Woman dies from Ebola Virus on Virgin Atlantic Flight

[F4Gunfighter]

A WOMAN who arrived in London on a flight from Africa yesterday is reported to have died from the deadly and contagious ebola virus.

Panic has spread among cabin crew and hospital staff after the death of the 38-year-old Briton.

The unnamed woman is understood to work at an embassy in the African kingdom of Lesotho.

Before boarding a Virgin Atlantic flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow she visited a doctor complaining of flu-like symptoms.

She was allowed to fly, but during Flight VS602 to the UK she suffered a violent fit which left her unconscious.

Cabin crew and passengers rushed to her aid but towards the end of the flight she began to vomiting.


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When the Airbus A340-600, carrying 267 passengers and crew, touchdown at Heathrow she was rushed to nearby Hillingdon Hospital, West London.


Her symptoms matched those of the viral haemorraghing fever, ebola. The results of a post mortem are awaited.


Virgin Atlantic cabin crew who came into contact with the woman have been told to monitor their health. One said: "We are now terrified what we may have caught."


Deadly ebola is often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obj...headline=killer-bug-air-scare--name_page.html
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If this is true, shouldn't the passengers and flight crew be isolated?

 

[CGTech]

Most of them should be ok unless its an airborne vector.

 

[Satanta]

I thought Ebola took more than a few hours and had much more severe symptoms while doing it- you know, bleeding from the eyes and such, real horrow show kind of things going on...

 

[CelticRose]

Just curious, but since ebola has a near 100% mortality rate (IIRC)and since the passenger who died seemed to have been further along in its progression that she outwardly appeared; might it not have made sense to consider a temporary quarantine of all those on the flight? Is it possible that the woman had a new variant on ebola? After all, there has been much talk / innuendo / rumor of various groups / nations / individuals trying to weaponize ebola ............

 

[mbabulldog]

Are they sure it was Ebola? Some of those inflight meals are pretty questionable!

 

[blueridge]

Ebola (if that's really what it turns out to be) and Panic travelling along at just under the speed of sound.

What Interesting times we live in.

 

[F4Gunfighter]

From the CDC website.


The incubation period for Ebola HF ranges from 2 to 21 days. The onset of illness is abrupt and is characterized by fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. A rash, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients.

 

[Chronicles]

THIS should be WATCHED, closely !

If these other passengers, get to the masses with a new fast acting haemorraghing fever, ebola bug, well ya'll know the deal. This could make the bird flu a non issue.

off seachering for details, will be back..

 

[don24mac]

Pretty nasty, and yes, there is at least one strain that can be transmitted through the air. Her symptoms do match the secondary phase. The bleeding occurs in the final stage, along with the vomiting.

http://www.tarakharper.com/v_ebola.htm

 

[Chronicles]

20 May 2006
EBOLA FEARS AS BRIT DIES
Woman collapses on packed flight
By Stephen Moyes

A WOMAN is feared to have died from ebola after taking ill on a plane home from Africa yesterday.

Passengers and crew on the flight to Heathrow are understood to be panicking that they have contracted the contagious virus.

They helped the Briton when she was vomiting and bleeding. Some even shared their drinks with her.

Last night, tests were being run to confirm whether she had the haemorraghic fever.

The 38-year-old was on Virgin Atlantic flight VS602 from Johannesburg. It is understood she worked at an embassy in Lesotho.

She had visited a doctor before the flight complaining of flu symptoms and was told she could fly.

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But during the trip, she suffered a fit that knocked her unconcious.

Cabin crew and passengers passed her drinks and did all they could to help. At around 3am, she started to vomit heavily and began bleeding.

When the Airbus A340-600, carrying 249 passengers and 18 crew, touched down at 7am she was rushed to nearby Hillingdon Hospital.

Hospital staff treated her as if she had ebola as her symptoms matched those of the virus. She died in hospital.

Cabin crew who came into contact with the woman have been told to monitor their health over the next week.

A hospital spokesman said: "A patient was brought to our accident and emergency department on May 19 after falling ill on a flight to Heathrow.

"As a precautionary measure, the patient was initially treated as if infectious. Tests are still ongoing to establish the nature of the illness."

A Virgin spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a female passenger taken ill on flight VS602 subsequently died at Hillingdon Hospital.

"Virgin Atlantic would like to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of the passenger."

One cabin crew member said: "Those people who came into contact with the dead woman are terrified at what might have been caught."

