WEBVTT - Understanding Ebola 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.000 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:13.720 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:16.119 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Dufnis. We 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.560 are back from a short little break there, for a 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.560 little summer break, and we're here to talk about really 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:25.160 an important topic, especially at this at this time, and 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.640 that is the topic of in bola. That's right today, 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.479 just for fultonsperiency is August six, So where we are 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.640 in this process will probably change by the time it 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.239 gets your earlobes. But we did want to discuss it 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:39.680 because it has picked up obviously so much traction in 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.159 the last couple of weeks here. Yeah, I mean, just 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.800 the word ebola on its own, especially right now, is 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.160 enough to just summon all these feelings of fear, these 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:53.000 feelings of personal body horror, uh, and even xenophobia. I 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.160 mean you see that popping up, especially all over social media, 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.560 where it's suddenly these attitudes of keep it over there, 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.040 keep people away from me, I'm gonna lock myself with 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:06.319 my home and no strangers allowed kind of mentality. Um, 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.720 But you don't have to give into the full on fear, 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.800 the full and paranoia, uh, certainly Ebola is a very 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:17.759 dangerous virus, and we're going to discuss why it's dangerous 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:21.160 and and and why it is UH pivotal that we 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:25.240 that we focus on it. UH. But in this episode, 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:26.840 we want to we want to lay out the science 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.639 of ebola, the science of the of a Bola virus 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:33.960 disease and UH and discuss what it is, how we're 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.800 fighting it and UH and and hopefully you'll leave this 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.320 podcast with a lot more information about what's going on 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:40.840 in the world right now with it. Yeah, because it 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.120 can be overwhelming to hear the statistics and to hear 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.400 how it spreads. And I have to say, I think 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:51.000 that's some news meeting outlets don't necessarily give it the 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.680 context that it needs. So you have all these sort 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.600 of free floating facts out there that can really inspire 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:59.520 UM a lot of fear in people. And here's here's 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.400 a good example. This is, you know, the worst outbreak 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.240 of evil of this virus and history UM happening right 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.760 now in West Africa, is claimed more than seven lives 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:11.800 and this is according to the latest count from the 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:17.560 World Health Organization. And we have deaths occurring in Sierra Leone, Liberia, 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:22.679 Guinea and Nigeria. So I'm sure you guys have all 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:27.200 heard about this and that it is spreading. In fact um, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.680 Margaret Chan, who is the chief of the World Health Organization, 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.800 said that this outbreak is moving faster than efforts to 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.840 control it. All of that sounds a little a bit chilling, 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.679 But we'll discuss more about why this is and give 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.480 it a better context so that we don't react to 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.320 it in a way that's fear based, and hopefully we 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:52.160 can come to this conversation with with more thoughts on 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.519 how it's actually working and why it's spreading quickly. Yeah, 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:56.840 and I mean on top of that, of course, the 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.880 other side of the equation here is that that we 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:04.639 have two American AID workers from blind Berria that are UH. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.840 They are currently in Atlanta right here where we record 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.560 the show UH to receive treatment from Emory and the 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:15.200 CDC Special Treatment facilities, and people have responded to that 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.320 with varying levels of fear and paranoid like I have 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:19.720 you Have you even seen it on the the stuff 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.280 to Blow your Mind Facebook message board where we have 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:24.320 we have a lot of followers now, so that's different 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:27.720 demographics are are represented there. But I've seen comments like, 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:29.919 you know, of course, keep them away, don't bring it here, 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:33.000 or or what if the plane crashes, or and and 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.560 a lot of this is it's you know, there there 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.320 are several different forces at work here. I mean, part 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.960 of it is, you know, people are tuning into UM 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.560 even in just in their peripheries, into a into a 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:48.040 twenty four hour cable news cycle that has to really 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:52.680 ride stories like this until the horse collapses, uh and 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:54.920 get as much as much juice out of it, as 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.840 much fear as possible. You're you're also dealing with people 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:02.000 who have with the people who have depended on movies 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.400 for a lot of their understanding of of what what 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.480 the pandemics and epidemics that consists of. I mean, even 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.119 right now, one of the more immediate examples that comes 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.080 to mind is there's just a show on effects called 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:19.480 The Strain with a vampire pathogen and granted nobody's looking 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:23.280 at that would I would imagine and and seeing anything 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.839 other than fiction there, But there's enough uh reality in 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.400 the coloring of that show that that it ends up 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:33.680 