Posted on 08/23/2014 8:04:40 AM PDT by null and void
“How long does Ebola virus in dried secretions on inert surfaces remain capable of infecting new victims BY SKIN CONTACT”
Let me take that one.
You can’t be infected by skin contact. You need a hole in your skin so it can get into the blood stream.Just don’t touch your eye afterwards...The eye socket is easily penetrated due to a zillion capillaries. Mouth is the same, as is the nose...That is why people snort drugs through their nose.
Secondly, immune systems are all different. The virus load you need to become infected varies from person to person so it’s difficult for anyone to say exactly how much is enough. But based on observations and testing. (non-human) You need to assume that any amount of virus load contamination is enough.
Lastly, the virus is easily decontaminated if on hard surfaces, (fomites) textured or other surfaces that absorb, need to be destroyed IMO...that would be stuff like sheets and clothing.
I don’t know how long it can last on a surface exposed to air. I have read all the same stuff and it’s all over the place on estimates. Just assume it lasts a long time and take it from there, but frankly, I think it depends on humidity, temperature, infrared and ultraviolet light and the degree of lighting. that might put it anywhere from 2-21 days, by averaging what I have read, and if a wet environment and cold, it could last longer.
Standard practices for follow up on any person infected with a pathogen like ebola or any of the fevers, require decon of anything and everything he/she came into contact with, whether or not it might or might not be contaminated.
No doubt it’s nasty stuff...but the infected person has to be shedding virus to contaminate or spread it, they do not shed until the virus has over-run their immune system and starts breaking down vascular walls.. That window is a lot smaller than the course of the disease. It’s only done in the end stage. So the contaminated areas would be fairly easy to know and understand. They would be confined to a room, most likely, I think no more than two. At that stage they are not walking about much..if at all.
“My concern here is that retail food establishments, aka grocery stories, can be contaminated by dried Ebola secretions for a period of several days. This would be horrendous, so I’d appreciate your careful thinking about this. “
While that would be and currently is a concern of mine for flu viruses or rinoviruses, (I use a alchohol rub or wash my hands after a shopping trip) I would not be concerned about ebola unless I was in West Africa.
Doctors offices are teaming with viruses on surfaces as well. Stay away from the magazines.. Flu viruses last a while too..get in the habit of hand washing. I have not had a case of the flu or a cold in three decades.
But I am not concerned in the US of catching Ebola, any more than I am of catching the Flu..
Just sayin...
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
I have no idea. Would have to ask the experts. But remember 10% bleach solution kills everything so a quick wipe down of surfaces regularly would help
Sounds like this was written to cover antibiotic resistant TB, which is coming in with illegals. TB does not make you sick for a long time after you get it, many will not get treatment or follow treatment for this reason. Several cases of antibiotic resistant TB were diagnosed in the recent wave of illegals. At least one illegal refused treatment and ran off, was later found and arrested to force treatment. I am convinced the number of cases of illegals with positive TB is much higher than reported.
Thank you. I am looking way downstream, at the first six months of 2015. The quarantine measures necessary to deal with Ebola once it becomes widespread here enough, given the aircraft and building contamination potential, would have awful economic and financial effects.
Again, the problem isn’t that millions of Americans might contract Ebola. The problem I see is the economic and financial impact of the measures required to that from happening. Not now, but next year.
The MSDS sheet for this EVD lists a five day life outside the human body in a dry human secretion. Think dried blood, urine, defecation, sputum, or vomit.
That kills market or store style food distribution in the event of a local EVD epidemic. Especially when you read this regards the current EVD outbreak—
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case-definition.html
“”1 Casual contact is defined as
a) being within approximately 3 feet (1 meter) or within the room or care area for a prolonged period of time (e.g., healthcare personnel, household members) while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., droplet and contact precautions–see Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations); or
b) having direct brief contact (e.g., shaking hands) with
an EVD case while not wearing recommended personal protective equipment (i.e., droplet and contact precautions–see Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations). At this time, brief interactions, such as walking by a person or moving through a hospital, do not constitute casual contact.””
The CDC recently admitted to the very non-medical term of ‘Inhalation transmission’ of Ebola Viral Disease “in a contaminated hospital environment.”
How “a contaminated hospital environment” differs from a public rest room or the recirculated air on a jetliner remains to be seen.
See link and clipped text below —
http://www.health.gov.ng/doc/Ebola%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
“”How is Ebola Virus Disease spread?
The manner in which the Ebola virus first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak has not been
determined. However, Ebola VD could be spread through the following:
1. Direct contact with an infected animal or human;
2. Direct contact with the blood and or secretions of an infected person especially within
families;
3. Contact with contaminated medical equipment such as needles;
4. Reuse of unsterilized needles in hospital;
5. Eating or handling of the carcass of infected animals;
6. Inhalation of contaminated air in hospital environment;
7. Use of infected non human primate/bats as food source;
8. Non implementation of universal precautions.””
How “a contaminated hospital environment” differs from a public rest room or the recirculated air on a jetliner remains to be seen.
Especially when you take about 15 minutes and listen to a portion of this 7 August 2014 Congressional hearing with testimony by Ken Isaacs of the Samaritans Purse NGO.