The virus is transmitted by direct contact with infected body fluids. There is limited evidence of human-to-human airborne transmission.



http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/t...line=ebola-fears-as-brit-dies--name_page.html



ALSO FOUND THIS:
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23468/
SNIP:
The biolab, called the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory, has been controversial since September 2003, when the NIH's National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease chose Boston over other competing cities. The $178 million lab, consisting of biosafety levels (BSL) 2, 3, and 4, would be one of only a dozen labs in the country authorized to conduct research on incurable fatal diseases such as Ebola virus.

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I will keep an eye out for any updates on the passingers of the Air Bus Flight..

 

[WalknTrot]

Many hemorrhagic nasties come out of Africa. It could be one of a number of diseases.

The article is lacking much information i.e. a time line and whether there was an active virus problem in the population at point of origin.

Sensationalism...thy name is the British press.

 

[Chronicles]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20218737.htm

By Abu Arqam Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, May 20 (Reuters) - Health officials in Pakistan's Kashmir said on Saturday authorities were testing for a suspected outbreak of the potentially deadly Congo virus among survivors of last October's devastating earthquake.

The suspected cases were found in Nauseri village, 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad.

"We suspect an outbreak of Congo virus in the area and we have dispatched a special team there to assess the situation," Sardar Mahmood Ahmed Khan, district health officer in Muzaffarabad, told Reuters.

"We received three persons with symptoms suggesting they had contracted the viral haemorrhagic fever," Khan added.

Congo virus is found in many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia and belongs to the same family as the deadly Ebola virus found in Africa.

Doctors say people contract the virus from direct contact with blood or other infected tissues from livestock, and they can also become infected from a tick bite.

Rashad Akhundov, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, said eight patients suffering from high fever and altered consciousness had been referred to the aid agency's health centre in the city.

"We cannot confirm Congo fever but they have been transferred from Muzaffarabad and are on their way to Islamabad," Akhundov said.




OLDER STORY that Confirms EBOLA OUTBREAK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2776719.stm

 

[Shock Wave Rider]

If someone is sick and dies on a flight of an unknown disease, the people on the flight should be quarantined to prevent an outbreak... this is obvious... and why didn't this happen?

 

[night driver]

SWR I'll agree with you but I sure don't want to be the one who tries to close the doors on that unloading ramp....

Having said that, MOST Ebola's are body fluid transfer viri. NOT airborne....

Congo-Crimea is a body fluid transfer disease.

MOST of the hemoragic's are body fluid transfer.


AM I saying "Nothing to see here...move along"? NO!!

THis DOES need to be watched and followed..... It's just that, well, we don't have enough info for even paniced or hyperbolic or frenzied speculation. MUCH less INFORMED speculation...

I would suggest a return to watchful waiting....


c

 

[Perpetuity]

Some even shared their drinks with her.

What a loss of common sense! I won't even share a drink with my wife, much less a sick stranger on a plane that appears to be getting vomitos necros. If/when H5N1 (or any contagious disease) goes pandemic, with behavior like this, we're sunk as a species.

I just edited to add: why wasn't there a quarantine for the other fliers? Back to the H5n1/communicable quandry:a case like this if the victim did have a transmitable disease would have spread this very efficently via the airplane HVAC to the other passengers onboard. It is cases like this that will help spread ANY pandemic when actions that are already in place are not observed, i.e. quarantine or medical observation.

 

[CanadaSue]

Let's slow down a bit

First yes, it could be any number of viral hemorrhagic fevers. If it indeed turns out to be a filovirus, the only airborne strain known in Ebola Reston which is known to be airborne among... maquaces, I think; possibly a few other species of apes. Several animal caregivers at the quarantine facility in Reston tested out to have abtibodies without ever having been ill.

The highest risk for other passengers would be to those who shared drinks, (never EVER share ANYTHING), with the poor woman on the flight. Anyone who touched her is also at risk.

Believe it or not, these folks do NOT have to be quarantined. They do have to not touch family members & other loved ones during the incuabtiuon period & obviously moniter themselves for symptoms.

I looked up the flight - it's a direct Heathrow - J'burg - Heathrow flight. I'd be really interested in knowing if she stopped anywhere between her place of employment, (Lesotho) & J'burg.

Excellent that the immediate assumption at hospital was that she HAD Ebola or something comparable. That alone - if it proves to be something so awful, will save on secondary cases.

The crew & passengers who halped her have a long terrifying wait. The minute the pathogen is ID'd, if not sooner, some very fast epidemiological work needs to be done both in Lesotho & J'burg.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

If someone is sick and dies on a flight of an unknown disease, the people on the flight should be quarantined to prevent an outbreak... this is obvious... and why didn't this happen?

