Rank: Forum user 
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For the record, I can recall this problem in the 1980's. The world knew about it then but because it was a problem for the dirt-poor population of Africa no one gave a dam. So please, no talk of getting out there, singing songs about Christmas and Governments pulling out the stops... this was known about for decades. Only now that it's getting close to home are people getting concerned (for themselves not others).
The risks are known. The equipment safety type is known. The precautions are known. Yet time after time we see on the TV people not wearing the recommended kit (including the doctors and poor sods who dispose of the bodies) because they simply don't have it. To work without the kit is asking for trouble. It is a risk that is doomed to backfire.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Isaac, I'm sorry, but I have no idea where you get your information from. We have people working in the field in Sierra Leone, and we are working with partner organisations in Liberia. We do emply experts. The situation is bad, but not nearly at the kind of apocalyptic state you suggest. Inflating risks doesn't help, sensible analysis of the risks does allow relief of suffering.
And the next time I see a sweaty person of any colour walking towards me offering to shake my hand, I will shake theirs. Ebola is not currently 'species threatening', and it is almost always transmitted by prolonged intimate contact, not by a handshake,
John
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Rank: Forum user
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We live and learn jwk. Perhaps I should stop watching the news. So why the fuss when people are just rolling the bodies into bags would not a pair of rubber gloves do the trick?
You have to admit that things do look a little odd though. Some say 'bad but under control (much like the Japanese nuke plant) others asking for money as they have not got the right kit. People in hospitals taking all sorts of measures and even then Ebola gets caught by the people treating others. Something is wrong.
I'm not really suggesting any thing by the way. Just reflecting on what is in the media and what people think.
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Rank: Forum user
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I think you may find that Ebola, with a kill rate of 70+ (Gov. figures I have read closer to 90 without treatment and as yet there is no treatment) is a bit more than a problem.
http://www.virology.ws/2...ow-lethal-is-ebolavirus/
Just one source for information
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Rank: Forum user
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Having said what I said I hope I'm way off the mark with my opinion and I hope you are right jwk, I really do.
I sometimes wonder if forums such as this are worth the effort and indeed, cause more damage then they prevent.
Given some of the mixed advice and conflicting opinions, given on forums such as this about many subjects (and I freely admit that I'm way out of my bubble of knowledge here ) I tend to go for 'worst case'.
Nobody seems to be able to give believable answers. Someone says one thing and someone else undermines the whole plot. Who do we trust? The 'experts' ? They don't seem to have much of a clue at the moment if the knee jerking is anything to go by.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Isaac, you are confusing issues I think. Dead people are the most infectious, if I was asked to handle somebody who had died from Ebola I would demand full body PPE and universal precautions. A simple handshake though is not the same as either burying the dead or carrying out demanding and intimate personal care. This is why burial parties, relatives and medical workers are at greatest risk. This is why the fuss. In all cases so far where medical staff have caught the virus it is because PPE/UP has been breached.
It is bad, and in some areas is under control. Two countries (Senegal and Nigeria) have successfully eradicated it, and one, Liberia, has not but has called off the state of emergency because they believe it is under control. So both those things are true.
The main thing that is wrong is that we in the north and west have been slow to react, and even now are only just providing enough PPE; it's single use, which is why you have seen images of people handling bodies without it. Nobody would choose to do that if the right kit was available.
And Ebola is treatable for a given value of treatment. It cannot be cured as yet, but with treatment the mortality rate is reduced. It's like many virus diseases in that respect. 70% or more may well be the mortality figure with no intervention, but with treatment you do get down to around 50%; this is still awful, but Ebola can be treated.
And yes, you should stop reading the papers. I don't, and I'm much happier (and no less well informed) for it,
John
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Rank: Forum user
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Cheers John. Well written. As you say though, slow to react when we have had since 1976 to help out.
I do take your points though and consider myself enlightened.
Nice one
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Rank: Super forum user
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I'd agree- well written and informative posts John.
Also, stay away from Fox News. I saw a report a few weeks ago and it was very 'end of the world'.
Andy
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Indeed. Quoting/believing popularist media reports is poor practice as they invariably only report on statistical outliers. Outliers are exceptions from the norm. Exceptions from the norm are news. The norm is not news.
I also don't watch the news any more. The reporting style is often leading, generally attempts to create false balance to a story which may be anything but and ultimately favours the sensational.
Hence why health & safety gets a bad rap - day to day h&s isn't reportable - some plonker in an organisation somewhere making a well intended (we hope) but misguided over the top decision that affects other people ... is.
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