Slashdot Mirror


Ebola Has Made It To the United States

An anonymous reader sends news that the CDC has confirmed the first case of Ebola diagnosed on U.S. soil. An unnamed patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas was placed in isolation while awaiting test results for the dreaded virus. Apparently, the patient had traveled recently to a West African country, where the disease is spreading, and later developed symptoms that suggested Ebola. A blood specimen from the patient was sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, a testing process that can take 24 to 48 hours to confirm an Ebola infection — or not. The results came back about 3:32 p.m. In other Ebola news, outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal appear to be completely contained.

18 of 475 comments (clear)

  1. PANIC! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Best solution right now is to panic and start looting. Mostly because looting looks fun and angry mobs make for good tv

  2. Lone star... by DeTech · · Score: 5, Funny

    Time to cut off texas from the rest of the US... oh wait they've been working on that for us for years.

  3. Re:They need to lock this down now! by nblender · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why are you telling us? I'm sure the nincompoops at CDC are standing around by the water cooler trying to figure out what to do and they're certainly not reading slashdot! Quick! Get on the phone and lend them your expertise in this area!

  4. Re:Fristy Pawst! by Beck_Neard · · Score: 5, Funny

    > By tolerating corrupt government, they squander resources, and have nothing left to spend on healthcare infrastructure.

    Hey, come on now, the USA isn't that bad.

    --
    A fool and his hard drive are soon parted.
  5. If Ebola cross-mutates with the by Spy+Handler · · Score: 5, Funny

    rabies virus, it could result in the infected person becoming insane and attacking everyone that he sees. But unlike regular rabies, you don't have to get bitten to become infected... Ebola can be transmitted simply by touching someone. This could result in extremely rapid disease transmission, perhaps triggering a worldwide pandemic.

    If this happens, millions of Resident Evil fans all over the world will be writhing on the floor in full nerdgasm.

    1. Re:If Ebola cross-mutates with the by jklovanc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If Ebola cross-mutates with the rabies virus,

      The probability of which is less that that of a world killing asteroid hitting the earth tomorrow. There are a lot of "ifs" that can be speculated about but almost impossible one like that don't need to be advertise. Your scare tactics propably won't cause a panic in the type of people who read this site. They are generally more intelligent and scientifically minded for that.

    2. Re:If Ebola cross-mutates with the by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 5, Informative

      YOU FAIL BIOLOGY FOREVER.

  6. Don't freak out. by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 5, Informative
    You're NOT contagious until you're actively showing symptoms, and then you have to somehow get it on someone else. It's not going to chase down an uninfected person like a tiger on Nat Geo or magically float thru the walls like a ghost.

    link

    "The best means of prevention are similar to those you would practice to prevent the common cold or the flu, and it starts at your bathroom sink. Thoroughly washing your hands, and practicing good hygiene with soap and water, is a good first step to preventing infection."


    The early signs and symptoms of the Ebola virus include:
    1. Fever
    2. Severe headache
    3. Joint and muscle aches
    4. Chills
    5. Weakness

    Symptoms may become increasingly severe over time, the Mayo Clinic said, with additional symptoms present, including:

    • Nausea and vomiting
    • Diarrhea (may be bloody)
    • Red eyes
    • Raised rash
    • Chest pain and cough
    • Stomach pain
    • Severe weight loss
    • Bleeding, usually from the eyes, and bruising (people near death may bleed from other orifices, such as ears, nose and rectum)
    • Internal bleeding

    Be careful, but not frightened.

    --
    If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
  7. We must nuke Texas from orbit, by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...it's the only way to be sure.

    --

    Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

    Vote for Bernie in 2016!

    1. Re:We must nuke Texas from orbit, by Snufu · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...it's the only way to be sure.

      Agreed.

      What's that? They got Ebola too?

  8. ethical question by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is the end of humanity due to the Ebola virus an acceptable excuse for adultery?

    Asking for a friend.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  9. Re:Fristy Pawst! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because why shouldn't people that manage their society's competently be punished for less competent societies failing?

    You seem to be under the mistaken impression that each of the various countries of the world are hermetically sealed off from one another. It is not true, of course. What we do in the USA does have an affect on others around the world, just as their actions have an affect on us.

    Lets say your country works really hard and does everything right. They keep a reasonable budget, work hard, enact sensible policies, and generally just do a good job.

    Seriously?!? You are claiming that we in the USA are doing everything right?!? Are you really making that claim? Have you been paying attention the last few years?