This is the BIG QUESTION that every one of us should be asking.



Why in the Blue Blazes did they not quarantine the passengers on that flight?


Are they WANTING these folks to spread Ebola among their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and those who shop in the same places they shop?


How many of those passengers took a flight from London to the U. S.?


How many of those passengers will have contact with other folks who are headed back to the U. S. (maybe even your community) in the next few days?


Who in the #&!#$@&!! authorized their getting off the plane to infect the rest of the world?

 

[CanadaSue]

That's the norm

A frighteningly high proportion of flights deplane pretty sick passengers, some of them prewtty clearly ill with what could easaily be transmissible illnesses.

Now I don't know when the flight landed, vis a vis when she got sick. But you can be pretty sure she was in pretty bad shape on the plane & the captain would have radioed in all details he had. She was treated as though she had a filo when she reached hospital - I can only hope she was transported in similar fashion. If not, here's a nightmare for ya...

was that ambulance thoroughly disinfected immediately after she was taken off it? Or did it go right back into service? Filos are pretty fragile but an early London area morning would probably have weather conditions permitting the virus to live on for a few hours.

If this was strongly suspected to be a filo or other hemorrohagic virus; well a few could be justification for immediate isolation, at least for some hours, of all aboard that flight, but believe me, that's a tough sell. More appropriately, anyoine in contact with her or using bathrooms she may have used, baggage handlers, etc. should have been offered isolation.

 

[msswv123]

CS

doesn't bird flu have a haemorraghic aspect?

 

[Shacknasty Shagrat]

This is the BIG QUESTION that every one of us should be asking.



"Why in the Blue Blazes did they not quarantine the passengers on that flight?"

And all your other very good questions.

I see it as systemic impotence, they have the brains to recognize the problem, but not the balls to do anything about it.

My suggestions for rational protocols in such cases would involve a baseline of data on possible exposures. Cheap, simple, any EMT can do vitals, contact info. and system with someone with fingers or devices to use a telephone for regular follow up.
What these boobs seem to be doing with their fingers is another thread.

 

[ainitfunny]

She may have thrown up more than once. Did she use the aircraft BATHROOM to clean up after vomiting?? (Leaving the entire bathroom loaded with e-bola for the next person visiting the bathroom??) Most people who throw up go to the bathroom to clean themselves up.

How well was the aircraft sanitized and were the AIRCRAFT CLEANING PEOPLE advised they may be cleaning up e-bola?? IF NOT, We could see the MAINTENENCE WORKER get the disease,pass it to their family, their kids schools and bus passengers and stores along the way to her home and work.

 

[Shock Wave Rider]

sharing drinks...
much less a sick stranger on a plane that appears to be getting vomitos necros.

no sheet!!!!

 

[Intergator]

She may have thrown up more than once. Did she use the aircraft BATHROOM to clean up after vomiting?? (Leaving the entire bathroom loaded with e-bola for the next person visiting the bathroom??) Most people who throw up go to the bathroom to clean themselves up.

How well was the aircraft sanitized and were the AIRCRAFT CLEANING PEOPLE advised they may be cleaning up e-bola?? IF NOT, We could see the MAINTENENCE WORKER get the disease,pass it to their family, their kids schools and bus passengers and stores along the way to her home and work.

I would think in her condition, she threw up "insitu".

 

[Mephib]

I have a business associate who took that flight...exchanged e-mails today. I don't know if he knows it was ebola..will check. Yikes!

 

[RAT]

Some of the symptoms of bird flu are bleeding - read it often here in the daily threads...she was in Africa which has bird flu circulating - I'd be more concerned about that right now (human-to-human) than ebola -

 

[night driver]

Ummmm.... before you hyperventilate, how many of YOU would willingly undergo the quarantine you are asking for???


ANYONE who is seriously talking about or planning a back roads bugout should their area be deemed to require a quarantine for whatever health reason, who DEMANDS that an airline quarantine passengers in this situation is being disingenuous at best, and severely hypocritical at worst.


REMEMBER that the "Common Sense Precautions" you are advocating in THIS case might just be the same kind of precautions you are asiduously making plans to subvert in another situation......


C


(BTW - CS, nice to see you pass through again.)

 

[Perpetuity]

Night driver, actually, if I was in this situation, I would want to be quarantined, rather then being released. I'm sure my local hospital here would have no clue how to detect or deal with the possibility of ebola if I were to get sick. If I was in quarantine, I think my chances of surviving might increase if the disease was to show up in my system, since I would be monitored (hopefully) by medical professionals who are well versed in the epidemiology of ebola.

