Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 28

Ebola and NYC Subway and Bowling Balls

Okay, there's one new possible Ebola victim in NYC (though test not confirmed), and people freaking over fact he rode the subway while sick.  So worth reviewing this from recent NYT "Well" column:

It is extremely unlikely to spread through public transit, for several reasons.

Not all viruses build up to infectious doses in all bodily fluids. For example, measles is coughed out because it first invades cells at the back of the throat, while H.I.V. is not. Norovirus is not a respiratory virus, but such small doses are needed to infect a person that aerosolized vomitus is thought to have sickened many cruise ship passengers. Normally, Ebola does not at first make victims cough or sneeze, although someone who also had the flu could, in theory, spray vomitus or blood. Once Ebola invades the lungs, the body will cough to clear them. But passengers that deathly ill are not likely to be on public transit.

According to the recent W.H.O. statement, high levels of Ebola virus in saliva are rare except in the sickest victims, and whole virus has never been found in sweat. The fluids known to build up high viral loads are blood, feces and vomit.

How much virus is needed to cause illness is not exactly known. Viruses differ that way. In any group that shares needles, hepatitis C will spread more readily than H.I.V. because smaller doses infect.

One tantalizing possibility is that very small doses of Ebola act as a vaccine. Scientists working in Gabon have found that more than 30 percent of the populations of some villages have Ebola antibodies, although they have never been sick or in contact with anyone who was. They may have swallowed some virus by eating infected bats or fruit contaminated with bat saliva. (Alternatively, said W. Ian Lipkin, a virus expert, they may have had an unknown virus that cross-reacted in antibody tests.)

No one has tested Ebola transmission on subways. But no case of transmission to a human from a dry surface has ever been confirmed. The C.D.C. has said there is “no epidemiological evidence” for transmission from hospital surfaces, including bed rails and door knobs – which are as close as a hospital room gets to having a subway pole and a bus handle. A 2007 study cited by C.D.C. experts shows that swabs of 31 surfaces — including bed frames, a spit bowl and a used stethoscope — in a very dangerous environment, an active Ebola ward in Uganda, — did not have virus in a single sample.

So how might Ebola be passed on a subway? If someone ejected bloody mucus or vomitus onto a subway pole, and the next passenger were to touch it while it was still wet and then, for some unimaginable reason, were to put those wet fingers into an eye or mouth instead of wiping them in disgust — then yes, it could happen. Similarly, if an extremely ill passenger with high viral saliva loads were to sneeze large, wet droplets directly into the mouth or eyes of another passenger, the infection might be passed. But the influenza route — sneeze to hand to pole to hand to eye — has never been known to happen and is considered extremely unlikely.

Africa is full of overcrowded public transport — buses, minivans and some trains. There are no known instances of transmission in those environments.

On July 20, a dying Liberian-American flew to Nigeria and was vomiting on the plane. All 200 people aboard were monitored; none fell ill.

 And update tonight:

Can you get Ebola from a bowling ball?

A. Although the surface of a shared bowling ball is a likely place to find germs — and some people avoid bowling for this very reason — it is extremely unlikely that Ebola could be passed that way.
There is no evidence that it has been passed, as colds or flu sometimes are, by touching surfaces that someone else touched after sneezing into their hand. Ebola is normally passed through contact with blood, vomit or diarrhea.

If someone left blood, vomit or feces on a bowling ball, and the next person to touch it did not even notice, and then put his fingers into his eyes, nose or mouth, it might be possible. But, the Ebola virus does not not normally build up to high levels in saliva or mucus until very late in the disease — several days after the initial fever sets in — and it is unlikely that someone that ill would have just gone bowling. Also, the Ebola virus is fragile and susceptible to drying out. It does not normally survive for more than a few hours on a hard, dry surface.

Pitt Stop

Brad sits down with Zach, between those two ferns.   Pitt plays a lot of Nazi killers because he looks like Hitler's Aryan dream?


Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Brad Pitt from Zach Galifianakis

Flop Singles

What's your all-time favorite?   The Kinks had a bunch in late-60s, here's the greatest (along with "Days").  Below that, a Dylan single shortly after "Like a Rolling Stone" that I bought--and few others did.  Here done by Mr. Hendrix.

World Series Tribute

 My slightly adjusted photo from the old Shea Stadium, as Tom Glavine pitches:

Annie Lennox Slams Beyonce's 'Twerking' Feminism

In interview, one legendary singer, long known for feminist views and activism, critiques another who claims maybe a different form of feminism.  Last month Annie Lennox called Beyonce's type "feminism lite"--and now, specifically hitting her highly-sexualized and booty-exposing performances (over and over)  says "twerking is not feminism.  That's what I'm referring to. It's not—it's not liberating, it's not empowering. It's a sexual thing that you're doing on a stage; it doesn't empower you. That's my feeling about it.""

The reason why I've commented is because I think that this overt sexuality thrust—literally—at particular audiences, when very often performers have a very, very young audience, like 7 years older, I find it disturbing and I think its exploitative. It's troubling. I'm coming from a perspective of a woman that's had children.

In the previous interview she said referring to the trend beyond Beyonce:

I see a lot of it as them taking the word hostage and using it to promote themselves, but I don't think they necessarily represent wholeheartedly the depths of feminism - no, I don't. I think for many it's very convenient and it looks great and it looks radical, but I have some issues with it. I have issues with it. Of course I do. I think it's a cheap shot. I think what they do with it is cheap and ... yeah. What can I tell you? Sex always sell. And there's nothing wrong with sex selling, but it depends on your audience. If they're 7-year-old kids, I have issues with it. 

Gunfire in Ottawa

Here's brief new vid from Globe and Mail  showing intense gunfire inside Parliament building today.  Police now say 2 or 3 gunmen, still in lockdown, one soldier shot.

15 Hits, No Errors?

My son, the hotshot young maker of game trailers for top companies, with latest teaser for upcoming hot game--with baseball theme to mark World Series.   First Person Batter?

Shearer Genius

First episode of Harry's Nixon "tribute" up today at YouTube.  I posted the preview awhile back.  My own acclaimed "Tricky Dick" book here.

Jill Feels Ill Over Ebola Coverage

I'm not a big Jill Abramson fan but I'm happy to link to her here as the former NYT editor uses the exact word I used earlier this week to describe media scare mongering over the Ebola un-crisis: "disgraceful."

Jill Abramson: It’s been, I think, disgraceful in many respects. I have to roll my eyes when, like today, I’m reading all these stories about “the panic.” Well, who helped cause the panic? I mean, please!
David Carr: When you say that, are you saying there is an overreaction, or there should be an overreaction?
JA: No, there is an overreaction.
DC: But people are scared.
JA: People are scared in part because of the ceaseless, ominous cable and other coverage, which stokes their fears. Two people are sick and one person has died. That’s what’s happened – in the United States. Obviously I’m not talking about coverage of the disease in West Africa. ….I’m talking about the coverage about, IT’S COMING HERE!

When Brown Was the New Black

50 years ago this month, the fabled T.A.M.I. show produced conflict when James Brown objected to the Stones closing the show.  Mick has been interviewed this month around his new James Brown doc that he's co-produced and he claims he smoothed things over with King James before the show.  Hut! Good God! Here's Brown's set and then the Stones (including of the greatest rock n roll songs ever, Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now").  The recent Brown bio-pic from Hollywood had him coming off stage and saying to the Stones, "Welcome to America, boys." Mick denies he said that.