Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Is The Zombie Apocalypse Already Upon Us?

If not, then it sure may be about to happen. No, of course I do not mean real flesh eating zombies whose whole existence would be centered around taking a bite out of you. I mean something that may be worse. Worse because as opposed to walking dead, with body parts made of rotting flesh, that are obviously infected with the zombie bug, I mean folks infected with what may soon become known as a worldwide plague and they are nowhere nearly as obvious as zombies once infected.

The head of the CDC has reportedly just declared that it may become impossible to stop the current Ebola epidemic in Africa and that all nations of the world must be concerned because it may go global. "Dr. Frieden told Fox News that unless urgent action is taken to contain the epidemic, it may be impossible to stop"
(source). He also reportedly said that all nations of the world must do something to help get it under control before it spreads to other nations. "“It’s not just in the interest of these countries to get it under control. For every day that this continues to spread in West Africa, the likelihood of someone getting infected and becoming sick elsewhere increases,” he told reporters" (source).

Now mind you, this is not like a Global Warming kook trying to spread panic with misinformation and outright deceit by way of editing or destroying weather data; this is the head of the U.S. Government's medical arm, telling us that based upon hard evidence, that is in front of our noses and that is continuing to develop right now on a daily basis, about its rate of spread so far - he thinks it is almost too late to stop it. To date, in the current outbreak, approximately 3,069 been infected by Ebola and 1,552 have been killed by it (source). That is over a 50% fatality rate and that is based on the known cases. My guess would be that in the Ebola ridden countries in Africa, where communication and medicine are both lacking in effectiveness, there may be many unreported cases of illness and death due to this scourge.

The truly sad thing is that not only is this disease spreading because of ignorance, superstition and fear - in at least one case it was spread apparently because of possible negligence. Another doctor, this one from the USA, failed to wear protective gear while working in a hospital wherein Ebola patients were being treated. The reason he reportedly did not wear the gear was because it made it too hot to work. While not actually working in the Ebola ward, it has been reported that he treated a woman he suspected of having Ebola and did not wear his protective suit while doing so. He now has the disease himself (source). It only goes to prove the ditty that 'if you cannot stand the heat, you should stay out of the kitchen' (or in this case - out of the Ebola zone.) I mean no triviality by saying that, I mean it as a dire warning to those who are working there.

The newly sickened doctor could probably have prevented his own infection or at least greatly reduced the chances of him becoming infected had he worn protective gear that was available to him. According to Dr. Jeff Deal, who worked art the same hospital as the newly infected doc, "...no one who has followed the proper protocols has fallen sick.”(source). Anyone who considers working there, has to realize beforehand, the seriousness of the current outbreak and the chances of themselves being infected and THEY ABSOLUTELY MUST ACT IN A COMPLETELY RESPONSIBLE MANNER WHEN WORKING IN THE PLAGUED AREAS. That they must utilize proper protective is of the highest importance to prevent the spread of the disease to themselves and thus to prevent themselves from becoming vectors for Ebola. Because they may be brought back to their home countries for treatment, if they are sickened with Ebola, they need to realize that the safety of the world at large could depend on them. Should they be brought to their own countries for treatment, they will have become potential vectors for infection in their home nations and possibly in any other nations along the route.

We don't need to add infected medical personnel the potential amount of people out there who may be carriers that can spread this disease and yes they are out there as is the potential of worldwide infection. I feel I must repeat this reported quote from the head of the CDC: "“It’s not just in the interest of these countries to get it under control. For every day that this continues to spread in West Africa, the likelihood of someone getting infected and becoming sick elsewhere increases,”" Heck, it already is sort of a zombie apocalypse in Africa. So let's hope that the medical professionals who are combatting it act responsibly to do everything in their power to prevent it's spread because it could turn into a worldwide zombie apocalypse of sorts should outbreaks occur on distant shores.

All the best,
Glenn B

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