ebola

[MotherofDragons]

I knew I should have deleted the dailymail app off my phone. I deleted it weeks ago and then reinstalled it a few days back for some idiotic reason. Today I read the article about the American doctor in Liberia who now has the ebola virus, and about another man who was on a plane to Nigeria and then died of the virus. Now I am freaking out about it becoming global and ending up in US! Why do I read these articles, and why do I then read the comment section? Does anyone else get anxiety about a pandemic happening?

My parents are flying in this week for a visit and I am so paranoid they are going to somehow be on a plane with an infected person and end up infecting my entire family. :weep:

[beermaestro]

Well, viruses themselves are quite fragile, actually. The reason that viruses like Ebola can spread in these countries is largely due to highly unsanitary conditions which can aid the spread of any bacteria or virus. These are some of the poorest countries in the world, with a lack of even basic sewage systems and clean drinking water.

Also, the Ebola virus is unable to spread effectively because, as morbid as it sounds, it kills its hosts too quickly and is unable to spread due to a very short incubation period.

I think your family will be ok.

[MotherofDragons]

Thank you. Rationally I know that everything you said is true, sometimes I just need someone else to reiterate the facts to me. That being said, I did read that this strain can have a fairly long incubation period (21 days) so that is adding to my worry. Why do I read these things, and then continue to google after the original article has already scared the daylights out of me?

[Fishmanpa]

Time to buy a lotto ticket as you have a better chance of hitting it than getting ebola ;)

Positive thoughts