<story><title>African Ebola outbreak shows no sign of slowing</title><url>http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/23/the-african-ebola-outbreak-that-shows-no-sign-of-slowing/?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ChuckMcM</author><text>So what killed (or squelched) previous outbreaks?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>edj</author><text>Here&amp;#x27;s a Medicines Sans Frontieres Ebola expert answering that very question[1]:&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;In recent years, MSF has been involved in battling every Ebola epidemic. Once the first case is confirmed by a blood test, every person who cares for an infected patient must wear a hazmat suit, gloves, a mask and protective goggles and exercise extreme caution when administering treatment. Decontamination chambers are generally installed between the isolated patients and the external environment. To confine the epidemic, it is critical to trace the entire transmission chain. All individuals who have had contact with patients who may be contaminated are monitored and isolated at the first sign of infection. The affected communities must also be informed about the illness and the precautions to be taken to limit risks of contamination. Basic hygiene – such as washing one’s hands – can significantly reduce the risk of transmission.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;1: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msf.org/article/guinea-%E2%80%9Cthere-no-treatment-and-no-vaccine-ebola-priority-isolate-suspected-cases%E2%80%9D&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.msf.org&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;guinea-%E2%80%9Cthere-no-treatmen...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>African Ebola outbreak shows no sign of slowing</title><url>http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/23/the-african-ebola-outbreak-that-shows-no-sign-of-slowing/?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ChuckMcM</author><text>So what killed (or squelched) previous outbreaks?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mayneack</author><text>They were rural and burned themselves out once people stopped visiting the hospitals where they were transmitted through shared needles.&lt;p&gt;This is a great book that covers many early outbreaks: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/The-Coming-Plague-Emerging-Diseases/dp/0140250913/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;The-Coming-Plague-Emerging-Diseases&amp;#x2F;dp...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>