Also, this is hopefully a random case, as compared to an all-out outbreak occuring internationally. Personal rules would change in the event of a widespread pandemic, so my answer may be apt to change in that event, circumstances depending

 

[Fuzzychick]

In all rights this is an alarming situation, but until all is said is done we don't know the definitive diagnosis, those is contact with this woman should have been put into quarantine, but like Sue said...it's a tough sell without justification, they didn't have that justification when it landed...they probably won't have the justification either if a legitimate BF patient makes the way across the world by air...just something to think about.

 

[CanadaSue]

I'm lazy, I'll x-post myself...

Okay, let's review this. A British citizen, female; who works in some capactiy at the British embassy In Maseru, Lesotho boards Virgin Airways flight VS602 from Johannesburg to Heathrow, (London), .. I'm guessing Thursday night. She's unwell prior to flying home, so unwell she visits a doctor to query the wiesdom of flying home with her 'flu-like symptoms'. He gives her the okay to fly.

Sometime during the night, this sick woman convulses & lapses into unconsciousness. I'm gonna ASSUME she came to, at least at some point if - as reported in several artivcles, crew & fellow passengers attempted to assist her, to the point of sharing drinks with her.

At approximately 0300, she begins to vomit 'neavily' & bleed. Four hours later, the plane touches down & she was transferred to Hillingdon Hospital, treated as though she was infectious, (PPE, presumably), & subsequently died.

Okay, so much for what we KNOW. Now, what might we be able to figure out from the little detail offered so far?

Viral hemorrhagic fevers are rife throughout much of Africa. It READS like a filovirus but may well be Congo Fever or something else that's similar. Most initially present with flu-like symptoms. She did the responsible thing. She checked with a doctor before flying.

We know nothing about this woman. She's a British citizen - perhaps she was Lesothan or South African by birth - in any case, she was posted to the embassy - assuming it's the British embassy. The article speaks of AN embassy, NOT the British embassy. Considering her citizenship, it's most likely the British one. I can almost feel how torn she was. She wanted to go home but felt like crap. Should she fly; was it safe? She probably counted on a miserable flight & hoped that once home, she'd recover in a few days & be able to enjoy her visit. She was on the red eye & perhaps hoped that sleeping throughout the flight would help or at least keep things from getting worse.

We know she never made it but what risks can we consider the others on the plane were subjected to? First... that plane was pretty full but when the seriousness of her predicament was known, the cabin crew would have done their best to keep her isolated from others - for privacy & comfort if nothing else - I don't know how Virgin trains their cabin crew when it comes to health emergencies but Branson is really on the ball when it comes to pandemic risks & he's gotta know that this sort of nightmare would not be an unexpected presentation with a right nasty, transmissible, infectious disease. I hope they were able to at least clear the row she was in.

She threw up & bled, people shared drinks with her. Scary reading but not necessarily that aweful - all depends on how aware cabin crew is, how they're equipped & what they did with that plane AFTER it landed. I bloody well hope that sucker wasn't turned around for a flight out within a few hours!

Okay, I may share a cup of ice water I have with a sick passenger but I sure as hell am NOT gonna drink from it myself afterwards - I can only hope anyone who shared a drink with her thought it through as well. I'm sure most did. I mean how stupid do you have to be? Don't answer that...

The throwing up/bleeding bit has me concerned. This woman had been unconscious... was she still in that state or semi-conscious when she threw up? If so, she would simply have barfed with no warning - who knows what ended up where? It's a good idea to assume the floor, seat & seat ahead of her got it - think large aerosols in not actual... stuff. Bleeding - seats may have been affected even if no one could SEE the blood. (What color is Virgin upholstery?).

Did the cabin crew trying to help her have GLOVES??? I doubt passengers would & it's always a good idea to carry a few in your carry-on. Maybe you're too aware to touch someone that sick but cabin crew are paid to do just that & if they don't have gloves... you may save a life.

In the hours before she passed out - what did she do? Did she drink anything? Did she eat anything? Who handled her dishes? They're at risk. Did she use the toilets - you know, the ones where the lineups are ALWAYS 6-8 people long? The people using the loo immediately after her would be at risk. If she was feeling wobbly, as she almost surely was - did she, on her way back to her seat, balance or brace herself by grasping the tops/backs of seats? Lord knows I've done that enough. So... she walks past you on the way back to her seat & touches the seat top ahead of you. You decide the line is as short as it's gonna be & stand up to go to the loo yourself. You grasp the seat ahead of you to pull yourself up. On your way up the aisle, you scratch that annoying itch at the side of your mouth... it's that easy. Imagine children - shudder.