informing your perception of what it means to bring UM 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.479 a pathogen into the country. But you know, particularly when 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:42.040 you consider, too, that bats are peripherally involved with this virus, 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.640 which we'll talk about in a moment. Um. This is 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:49.400 from Time magazine writer Scott z Burns. He says, the 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.960 people who are infected with ebola developed a screenwriter's list 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.400 of symptoms, bleeding from the mouth, nail beds, and eyes, 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:01.200 as their capillaries disintegrate inside them, their brains awash in 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:04.760 the blood of hemorrhagic fever, become deranged, and there is 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:09.480 no vaccine, there is no cure approved for use. So again, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.520 to your point, this has a filmic quality to it, 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.159 and you can't help sort of run with some of 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.360 that now, and you would be so silly, I must said, too, 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.640 can be completely you know, unfazed by that description. I mean, 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.120 that is a fearful reality that we're talking about there. 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:30.000 It is also a sensationalized version of this too, and 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.200 we'll get into that when we talk about symptoms. But 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.040 let's just tether this to to some other information. UM. 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.839 I'm sure everybody knows this, but I think it's it's 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.800 helpful to just repeat it. Um, we're talking about human 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.120 to human transmission are occurring as a result of close 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:49.600 contact with blood secretions or tissues from patients where the 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.719 virus can travel to a new victim through mucostal surfaces 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.320 or breaks in the skin. So this is not something 0:05:56.360 --> 0:06:01.280 that you can catch in the air. Um. Again, that's 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.600 just I feel like that must be grounded in our 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.200 imaginations here, because otherwise we can kind of run well 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:09.240 with this. And I think hence your point about the 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.200 message board and oh what if the train of the 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:14.400 plane goes down, and what if it spreads from person 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.280 to person? Yeah, yeah, we we do not see that 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.800 in the in the in the variations of abola that 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.600 we're talking about here. Um, it's not the kind of 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:25.880 thing that is that a healthy looking stranger on a 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.760 train is going to cough in your general vicinity and 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.520 then you're gonna catch it. No, but it would in 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:32.640 the film. It would in the film, of course, because 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.800 that's uh, that's the kind of fearful pathogen that you 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.440 want to base a movie around. All right, let's get 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.880 down to brass tacks and talk about this virus. Yes, 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.039 so yeah, it is important to just start at the 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.400 very basics. We are talking about a virus, and a 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:51.719 virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:56.360 the living cells of other organisms. Biological viral infections are 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.799 spread by the virus, which is essentially a small shell 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.560 containing a genetic material, and it injects its content into 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:06.919 a far larger organism cell and so then that cell 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:11.200 is infected and eventually transformed into a biological factory producing 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.160 replicants of the virus. So you know, it's it's the 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.000 basic genetic mission of any organism at a very simple level. 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.160 It just gets in there, it makes more copies of 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.360 itself and pumps those out. Um. But of course it's 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.600 a it's an invader, and there are uh, with any virus, 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.480 they're gonna be there's there's the potential for for varying 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:36.320 ill effects and uh, and that's the problem, right. Uh. 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.760 And so the Ebola virus that we're talking about here 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:43.160 is a is a philovirus belonging to the virus family 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:48.240 Philo variety. So far, we've only identified two members of 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.920 this family, the Marburg virus and the Ebola virus, and 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.600 of a Bola viruses we've identified five species. Uh. There's 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.680 the Thai forest formerly known as the Ivory Coast ebola. 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:04.960 There's Sudanese Ebola, there's Zaire Ebola, there's rest in Bola Ebola, 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:09.200 and Bunda bug Yo. Yeah, and the one that is 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:15.920 taking hold right now in Western Africa is the Zaire strain. Yeah. Um, 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:17.720 the rest of his strain is an interesting one. If 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:19.360 you guys want to find out more about that, check 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:23.160 out the how stuff works article how Ebola works, because 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.360 that kind of goes into that strain which is not 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.720 dead lady humans. It is among other animals, but not 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.280 to us. And that one originally in the Philippines apparently 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:34.760 that did, but it has made its way into the US. 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:36.240 And I don't want to spend a long time on 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.920 that one because it really truly isn't deadly to humans. Uh. 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.640 But the article has a great treatment of it and 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.800 great information about it. So if you look at this 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:51.600 at the philovirus virons of iron being the individual virus um, 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.360 it may appear in various shapes, including long or branched 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.320 filaments as well as a shorter filaments that may look 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:00.720 like a six or a U or a circle. By now, 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.800 I feel like every article you found on find online 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.520 about ebola is kind of using the same image of 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.240 the viron. So just think of a colorful shoe lace, 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:11.760 and you kind of have the idea of what you're 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.400 looking at. Yeah, it's that blue shoelace among the red tissue. 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:20.040 And this is a small crater. We're talking filaments to 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:22.760 measure up to fourteen tho nanometers in length. They have 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:27.000 a uniform diameter about eighty nanometers and they're enveloped by 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:32.360 a fatty membrane. And each viron contains one molecule of 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:36.400 single strand negative sense RNA. So it's it's a very 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.000 simple little creature. This is I mean to even call 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:41.719 it a virus, a creature. You get into a lot 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:45.280 of uh contested space there, but it's a it's a 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.280 very simple element in the body that causes this. But 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.600 it begins replicating and that's where the problem. Yeah, and 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.839 scientists don't have all the details about how evil it 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:56.600 works in the body, but they do have a handful 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.280 of facts. Um, you just mentioned a couple. The Ebola 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.319 virus is most closely related to the viruses that cause 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:07.080 measles and monks. And one of the proteins, and it 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.000 is suspected to be the superpower of the ebola is 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.079 called glycoprotein, and it binds to host cells, so that 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:16.080 the virus can enter and then replicate, and the other 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.640 version is then released from the infected cell and may 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:22.400 play a role in suppressing the immune system. And then 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.680 the virus is pretty much impartial and will infect a 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.400 wide range of cells in our bodies, but early on 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:32.679 typically it goes after those associated with the immune system. So, 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.440 just to give a little history on an ebola here, 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.880 this is not one of those illnesses that we have, 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.240 you know, ancient records of. If we go back to 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.000 the ninety seven that's when lab workers in Germany and 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:48.320 Yugoslavia were handling tissues from green monkeys and they developed 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:53.280 hemorrhagic fever and we ended up identifying the Marburg virus um. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.520 There were thirty one cases seven deaths so associated with 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.840 this particular outbreak, and the virus was named after Marbor, 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.559 Germany because that was the side of one of the outbreaks. Now, 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:06.560 fortunately we haven't seen that many outbreaks of Marburg virus 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.800 over the years. The worst of these was two thousand four, 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:13.600 two thousand five outbreak angola, and that claimed two fifty 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:17.320 lives with death rate. But but so far that's been 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.600 the worst of Marburg. Now, as far as I Bola 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:25.360 virus goes. We first identified that in seventy six when 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:30.080 two outbreaks occurred in northern Zaire and in southern Sudan, 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.160 and these both occurred in the in the area of 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:37.920 the Ebola River. Thus the name in Bola virus. Yeah, 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:39.800 and I wanted to just get into a little bit 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:41.800 of detail of one of those cases, the one and 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.240 then in the then country Zaire Um that was in 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.080 as you say, and that wasn't a man named Mabolo, 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:51.920 and he had some symptoms of a really high fever 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.920 and they thought, okay, malaria, right, and they used the 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.800 drug Quinnona on him. It was administered to and with 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.600 a needle. And because medical supplies were in in really 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:05.960 short supply, a needle in high demand, they use that 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.160 needle over and over again, and that just infected scores 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.760 of other hospital patients. Now, a month later, Maballo died 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.920 and his family performed the ritual burial of removing all 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.840 food and waste from his body with their bare hands. 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.960 So this is you've probably seen this in the media 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.640 before that this is part of the burial ritual. Weeks later, 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.640 eighteen of the family members participating in the ritual died, 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.440 and since then ebola has reserve for something like twenty times, 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:37.079 spreading farther and farther out, perhaps because of bats and 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:40.800 and changing conditions due to climate change. And we'll talk 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.000 more about that in a moment um. But I think 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.840 that that example kind of sets the stage for what 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.440 we're seeing today. Yeah, key there, especially the handling of 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:54.719 dead bodies and close contact with sick individuals during the 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.720 depths of their sickness. Yeah. And of course now we 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.920 have disposal methods in place for a new needles that's known, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.040 but that was sort of the first vector there. Yea. Now, 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.880 so you mentioned the bats, and currently sciences scientists believe 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.000 that bats are likely the reservoir host for a bola. Now, 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.880 reservoir host can harbor a pathogen indefinitely with no ill effects. 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.160 But we've also seen ebola spread through guerrillas, chimps, and 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.560 uh a duker, which is a type of antelope. Uh. 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:27.520 And in these cases, uh, they're often deadly results uh. 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.960 Though some also think that non human primates are just 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.040 more or less an accidental host, much like human beings. 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.360 Now you mentioned uh only mentioned Scott z Burns earlier 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:43.079 that pizza. He wrote for Time magazine opinion piece titled Contagion, 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:46.559 screenwriter Ebola isn't the pandemic fear is. He has just 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:48.240 a little bit at the beginning where he mentioned the bat. 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:49.760 I just wanted to read that because I thought it 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:54.160 was so concisely put. He says, there is an animal 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.959 somewhere in Africa, most likely a bat, that has worked 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.079 out an arrangement with a microscopic agent. The deal is this, 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.640 the agent won't kill the bat if the bat will 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.160 transport it to other warm blooded animals and give it 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.640 a chance to do its gruesome work. All the bat 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:09.880 had to do to enter this arrangement was built up 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.960 resistance to the agent over generations and become a good 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.520 hiding place and then continue about its business of being 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:18.760 a bat. I like that because that really gets to 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:23.160 the heart of again, what is a bola from from 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:26.080 a biological standpoint? How does it fit into the environment. 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.720 Because it's easy to just think of these diseases it's 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.160 just an absolute sort of evil, awful thing that rises 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:36.080 up and destroys and without remembering that, it is, like 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:40.360 everything else, just fulfilling a genetic mission. It is a 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:44.040 classic zoo nootic disease meaning that occurs naturally in animals 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:47.320 but can be transmitted to humans. And it does look 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.760 like bats are their best chance. As you say, they 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.440 have built up an immunity. And according to the World 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.680 Health Organization, pig farms in Africa can play a role 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:00.240 in the amplification of infection because of the pres sense 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.840 of fruit bats on these farms. And if you think 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.520 about these pigs being infected and then being slaughtered, and 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:12.560 if the practices aren't really very clearly done to specifications 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.440 that UH would not allow a person to get infected 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.200 in under their nails or you know, in their saliva 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.280 on accident, then there you go. You've got transmission of 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.760 the disease. Moreover, the areas in which fruit bats are 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.800 dwellings seem to get further and further out in Africa, 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.480 and this is thought because of the changing conditions due 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.320 to global warming. So again you see this spread happening. 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:37.040 This is these are these are all these sort of 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:41.400 component parts of why the virus is spreading quickly. So 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:46.240 there we see the jump from animals to humans because 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:49.320 it may happen because of close contact with these with 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.600 these pigs we've been in contact with the bats. It 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.440 may occur from eating bush meat. You're eating ape, you're 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:00.520 eating uh uh, you know, chump, you're eating bad and 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.040 and and and and catching it that way. And then 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.240 once it's in humans, then there's of course more potential 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:10.200 to spread through burial practices, through caring for sick individuals 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:14.080 coming into contact with their with their diarrhea, with their vomit, 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.760 with their blood. Um. Furthermore, men who have recovered from 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.160 the disease can stial transmit the virus through their semen 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.680 throughout the seven weeks following the illness. So, I mean, 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:26.320 that's one of the things about a bow in one 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.680 of the facts that you here repeated again again that 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:32.640 I Bola remains active for for an extended period of 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:36.640 time here. Yeah. Now, compounding that, of course, is just 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.760 you know, a distrust of government officials, a distrust of 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:46.600 UM medical facilities and medical workers and UM. Imagine too, 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:51.200 someone trying to quarantine your family member and how upsetting 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.080 that would be to you, or how upsetting it would 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.560 be to you if there was a certain burial tradition 0:16:55.600 --> 0:17:00.000 that you were family UM in your community had always 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.920 engaged in. And then we're told to stop because as 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.320 we know, these are the sort of traditions are are 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.560 deeply ingrained in us and part of the healing process, 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.120 and to be told that you can't do that probably feels, 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:15.560 you know, it's probably fueling some of that distrust towards 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.080 people in official positions to try to put a stop 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:23.040 to the spread. Now, the other thing to consider is 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.840 that these parts of the world, these some of these 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:30.639 countries have been hard hit over the decades with war, 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.960 with many other different types of strife. So it's kind 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:38.119 of like, you know, one thing after another, and you 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.040 have a community of people who they're only sort of 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.080 way of dealing with life day to day is each 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.960 other in the sort of bomb that they have, so 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:50.000 trying to you know, these outside organizations coming in and 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.440 trying to give them these directions probably feels very sort 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:57.400 of alien to them and um and sort of disruptive 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:59.760 of the ways that they have survived in the past. 