, very
important that the corporate media and public health officials are not telling
you regarding this crisis.
You'll notice if you read virtually any mainstream
article on the topic that they make a point of insisting that Ebola is only
transferred by physical contact with bodily fluids. This is not true, at all.
A study conducted in 2012 showed that Ebola was able
to travel between pigs and monkeys that were in separate cages and were never
placed in direct contact.
Though the method of transmission in the study was not
officially determined, one of the scientists involved, Dr. Gary Kobinger, from
the National Microbiology Laboratory at the Public Health Agency of Canada,told BBC News that he believed that the infection was spread through large
droplets that were suspended in the air.
"What we suspect is happening is large droplets;
they can stay in the air, but not long; they don't go far," he explained.
"But they can be absorbed in the airway, and this is how the infection
starts, and this is what we think, because we saw a lot of evidence in the
lungs of the non-human primates that the virus got in that way."
Translation: Ebola IS an airborne virus.
UPDATE: Someone pointed out that in medical terms, if
the virus is transferred through tiny droplets in the air this would
technically not be called an "airborne virus". Airborne, in medical
terms would mean that the virus has the ability to stay alive without a liquid
carrier. On one hand this is a question of semantics, and the point is well
taken, but keep in mind that the study did not officially determine how the
virus traveled through the air, it merely established that it does travel
through the air. Doctor Kobinger's hypothesis regarding droplets of liquid is
just that, a hypothesis. For the average person however what needs to be
understood is very simple: if you are in a room with someone infected with
Ebola, you are not safe, even if you never touch them or their bodily fluids,
and this is not what you are being told by the mainstream media. Essentially I
am using the word "airborne" as a layman term (which kind of makes
sense, since I am a layman in this field).
Now I'm not going to speculate as to whether these so
called "journalist" and public health agencies who keep repeating the
official line regarding the means of transmission are lying, or are just
participating in some massive display of synchronized incompetence, but what I
will say, is that this shoddy reporting is most likely getting people killed
right now, and may in fact put all of humanity in danger.
How so?
By convincing people that the virus cannot travel
through air, important precautions that could reduce the spread of the virus
are not being taken. For example the other passengers on the plane that
traveled to Lagos, Nigeria were not quarantined.
To put this into context, Ebola kills between 50% and
90% of its victims, so the stakes are very, very high here.
NOTE: We have reported on the fact that Ebola can
spread through the air in three separate articles since March of 2014, here,
here and here, however the corporate media has continued to misrepresent the
vectors of transmission.
This particular strain of Ebola is not Ebola Zaire.
This is a new strain, and it may in fact be more dangerous than the Zaire
variety. Not because of any difference in the symptoms (the symptoms are
identical), but because this new virus seems to be harder to contain. Whether
this is due to some characteristic of the virus itself or merely dumb luck is
uncertain at this time, but the rate at which this outbreak has extended its
range is unprecedented.
According to the CDC this virus is genetically 97%similar to the Zaire strain. However if you are interested in this virus'
phylogenetic relationship (genetic lineage) to the Zaire strain you should look
read "Phylogenetic Analysis of Guinea 2014 EBOV Ebolavirus Outbreak"
on plos.org.
Another study by the New England Journal of medicine
(this was the one referenced by the CDC) specifically names the parts of the
genetic code which differ:
The three sequences, each 18,959 nucleotides in
length, were identical with the exception of a few polymorphisms at positions
2124 (G→A, synonymous), 2185 (A→G, NP552 glycine→glutamic acid), 2931 (A→G,
synonymous), 4340 (C→T, synonymous), 6909 (A→T, sGP291 arginine→tryptophan),
and 9923 (T→C, synonymous).
Note that there doesn't yet seem to be a consensus as
to what this new strain is called. One study referred to it as "Guinean
EBOV", another as "Guinea 2014 EBOV Ebolavirus" and others are
still referring to it as Zaire. Given that we can specifically name the points
where the virus has mutated, using the old name is misleading.