Okay, it can get worse. Flight crew will have radioed ahead her symptoms, especially the passing out/throwing up/bleeding part. I HOPE the ambulance crew showed up in suits but ya know what? Betcha they didn't. Why not? Imagine the sheer terror of watching an ambulance crew or other special unit board your flight in full biogear, carrying a 'bubble stretcher'. I'm not sure that would easily fit in those nasty narrow aisles. Now if it were up to me - I'd get everyone else off the flight FIRST, as quickly as possible & using exits that mean they don't pass by the passenger but that's me - I don't know what they did.

Anyway, somehow she was transported to hospital. If she wasn't in a special stretcher unit, (bioprotective), I bloody well hope they nuked that ambulance afterwards in terms of disinfection. And the crew that dealt with her. Decon shower, home - no duties the rest of the day.

She was treated as infectious once she got to hospital - we know that much. Hope that means she came in threough an entrance unused by others & went straight to an isolation room. They will have been exquisitely careful with blood draws & handling anything she had on or with her.

Now thankfully, filoviruses are not that easy to catch, unless you're up close & personal with a patient. These are close contact disease viruses & our cultural practices mean it's unlikley we'd ever see anything other than an unfortunate rash of initial secondary cases should a case be imported from where filos lurk.

If, IF this is what this poor woman had, those at highest risk are those who dealt with her before she feel severely ill, as well as perhaps the doctor she saw. Anyone who had contact with her or her belongings should at this point, be notified, given directives as to what to look for & me... I'd be making sure someone called them 2-3 times a day. These people will be petrified - I would be & the calls are crucial for some assurance, not to mention keeping track of any symptom development.

Those who can easily do so should be encouraged to self-quarantine & if not, they must be told emphatically, to be exquisitely careful in their homes & anywhere else they may have to go. In certain occupations, well if they're judged at high enough risk, they should NOT be working. As an example - if I'd tried to help this woman sit up or turn her head AND worked at a nursery school - I'd not be working.

This is a situation that's a tough call for authorities. There's no definitive diagnosis yet, just a woman who was terrifying ill on a crowded flight, who subsequently died of what appears to have been a hemmorhagic fever. Filos aren't airborne & other viral hemorrhagics aren't either.

But if anyone has the least bit of illusion left that we can stop BF from coming in anywhere - get over it now. This woman broke with symptoms while on her flight. What if she hadn't become that ill until... tomorrow? How tough might it have been to track passengers then? Many may have gone on to other destinations & right now, at least those on her flight KNOW they have to be watching for certain symptoms. A country's index case of flu may fly in totally asymptomatically.

Now we don't know this woman has a filovirus & if she does, where the heck did she get it? She doesn't have flu, I'm pretty convinced she's got a VHF - but exactly which one she has we won't know for as bit yet. And if it IS a filo - it's gonna be a very nervous couple of weeks for a lot of people.

Hopefully, secondary cases would be minimal because this is the illness from Hell - the kind where upon if I recieved such a diagnosis, I'd ask for a loaded hand gun to be put within my reach - in all seriousness.

Test of anything bedamned. This is a potential nightmare of it's own.


Added: Yes, BF can have hemorrhagic components but in such a case, I'd first expect to see a ton of people presenting the 'normal' symptoms of flu, albeit with really hasty cases. Homorrhage is an ATYPICAL presentation of H5N1 - most cases have not had it. It still looks, for all intents & purposes, like garden variety flu in MOST cases.

This is not H5N1.

 

[Fuzzychick]

Some of the symptoms of bird flu are bleeding - read it often here in the daily threads...she was in Africa which has bird flu circulating - I'd be more concerned about that right now (human-to-human) than ebola -

Perhaps, but maybe she imported one of those exotic diseases known only in that region of the world, we just don't know all the answers yet.

 

[kittyinva]

If this is Ebola or Marburg it is very bad news for the crew and passengers breathing all that recirculated air. What a mess---this is how pandemics start....

 

[CanadaSue]

Perpetuity...

Whether you're in Sudan, Singapore or Seattle, there's not a danged thing they can do for you with the filos that's worked out well. No treatment, no cure - you either live or you don't, especially as an early transmission generation case. Your cahnces of survival increase, the further away you are from the index cases in terms of how many 'generations' you are from that case. Most of the first cases die - virus seems to be on steroids, early on & as it passages through successive generations of human infection, appears to weaken. It's not clear why.