This medical NGO and Doctors Without Frontiers have been fighting EVD since it first broke out back in March 2014.
Ken Isaacs laid it all on the line in very stark terms. Please listen to the portion between about 1:48:00 to about 2:04:00
http://www.c-span.org/video/?320862-1/hearing-ebola-outbreak-africa
Key points:
1. The reported number of cases at the time was about 25-50% of actual cases
2. Nigeria was gearing up for a severe outbreak the next 2 weeks or so, AKA right about now.
3. The developed world has essentially abdicated responsibility for responding to there countries that are amongst the poorest in the world
4. The infrastructure for public health in a West Africa is completely overwhelmed and has broken down.
Ken Isaacs testimony stated that the Liberian finance ministry officer and a senior Liberian physician appeared in the SP hospital in Monrovia.
Ken Isaacs testimony further stated that if you have one inch of open skin, it is possible to become infected — that supports the full-body suit, mask, and googles personal protection.
See also:
@1:50:00 “”The international response to the disease has been a failure and it is important to understand that.””
@1:51:30
“”Our epidemiologists and medical personnel believe that these numbers represent 25 to 50 % of what is happening.
The ministries of health in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone simply do not have the capacity to handle the crisis in their countries.
If a mechanism is not found to create an acceptable paradigm for the international community to become directly involved, then the world will be effectively relegating the containment of this disease that threatens Africa and other countries to three of the poorest nations in the world.””
Further testimony by Ken Isaacs clarified that they were the entity flying the specimens from the field to the lab in Monrovia. It is a 16 hour drive and a 16 minute flight by helicopter.
Two relief agencies provided all the clinical care for all of the Ebola victims for three countries (Samaritan’s Purse and Doctors without Borders and Ken Isaacs testimony stated that the Liberian finance ministry officer and a senior Liberian physician appeared in the SP hospital in Monrovia.
It was Ken Isaacs testimony that if you have one inch of open skin, it is possible to become infected. It appears that Ken Isaacs supports the full-body suit, mask, and googles personal protection AKA BH level-4 for all medical people involved with treatment of patients and terminal cleaning of Ebola contaminated surfaces.
@1:50:00 “The international response to the disease has been a failure and it is important to understand that.”
@1:51:30
“Our epidemiologists and medical personnel believe that these numbers represent 25 to 50 % of what is happening.
The ministries of health in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone simply do not have the capacity to handle the crisis in their countries.
If a mechanism is not found to create an acceptable paradigm for the international community to become directly involved, then the world will be effectively relegating the containment of this disease that threatens Africa and other countries to three of the poorest nations in the world.”
Further testimony by Ken Isaacs clarifies that they were the entity flying the specimens from the field to the lab in Monrovia. It is a 16 hour drive and a 16 minute flight by helicopter.
Two relief agencies provided all the clinical care for all of the Ebola victims for three countries (Samaritan’s Purse and Doctors without Borders and Samaritan’s Purse has since evacuated).
The testimony Ken Isaacs following from Dr. Frank Glover was both ominous prophetic, as he noted that the Liberian system is unable to cope with the deaths. The Liberian health system (as little as it was) is no longer functioning. Hence the Liberian govt actions at West Point, Monrovia.
Okay, I need to address this unfinished business.
The survivability of virus in various bodily fluids is addressed in these two papers:
Rowe, A.K. et al., J Infect Dis 1999; 179(Suppl 1):S28-35 (PMID: 9988162)
Rodriguez, L.L. et al., J Infect Dis 1999; 179(Suppl 1):S170-6 (PMID: 9988181)
These are not the only papers on the subject, but are representative of the type and quality of paper that address it.
As you will be able to see in the papers, RNA was isolated from several bodily fluids even 100 or more days after first symptoms. This does not mean much, however, since RNA alone is not infectious. Also, no RNA was present in any sample collected 700 days after symptoms, so all residual virus *does* eventually clear.
However, Rodriguez et al. went a step further and cultured virus from the samples. Through virus culture, they found infectious virus in a semen sample collected 82 days after symptoms first appeared (table 1). Note that patients I and J had RNA in the semen for a longer period, but it was not verified to be infectious.
I saw somewhere that people are now recommended to avoid sexual relations for 7 weeks after resolution of disease. That is not sufficient, IMO. The recommendation should be for 3 full months (12 weeks) or maybe longer, to incorporate a good buffer zone. Ideally, they should test to verify that all viral RNA has cleared before giving the patient a green light, although that is probably costly and inconvenient.
I do recall reading that a man gave Ebola to his wife 6 weeks after he recovered, but I have not been able to locate that reference again.
There is some evidence that virus persists in breast milk, as well, but this has barely been addressed in the papers I have read. In one paper (Bausch et al., J Infect Dis 2007; 196:S142–7; PMID: 17940942), RNA was found 15 days after disease onset. This may not be as big a transmission factor as virus in semen since Ebola is so deadly to babies that a pregnant or breastfeeding mother probably already lost her baby by the time she recovers or dies from Ebola.
You may use this information as you wish.
Memo to self. Do not hire a recent Ebola survivor as a wet nurse...
LOL
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