Right now the question on everyone's minds is whether this virus will spread outside of Africa. Considering the fact that Ebola has a
three week incubation period, can travel through the air, and has already
hitchhiked onto an international flight, this is a very real possibility. There
are some that are downplaying the probability of this outcome, and to be
honest, I hope that they are right, but the simple fact of the matter is that
these people are basing their assessment on the faulty premise that Ebola is
not an airborne virus.
Now the first thing you might be feeling when looking
at this situation is a sense of fear and helplessness, and while that's a
perfectly normal reaction it's really not helpful. Instead we should be
thinking in terms of practical steps we can take to influence the outcome.
One thing we can all do is to start confronting
journalists and public officials who keep making false statements regarding the
way Ebola spreads. Use the links to the original study, the BBC report from2012 and this video to put them in their place.
We also need to confront the fact that there isn't a
full out, coordinated, international effort to contain this. This is being
treated like a sideshow but it has the very real potential to become a main
event.
The doctors on the ground in West Africa don't haveenough staff or resources to deal with this situation. It is absolutely
inexcusable for the U.S. and the E.U. to be investing billions of tax payer
dollars into their little power games in Ukraine and Syria (which are both in
the process of escalating right now by the way) while Ebola is getting a
foothold in Africa. Every available resource should be shifted to West Africa
in order to contain and extinguish this epidemic right now.
This is serious. Call them, write them, heckle them in
the streets if you have to, but don't allow them to ignore this issue. Make it
impossible for them to pretend later that they didn't know.
Now whether or not official policy towards the Ebola
crisis changes there are some precautions that you should take right now for
yourself and your family.
1. Know where you would go if you needed to leave your
home on short notice. If Ebola escapes Africa the last place you want to be is
in a densely populated metropolitan area. It may be that the most practical
destination for your family would be a rural area near your current home, but
if you already have concerns about the government you are living under, and how
they may handle a crisis like this, then you might want to start looking at
alternatives. Finding an alternative location that suits your family's needs is
something that requires a lot of time and research, so don't put this off. The
primary characteristics you should be examining in an alternative destination
are geography , political environment, climate, population density and visa
terms and requirements. Ideally you would want to end up somewhere that is
geographically isolated to some degree.
2. If you don't have passports for yourself and each
of your dependents, get them now. This is not to say that you should leave your
country, but you should have the means to do so. In countries where the Ebola
outbreak is underway it is getting harder and harder to exit. Borders are beingclosed down. Flights are being cut off. This didn't happen right away, but you
definitely don't want to be waiting for your passport to show up if Ebola
arrives in your city.
3. Know what you would carry with you if you had to
leave on short notice. Have those items ready, and have the luggage to carry
them. It would be wise to consider buying a pack of surgical masks as part of
this.
Now if you think about it, these preparations are wise
steps to take regardless of whether the Ebola situation deteriorates or not.
Knowing where you would go in an emergency, and having the means to get there
on short notice is important for a wide variety of situations. The civilian
population of Iraq, Syria, east Ukraine, and Gaza can attest to that.
Whatever you do don't let fear take control of your
mind. Take the steps you can take now, monitor the situation calmly, and be
prepared to adapt if necessary.
UPDATE: A number of people have requested that I
comment on the fact that the Americans infected by Ebola are right now beingflown into the U.S. My personal opinion is that this particular move will not
lead to the virus getting out. This event is going to be highly scrutinized,
and the isolation security should be at max. The real danger isn't in these
highly controlled transfers and quarantines, but rather in the ongoing flow of
air travel from these regions. Thirty five countries are merely one flight awayfrom an Ebola zone right now.
Why is this random air travel more dangerous?
Because if it gets in when people aren't looking, it
can spread before containment measures are put into place.
P.S. If you want to learn more about Ebola I highly
recommend that you read "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston.
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