    Then lets say your neighbor is full of complete fucktards that spend more money then they have, slack off doing nothing half the time, enact dumb counter productive laws, and generally make every mistake possible one after the other...

    And this is a pretty apt description of the US Congress of the last few years, at least.

    Should country A1 be punished for the incompetence of country B1? I would argue not since the people in the first country had no control over what the other country did.

    There you go, again, suggesting that all the countries of the world are hermetically sealed off from each other. Clue: you can find an American expatriate in just about every country, just about every continent of the world. These expats do in fact exert (sometimes greater, sometimes lesser) control over what goes on in those other countries.

    Now you seem to be suggesting that all countries are responsible for all countries. That is interesting because responsibility and power/rights go hand in hand. So if I am responsible for how other countries act and perform... then I must likewise have the right to dictate policies in those countries. In effect, for your argument to make any sense, we'd have to have a global government and it would be that global government that would be responsible for everything.

    Readjust your tinfoil hat! It seems to be cutting off the oxygen supply to your brain.

    And that means I am not responsible for the failures of other countries. Not my fault.

    If they want to give up their domestic freedoms and make their nation subordinate to another... and that other nation agrees to take responsibility for them... then fine. Lacking that... obviously we are not responsible for them.

    Grow up, little man! If you want to go live on a deserted island where you can create your own libertarian utopia, then go! No one will stop you. But here in this modern world we all have connections with each other. Some are intended and wanted, some are not. If you want to debate what the extent of our responsibility to others in far away places is, then fair call. But to pretend that we who live in a modern society don't have any responsibility for anyone else is just plain asinine.

  10. Re:Fristy Pawst! by Luthair · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tolerating? They don't really have a choice, unfortunately arms merchants, manufacturers and other countries (incl. the USA) have long been supplying these "corrupt governments". This isn't the 1800s where the army and the individual have the same weapons.

  11. Re:Completely Contained? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, those flight cancellation fees are pretty outrageous.

  12. Re:Fristy Pawst! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Most of these governments are democracies.

    In not much more than name. Your view of africa is exceptionally myopic.

    Africans have a long tradition of "The Big Man" as leader,

    While it is true that the only people who can effectively change a country's government are the citizens themselves, your reductionism to the point of condescension disqualifies you from having a meaningful opinion.

  13. Re:Fristy Pawst! by Karmashock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the US is responsible for the fuck ups of every country we've ever had contact with for the rest of time?

    Tell you what, if the US must pay for countries we had contact with that are doing badly... does that mean we get paid or some sort of compensation for the countries that did well? South Korea for example... do they owe us an ongoing tax for not being like north korea? Or does your little line of logic only flow in one direction? Is the US only expected to pay other people but no one has to pay us for good things or hey... why not pay the US for bad things done to it? I mean... there are countries that harm the US on occasion... can we expect a payment there?

    See, you're just very comfortable with drawing on the national account because you think it is infinite money. People have a hard time with very large numbers. They tend to see them, go cross eyed, and just identify it as a number too large to be bothered with... which tends to mean that many see large numbers as infinite numbers.

    Well, the US treasury is not infinite. The numbers have to be balanced at some point. So despite there being a lot of money in there, it does not mean that you can draw upon it infinitely without feeding more into it. Here again, people will say "just raise taxes"... well, okay... are YOU going to pay those taxes? Most people that say such things don't mean raise taxes on them. They mean raise it on someone else. Which is very cute. I'd be very happy with doing all sorts of things if I didn't have to pay for it. Mind if I push some policies and you pay for it while I don't? See how annoying that is?... If you're at all capable of breaking out of your cognitive dissonance then you've joined the conversation and have begun to understand. If you haven't... oh well. For some... sail boats will always be clouds on the horizon.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  14. Re:Completely Contained? by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

    My advice is not to tongue kiss people who just got off the plane from west African countries and you should be fine.

    The terrorists have already won.

  15. Re:Fristy Pawst! by fatwilbur · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If my life is on the line, I don't have to worry about how much it costs.

    I call BS. If your life is on the line, you *won't* worry about how much it costs, unless it actually happens to save your life, in which case the cost will probably leave you financially crippled for whatever life said treatment left you with. Also, aren't there a number of cases where people didn't get treatment solely because they couldn't afford it?

    I'm not so sure of near-communist countries where beaurocrats are in charge of these things.

    Sounds like you've been reading too much Sarah Palin propaganda. I'm not aware of any public health care systems where decisions for treatment are made by anyone but doctors. It's the US where insurance bureaucrats make life or death decisions. Keep drinking their kool-aid.