So, 3800 people in Africa died of ebola this past year, is that right?

[shlver]

I just wanna add for the sake of completion that though they are both RNA viruses, and thus don't have proofreading during division (and thus high rate of mutation) Influenza does happen to also be a segmented RNA virus, which means it literally has segments of RNA that can just jump around its genome, so its mutation potential is way higher than Ebola.

Yep, high mutations rates of RNA viruses are a result of lack of a proofreading mechanism in RNA polymerase coupled with a rapid rate of replication.

Im not sure what RNA segments "jumping around its genome" actually means in any context. Viral reassortment as a result of segmentation is analogous to eukaryotic recombination of chromosomes. There is a very clear distinction between a mutation and reassortment/recombination.

[Dave3]

Yep, high mutations rates of RNA viruses are a result of lack of a proofreading mechanism in RNA polymerase coupled with a rapid rate of replication.

Im not sure what RNA segments "jumping around its genome" actually means in any context. Viral reassortment as a result of segmentation is analogous to eukaryotic recombination of chromosomes. There is a very clear distinction between a mutation and reassortment/recombination.

It's not quite analogous to chromosomal crossing over in eukaryotic DNA. You can read up on segmental DNA - it's why influenza moreso than other RNA viruses has the potential to cause pandemics/epidemics.

[shlver]

It's not quite analogous to chromosomal crossing over in eukaryotic DNA. You can read up on segmental DNA - it's why influenza moreso than other RNA viruses has the potential to cause pandemics/epidemics.

I already studied this very extensively. You missed the main point of my post. Mutations are definitionally distinct from reassortment and recombination. Yes they both increase genetic diversity, but occur by completely different mechanisms. You cannot say reassortment increases mutation potential because it doesn't!

[Dave3]

I already studied this very extensively. You missed the main point of my post. Mutations are definitionally distinct from reassortment and recombination. Yes they both increase genetic diversity, but occur by completely different mechanisms.

I think we're getting too deep into semantics, but we're talking about the same thing. Reassortment/recombination is different than nonesense/missense point mutations or frameshift mutations, but like you said, they both result in greater genetic diversity. Influenza's segmented RNA though makes for a greater capacity for genetic variance.

[CavaliersFTW]

The news wants people to be extremely afraid of this so that people watch more reports on it ...on the news. Fear mongering = views for the news.

Seriously, I can't believe how gullible people are to these dishonest news tactics. This illness is terrible if you catch it but it is a virtual impossibility you or anyone else on this planet will ever catch it. Is it deadly if you catch it? Yes, scarily so... but then again how is this much different than any other scenario where you are unlikely to ever be involved in that will almost surely kill you? Being exposed to a lethal amount of radiation, or being poisoned with arsenic, or being trapped on a plane that is going to crash, or in a submarine with a cracked hull.

All of these things are very lethal ...if you are unlucky enough to be caught in the statistically unlikely scenarios where you are exposed to them... the thing that the news isn't being honest about is exactly what I'm providing you guys with in this thread. The statistical unlikelihood of this virus ever effecting your life outside of watching reports of how allegedly deadly it is on the news.

3,800 people died of this disease last year... 2.5 million people died in car accidents last year. That is a pretty pathetic number for a "deadly global outbreak" if you ask me.

[tgan3]

Cavaliers, im pretty sure that people die from other causes way more often. But Ebola is something not to be overlooked about. Yes, people can die from heart diseases and such, but these does not SPREAD.

If Ebola spreads we are potentially looking at an mass epidemic, it it spreads faster then we are able to contain it, then humanity is doomed. Look at the black death in Europe in the 14th century, about 75 MILLIONS to 200 MILLIONS died from the virus. Shit like this could happen in the modern world if we do not have proper procedures to quarantine it.

[Nick Young]

What a stupid phuck the OP is

Justice is served if this piece of trash catches ebola in the next few months.

Retards like him and Obama that didn't take ebola seriously are the reason this problem is still a problem in the USA.

[~primetime~]

3,800 people died of this disease last year... [COLOR="Red"]2.5 million people died in car accidents last year.[/COLOR] That is a pretty pathetic number for a "deadly global outbreak" if you ask me.

what?

36,166 died in traffic related accidents last year

2.5 mill is like the population of an entire state in the US...where did you even get that number?

[CavaliersFTW]

what?

36,166 died in traffic related accidents last year

2.5 mill is like the population of an entire state in the US...where did you even get that number?

2.5 mil is the estimate for last year, globally.

[CavaliersFTW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2KBfynW09I

Nick Young where you at?

[Nick Young]

Right here-who the phuck is Shep Smith?

That guy is a dumbass.

There is nothing stopping it from spreading. Did you know one of the dumbass infected nurses went on a plane to Cleveland?

[sundizz]

CavsFTL with his typical Wilt logic.

The point of the fear mongering is to educate people to help ua not turn it into a mass epidemic. Of course its overblown. However, better safe than sorry. It is a rational fear that there could be some sort of deadly health situation could wipe out millions of people. It is the same rational fear that acting irresponsibly with the environment could lead to catastrophic consequences.

Accidents are accidents. They are predictable and carmakers and the public continue to work to improve their safety. Something unpredictable has to be dealth with in a different way. There has to be drastic and immediate response. If not it could just a) die out or b) become an uncontrollable problem.

As governments it is about protecting us from that unpredictable 1% chance this becomes the next plague.

[D-FENS]

You're a retard to minimize this virus. Even in state of the art medical facilities, it iss 50% survival rate, and you are permanently braindamaged if you survive.

Do you know what ebola does? You bleed out of every orifice. You are literally shitting blood and vomiting blood and bleeding out your ears until you die. Only a dumbass would mock this virus. Bad karma bro.

You're trying to tell this to the guy that makes up statistics about Wilt, trying to up him from a modern day McGee

[~primetime~]

2.5 mil is the estimate for last year, globally.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ted_death_rate

it was 1.2 mill world wide...you're total is 2x too big

[CavaliersFTW]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ted_death_rate

it was 1.2 mill world wide...you're total is 2x too big

You are right see my posts on the first page, even I said 1.2 million.

Point is all still there. 1.2 million versus a few thousand...

Ebola killed a few thousand last year, on a planet full of 7 billion people. Drip in a pond. Not even a noteworthy statistic in terms of deaths among the human population worldwide.