But - how do you treat fever? Patient hurls up everything. IVs? The site bleeds & the vein collapses & getting close to a filo patient with anything sharp is very hazardous - they twitch, convulse, etc. Even autopsies are done with the bluntest instruments they can manage. About all they can do in a modern setting is make sure you don't infect anyone else & keep secondary infections away - not that those matter with this family of viruses.

 

[Shock Wave Rider]

Nightdriver, I would take quarantine before risking my family in a heart beat!

With that said, I don't plan on ever being in that position.

 

[Fuzzychick]

Sue, alot of unknowns here, it should prove eye popping if they ever give the diagnosis, I myself would stay onboard should I ever was caught up in this and would recommend the same to passengers explaining the implications...I tend to lean on the positive aspect of humanity and would hope many would stay aboard as well...

 

[CanadaSue]

Yeah, that whole responsability thing...

I wish we knew exactly what was said to the passengers & crew. I'll try to find out something, anything if I can...

Me, I'd recognize something like that - perhaps not the exact disease but the potentials. I'd want to stay on the plane until I could be transferred to a location where I didn't risk anyone else's health. That's what I'd LIKE to do. I can see me as a 'just enough money for the trip' tourist trying to make that kind of decision. Will British health authorities cater to my fears by providing a safe location - safe for others? If not, then what do I do?

I suppose I could always go to my hotel & confine myself to my room for the duration - if my booking covered the incubation period. Ask for several bottles of bleach, gloves & such & clean up my own room order dishes. At some point though - the money runs out. Not to mention - what do I tell the cab driver? "I may have been exposed to Ebola. After you deliver me, don't touch the money & don't pick up anyone until you've decontaminated the cab."?

I'm wondering if any authority in Britain was prepared to put up people who might have chosen to voluntarily go into quarantine?

 

[okie medicvet]

whoa...I hope we hear more about this soon..too many questions unanswered with that article..scary stuff!

 

[PCViking]

ya know... the air in the passenger cabin, is recirculated, and filtered and recirculated and filtered.... thru the entire flight... would the filters catch the virus? then at what point would the filters redistribute the virus....

sure gives ya the 'warm fuzzies' about flying... NOT!

 

[CanadaSue]

I REALLY fel for fellow passengers & crew...

I jsut zapped up the CDC's recommendations for air crew who think they may have been exposed. I've included part of a general blurb about the virus but here it is:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/airline.htm


***
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever >


Interim Guidance about Ebola Virus Infection for Airline Flight Crews, Cargo and Cleaning Personnel, and Personnel Interacting with Arriving Passengers
March 2, 2006

Download PDF version formatted for print (34 KB/4 pages)

This interim guidance is intended to assist commercial passenger airlines, cargo and charter carriers, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP), and other relevant agencies in establishing appropriate precautions for Ebola virus infection. Recommendations are based on standard infection control practices and on available epidemiologic information about the Ebola virus.

Overview of Ebola Disease

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often-fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees). The disease is caused by infection with Ebola virus, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) in Africa, where it was first recognized in 1976. The virus is one of two members of a family of RNA viruses called the Filoviridae. There are four identified subtypes of Ebola virus. Three of the four have caused disease in humans: Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, and Ebola-Ivory Coast. The fourth, Ebola-Reston, has caused disease in nonhuman primates, but not in humans.

Although the disease is rare, it has the potential for person-to-person spread, especially among health-care staff and family members or others who care for the patient. Transmission to humans may occur through direct contact with blood or body fluids (e.g., saliva, and urine) of an infected person or animal or through contact with objects that have been contaminated with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person. Spread of the virus between humans has occurred in settings of close contact* with infected persons, such as in hospitals.

The likelihood of contracting any viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), including Ebola, is considered extremely low unless there has been travel to the affected area and direct contact with the body fluids of symptomatic infected persons or animals or with objects that have been contaminated with body fluids. The cause of fever in persons who have traveled or live in areas where VHF is present is more likely to be a common infectious disease, but such persons would need to be evaluated by a health-care provider to be sure.

The incubation period for Ebola hemorrhagic fever ranges from 2 to 21 days. Early symptoms of the disease include with sudden fever, chills, and muscle aches. Around the fifth day after onset of symptoms, a skin rash can occur. Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea may follow. Symptoms become increasingly severe and may include jaundice, severe weight loss, mental confusion, shock, and multi-organ failure.

The prevention of Ebola virus infection includes measures to avoid contact with blood and body fluids of infected individuals and with objects contaminated with these fluids (e.g., syringes).

