Ebola War: The Nurses of Gulu, Uganda

Sleepyeyes · Jan 20, 2003

Those nurses were indeed heroes.

Ebola is a terrible virus, and from what I've read about it, it's so far been a miracle that it hasn't hit in the US.

Just another reason to have a better healthcare system.

renerian, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2003

Just horrible.

renerian

Sleepyeyes · Jan 20, 2003

what's really scary is this:

from Facts on Ebola, http://www.cdc.net/~gildrnew/filo/filo11.html

The natural reservoir of the Ebola virus is not known. Extensive ecological studies are currently underway in Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon and Zaire to identify the reservoir. Ebola-related filoviruses were isolated from cynomolgus monkeys (Macacca fascicularis) imported into the United States of America from the Philippines in 1989. A number of the monkeys died and at least four persons were infected, although none of them suffered clinical illness.

oramar · Jan 30, 2003

I posted a link around here somewhere that proposed the possibility that the disease could be spread on the wing by birds. That gave me the chills for sure. They did a NOVA on PBS about that monkey outbreak in '89. Seems there are two types of ebola. The difference is like one molecule between them but one kind causes certain death in humans after infection and the others cause no symptoms. Just a bit O luck that these monkeys had the mild form because humans were certainly infected. PS I once read an article that described how nurses died at much higher rate than MDs during the flu epidemic that followed WWI. I am talking proportional % now in addition to actual numbers. :eek: