Thursday, August 7, 2014

Scotland and Ebola................

not two things you would put together, but two things I am concerned about at the moment.

There has always been rumblings that Scotland wanted to be a separate country from Great Britain.  Saw a couple of things on Facebook mentioning it.  Including this letter:

Dear Friend, 

The decision on whether to leave our shared country is, of course, absolutely yours alone. Nevertheless, that decision will have a huge effect on all of us in the rest of the United Kingdom. 

We want to let you know how very much we value our bonds of citizenship with you, and to express our hope that you will vote to renew them.

What unites us is much greater than what divides us. Let's stay together.

Yours,
The Rest of the United Kingdom 


Can't see the point of this personally.  It's been fine for all these years as is.  Why change something that is working? I am not the only one who feels this way, you can read more about it here. Please fill me in on your thoughts?

Ebola has been in the news recently and has me very concerned.  I know the chances of me personally getting it at this point is very slim, but I honestly see it becoming a world wide problem. I know you shouldn't believe everything that is written in the press but there has to be a grain of truth in there don't you think?  Here is the latest from Daily Mail UK.

I was part of a discussion on Facebook yesterday when someone posted this:
This is what I had to say:

  • the food thing is sort of a lie.........you "catch" Ebola by eating "bush meat." So as long as you are not in the middle of the jungle starving and decide to kill and eat some wild animal yes you won't "catch" Ebola. People who decide to smuggle bush meat into our countries as it is a delicacy for people from certain countries, that does indeed pose a risk. That is where border security/customs comes in, they have be extra vigilant when checking what is coming in from what countries; especially those from the infected countries. Now the chances of us eating that type of meat are slim to nil, but there is always a risk we come in contact with people who enjoy that type of meat and could become infected.
Are you concerned about the Ebola situation?

Tonight is the Condo board meeting.  I will report back tomorrow how it all goes!!

9 comments:

stitchersanon said...

You cannot catch Ebola from eating Bush Meat. Ebola is a zoonosis; that means a virus which has jumped species. Somewhere along the line someone has eaten infected meat with an ebola-like virus and in the human host it has mutated to become ebola: but it wouldn't have started as ebola. Before we start panicking I should point out that over 80 percent of human viral and bacterial infections are zoonosis: they all started in an animal host but by the time they become infectious in us they have often mutated to the point that they can no longer infect the animal species it originally came from. The Scotland issue is not within my remit of expertise. For some it is important (Scottish) and for many more, there is a feeling of apathy. The rate it is going I think the lack of voters will mean the pro-seperatists will win. Don't forget, in the 70s, there were bombs in the Uk set by Scots who wanted independence xx

stitchersanon said...

I tried to leave a comment but it was bamboozled: will leave a shorter one. RE: Ebola. You cannot catch the infectious agent we know now as ebola from bush meat. Ebola is a Zoonosis; it means it has jumped species from an original animal host BUT the virus which may have eaten would have probably mutated within the human host over some time and several thousand times (virus's being the tarts of the germ world) to then form Ebola. Before we start panicking, over 80 percent of our infections are zoonosis and often, by the time they are infectious in us, they have mutated to such an extent they can no longer infect the animal species it originally came from. So no, we wont get ebola from eating bush meat...might get something else but then again there are lots of infections we get from our domestic herds...less now because we have been associated with them for so long, but still possible.

barbara woods said...

i am concerned about it to , live in Georgia a hundred miles from the Atlanta hospital that has the patients . but i don't think they really know how you get infected, if they did how did our Dr. and nurces get infected?

Jane and Chris said...

Neither has me worried.
Jane x

William Kendall said...

We have much the same situation with Quebec- the separtists never seem to take a hint from the public at large and just give up; at the moment they're well out of power after blowing up their own election in their own faces. Canada as a whole would be far lesser for the loss of Quebec.

As to Ebola, I'm not at all worried. As ferocious a disease as it is, and as little as we know about its origins, it is hard to contract, and it definitely has profound weaknesses in a temperate climate, which is why in forty plus years of global travel, the outbreaks never really become a problem beyond Africa.

fizzycat said...

Not too worried about Ebola in the uk.Think good hygene will sort it out.
Interesting if England and Scotland separate- I'm half English/ Scottish so might need a new passport!

Scrappy quilter said...

At present not worried about Ebola. As to Scotland i don't have much to say on that. Now if it was Quebec and the Canadian issue I would have lots to say.

Country Gal said...

Not worried about either . If Scotland wants to go on their own why not good luck to them and for the infection called Ebola no one gets vaccinated any more like they did in the old days when going to other countries . I remember at one time no one could travel to other countries if they didn't have a record of vaccinations bring them back and maybe it will stop people from bringing all these infections to and from their destinations ! Thanks for sharing , Have a good weekend !

tlcukjourney said...

Gill I don't know where you are getting this information, but from what I have read and from the information I've been told, from what I gather... You get Ebola in sort of the same way that you can get HIV, through bodily fluids, I have read that many people get it in Africa when they are preparing their dead for burial and also that Doctors can catch it because of the bodily fluids that they come in contact with. Of course I'm no Doctor, but this is my understanding. Where did you hear about the meat thing? I am very interested in researching that.
I hope you're having a great weekend!
Tammy x

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