When to See a Health-care Provider

Any personnel who think they have been exposed to Ebola virus either through travel, assisting an ill passenger, handling a contaminated package, or cleaning a contaminated aircraft should take the following precautions:

* Notify your employer immediately.
* Monitor your health for 21 days following the exposure. If you develop sudden fever, chills, muscle aches, rash, or other symptoms consistent with Ebola virus infection, you should seek immediate medical attention.
o Before visiting a doctor’s office, alert the health-care provider, clinic, or emergency room in advance about the possible exposure to Ebola virus, so that arrangements can be made to prevent transmission to others in the health-care setting.
o When traveling to a health-care provider, limit your contact with others. All other travel should be avoided.***


I hardly think the UK would have guidelines that differ by more than minor details. But looking at those criteria, if you will, it boggles the mind to NOT have read that at least those in closest contact with her were not immediately quarantined, doesn't it?

Granted, I'm assuming they haven't been. It's after midnight over there now. You can bet your butt lights will burn long into the night in more than one senior office. The NHS will be having kittens & as we speak, blood is being ELISA tested for Ebola. If it reacts, they'll confirm that, concurrent with trying to incubate enough virus to creat an electron micrograph. If the blood is positive, they don't really NEED to see it... but a picture is worth a thousand words.

If they're smart, they're testing against every known viral hemorrhagic fever they've got reagents for & they've got them all. I'm not sure what's the worst possible nightmare here - Ebolas or a up to now completely unknown VHF. If the latter is the case, we don't have a CLUE what we're dealing with.

 

[CanadaSue]

More instructions, cleaning & such...

Same URL, I just didn't go far enough down the page:

*** Guidance for Airline Crews

Management of possible exposure to Ebola virus

Crew members on a flight with a passenger who is ill with a fever, jaundice, and/or bleeding and who is traveling from an area in which Ebola cases have been reported should follow these precautions:

* Keep the sick person separated from close contact* with others as much as possible.
* Provide the sick passenger with a surgical mask (if the passenger can tolerate wearing one) to reduce the number of droplets expelled into the air by talking, sneezing, or coughing.
* Tissues can be given to those who cannot tolerate a mask.
* Personnel should wear disposable gloves for direct contact with blood or other body fluids (see IATA's Guidelines for Suspected Communicable Diseases ).
* The captain of an airliner bound for the United States is required by law to report to the nearest U.S. Quarantine Station any ill passengers who meet specified criteria. The ill passenger should be reported before arrival or as soon as the illness is noted. Quarantine officials will help arrange for medical assistance to be available when the airplane lands and will work with the airline, state and local health department officials, and CDC headquarters to assist with medical transportation of the patient upon arrival, disease control and containment measures, passenger and crew notification, surveillance activities, and airline disinfection procedures.

If exposure occurs abroad

Airline flight crew should familiarize themselves with the symptoms of Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

Personnel who think they have been exposed to Ebola virus and who develop symptoms during travel should take the following actions:

* Notify your employer for help in locating a health-care provider. Inform the employer about the possible exposure to Ebola virus, and ask about health-care options. If you become ill while outside the United States, the U.S. embassy or consulate can also provide names and addresses of local physicians.
* Before visiting a doctor’s office, alert the health-care provider, clinic, or emergency room in advance about the possible exposure to Ebola virus so that arrangements can be made to prevent transmission to others in the health-care setting.
* When traveling to a health-care provider, limit your contact with others. All other travel should be avoided.

Guidance for Air Cargo Personnel

Packages should not ordinarily pose a risk to package delivery employees. Ebola virus is spread via direct contact with blood or body fluids (e.g., urine, saliva) from an infected individual.

* Packages visibly soiled with blood or body fluids should not be handled.
* Cargo handlers should wash their hands often for prevention of all infectious diseases (see IATA's Guidelines for Suspected Communicable Diseases).

Guidance for Airline Cleaning Personnel

Ebola virus is transmitted by close contact* with a person who has symptoms of Ebola infection. Once passengers have left an aircraft, the main source of infection will have been removed. However, infectious blood and/or body fluids that may remain on surfaces of the aircraft interior may pose a risk of infection if those particles come into direct contact with a person’s eyes, nose, or mouth. Therefore, frequent hand washing is of primary importance for all personnel working on commercial passenger aircraft (see IATA's Guidelines for Suspected Communicable Diseases).

In addition, the captain of an airliner bound for the United States is required by law to report any ill passenger who meets specified criteria to the nearest U.S. Quarantine Station. The airline’s ground and cleaning crews should be notified at the same time so that preparations can be made for cleaning the aircraft after passengers have disembarked. When cleaning commercial passenger aircraft after a flight with a possible Ebola hemorrhagic fever patient, personnel should follow the precautions described below.

