WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak An International Emergency 183
mdsolar (1045926) writes with news that, with the Ebola outbreak growing out of control, the WHO has declared an international health emergency. From the article: With cases rapidly mounting in four West African countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) today declared the Ebola outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), a designation that allows the agency to issue recommendations for travel restrictions but also sends a strong message that more resources need to be mobilized to bring the viral disease under control. ... This is only the third time the health agency has issued a PHEIC declaration since the new International Health Regulations (IHR), a global agreement on the control of diseases, were adopted in 2005. The previous two instances were in 2009, for the H1N1 influenza pandemic, and in May for the resurgence of polio.
Re:First.... (Score:5, Insightful)
I like preppers, they rarely, if ever, actually understand the consequences of social collapse, and falsely view increased individualism as the primary consequence of major institutional failure.
They don't consider the social structures that arise in post-governmental situations. The importance of community connectivity increases with importance as rigid social structures fail. You want a local warlord, a gang, a tribe, or some other primitive power structure, if you want to survive in a "lawless" world.
Re:First.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, in this case, hundreds of people have already died, but, sure that's "nothing". Nothing is going to happen in the US, thanks in part to large scale international public health planning of exactly this sort.
Unavoidable (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature. ...
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.
Re:who? (Score:5, Insightful)
I like that someone modded him up, as if flu vaccines don't substantially lower fatality rate among at-risk populations, such as young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.
Just because catching flu doesn't tend to kill healthy adults, they just write-off the rest of the world in the perfect mixture of selfishness and ignorance, all the while acting smugly superior about the conspiracy only they can see.
keep calm everyone.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless you are literally playing in a sick persons bodily fluids, the risk is almost 0
Re:First.... (Score:0, Insightful)
you mean all those plastic coffins the DHS invested in a couple years back right? :)
Re:First.... (Score:5, Insightful)
The same thing will happen that happens every other time there's some outbreak "emergency": Nothing.
That's exactly the goal: ensure that as many people as possible continue to have nothing happen to them, rather than exciting hemorrhagic fever or Quarantine Zone.
that's just stupid (Score:2, Insightful)
It seems you get your information about preppers from reality TV shows. The actual reality is much different. Take some time to read prepper blogs, they are all about community and tribe.
Why is everything gotta do with Israel ? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you think Israel is evil, okay, that's what you think, but please, this is /., not some Hamas fanboi club
You wanna talk about Ebola, talk about Ebola. Why the need to drag Israel into this discussion ??
Re:keep calm everyone.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:You can help out (Score:5, Insightful)
We actually have a wiki page [openstreetmap.org] about that exact issue. We have worked on this quite a bit to work out the best way to tag the roads in Africa to handle the huge variety of what they have there. It really makes you appreciate the infrastructure that the developed world has when you see how difficult it would be to travel in these parts of the world.
-AndrewBuck