Ebloa and YOU - FACTS vs. Fiction

(Colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus)

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Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe! YES! Yes it has been a very long time since I wrote or published here at The Other Shoe. Now, as for that and the reasons for my absence? I will leave that for another article later this week. Look for that information in an all new edition of ‘Notes from Behind the Keyboard’. I anticipate that article to be published on Thursday or Friday of this week. Finally, before we get to the subject at hand, I would like to announce that ‘The Horror in Smithville’ will not conclude before or on Halloween… this year. The story, and the one after this one, will continue here for the next several months… or years.

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My Dear Readers, first I am going to tell you a story. A story of the incident that lead me back to my writing and back to this blog with this article in my heart, mind and soul. Alas, I am going to share a few teasers in this paragraph. So! If you do not like spoilers, and would like this week’s reading (and next week’s, too) without any spoilers? Just move on to the second next paragraph, eh? My Dear Readers my cancer has really reared its ugly head, over the past three weeks. That has been the reason (behind the scenes) for my extended absence. Last week I had; another ‘Full Body CT Scan with Contrast’, an Ultrasound of my thyroid, and another MRI of my head, neck and upper torso. This has lead me to be ‘out’ among the masses, more than usual. Well, Allen and I were out and about and we see this middle aged woman, Anglo, with a ‘Particle Mask’ over her mouth and nose. You know, one of those one would use for sanding and painting.

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.[FYI Spoilers are OVER!]

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FYI those are completely useless for stopping something like ebola. So, I just couldn’t help it… I mention that fact to this woman.

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“Hello… why are you wearing a particle mask?”

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Woman responds-

“It is to protect me from ebola!”

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I resist the urge to laugh (for the moment), and respond-

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“You do know that ebola is not airborne and that painting particle mask will do nothing to stop anything but a cold or maybe the flu, right?”

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The woman harrumphs to my statement and merely responds with-

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“Well, that is what they said about AIDS!”

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NOW(?) I am laughing maniacally! I just cannot help myself; I break out into deep loud and unbridled laughter!

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Allen and I go about our business, for that day, but it is in that moment that I realized that I simply must write an article to share FACTS about ebola and dispel FICTION!

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My Dear Readers it has come to my attention that (some) ‘Conservative’ media outlets and ‘conservative’ politicians are spreading falsehoods about ebola. SOME ‘conservatives’ are spreading falsehoods and sewing seeds of fear in the American populace just before elections next week. Spreading fear and falsehoods and proffering that “president Obama is not doing enough to protect the American people from this growing threat” (FYI- THAT statement was taken directly from a very popular show on a very popular ‘conservative’ network.. I witnessed this myself).

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Therefore, I have taken upon myself to write and try to dispel some of these blatant falsehoods, and (hopefully) alleviate some fear. I feel that it is my duty to try to counter some of the fear mongering that is taking place, just before this mid-term election. For anyone that has worked, and studied well, in the medical industry? You will know and understand the difference between these disease spreading modalities.

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Infectious disease: A disease caused by a microorganism and therefore potentially infinitely transferable to new individuals. May or may not be communicable. Example of non communicable is disease caused by toxins from food poisoning or infection caused by toxins in the environment, such as tetanus.

Communicable disease: an infectious disease that is contagious and which can be transmitted from one source to another by infectious bacteria or viral organisms.

Contagious disease: a very communicable disease capable of spreading rapidly from one person to another by contact or close proximity.

(Disease transmission information thanks to the CDC web site[1])

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Let’s take, as an example, the ‘Common Cold’. A Rhinovirus that is highly contagious, in that it can be passed as airborne particles from a ‘wet cough’ or sneeze by an infected and symptomatic patient. Aye, THERE’S the RUB! For there to be a transfer of ebola from one human to another? First- the infecting patient must be symptomatic! They must have a high fever, chills, muscle pain and sore throat. Even a person with ebola that is not yet symptomatic cannot spread the ebola virus.

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Further, ebola is NOT airborne! It cannot be passed through the air. Contrary to some) ‘news’ reports the ebola virus is NOT “mutating”! It is NOT in the process of changing methods of infection or modality. Anyone that tells you that, or makes a statement of that in ‘news’ or other broadcast is merely engaging in fear mongering. Now, I have put the majority of this article in my own words. Now, I am going to hand over the rest of this information to the experts. The World Heath Organization (WHO) has more real life experience dealing with ebola than any organization on the planet.

