March 24, 2014

Just wonderful - Ebola in North America

Possibility of a case of Ebola in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I know about the current outbreak inland from the coastal city of Conakry, Guinea and that it had spread to neighboring Liberia. From The Vancouver Sun:
Ebola virus feared in man critically ill in Saskatoon
Public health officials may find out Tuesday what ails a man stricken with what may be Ebola virus.

The man, who was recently in the West African country of Liberia, is now critically ill and isolated in a Saskatoon hospital with a viral hemorrhagic fever, a top Saskatchewan public health official announced Monday.

�It�s very dramatic and scary to hear about Ebola, but it�s very unlikely to spread, and certainly, once the person is quarantined, it�s very safe,� University of Regina microbiologist Andrew Cameron said.

Included in the general class of viral hemorrhagic fevers are Ebola fever, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, dengue fever, and Marburg hemorrhagic fever.

Health care workers have sent the patient�s specimens to the national microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg for a diagnosis, said deputy chief medical health officer Dr. Denise Werker. Some test results are expected back today.
And There to Here for this Patient Zero was in something called an Airplane. A sealed tube that flies through the skies loaded with about 200 to 300 other poor souls; everyone breathing the same air for ten to fifteen hours. If this turns out to be true Ebola, it will be an interesting test of Canada's National Health system and I hope that Dr. Werker has a solid and tireless staff. I was trained as a biologist and epidemics are something I follow with a morbid curiosity. One will come here but I really hope that it is not now... Posted by DaveH at March 24, 2014 9:58 PM
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