MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Caution: The article below tells it like it is and offers not a single encouraging word of comfort to the reader. “If you think about Ebola and mutation and aerosolization and R0 for too long, you start to get visions of Mad Max cruising the postapocalyptic landscape with Katniss Everdeen at his side.” But do not fear, for we serve a sovereign God who knows the end from the beginning and remains in control even when everything else seems to spin out of it …

Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.”

By Jonathan V. Last, The Weekly Standard – “As a rule, one should not panic at whatever crisis has momentarily fixed the attention of cable news producers. But the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has migrated to both Europe and America, may be the exception that proves the rule. There are at least six reasons that a controlled, informed panic might be in order.

(1) Start with what we know, and don’t know, about the virus. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other government agencies claim that contracting Ebola is relatively difficult because the virus is only transmittable by direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person who has become symptomatic. Which means that, in theory, you can’t get Ebola by riding in the elevator with someone who is carrying the virus, because Ebola is not airborne.

This sounds reassuring. Except that it might not be true. There are four strains of the Ebola virus that have caused outbreaks in human populations. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the current outbreak (known as Guinean EBOV, because it originated in Meliandou, Guinea, in late November 2013) is a separate clade ‘in a sister relationship with other known EBOV strains.’ Meaning that this Ebola is related to, but genetically distinct from, previous known strains, and thus may have distinct mechanisms of transmission.

Not everyone is convinced that this Ebola isn’t airborne. Last month, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy published an article arguing that the current Ebola has ‘unclear modes of transmission’ and that ‘there is scientific and epidemiologic evidence that Ebola virus has the potential to be transmitted via infectious aerosol particles both near and at a distance from infected patients, which means that healthcare workers should be wearing respirators, not facemasks.’

And even if this Ebola isn’t airborne right now, it might become so in the future. Viruses mutate and evolve in the wild, and the population of infected Ebola carriers is now bigger than it has been at any point in history — meaning that the pool for potential mutations is larger than it has ever been. As Dr. Philip K. Russell, a virologist who oversaw Ebola research while heading the U.S. Army’s Medical Research and Development Command, explained to the Los Angeles Times last week,

I see the reasons to dampen down public fears. But scientifically, we’re in the middle of the first experiment of multiple, serial passages of Ebola virus in man. .  .  . God knows what this virus is going to look like. I don’t.

In August, Science magazine published a survey conducted by 58 medical professionals working in African epidemiology. They traced the origin and spread of the virus with remarkable precision — for instance, they discovered that it crossed the border from Guinea into Sierra Leone at the funeral of a ‘traditional healer’ who had treated Ebola victims. In just the first six months of tracking the virus, the team identified more than 100 mutated forms of it.

Yet what’s really scary is how robust the already-established transmission mechanisms are. Have you ever wondered why Ebola protocols call for washing down infected surfaces with chlorine? Because the virus can survive for up to three weeks on a dry surface.

How robust is transmission? Look at the health care workers who have contracted it. When Nina Pham, the Dallas nurse who was part of the team caring for Liberian national Thomas Duncan, contracted Ebola, the CDC quickly blamed her for ‘breaching protocol.’ But to the extent that we have effective protocols for shielding people from Ebola, they’re so complex that even trained professionals, who are keenly aware that their lives are on the line, can make mistakes.

By the by, that Science article written by 58 medical professionals tracing the emergence of Ebola — 5 of them died from Ebola before it was published.” Read more.

No need to worry. Obama the Wise just appointed a Democrat political aide with absolutely no medical background whatsoever as the country’s new “Ebola Czar” …

• Flashback: Obama: ‘You Cannot Get Ebola Sitting Next To Someone On A Bus’
• Flashback: Contradiction: CDC Now Admits You CAN Get Ebola On A Plane Or Bus

Source: Brad Freitas via Twitter

WTOP – “Arlington County’s hazmat team is on the scene at the Pentagon due to an possible Ebola case on a tour bus.

Medics responded to the Pentagon this morning for a report of a woman on a bus who was sick and vomiting. When they learned that she had recently arrived from Africa, the hazmat team was called out of ‘a complete abundance of caution,’ Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman Chris Layman told ARLnow.com.

A large portion of the Pentagon south parking lot has been cordoned off with caution tape, and police are telling those who don’t work at the Pentagon to avoid the immediate surrounding area.

The woman has been transported via ambulance to a Inova Fairfax Hospital. The county’s medical director also responded to the call and is at the hospital with the patient, according to scanner traffic.

Layman said the bus was at the Pentagon for a tour of the Pentagon Memorial. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic has been shut down around it.

A tipster with knowledge of the emergency response tells ARLnow.com that the patient recently traveled from the West African nation of Sierra Leone, and that four first responders are being held at the hospital due to possible exposure. That tip could not be immediately confirmed.

Arlington medic units and Fairfax hazmat units are on scene at Inova Fairfax Hosptial, according to news helicopter footage.

And, like the first nurse who tested positive, would have also been wearing protective gear …

USA Today – “A second hospital worker who helped care for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan has tested positive for the disease, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement early Wednesday.

The health-care worker, who was not identified, reported a fever Tuesday and was immediately isolated at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

The statement said a preliminary Ebola test was conducted late Tuesday at a state public health lab in Austin.

A test to confirm the result will be conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Dallas authorities moved quickly to try to contain any spread of the disease from the latest case. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings went to the health worker’s apartment that was being decontaminated early Wednesday, according to Dallas Police Department spokesman Maj. Max Geron.

‘Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,’ said state health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams in a written statement. ‘The type of monitoring depends on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus.’

Zach Thompson, director of Dallas Health and Human Services, speaking on CBS-KTVT, said the latest hospital worker who tested positive for the virus was one of the 76 hospital staffers who cared for Duncan and were being monitored by the CDC. None of the original 48 people who had contact with him prior to hospitalization have shown signs of the virus, he said.” Read more.

Texas Ebola Hospital Cafeteria Becomes Ghost Town – “The cafeteria, where employees and patients at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital normally take a meal break, is looking more like a ghost town since the outbreak of Ebola. A cafeteria worker said their business had taken a major hit in the wake of Nina Pham’s becoming symptomatic after treating Thomas Eric Duncan while he was ill at this hospital. Breitbart Texas visited Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Monday to check out the mood of workers in the hospital. While visiting the various café’s throughout the hospital, there was a severe shortage of customers. A worker in ‘Café Presby’ said their business is down by 25 percent over the past two weeks. ‘I am concerned for our workers,’ the employee said. ‘I hope we don’t have to lay anyone off or cut their hours because of this.'” Read more.

Yesterday: CDC Now Watching 125 People For Ebola Signs – “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now monitoring 125 people for symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus, including 76 who came into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national who died of the disease last week in a Dallas hospital. CDC Director Tom Frieden told reporters Tuesday that so far, only one nurse who helped care for Duncan has contracted Ebola and no other people have been diagnosed with the disease. Nina Pham, 26, who Frieden did not identify by name, remains in stable condition, he said, while the CDC continues to monitor her boyfriend and her dog. ‘It’s possible we will see other people become ill,’ Frieden said.” Read more.