Horror Report

Tag: ebola

  • The Ebola scare

    The Ebola scare

    Skeptics In Sierra Leone Doubt Ebola Virus Exists »

    Sierra Leone is at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak. But many people there don’t think the virus is real. Others are so frightened by Ebola that they’re afraid to take sick relatives to clinics.

    This is fascinating, and a symptom of oppression and constant upheaval in certain places on the continent of Africa..

    So many in the hot spot for Ebola don’t think it even exists..While workers, government officials, and military personnel all drive around in cars with loudspeakers—cars that feature images of people looking like zombies, vomiting—some listening are ignoring.. Ignorance is what may be causing the virus to spread faster and further than ever before in recorded history of Ebola.

    NPR reports on some of the Ebola deniers: 

    Opinions are mixed, but there’s a strong dose of Ebola deniers— those who don’t believe the virus exists at all. Zainab Koroma, a street hawker, is adamant it isn’t real.

    “I do not believe Ebola exists because none of my family members has been affected by it,” she says. “When you get sick of cholera, they say it is Ebola. When your body temperature rises, they say it is Ebola. So I honestly don’t believe Ebola exists. There could be a lot of other diseases killing people.”

    That’s one of the challenges facing Sierra Leone — trying to convince the nation that “Ebola is real, Ebola is here, and Ebola kills,” as one poster reads. Some people do survive, if they receive medical care early, as soon as they fall sick.

    The case of 32-year-old Saudata Koroma transfixed the nation late last month. She was brought to a faded blue government hospital in Freetown, feeling unwell, and was admitted.

    “Yes, and we were suspicious that she had Ebola, and she was put in isolation,” says Amadu Sesay, the doctor in charge of the hospital. “The tests proved she had Ebola. Prior to the arrival of the test results, the relatives of the patient stormed the facility. They stormed this hospital and took the patient away.”

    When his staff learned Koroma had Ebola, Sesay says, they had to track her down. But it took some time. “She was put in an ambulance, but unfortunately on the way to [an Ebola clinic in] Kailahun, she died,” he says.

    And with that epic account, more infections were spread due to the denial of the disease..

    The world may spin their eyes at tales of denials of a deadly virus, but consider some facts: You may live in a nation absent these abuses:

    1. Harsh conditions and treatment in jails
    2. Female genital mutilation, forcibly done
    3. Widespread government corruption
    4. Rampant discrimination from the government based off of sexual preference
    5. Child abuse and trafficking, with high officials involved
    6. Forced child labor
    7. And this: A civil war that actually killed 25 times as many people as the Kosovo war did.. During wartime, children were often forced into the military and women were raped in brutal attacks.

    All of that while the world ignored, and then Sierra Leone was put on the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2012.

    So doubt that Ebola exists? Common sense would tell someone it’s real.. But live in a nation where the citizenry has been oppressed by a tyrannical government, and it’s easy to see why disbelief in reality is rampant.

  • While we are watching the friendly skies for Ebola to land.. maybe it’s already here?

    While we are watching the friendly skies for Ebola to land.. maybe it’s already here?

    A doctor named Alan Jamison put himself in self-quarantine in his Tennessee home. While there are no reports that he has Ebola, he treated Ebola patients in Liberia…

    He did this Monday—meaning that this entire week, while the United States debated whether bringing Ebola patients to a hospital adjacent to the CDC was a good idea or not, it  may have already here all along..

    CNN is reporting on the doctor.. and also the fact that he has exhibited no signs of the disease yet..

    Worth reading: Jamison has no symptoms at this point.

    CNN says,

    He plans to be in isolation for 21 days, which is the incubation period for the disease or the time between infection and onset of symptoms.

    “My last encounter with a patient who had Ebola was on July 19,” he said. “I contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on my arrival … and informed them I had been in West Africa and my history.”

    The father of three said his daughter picked him up from the airport and dropped him at home, where he’s quarantined himself and has had no contact with anyone since.

    Good thing the CDC knows about this..

    But I have a few questions…

    How many other doctors, or people, are doing the same thing as Dr. Jamison? Should the CDC be more keenly aware, and are they even aware of everyone that may be doing this self-isolation treatment?  Should Dr. Jamison being transferred to the CDC location where these other two patients—who definitely have Ebola—are going to be housed ..?

    But potentially even more troubling in my mind.. it’s a nice gesture to self-quarantine, but what about the plane he rode with others to get back to the United States?

    There is one factor also worth considering—I did not know this until now. Ebola is only contagious after the 21-day incubation period.. That would make for a great sequel to 28 DAYS LATER, but it also creates a far greater chance for developed nations to prevent this disease ..

    And let’s face it: The death toll is rough. 90% of those who contact Ebola die.. But a few hundred (conservative estimate, sure) of a few million people isn’t a lot.. Even in third world nations, where disease is abundant, Ebola is still hard to catch under the right circumstances.

    The problem is the amount of distrust of governments in the African nations where the disease is hitting, and the refusals to be isolated and also, quite often, the fears of modern medicine..