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[caption id="attachment_3746" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Ebola Signs and symptoms[/caption]

(Image thanks to Centers for Disease Control Web Site)

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Symptoms of Ebola include

• Fever


• Severe headache


• Muscle pain


• Weakness


• Diarrhea


• Vomiting


• Abdominal (stomach) pain


• Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)

Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days.

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Key facts

• Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.


• The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.


• The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.


• The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas.


• Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe burials and social mobilisation.


• Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment proven to neutralise the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.


• There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.[2] (From World Health Organization web site[3])


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Further, here are some more salient FACTS about ebola.

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Here is great information on just how ebola can be transmitted!

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[caption id="attachment_3747" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Ebola Transmission[/caption]

(Image thanks to Centers for Disease Control Web Site)

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Transmission

It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.

Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.

Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.

Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.

People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.[4]

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So, My Dear Readers, one can clearly and easily see that ebola simply cannot be transmitted via airborne contact. An uninfected person MUST come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected and SYMPTOMATIC patient. Period.

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[caption id="attachment_3744" align="aligncenter" width="569"] Ebola Virus[/caption]

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Now, I promised myself that I will keep my re-introduction to writing and publishing… limited. I am going to do my best to keep the first articles short, and only write three times a week. I hope to publish, again, on Tuesday or Thursday. I will not be publishing on Wednesday… as I am going back to my oncologist on Wednesday. I am returning to chemotherapy. But, that is a story for another day.

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Before I go I would like to share a handful of other sources for good information on ebola:

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• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – This is the link to their area for ebola information: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/


• Mayo Clinic / Ebola virus and Marburg virus – This is a great source of more advanced information on ebola from the Mayo Clinic - http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ebola-virus/basics/causes/con-20031241


• National Institutes of Health / Ebola Virus Disease – This is a very good source of fundamental information and advanced information, too. http://www.nih.gov/health/ebola.htm

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Now, My Dear Readers, having shared this information I would like to express my deep concern about the way certain elements in our political universe have used this disease. First, there is no need to “stop all flights into and out of areas with this disease”. That is just ignorance meant to stir up fear and to act out of ignorance. We need to keep moving people (medical and support personnel) into and out of these effected areas. It is illogical to stop all air traffic, and in the end, it will make the situation worse! These (few ‘conservative’) governors that are implementing draconian measures based not in science but in fear. We need to monitor, closely, all people that come out of the effected areas… IF they came in contact with symptomatic patients! I am just deeply offended and deeply upset by this politicalization of a deadly disease!

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Finally, My Dear Readers, I am very happy to be back. I will do my best to keep writing and publishing all through my chemotherapy and treatments. I have every intention to complete ‘The Horror in Smithville’ as the story unfolds in my head. I was wrong to try and put some artificial deadline on this work, I realize that now. You see, just in the past two days I have had several major revelations about character development and pot lines… that, well, I would have totally missed out on if I had stuck to the deadline of Halloween!

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I will be back tomorrow or Thursday. I do hope that you, My Dear Readers, will be bac… too!

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Adieu!

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Thank you!

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[caption id="attachment_3513" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Danny Arrives for PET Scan[/caption]

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© 2010 – 2014
Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe

 

 

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[1]http://www.bt.cdc.gov/preparedness/quarantine/

[2]http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

[3]http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

[4]http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

News From Around the World - September 25th, 2014

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] News From Around the World[/caption]

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Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. Welcome to a revival of ‘News From Around the World’. I haven’t wrote or published any editions of this series for some time. However, I was looking at some news stories, earlier today, and I decided that now was the time for me to revive this series. Now, there are not going to be a lot of stories, in this first edition, but I am hoping to have more with each following edition.

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This is the story that caught my eye, and persuaded me to write and publish this series, again. With all the troubles in our world, from ISIS… ISIL or whatever they call themselves this week, to the growing discontent of America’s minimum wage workers, to the ever advancing effects of ‘Climate Change’. Our world appears to be a planet stuck in some kind of galactic quicksand. Here is the symptom that has me the most concerned, this week. The DJIA lost over 200 points today! As I am writing this article I see that the DJIA has lost 233.77 points equal to about 1.34% of DJIA total volume.

