FOOD POISONING CAN BE GOOD NEWS - WHEN YOU THINK YOU'VE CAUGHT EBOLA

No one wants food poisoning. But at times, being told you have food poisoning may actually be good news. That is, if you were beginning to think you had Ebola.

Symptoms of food poisoning can appear similar to those of Ebola in its early stages.

Here are the most common symptoms of Ebola (source: CDC): fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain, unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising).

Now, let’s compare the most common symptoms of food poisoning caused by Norovirus – also called “stomach flu” although it is not related to influenza: fever, headache, other body aches, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain. Notice that "unexplained hemorrhage" is not among the symptoms of Norovirus, but it is not present during the early stages of Ebola either.

Let’s take another common type of food poisoning, the one causes by various Salmonella bacteria, some more deadly than others. Common symptoms include: fever, headache, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps.

My point – unless you are in West Africa, have recently returned from West Africa where you might have been in contact with Ebola patients, or, have recently had close - and I mean VERY close - contact with an Ebola patient in another part of the world (not just shared a plane, but shared body fluids), relax! Those symptoms you are having could just be food poisoning (or, malaria, or some other nasty disease). But not Ebola.

To your good health,

TSF

CAN BABIES CATCH EBOLA FROM BREAST MILK?

Everyone is currently very nervous about Ebola. Yes, this horrible disease is mainly focused on West Africa. It's mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. But we are realizing that with so much international travel, nothing is confined for very long.

Information about Ebola is changing from day to day, including the information coming from the experts. In the United States, the main “experts” are at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). I noticed today that they are now finally acknowledging breast milk as a route for Ebola transmission. They weren’t earlier. Maybe they have been reading the same research studies that I have been reading, especially some research done on earlier outbreaks of Ebola in Uganda.

What these studies show is that mothers who are infected with this virus can indeed pass on the virus to the infants they are breast feeding. But what the CDC does not mention as yet, is that research has apparently found that breast milk can carry the virus for weeks after the mother appears to have recovered.

Well, CDC, I think you had better make a correction on your website, especially in the paragraph which states:” Once someone recovers from Ebola, they can no longer spread the virus.” Not true….

To your good health,

TSF

CAN YOU CATCH EBOLA FROM FOOD OR DRINK?

The 2014 outbreak of Ebola is the worst one ever. It has become an international health emergency. At present the main outbreak is confined to West Africa, to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, with a small number of cases cropping up in other countries, including in the United States and a few European nations. But everyone is afraid that it will spread further.

The total number of suspected cases of Ebola as of today is 9937 (actual lab confirmed cases are less). Deaths number 4877. These statistics have been updated on October 24, 2014. Assume that this is a huge underestimation: people are hiding the ill and often those who have died, and statistics in many of these countries are very poor anyway, particularly when it comes to reporting what happens in remote rural areas. I know, I have worked there.

Ebola, which used to be known as “Ebola hemorrhagic fever”, is a deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains (see the photo above). Ebola is extremely contagious. It is transmitted from someone who is ill to another person by means of the sick person’s blood (for instance, through needle-sharing and through hospital equipment if shared or not properly sterilized) or through body fluids. Body fluids refer to urine, feces, vomit, semen, and saliva. Sweat can also transmit it under certain conditions. So far, the virus is believed not to be airborne, unlike many viruses.

Can you also catch Ebola from food? You will find most websites and media articles saying that you can't. But this type of transmission has been reported during previous outbreaks (for instance, in Uganda) when people in the more remote areas of Africa prepared or ate Ebola virus-contaminated "bushmeat" (such as monkey, bat ). Alright, people in most countries don't include "monkey tartare" or "bat sushi" on their diet (I have read, by the way, that bat soup can be delicious, though have never tried it). But can you catch Ebola from other kinds of food or drink as well?

In theory it is possible. When it comes to food or drink, the issue of saliva is important. Therefore, if you are in an area where there is Ebola, and especially if you are with someone who may have Ebola, you may want to be careful about drinking out of the same container (bottle, glass or whatever), sharing eating utensils, eating out of the same dish, or eating foods prepared or served by someone with Ebola symptoms, or, whom you don't know well. But let me add that the Ebola virus is a very fragile one, and is not believed to last long outside the body, so this type of transmission may be very rare. I don't even know if it has ever occurred in this or previous outbreaks. I have written to the Director of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ask. So far, no reply.

This is a later addition. Another, less direct route related to food has also occurred to me. I would assume that if the person serving your food and touching your glass or eating utensils is contagious, and sweats on them (as they well might if they are ill and running a temperature), then you might also be at risk for Ebola if this sweat enters a cut in your hand or you transfer the sweat to a mucous membrane. But this is just a hypothesis. No doubt, over the next few months we'll find out more.


To your good health,
TSF