HOLY SHIT! Ebola in the US??

[121Traffic]

OKay, maybe not Ebola proper, but how about its very dangerous sibling, Marburg?? Yikes!

9NEWS.com | Colorado's Online News Leader | Local hospital reports 1st U.S. case of rare African infection

Local hospital reports 1st U.S. case of rare African infection

DENVER - Staff at a local hospital are waiting to find out more about their exposure to an extremely rare infection from Africa.



Exempla Lutheran Medical Center just learned it treated a patient in January 2008 who was sick with the first case of Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever in the United States.

The patient got infected during a trip to Uganda. The patient was initially tested in January 2008 at the hospital, and also by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Officials say the patient returned to the hospital in July for a follow-up visit and was tested again. The patient eventually recovered.

The CDC informed the hospital last month about its findings. Officials at Lutheran Hospital say the patient visited a "python cave" in the Maramagambo Forest while in Uganda. They say it's likely the patient contracted the virus after contact with cave-dwelling fruit bats, which can harbor the virus.

Medical officials say the Marburg virus occurs in tropical areas in Africa and is "transmissible through direct, unprotected contact with infectious bodily fluids." They say the Marburg Virus does not live long in the environment, usually between only a few minutes and up to a few hours.

Lutheran Medical has been working with the CDC, the state health department and the Jefferson County Department of Public Health and Environment to determine what risk the patient may have posed to doctors and other staff.

Officials at the hospital say no one is showing symptoms, but they are working to inform all employees and physicians who had direct contact with the patient. They are also providing blood tests to those people.


(Copyright KUSA*TV, All Rights Reserved.)

[Xiphos]

Ebola Reston, a minor shift in a protein could cause this airborne Ebola strain to become dangerous to humans. Read The Hot Zone if you want to wet your pants about Ebola in the US.

On a side note I worked in Reston as a cop 11 years after this. My LT had the funniest stories about how the environmentalists would break out the monkeys at night. The cops would run around trying to recapture them for several hours. After the Ebola virus, they shut down and cleaned out of there.

I imagine that Marburg case is a little close to home for you eh?

[121Traffic]

I have read the Hot Zone. It is an unbelievably scary account. That's why this news story eliicited such a "Holy Shit!" response.

[Xiphos]

I have read the Hot Zone. It is an unbelievably scary account. That's why this news story eliicited such a "Holy Shit!" response.

With our large population of refugees in my area I'm shocked we haven't seen more communicable diseases. Luckily the stuff like Ebola kills its victims quickly and before being able to really spread through the population.

[Jenna]

My LT had the funniest stories about how the environmentalists would break out the monkeys at night. The cops would run around trying to recapture them for several hours.