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“"To us that would signal a threat from the Kremlin that the Russian-U.S.-Europe conflict economically might take a turn for the worse, should it be enacted. They are signaling that unless concessions or negotiations take place, we're prepared to do this," said Jim Russell, senior equity strategist for US Bank Wealth Management. "It's a turn for the worse, it's an unwelcome signaling from the Kremlin that this, a limitation on capital flows to Russia, is a possibility. Maybe the markets are reacting to it," Russell said.””[1].

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This drop comes right on the heals of the S&P 500 jumping the most it has in the past month. Aye, there’s the rub! It might just be me, but when we get “largest drop since___” right after (24 hours earlier) “single one month increase in years…”? Well, that is what I call ‘instability’. Instability in the financial markets. Now where have I heard that before? Oh, yes! I remember now… 2008 – 2011! And, you want to know what doesn’t help? All the nay Sayers and portents of doom coming from a particular network and its affiliates. As I learned when I was a young boy, ‘perception dictates reality’. So, let’s keep track of the pulse of the markets and I will get back to you about this tid-bit of news in October.

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Jumping over to the tech news, we can see that Apple is just not having a good month. YES they did sell something on the order of ten million new iPhones. Then, they (Apple) released a new OS update (iOS 8.0.1) and all the sudden everybody to:

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“The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users who downloaded the iOS update found themselves unable to access cell service or use the TouchID fingerprint sensor,”[2]

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Apple immediately pulled the 8.0.1 update. Here’s the real BITE Apple emailed its users that “"Affected users can reinstall iOS 8 through iTunes,"[3]Which, I mean I don’t know because I do not have any Apple products, but if you just signed a new two year agreement and/or plopped down a big stack o’cash? That is not what I would want to hear from the company I just married my cellular service to for the next two years! Great thing? It ONLY effected the ten million users that just bought iPhone 6!

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Now, as if that is not enough ‘Bad News’ for Apple, seems they have a bug (“Worse than “Hartbleed”) pointed right at its customers. It is called “Bash” and it messed with; Linux, Unix, and MciOS! Here’s the scoop on “Bash”:

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“A major security flaw that could affect Apple's Mac and Linux operating systems has been discovered, with security experts claiming it to be more dangerous than the recent Heartbleed bug. The Shellshock bug creates a vulnerability in "Bash" — software that controls the command prompt on many computers running the Unix operating system. The Shellshock vulnerability could allow hackers to insert malicious pieces of code from a remote location and potentially take control of a machine. "The difference in significance is that with Heartbleed, what somebody could grab credentials of a user and do what they wanted, but in this case, if somebody is vulnerable, it potentially allows someone to get full system control of a victim's system,…”[4]

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That was a quote from David Emm senior security research at Kaspersky lab. Kaspersky has been outing Apple for its security faults and holes for the past three years. Just last year, at a computer security conference in Japan Kaspershy founder Eugene Kaspersky blasted Apple for being “A decade behind Windows OS when it comes to system security…”[5]

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So, in just a matter of a week Apple has ten million brand new iPhone 6 users unable to make phone calls, a brand new bug “Bash” knocking a hole in the Apple iOS, and there lack of focus on system security plaguing them in the tech world. I just cannot be thankful enough that I do not have an iPhone, and iPad, or any other ‘i’ device. However, My Dear Readers, if you do have and use Apple? All I can tell you is that I think there is a Kaspersky product for use on Apple iOS. If there is? BUY IT… INSTALL IT… USE IT! I would hate for any of My Dear Readers have the identity stolen, the bank account drained, or their iPhone high jacked by some high schooler in Russia! I have nothing against ‘i’ products, I just learned and have worked on PC hardware and software since the late 80’s and I just love using a OS I know.

