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Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

npr.org

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Re: Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

#21

Post by psychometry »

giarc wrote: post #3

The largest driver of this outbreak (and many ebola outbreaks) is the fear of healthcare and the way many cultures treat the deceased. These two issues are what would make transmission to NA or Europe very unlikely. Many people in African nations will stay away from hospitals because they believe they will get Ebola from the hospital. Therefore often people that are sick die of Ebola in the community and therefore sp…

Those are all arguments as to why Ebola might not spread within Europe or the U.S. This article is about whether it could spread to those places.

Re: Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

#22

Post by emiliobumachar »

sliverstorm wrote: post #15
giarc wrote: post #3

The largest driver of this outbreak (and many ebola outbreaks) is the fear of healthcare and the way many cultures treat the deceased. These two issues are what would make transmission to NA or Europe very unlikely. Many people in African nations will stay away from hospitals because they believe they will get Ebola from the hospital. Therefore often people that are sick die of Ebola in the community and therefore sp…

Secondly, when people die in many of these cultures, there is much more physical connection with the body, potentially spreading the disease more. You would think this would have been selected against ages ago.

Human culture changes way too fast for evolution to act.

Re: Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

#24

Post by Fomite »

sliverstorm wrote: post #15
giarc wrote: post #3

The largest driver of this outbreak (and many ebola outbreaks) is the fear of healthcare and the way many cultures treat the deceased. These two issues are what would make transmission to NA or Europe very unlikely. Many people in African nations will stay away from hospitals because they believe they will get Ebola from the hospital. Therefore often people that are sick die of Ebola in the community and therefore sp…

Secondly, when people die in many of these cultures, there is much more physical connection with the body, potentially spreading the disease more. You would think this would have been selected against ages ago.

It's hard to select against a cultural practice, generally, as there aren't large numbers of possible phenotypes in the area, and it only matters if that cultural practice results in less children. Dying isn't selected against on its own.

Re: Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

#25

Post by Fomite »

sliverstorm wrote: post #16
KhalilK wrote: post #5

So should Europe and the U.S. begin worrying about the virus? As a North African inhabitant (Tunisia), I can't help but consider this egocentric. Are other African countries somehow doomed?

Outbreaks are particularly scary to areas of high population density. It's one of the biggest risks to a city like New York. A highly infectious disease could one day go through that city like a hot knife through butter. That's something Africa mostly doesn't have to worry about, I would think. This could just be my ignorance showing, but I don't think there are any places in Africa with the density of Manhattan isla…

Google "Lagos".

Re: Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

#27

Post by [deleted] »

privong wrote: post #8
KhalilK wrote: post #5

So should Europe and the U.S. begin worrying about the virus? As a North African inhabitant (Tunisia), I can't help but consider this egocentric. Are other African countries somehow doomed?

Well, NPR is an American organization, so it's not really surprising that they're writing it with an eye towards their primary demographic (Americans, and to a lesser extent, Europeans) . > Are other African countries somehow doomed? It would certainly be interesting to look at the likelihood of propagation in Africa, and hopefully someone does that. But I'd be surprised to see that from a news organization with a pr…

[deleted]

Re: Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.?

#29

Post by ams6110 »

giarc wrote: post #3

The largest driver of this outbreak (and many ebola outbreaks) is the fear of healthcare and the way many cultures treat the deceased. These two issues are what would make transmission to NA or Europe very unlikely. Many people in African nations will stay away from hospitals because they believe they will get Ebola from the hospital. Therefore often people that are sick die of Ebola in the community and therefore sp…

A close family member who is an MD in the USA has on more than one occasion said "the hospital is the last place you want to be when you are sick" though more in reference to the higher liklihood of picking up antibiotic-resistant infections than other communicable diseases.
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