The Future of Cruising Post-Outbreak

[boatman61]

Be interesting to see how many 'Close' friends the US soldiers going over there will have when they get home...
I cannot understand the logic of shipping the sick home.. surely the transportation home just spreads the threat of an outbreak.. better to have a super clinic/incubation whatever dedicated to the health workers over there..
Lets face it once the virus has got to the stage where its started liquidising your innards all the life support systems in the world are not gonna save you.. mercy killing is the best option.. followed by incineration...
Unless I suppose watching the whole grisly scenario time and time again will impart some spark of inspiration leading to a cure...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by zeehag

the sky is falling the sky is falling
we all gonna die...
omy omy omy
we all gonna freeking die.....
the sky is falling i dont know why
mebbe the worry is the excuse you need to remain safely at the dock.... just a thought......
sensationalism... sky is falling... sheesh. yet so many believe in what is dictated to them from the doctrine reports and programming
me, i choose to be free.
freedom does not include worrying over stuff i can do nothing about that causes the sky to fall.

what do ye think happens in life--we all die
of something.
keep yer hands clean, feed chicken little good corn, and keep on living.
why worry when all worry does is make you die earlier..

LOL...
Not worried.. just amused/amazed at the utter stupidity of the 'Sheltered Classes'.. the politico's who's main talent is kissing butt or the studio couch for cigar lessons to get where they are..
Obviously did not take 'Common Sense' at Uni..

[zeehag]

mebbe the act of sky falling will smother only the scared and allow the free to breathe.....


stay tuned for updates here on channel lksdfihfqg[agcfxz_W23t9r your active nooze station

[hellosailor]

"Actually in the (northern) western world - an Ebola epidemic is unlikely. Ebola is not an airborne virus. You have to have contact with body fluids."
Yes and no, and apparently there is not enough information yet to know the true answers. For instance, the Liberian in Texas contacted five family members. Of the five, four refused to remain at home and had to be physically quarantined by police. Public failure to cooperate and mistrust of officials will be a large factor.
Then there is the Spanish nurse who came down with it, despite "having and using" all the right precautions and protocols, supposedly. The Spanish authorities are looking into how she contracted it, they are baffled at this early date.
And while the virus must be transferred by fluids, it has also been reported by medical authorities that the virus can remain infectious in fluids that are six hours old. So if a victim spits on the sidewalk and the spittle is picked up by a dog or a shoe...six hours later it may infect the next person? No one knows, the data aren't available yet.

Since the virus apparently has a large native home in primates and fruit bats, there is no way it will be stopped or contained until and unless a major immunization campaign happens. And since there are no proven vaccines and the "host" countries have no funds for a campaign anyhow....this is just the start of the problem.

Then that's also ignoring the bioterror aspect. I fully expect a dozen Jihadi Martyrs will infect themselves and then disperse to Satan's Realm to spread the disease. Who could ask for an easier and better source for a biological weapon? Cheap and simple.

The world forgets the many epidemics in the first half of the 20th century. That WW1 literally was ended by the deaths from the Spanish Flu, more than any other reason. As the Hitchhiker's Guide says, "Don't Panic". But this could very easily become a very large train crash.

[rognvald]

I agree completely with Kenomac . . . especially the concept of PC. And, as a further response, we are being threatened daily by diseases of the undeveloped nations of the world(I call them Third World)that were eradicated in the U.S. Canada and Europe over 70 years ago(I didn't forget NZ, OZ and SA). In spite of the advances of modern medicine that have been developed in the West, a plague similar to the one in Europe that killed 60% of its population and over 80% of the world's population in the 14th Century is not impossible today- especially in countries like S. America, Mexico, Central America, the Middle East, Africa,and the Philippines which would be the ideal breeding grounds with their poverty impaired populations and lack of modern medicine outside large cities. The Kumbaya approach to humanity and contagious disease might have had popularity among the pot induced philosophers of the 60's, but have no place in 21st Century reality . . . not that I have anything against "pot induced philosophers." Love and Peace with a good dose of reality-Rognvald.

[Delancey]

Why worry? For purely selfish reasons I assure you.

Estimated 1,400,000 infected by January x 60% mortality rate = 840,000 dead people.

Besides your own personal health and well being, you should be worried about your bank account. If I was retired, living on a fixed income, had a bunch of money in the stock market, or was trying to go cruising on $500 a month, I'd be especially worried. There's no way this thing isn't going to affect the economy.

Tourism in SARS affected countries declined by as much as 70% which had a cascade affect on secondary businesses.

The first outbreak of Chikungunya in the western hemisphere was in the Caribbean, BTW. Just in case you were wondering.

[atoll]

not too worried about the sky falling...that happens every evening.......

but it is the travelling through major airport hubs regularly that gives me the whillies,last time i flew easyjet a few weeks ago i thought i had ebola......but fortunately it was only flu,still i had a fever for 3 days.......and the girlfriend was not there to look after me...or the wife....serious man flu is a killer

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Tingum

Good grief, why is everyone going nuts over this. Malaria kills over 600,000 a year in Africa. Ebola has yet to get to 3,000. SHUT OFF FOX NEWS!

