Canada investigating possible outbreak of Ebola?

[a_majoor]

A true WTF moment:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/health/canada-possible-ebola-case/index.html

Canada probes possible Ebola case
By Dana Ford, CNN
updated 10:42 PM EDT, Mon March 24, 2014

An Ebola outbreak has killed at least 59 people in Guinea, which borders Liberia in West Africa.

(CNN) -- Health officials in Canada said Monday they are looking into the case of a man who recently traveled from Liberia and is exhibiting symptoms consistent with viral hemorrhagic fevers.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers is a generic term that refers to a number of diseases found in Africa, including Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and yellow fever, according to Denise Werker, deputy chief medical health officer at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health.
"There is no risk to the general public at all about this incident. We recognize that there's going to be a fair amount of concern, and that's why we wanted to go public with this as soon as possible and dispel some of those myths that are out there," she told reporters Monday.

"We do not have information that it's Ebola hemorrhagic fever. All we know at this point is that we have a person who's critically ill who traveled from a country where these diseases occur," Werker said.

An Ebola outbreak has killed at least 59 people in Guinea, which borders Liberia in West Africa.

Werker said the Canadian patient is in an intensive care unit and isolated, meaning no visitors are allowed. Specimens have been sent for study, and officials are expecting preliminary results Tuesday, she said.

The hemorrhagic fevers are characterized by high fever and symptoms that may be nondescript. But at the end point of the disease, patients can have bleeding from their mouths or eyes, Werker said.

There is no drug treatment for Ebola hemorrhagic fever, she said, adding it is not a highly infectious disease.

"You have to be in close proximity to the person's secretions," Werker said. "The persons who are most at risk are person who are actually health care workers, who don't wear protective clothing."

This is the sort of thing that was reported in Richard Preston's book "The Hot Zone", and fictionalized in the movie "Outbreak". Canada has been victimized before, the SARS virus was also imported by aircraft from China in 2003, and created a much larger problem. Mark Steyn wrote a piece about how SAR almost overwhelmed our healthcare system "The System Infected Us", and I doubt the situation would be much better should another contagious disease spread to Canada.

 

[Robert0288]

Adding to the fact that the ebola outbreak that's currently hitting Guinea is looking more and more like Zaire strain that currently has about a 59%-74% mortality rate, but has in the past hit upward of 90%.

This thing is something out of my nightmares.

 

[Robert0288]

Sick man in Saskatoon tests negative for Ebola
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sick-man-in-saskatoon-tests-negative-for-ebola-1.2585293

A man in hospital in Saskatchewan has tested negative for Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers, a World Health Organization spokesman says.
On Monday, provincial health officials said a man who had recently travelled in western Africa was in critical condition in hospital in Saskatoon.
They said the patient had visited Liberia and was being examined for a suspected case of viral hemorrhagic fever.
However, a WHO official has now said on his Twitter account that hemorrhagic fevers have been ruled out.
Gregory Hartl, WHO's head of public relations, said Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and two other diseases have been ruled out.
He said testing continues but the patient may have malaria.
Lab results will be coming from a lab in Winnipeg later today, Hartl said

Thank god for malaria eh?

 

[Remius]

Adding to the fact that the ebola outbreak that's currently hitting Guinea is looking more and more like Zaire strain that currently has about a 59%-74% mortality rate, but has in the past hit upward of 90%.

This thing is something out of my nightmares.

The good thing (if it can be called that) is that it infects and kills so rapidly that it is harder for it to spread.

 

[Robert0288]

Yeah, the last thing the world needs is for this stupid thing to swap some DNA bits with H1N1 or some other thing which is much more adept at spreading.

 

[Nemo888]

There are some vaccines kicking around already, but since it infects most primates the eventual solution is vaccinating wild animals similar to how we now air drop vaccines for rabies. Organ liquefaction is something I never want to see from an infectious disease.

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/ebolamarburg/Pages/rabiesVaccEbola.aspx

 

[medicineman]

Probably has falciparum malaria...nasty stuff all the same.  I wouldn't thank God for it - black water fever is something I'd reserve for people I really don't like much.

MM

 

[mariomike]

Canada has been victimized before, the SARS virus was also imported by aircraft from China in 2003, and created a much larger problem. Mark Steyn wrote a piece about how SAR almost overwhelmed our healthcare system "The System Infected Us", and I doubt the situation would be much better should another contagious disease spread to Canada.

I was put on quarantine during SARS, continuously wearing an N95 mask and taking my temperature twice a day. I did not get sick.

The situation soon became so serious that the department put us on "Working Quarantine". IE: We remained on-duty ( in full isolation PPE ), and were paid double-time and a half for the duration.

Four Toronto Paramedics were admitted to ICU. They survived and eventually returned to modified-duty. But, were never again fit to return to Operations.

Although I was ( thankfully ) not involved, I also remember the Lassa Fever working quarantine in 1976. That time, only two of our crews were affected, and none got sick.

During SARS,  Mayor Mel Lastman did an interview on CNN. When he was asked what the World Health Organization was doing about the crisis, he replied "They don't know what they're talking about. I don't know who

this group is. I've never heard of them before." 

Seems funnier in hindsight than it did back then. 

 

[Robert0288]

From the WHO DON (Disease Outbreak News)
Summary:

Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Guinea – update
24 March 2014 - The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Guinea has notified WHO of a rapidly evolving outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in forested areas of south-eastern Guinea. As of 24 March 2014, a total of 86 cases including 59 deaths (case fatality ratio: 68.5%) had been reported.

Full report: http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-a-programmes/dpc/epidemic-a-pandemic-alert-and-response/outbreak-news/4064-ebola-hemorrhagic-fever-in-guinea-24-march-2014.html

 

[PMedMoe]

According to this article, it's not Ebola.