'Perfect storm' for Ebola to spread: virus pioneer

[hawker9000]

Does anyone see any correlation between this disease still being out of control with an increase in the number of leading financial commentators expecting another major stock-market correction worse even than 2008 ?

I can't think of any other example of a major disease outbreak occurring simultaneously with global financial turbulence.

(Reuters) - The worst ever Ebola outbreak is causing enormous damage to West African economies as foreign businessmen quit the region, the African Development Bank said, while a leading medical charity branded the international response "entirely inadequate."

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/27/us-health-ebola-idINKBN0GQ17920140827

There are always, absolutely ALWAYS, "leading financial commentators" predicting total, final and inevitable economic collapse & ruin. And certainly some sort of reckoning is coming - I'd say even overdue. The Ebola outbreak certainly isn't going to help West African economies, but it'll pass, and probably isn't going to do more damage than, say, the earthquake a few days ago in Napa (est. $1B), or the 2011 tsunami & nuclear incident in Japan, or the 2004 Thailand tsunami, or Hurricane Katrina, or (want me to go on?). So no, I don't see any correlation. It's a big world with lots of crazy people running around in it who are obviously in need of adult supervision; plenty of bad news to go around. Furthermore, if you're a wealthy person, one way to get even more wealthy is to somehow get the less wealthy to sell off their assets to you at panic prices... Doomsdayers and drama queens are simply uncompensated pawns in these schemes.

[Asiantravel]

Does anyone see any correlation between this disease still being out of control with an increase in the number of leading financial commentators expecting another major stock-market correction worse even than 2008 ?

I can't think of any other example of a major disease outbreak occurring simultaneously with global financial turbulence.

(Reuters) - The worst ever Ebola outbreak is causing enormous damage to West African economies as foreign businessmen quit the region, the African Development Bank said, while a leading medical charity branded the international response "entirely inadequate."

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/27/us-health-ebola-idINKBN0GQ17920140827

There are always, absolutely ALWAYS, "leading financial commentators" predicting total, final and inevitable economic collapse & ruin. And certainly some sort of reckoning is coming - I'd say even overdue. The Ebola outbreak certainly isn't going to help West African economies, but it'll pass, and probably isn't going to do more damage than, say, the earthquake a few days ago in Napa (est. $1B), or the 2011 tsunami & nuclear incident in Japan, or the 2004 Thailand tsunami, or Hurricane Katrina, or (want me to go on?). So no, I don't see any correlation. It's a big world with lots of crazy people running around in it who are obviously in need of adult supervision; plenty of bad news to go around. Furthermore, if you're a wealthy person, one way to get even more wealthy is to somehow get the less wealthy to sell off their assets to you at panic prices... Doomsdayers and drama queens are simply uncompensated pawns in these schemes.

Nobody commenting on the financial system has gone anywhere near mentioning “total, final and inevitable economic collapse & ruin “ so I think using those sorts of words is a bit of an overreaction?

They have however simply pointed out that after five years of money printing like confetti there are symptoms of asset price bubbles right across the globe and Forbes magazine said even Thailand is in this category.

When there is another correction, Central banks are going to find it difficult to adopt the same measures they did last time so i wonder how they will tackle the problem this time. So when you say “ it will pass “regarding West African economies that period could be more protracted than under normal circumstances.. And with fewer financial resources they may find it much harder to keep track and treat victims of Ebola in West African economies.

[hawker9000]

About the money-printing, I couldn't agree more. However, the crisis, always predicted to be worse than the last one (and in fact, during the course of it, the 2008 "crash" was described by some at the time as fallng over the edge of the cliff), has been predicted every year during the five, and will simply go on being predicted every year henceforward. So in which year does it actually happen?

That the current Ebola outbreak could end up lasting longer than prior ones due to lack of financial resources is a possibility. But the longer it does last, the more govt imposed controls aimed at containing it will start to cut in. I wouldn't want to be in West Africa, but I think governments are well aware of the dangers of allowing this disease to spread, and will clamp down quickly and progressively on travel and on certain travelers once persuaded that W. Africa isn't doing enough to prevent the spread of Ebola.