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:02.200 All Right, we're gonna take a quick break, and when 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:04.159 we come back, we're gonna get into these symptoms that 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:14.560 occur as this virus spreads through a human host. All Right, 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.080 we're back, and uh, as we continue to talk about 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:18.959 ebola here and now, it's the point where we need 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.919 to get into how the infection spreads in through the 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.560 body and the various symptoms that they occur. Now, this 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.639 is this is likely some of the material that you've 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:33.399 you've definitely uh encountered already just through media consumption of 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.800 the ongoing crisis. But if you remember, we talked about 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.680 the virus in the cell and and how the virus 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.600 needs to invade the cell and turn the cell into 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:47.439 a virus producing factory. And what happens then is the 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.119 virons burst out of the cells and begin producing the 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:54.639 protein ebola virus glycoprotein and attaches to the cells on 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.160 the inside of the blood vessels. So this is where 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:03.480 things start getting um interesting because this increases the permeability 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.600 of the blood vessels and blood leaks out of the vessels, 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.960 and it also affects the body's ability to coagulate and 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.240 thicken the blood. Yeah, because all of those things are 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.920 triggering these chemical responses that we begin to see as symptoms. Now, 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.280 when ebola enters a human being, it kind of hangs 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:24.520 out seemingly harmless for about two to twenty one days, 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.440 typically more four to ten, and then you get to 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:32.240 see those symptoms come first. You see fever, chill, headache, 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:35.879 muscle and joint aches, and tiredness, and then it begins 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.000 to get uh much more intense. Yeah, and when the 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.760 immune system fights back, the ebola actually works to elude it. 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:45.480 It blocks the signaling to cells called neutrophils, and these 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.040 are white blood cells that are in charge of sounding 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:51.560 the alarm basically and uh so. And then on top 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:54.680 of that, ebola will actually infect immune cells and hitchhike 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.080 to organs such as the liver, the kidney, displein, and 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:00.119 the brain. Yeah, we thought about the ability of virus 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.600 to do that with the neutrophiles. It's kind of fascinating 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.520 that they can game the immune system like that. Alright, So, 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.920 as you mentioned, we're looking at an incubation period about 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:11.400 four to nine days after exposure, but it may last 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.480 up to twenty one and then that's where the course 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:17.840 of the illness really gets going. Um usually last between 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:21.560 six and ten days. Uh. Days one through three, Uh, 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.480 you're looking at flu like symptoms and just a general 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:31.520 feeling of bodily weakness. Days four through seven. Uh. Patients 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:36.720 may also get vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, low blood pressure, headaches 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.639 and anemia. Yeah, and some of them will develop a 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.520 rash on their trunk and their shoulders. Right. And then 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:45.640 days seven through ten, this is where things can get 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.280 far worse. Uh. This is towards the end of the 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.280 illness where you may encounter just fury and feelings of confusion, 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:58.000 bleeding both internally, uh and externally. And this can also 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:02.320 progress towards coma shock and death, but not in all cases. 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:04.600 And that's one thing to keep in mind here at 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:08.800 all times. Um, you'll you'll often see that nine mortality 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.679 rate thrown out with ebola, but that that is just 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:17.480 it's more correct to say that the mortality rate can 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.760 be up to with ebola, and it's gonna reach its 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:23.880 high highest levels in areas where it is not treated 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:28.520 or not treated effectively. You see that that mortality rate, Um, 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:31.800 it's still high, but you'll see it go down ten 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.320 and twenty thirty points or thirty points are more in 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:38.520 cases where the patients are are are actually going to 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:42.160 be cared for in in a more u sustainable way. Yeah. 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.359 And with this zy ear strain that is currently under way, 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:48.160 in the past has been but I think they've got 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.200 it down to about sixt right now, that's where I've 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:55.199 seen it hanging out. Yeah, and you probably already mentioned this, 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.280 but I did want to say that the blood does 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:00.119 start to cot al throughout the body. That's that's it 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:02.439 causes sort of this breakdown of the organs and the 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.720 failure of organs, and when it's clotting throughout the body, 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:09.239 that exhaust the supply of proteins that handle clots. So 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.280 that means that when tissue damage occurs in the other 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:14.800 personal body, those proteins aren't available to do their clotting work, 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:17.280 and that's where it all begins to break down internally. 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:21.520 And generally death is not a result of the hemorrhaging, 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:25.760 but from multi organs failure or shock. Yeah. Now, of 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:29.280 course not everyone dies from ebola, and when people survive ebola. 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:31.920 There are a few different factors that that that that 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:33.879 play a role here. I mean, one, of course, is 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.159 just the overall immune system health of an individual. Is 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:40.880 this a young person with you know, that's that's that's 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:44.520