Originally Posted by atoll

yeah but malaria is preventable,curable,and you can't catch it from your family pet,let along someone sweaty on the bus sitting next to you

AND Malaria does not have a 50-90% fatality rate.

It is also still questionable if Ebola requires contact with body fluid to spread. The US Government had a bunch of monkey in a research lab that all died from Ebola. The monkeys did not have physical access to each other so someone either spread Ebola by mistake or Ebola spread by air.

Later,
Dan

[s/v Beth]

I am not saying we should panic and do something crazy. But I do think you should think about how you are going to act with Ebola in you community. We just had training for Ebola in my hospital- in backwoods Utah, USA. Now if we think it will come here, there are not too many communities that will escape impact.
You may look around and find a clean water source/storage. You may look to see how you would do if you were not allowed to get in groups for a year. The flu in 1918 is a good example of stopping contagion by isolation.
Now as I said before, it seems to be a large virus that is easily killed, but it never hurts to be aware of your situation. All those that feel their rights are being violated are free to do what they want, but don't come to me for treatment if you do.
And BTW- keeping a dog that has been exposed alive, unless it is to get antibodies, is nuts. All animals that are carriers need to be put down. That or placed where they can never spread the virus.
And Dan- I am aware of those studies. Ebola has been transmitted by air in the lab, but no documented transmission by air in the wild.

[JPA Cate]

There's little good to come from being terrified of any particular death. Like Zee mentioned, we all will. If you have a practical plan to avoid ebola, do it. Normal health practices like washing your hands after going to the toilet, or handling animals, and before handling food,

For myself, I don't want to allow someone else to kill me (the mercy killing mentioned above), but I would support doctors allowing people to self administer the dose that would take them out, some advantages to that, with an orderly progression to cremation of infectious remains.

However, I expect that only a small percentage of humans will want to do this.

I remember when AIDs first was identified, and we were worried that mosquitoes would be vectors for it. That was a time of deep concern, and lack of knowledge. What eventually helped was the orderly gathering of data and developing approaches for helping people. Africa, with her lack of western style infrastructure, suffered most.


We never know in advance what will be the death of us or when that will happen.

The only reasonable course is to make your choices (and if it's to go cruising, that is mainly a healthy lifestyle), you live and die by them, in any event.

So what's to be afraid of? making a mistake? Do your research.

My 2 cents.

Ann

P.S. Tingum's right, TURN OFF FOX NEWS!

[boatman61]

[QUOTE=hellosailor;1648893]"Actually in the (northern) western world - an Ebola epidemic is unlikely. Ebola is not an airborne virus. You have to have contact with body fluids."
Yes and no, and apparently there is not enough information yet to know the true answers. For instance, the Liberian in Texas contacted five family members. Of the five, four refused to remain at home and had to be physically quarantined by police. Public failure to cooperate and mistrust of officials will be a large factor.
Then there is the Spanish nurse who came down with it, despite "having and using" all the right precautions and protocols, supposedly. The Spanish authorities are looking into how she contracted it, they are baffled at this early date.
And while the virus must be transferred by fluids, it has also been reported by medical authorities that the virus can remain infectious in fluids that are six hours old. So if a victim spits on the sidewalk and the spittle is picked up by a dog or a shoe...six hours later it may infect the next person? No one knows, the data aren't available yet.
QUOTE]

Folks tend to forget.. every time you cough or sneeze your expelling bodily fluids at high velocity into your immediate vicinity..

[southpaw]

I suspect that the infected US citizens were brought to the US to facilitate work on a vaccine. Germany has flown in 3 infected people, and they are not German citizens. Besides the humanitarian aspect of a vaccine, huge amounts of money will be made.

For well-informed, non-sensational information see
www.psandman.com/col./Ebola-2.htm (long but well worth reading)
www.flutracker.com

[Delancey]

Soon to be cold and flu season, lot's of people traveling for the holidays.

Some may think I am a little crazy, newt seems pretty sane to me though. Hard for me to hear to what he is saying and not expect my hometown NYC to go unaffected.

I used to work as a hotel designer. Tourism means a lot to this city. The pre-Christmas season is especially important.

Meanwhile, it's that time of year when I see a lot of boats from Canada and the Great Lakes passing though the city headed towards points south. I hope to see them pass this way again in the spring.

[hpeer]

I always wear a seat belt. Does that make me a worried person? Or am I just prepared in the event of the worst because I educated myself?

Worry alone is useless. Considered action in the face of a threat is smart.

[hpeer]

Newt,

Just to be clear, today is not 1918. Our urban population is much greater.

Can you provide any practical examples of how "isolation" would be effected in one of our major urban areas without killing the lock economy.

Think, oh say Boston or Atlanta, not Utah.