I think the problem in W. Africa may have as much to do with families simply not wanting to send their infected loved ones off to quarantine somewhere as it does with the availability of resources. And I'm always very distrustful of organizations such as those sponsored by the UN, the WHO, NGOs, and others, that depend on subsidies from world governments. Their bread & butter is the flow of these subsidies, and they have a strong incentive to say whatever needs to be said, report whatever needs to be reported, predict whatever needs to be predicted, do whatever needs to be done, and maybe even not do whatever needs to NOT be done, to get those pocketbooks opened to them...

[Seastallion]

What concerns me is the number of health workers infected. Granted they are at the coal face, but they are also trained at prophylactic measures. If, as is claimed, the virus only spreads via contact with infected body fluids, then there should not be such a high rate of infection.

Lab tests did show airborne spread between test animals is possible but could not find any evidence of airborne spread amongst humans. Is it (past) time to think about airborne spread and take appropriate precautions?

[Asiantravel]

What concerns me is the number of health workers infected. Granted they are at the coal face, but they are also trained at prophylactic measures. If, as is claimed, the virus only spreads via contact with infected body fluids, then there should not be such a high rate of infection.

Lab tests did show airborne spread between test animals is possible but could not find any evidence of airborne spread amongst humans. Is it (past) time to think about airborne spread and take appropriate precautions?

This is a new strain and to say it is not airborne is purely semantics. It does not fit into the precise definition of airborne but it can be carried through the air in the tiny droplets released through the nose and mouth.

“limited airborne transmission might be contributing to the spread of the disease in some parts of Africa,” although they cautioned against making comparisons to the airborne nature of the influenza virus.

http://patriotrising.com/2014/08/04/cdc-concerned-airborne-transmission-ebola-virus/

[Asiantravel]

About the money-printing, I couldn't agree more. However, the crisis, always predicted to be worse than the last one (and in fact, during the course of it, the 2008 "crash" was described by some at the time as fallng over the edge of the cliff), has been predicted every year during the five, and will simply go on being predicted every year henceforward. So in which year does it actually happen?

That the current Ebola outbreak could end up lasting longer than prior ones due to lack of financial resources is a possibility. But the longer it does last, the more govt imposed controls aimed at containing it will start to cut in. I wouldn't want to be in West Africa, but I think governments are well aware of the dangers of allowing this disease to spread, and will clamp down quickly and progressively on travel and on certain travelers once persuaded that W. Africa isn't doing enough to prevent the spread of Ebola.

I think the problem in W. Africa may have as much to do with families simply not wanting to send their infected loved ones off to quarantine somewhere as it does with the availability of resources. And I'm always very distrustful of organizations such as those sponsored by the UN, the WHO, NGOs, and others, that depend on subsidies from world governments. Their bread & butter is the flow of these subsidies, and they have a strong incentive to say whatever needs to be said, report whatever needs to be reported, predict whatever needs to be predicted, do whatever needs to be done, and maybe even not do whatever needs to NOT be done, to get those pocketbooks opened to them...

But that's the point I'm making

you should see the documentary “ Inside Job “where the world's leading bankers were interviewed and admitted the world was just hours away from the whole financial system totally seizing up and collapsing….. and it was only saved by...... money printing

[Scott]

Please drop the discussion of the world financial situation in this thread.

[benj005]

Not worried.

Have a great day.

[MJP]

West Africa struggles to contain Ebola as warnings and deaths mount

In an address to United Nations member states, MSF President Joanne Liu said, "Six months into the worst Ebola epidemic in history, the world is losing the battle to contain it." She said aid charities and West African governments did not have the capacity to stem the outbreak and needed intervention by foreign states.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/02/us-health-ebola-idUSKBN0GX1IH20140902

[Chicog]

2+ million people are about to descend on Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, and I'll guarantee that this virus will be joining them.

The big question is how many of them will be taking it home to all points on the globe?

[MJP]

Can Ebola Go Airborne?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2014/09/03/can-ebola-go-airborne/

A study in the journal Science, released last week, shows that the Ebola strain spreading across Western Africa has undergone a surprisingly high amount of genetic drift during the current outbreak. Experts say the mutations could eventually make the virus harder to diagnose and perhaps treat with a new therapeutic, should one come along.