* Wear nonsterile disposable gloves while cleaning the passenger cabin and lavatories.
* Wipe down passenger lavatory surfaces and frequently touched surfaces in the passenger cabin, such as armrests, seat backs, tray tables, light and air controls, and adjacent walls and windows with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered low- or intermediate-level chemical household germicide. Bleach can be used in the absence of an EPA-registered germicide. Areas of contamination with dried secretions should be washed with a 1% sodium hypochlorite solution (bleach) or hospital-approved disinfectant. Allow surfaces to air dry in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions.
* Special cleaning of upholstery, carpets, or storage compartments is not indicated unless obviously soiled with fresh blood or body fluids. Body fluid or blood spills should be covered with a 1% sodium hypochlorite solution (bleach) and allowed to remain for 30 minutes prior to wiping.
* There currently is no evidence to suggest that special vacuuming equipment or procedures are necessary.
* Do not use compressed air, which might re-aerosolize infectious material.
* If a seat cover is obviously soiled with blood or body fluids, it should be removed and discarded by the methods typically used for contaminated items.
* Throw used gloves away according to the company’s recommended infection control precautions, when cleaning is done and if they become soiled or damaged during cleaning .
* Clean hands with soap and water (or waterless alcohol-based hand rub when soap is not available) immediately after gloves are removed.

Guidance for Personnel Who Interact with Arriving Passengers

TSA, BCBP, and other personnel who interact with passengers arriving from areas affected by Ebola disease should keep in mind that the cause of fever in persons who have traveled or live in areas where VHF occurs is more likely to be a common infectious disease. However, personnel who have to detain or assist a passenger ill with a fever, jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), and/or bleeding should follow these precautions:

* Keep the ill passenger separated from the other passengers as much as possible. Personnel should immediately contact the appropriate authorities, such as the U.S. Quarantine Station with local jurisdiction and Emergency Medical Services.
* Provide the sick passenger with a surgical mask (if the passenger can tolerate wearing one) to reduce the number of droplets expelled into the air by talking, sneezing, or coughing.
* Tissues can be given to those who cannot tolerate a mask.
* Personnel should wear disposable gloves for direct contact with the ill person’s blood or other body fluids (see IATA's Guidelines for Suspected Communicable Diseases).
* Clean hands with soap and water (or waterless alcohol-based hand rub when soap is not available) immediately after gloves are removed.

* Close contact is defined as having cared for or lived with a person known to have Ebola disease or having a high likelihood of direct contact with blood or body fluids of a Ebola patient. Examples of close contact include kissing or embracing, sharing eating or drinking utensils, close conversation (<3 feet), physical examination, and any other direct physical contact between persons. Close contact does not include activities such as walking by a person or briefly sitting across a room. ***


This isn't a known airborne disease for HUMANS. But, ya never know, eh? Other viruses change over time. Having said that, by now, even if Lesotho is an absolute armpit, we'd be hearing at the very least, terrible rumours out of there. It's got an HIV rate of well over 20% last time I checked, so people would be dropping like flies.

Whatever she has, I'm really curious about how/where she picked it up? Did she do some last minute souvenir shopping? I'm thinking that's the likely scenario. If so, hunting down that source could be a nightmare. This could literally end up being a 'one only' case which vanishes as mysteriously as it seems to have appeared.

 

[Fuzzychick]

Sue, I would too, but neither one of us was there...so it's heresay on our parts, but I'd still attempt to talk those on board to stay...just me.

I wish we knew exactly what was said to the passengers & crew. I'll try to find out something, anything if I can...

Me, I'd recognize something like that - perhaps not the exact disease but the potentials. I'd want to stay on the plane until I could be transferred to a location where I didn't risk anyone else's health. That's what I'd LIKE to do. I can see me as a 'just enough money for the trip' tourist trying to make that kind of decision. Will British health authorities cater to my fears by providing a safe location - safe for others? If not, then what do I do?

I suppose I could always go to my hotel & confine myself to my room for the duration - if my booking covered the incubation period. Ask for several bottles of bleach, gloves & such & clean up my own room order dishes. At some point though - the money runs out. Not to mention - what do I tell the cab driver? "I may have been exposed to Ebola. After you deliver me, don't touch the money & don't pick up anyone until you've decontaminated the cab."?

I'm wondering if any authority in Britain was prepared to put up people who might have chosen to voluntarily go into quarantine?