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Now from ‘i’ stuff and Apple to… light bulbs! Well ‘Smart Light Bulbs’. I just caught an article on this all new ‘Smart’ light bulb being developed by “Ex-Tesla and NASA Engineers…”[6] This is not just some gimmick to sell more compact fluorescent bulbs. This is an actual ‘Smart’ device that:

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“work autonomously, both by adjusting light output based on sunlight and by learning and adapting to its owners’ household habits.”[7]

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As device creator, Neil Joesph, see it this is the next step up from Philips Hue and the LIFX. The product is named Alba (alba is Italian for sunrise). Alba uses embedded diodes that work as sensors for; movement, ambient light, occupancy and can even (over time) adapt to the usage patterns of the user. Remembering things like, when a person gets up each day, when they are out of the home for work, and when they arrive back home from work. They speculate that these ‘Smart’ bulbs could cut energy usage by 60% to 80%! Now, that translates to paying for 80% less electricity for lighting you home! That could be tremendous savings in larger homes and businesses. This could be the wave of the future of light sources.

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Finally, we go to Japan for the… well the worst of all the stories I have shared with you, My Dear Readers, today. In the Japanese prefecture of Wakayama… the yearly… dolphin hunting has begun. This is just (for me) a fancy… and culturally allowed yearly slaughter of dolphins!

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“Local fishermen are permitted by the Wakayama prefectural government to hunt an annual quota of nearly 2,000 dolphins and porpoises from seven different species, in accordance with what the government says is traditional practice.”[8]

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Now, My Dear Readers, I cannot even put into words just how much this sickens me. That, each and every year, these people have “a quota of 2,000 dolphins, and porpoises from several different species…”[9] I understand that this is part of a historic ritual, and rite of season that has gone on for hundreds of years prior to understanding what we now do about dolphins and porpoises. However, isn’t it the duty of man to apply knowledge to ancient and barbaric practices… and be learning, end them? Is not that they way mankind grows and develops? Are we not, by allowing and even condoning this activity, hampering the social growth of this community?

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By allowing this to happen, by looking the other way… are we not damning these people to being backward and barbaric? Is it not the responsibility of the larger international community to temper behavior with knowledge? It seems to me, that by allowing this sick and barbaric practice to continue we are relegating these communities to a ‘social Dark Ages’. That it is our responsibility as international neighbors to make sure that sick and barbaric practices, like this one, are ended? Not only for the benefit of the animals, but for the social growth and responsibility of the people.

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Honestly, there is just no ‘Good Reason’ to do this. There is nothing that they ‘get’ from porpoises and dolphins (nutritional wise) that they cannot get from other foods or nutritional supplements. Let me put it another way. Let’s say suddenly we find out that turkeys are highly evolved animals. That they have the potential for language and interspecies communication. I would be The First Son-of-a-gun to STOP eating turkeys! Now, My Dear Readers, I just LOVE turkey meat. Especially the dark meat, right? However, if I were to find out that these turkeys were just as smart as dolphins. Had the capability of language just like dolphins… and started looking as cute as dolphins… (OK, drop the last one there). I seriously would be the first in line to STOP EATING TURKEYS!

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So, again, WHY are we giving the Japanese communities a pass on killing these sentient creatures? If I had the money… the ability to travel… and someone to help me. I would go there and throw myself between these barbarians and the dolphins! Period!

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Well now, My Dear Readers, that brings us to the end of this revival of ‘News From around the World’ here at The Other Shoe. As most of you are aware, I am running a running campaign at Indiegogo to help me with the mounting costs of battling my cancer. Danny’s Cancer Treatment Fund at Indiegogo is now in its FINAL WEEK! That’s right only seven more days for me to raise as much money as I can! I hate to be so brutally honest, but I am a ‘man on a mission’. A mission to raise money to help me with; transportation costs, pharmacy costs, treatment costs, and home care costs.

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I only hope that you, My Dear Readers, take a moment to two and look at the campaign web site. Read some of the materials. Look at some of the images and scans pics. The give so that I might live cancer free, someday. I am working as hard as I can. Often writing and publishing TWO ARTICLES A DAY! I would not ask if this were not a life-or-death situation. Please understand that I do need your help.

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Adieu!

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Thank YOU!
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Danny's Cancer Treatment Fund @ Indiegogo

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Danny in Rolling Hills Estates August 12, 2014

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© 2010 – 2014 Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe