Oct. 29, 2026
Word Health Leaders Give DIRE Warning On Ebola: “We Want Countries To Know They Are Not Safe”
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RSS Feed There are frightening headlines coming from the World Health Organization and Africa’s CDC surrounding the growing Ebola outbreak. With 10 thousand confirmed cases, and nearly 5,000 deaths, health officials are warning the disease could expand internationally if other nations don’t take appropriate actions. In response, the CDC has just announced new travel restrictions for anyone traveling from another country into the U.S. beginning November 3rd. There is currently no vaccine for the rare and deadly Bundibugyo strain, but the Trump administration is now funding the development of an experimental vaccine, awarding 36 million dollars to a New York based biomedical research organization.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, October 29th, and it does not matter if you're in Spokane, Washington, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, Obispo, California, Austin, Texas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Snailville, Georgia, or Miami, Florida. You are not safe from Ebola. That is the warning we are now getting from health officials. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Now, are they just saying this, Robes? to get everybody's attention and get more help and get more money. Is this part of a media play or is this for real?
00:00:36
Speaker 2: I guess it's possible, but here's what we know. There are some really scary headlines coming from the World Health Organization and the head of the Africa CDC. And look, I don't believe, or at least I'd like to believe, I choose not to believe that health officials, public health officials, would just try to scare people to get more resources to the region. Now, it's possible, and I'm not naive enough to think that couldn't be true, but they're saying things like, hello world, you need to be paying attention because remember when you thought COVID was just isolated to Asia or Wuhan or certain people thought that? This exact scenario could repeat itself If we aren't careful.
00:01:26
Speaker 1: Okay. This disease, what's the rate? The rate of death rate?
00:01:30
Speaker 2: Nearly 50% death rate. Nearly 50% death rate.
00:01:33
Speaker 1: Okay. The warning comes and it sounds as if they're not getting anywhere close to the help and attention they're needing.
00:01:41
Speaker 2: Correct. So right now, the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed more than 10,000 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths. And to remind everyone, because we talked about this in the spring, but the bundabugyo strain.
00:02:00
Speaker 1: Is it not budabangyo? I'm not looking at it. Is that right? Budabangyo?
00:02:05
Speaker 2: You know what? It's a rare strain that I'd prefer not to have to pronounce ever again.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: I don't know why that rolled off the tongue. Yes.
00:02:14
Speaker 2: If you can say it, I'll follow you. I need to hear someone say it correctly once, and then hopefully I can keep it in my mind that way. But this is a rare strain where there is no vaccine. And yes, public health officials are warning that this strain of Ebola could spread like COVID-19 if precautions are taken and the United States is reacting. We already have new travel restrictions that were just announced by the CDC that are going to take place next week. So it's going to take effect soon. November 3rd. I don't know why you wouldn't put it into effect right now, but apparently we can wait until November 3rd before these new travel restrictions.
00:02:52
Speaker 1: We've got to get our ducks in a row, right?
00:02:53
Speaker 2: I guess, yes.
00:02:54
Speaker 1: People in place, that's probably it.
00:02:56
Speaker 2: That is true. So some of the scary... But... Yes, I know, I'm like, well, I'm not traveling, but it doesn't matter because other people are, and New York City is one of the places that they'd be headed to. The World Health Organization... This is some scary, these are some scary numbers. They're calling the situation, quote, very dire. And they say they are getting 50 to 80 new cases every single day.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: That's bad. That's bad. That many people, that means there's how many they were in contact with. You got to go get, you got to go find. That's a lot, folks.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: Those are known cases. We always have said this with any pandemic, whatever your known numbers are, go ahead and double them because- especially in areas of Africa where this is taking place. It's not as if they have the same kind of mobility and technology and communication systems in place to have accurate information. This would probably be one of the least accurate places in the world in terms of getting information Because these are some very, this is a war-torn area. This is an area that has very little resources. And if they're able to say, even with the rudimentary statistical keeping they've been able to do, that they still are saying it's 50 to 80 cases a day, that's frightening.
00:04:17
Speaker 1: My God. And look, it has been, it's creeping out of the borders a little bit. A little bit there where it started, Uganda and the DRC, mainly in the DRC, yes. Rose, when folks start showing up on other continents, Rose, people start flying and getting on the wrong plane, going to the wrong place that doesn't have the right restrictions in place. I mean, that's a little tough. this is a little terrifying.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: There's a, I want to get to what the head of the Africa CDC said in just a moment, but you mentioned that, and I want to actually go straight to, this has been for the last couple of days. If you've been paying attention in Nigeria, the wife of a Swiss diplomat was in Uganda for about two weeks. She comes back to Nigeria and And for, I believe it was 17 days, but a pretty decent amount of time, she's walking around doing her thing. And all of a sudden she ain't feeling so good. She goes and gets diagnosed with Ebola. And right now they have at least 44 contacts that they've identified. And everyone now is having to self-isolate. But here's the deal. They're like, how did she get this? They believe there is a Kenyan man who was in the Uganda airport on the same day at a nearby gate. He died from Ebola. They traveled on the same day. close to one another, and they're trying to figure out, they haven't said for sure whether or not there's a link, but they've actually been able to identify a Kenyan man who died and this wife of a Swiss diplomat who may have crossed paths somehow.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: That's two infected people in the same airport even. Who else are they infecting?
00:06:06
Speaker 2: Exactly. This is frightening. And so once you're talking about an international airport and who knows what's going on, And so now she's recovering in Switzerland, but this is some scary stuff. And if you aren't already freaked out, wait till you hear from Dr. Gene Casilla. He said that the current outbreak is quote unquote unprecedented. And I'm going to read some of what he has told the press. We want countries to know that they are not safe if they don't take appropriate measures. Each country, not only in the African region, but all continents, must now increase the preparedness level and the possibility for treatment.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: Possibility for treatment. It looks like he wants help developing something.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:07:03
Speaker 1: There's no known treatment for this particular strain.
00:07:07
Speaker 2: Exactly. And he said it is the first time three African regions have been affected by Ebola. The geographic extension of this outbreak is unprecedented. And then he reminded folks, hey, remember when you all didn't think COVID was coming to your neck of the woods? This was his quote. We don't want to see the UK and other countries become the hotspot. Obviously, he knew when he said that that was going to Definitely have some people take notice.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: Was this the WHO guy or the CDC guy? This is the CDC.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: This is Africa's CDC. His name is Dr.
00:07:38
Speaker 1: Kassia.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: And that is what he is warning the world today.
00:07:47
Speaker 1: It seems isolated. This is a part of the world. It takes us 20 hours on a plane to get to. And even when you land, you've got to travel on foot. dirt roads for hours and hours to get to some of these places, roads that seem so isolated from us, away from us, and we seem safe from it. And that is why it isn't urgent. That is why he's trying to drop European names in his quotes, because that's y'all. It's isolated to y'all. Y'all are dying.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: We aren't.
00:08:21
Speaker 1: This isn't urgent to us yet.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: We care.
00:08:23
Speaker 1: Hate to see what's happening to you. But That's what's happening. And until you see some other places and their citizens start being impacted, hopefully not. But Africa, I have to give them, for making this point, it feels like y'all are on your own. Good luck.
00:08:42
Speaker 2: Yes. And obviously they want help, but they're also saying it's not just for us. It's for your protection as well. The African countries affected right now, the DRC, Uganda, we know about both of those, Kenya and Nigeria. And that was the first case with this woman who brought it back, they believe, either from the Ugandan airport or who knows where else. And then in Europe, right now, you had medically evacuated patients who went to Germany, medically evacuated patients who went to the Netherlands, Switzerland. And France actually had a reported case as well. So they've all been isolated. There's been no indication that any of those infected people spread it to anyone else. But look, this is some scary, scary stuff. And a lot of people are concerned, and that includes the United States of America. Because yes, the CDC has just announced that... beginning November 3rd, anyone flying from any other country in the world must sign a statement confirming that they have not visited the DRC within the past 21 days. They have to sign it. The airlines have to require it. You will not be allowed to board a a plane unless you sign this. And then the airlines are required to keep those signed documents for 42 days. And even if you've had a layover and you don't deplane and you stay on the plane and you had a layover in December, one of these countries, Uganda, South Sudan, you also are not allowed.
00:10:22
Speaker 1: Wait a minute, but go back here. Did you say anybody flying in from anywhere has to sign this?
00:10:27
Speaker 2: Yes, if you're coming in from Mexico, if you're coming in from the U.K.
00:10:32
Speaker 1: Does it apply to U.S. citizens as well, coming back?
00:10:34
Speaker 2: Yes, every single person has to sign this statement. Now, Americans, this has been in place for a while, Americans who are returning from either Uganda or South Sudan, they now have to be routed through Dulles, Atlanta, or JFK for travel. specific screening, but that's only for Americans. If you're from any other country, you ain't allowed in if you've been to any of those countries in the past 21 days.
00:10:56
Speaker 1: How are they going to manage that? It's going to be something, an app you do it, or is it going to be a paper?
00:11:02
Speaker 2: I guess they're working, but they're putting this on the airlines and they are saying that airlines, yes, the airlines have to do it. They have to kind of like, you know, back in the day, it doesn't happen as much anymore. where you have to sign, some countries you still have to sign their little immigration form and they hand them out on the plane. But here's the deal. This has to be collected before you board the plane. So you can't even get on the plane until you hand over this signed. So think about this. All of us who travel internationally, we do a lot. I don't think we have. Oh, we do have one international trip planned in December. But... Anytime you're coming back in, you will have to have a signed piece of paper saying you haven't been to the DRC within the past 21 days. Isn't that wild?
00:11:45
Speaker 1: All right.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: When we come back, we're going to remind you about what we know right now about Ebola or this specific strain of Ebola and remind you why this is one of the scariest diseases on the planet. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Yes, we have some pretty frightening Ebola headlines today, and among them, something from America. The Trump administration apparently has announced it is funding the development of an experimental vaccine to try to protect against the, and I'm going to try to say this, Bundabugyo virus. That's the type of Ebola that that has been at the centerpiece or the, at the center of this outbreak in the DRC. So we are, that says a lot. If we're already now greenlighting, if the Trump administration is greenlighting and funding a development of a possible vaccine for this strain of the virus, that would speak to our level of concern.
00:12:54
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah. I mean, we just decided to jump in. This is our contribution. That's great. Um, Right. But they haven't had all this time. Why haven't we? They've known about this strain for a long time. And no, this is the one we got.
00:13:06
Speaker 2: No.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: Combat.
00:13:08
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think it's getting scarier. The Department of Health and Human Services, they just awarded a $ 36 million contract to New York-based company. It's a biomedical research organization to develop this vaccine. And literally, this was just announced hours ago upon this recording. So this is all developing and happening in real time. And you may remember, the World Health Organization declared this a public health emergency May 17th. So we haven't done so great in these past several months.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: Didn't they say they were possibly weeks or months behind even when they declared it?
00:13:42
Speaker 2: They believe that it began spreading as early as February.
00:13:47
Speaker 1: Way behind. Still catching up.
00:13:49
Speaker 2: It's very concerning. Now, I needed to be reminded of this. We've had a couple, like we've had the hantavirus, we had some plague issues. There have been all these viruses, and I know we pay more attention to them now after we've all gotten through the pandemic. So yes, I think we might have normally been like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, after 2020, we're paying attention. And so how this particular strain of the virus spreads, it's through contact with bodily fluids. But It doesn't have to be person to person. If you have a bodily fluid on clothing or your bedsheets, anything, if you come into contact with an object that has a bodily fluid on it, you also then can contract this form of Ebola. Now, it's not as contagious as, say, COVID-19 because it's not airborne. They say as far as they know because, yes, we learned this in the pandemic that viruses mutate. Viruses change. But as far as they understand, it's not airborne. However, it's very infectious. They said it only takes a small amount of bodily fluids to infect a person, and there is up to a 21-day incubation period. So that's also frightening because you could be walking around with it. Now, they say you don't spread it until you become symptomatic. But here's the deal. There are dry symptoms that evolve into wet symptoms. So the dry symptoms are fever, joint and muscle pain, headaches and fatigue. Okay, that sounds like a really bad cold or the flu or some little bug. You wouldn't immediately think, ooh, do I have Ebola, right? So that goes on for a little while and then it evolves into what they call wet symptoms, which is vomiting, diarrhea, and here's the scary part, bleeding from the eyes. Bleeding from the mouth, the nose, the rectum. I think that's what we think of when we think of Ebola. And yep, that is very much what happens in the later stages of this virus.
00:15:51
Speaker 1: Oh, my goodness.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: Happy Thursday, everybody. But seriously, this is... We hadn't heard about it for a while. Maybe we all just hoped it had gone away or that they had gotten ahead of it. You'd hear a headline here or there. Today, this caught our attention and we wanted to put it on your radar because this is something our government is paying attention to and funding. We just threw $ 36 million to a private company to try and come up with a vaccine. That means there is real concern that this thing could spread out of Africa and... God knows where. So we will keep our eye on this developing story. We always appreciate you listening to us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach, alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, October 29th, and it does not matter if you're in Spokane, Washington, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, Obispo, California, Austin, Texas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Snailville, Georgia, or Miami, Florida. You are not safe from Ebola. That is the warning we are now getting from health officials. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Now, are they just saying this, Robes? to get everybody's attention and get more help and get more money. Is this part of a media play or is this for real?
00:00:36
Speaker 2: I guess it's possible, but here's what we know. There are some really scary headlines coming from the World Health Organization and the head of the Africa CDC. And look, I don't believe, or at least I'd like to believe, I choose not to believe that health officials, public health officials, would just try to scare people to get more resources to the region. Now, it's possible, and I'm not naive enough to think that couldn't be true, but they're saying things like, hello world, you need to be paying attention because remember when you thought COVID was just isolated to Asia or Wuhan or certain people thought that? This exact scenario could repeat itself If we aren't careful.
00:01:26
Speaker 1: Okay. This disease, what's the rate? The rate of death rate?
00:01:30
Speaker 2: Nearly 50% death rate. Nearly 50% death rate.
00:01:33
Speaker 1: Okay. The warning comes and it sounds as if they're not getting anywhere close to the help and attention they're needing.
00:01:41
Speaker 2: Correct. So right now, the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed more than 10,000 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths. And to remind everyone, because we talked about this in the spring, but the bundabugyo strain.
00:02:00
Speaker 1: Is it not budabangyo? I'm not looking at it. Is that right? Budabangyo?
00:02:05
Speaker 2: You know what? It's a rare strain that I'd prefer not to have to pronounce ever again.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: I don't know why that rolled off the tongue. Yes.
00:02:14
Speaker 2: If you can say it, I'll follow you. I need to hear someone say it correctly once, and then hopefully I can keep it in my mind that way. But this is a rare strain where there is no vaccine. And yes, public health officials are warning that this strain of Ebola could spread like COVID-19 if precautions are taken and the United States is reacting. We already have new travel restrictions that were just announced by the CDC that are going to take place next week. So it's going to take effect soon. November 3rd. I don't know why you wouldn't put it into effect right now, but apparently we can wait until November 3rd before these new travel restrictions.
00:02:52
Speaker 1: We've got to get our ducks in a row, right?
00:02:53
Speaker 2: I guess, yes.
00:02:54
Speaker 1: People in place, that's probably it.
00:02:56
Speaker 2: That is true. So some of the scary... But... Yes, I know, I'm like, well, I'm not traveling, but it doesn't matter because other people are, and New York City is one of the places that they'd be headed to. The World Health Organization... This is some scary, these are some scary numbers. They're calling the situation, quote, very dire. And they say they are getting 50 to 80 new cases every single day.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: That's bad. That's bad. That many people, that means there's how many they were in contact with. You got to go get, you got to go find. That's a lot, folks.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: Those are known cases. We always have said this with any pandemic, whatever your known numbers are, go ahead and double them because- especially in areas of Africa where this is taking place. It's not as if they have the same kind of mobility and technology and communication systems in place to have accurate information. This would probably be one of the least accurate places in the world in terms of getting information Because these are some very, this is a war-torn area. This is an area that has very little resources. And if they're able to say, even with the rudimentary statistical keeping they've been able to do, that they still are saying it's 50 to 80 cases a day, that's frightening.
00:04:17
Speaker 1: My God. And look, it has been, it's creeping out of the borders a little bit. A little bit there where it started, Uganda and the DRC, mainly in the DRC, yes. Rose, when folks start showing up on other continents, Rose, people start flying and getting on the wrong plane, going to the wrong place that doesn't have the right restrictions in place. I mean, that's a little tough. this is a little terrifying.
00:04:46
Speaker 2: There's a, I want to get to what the head of the Africa CDC said in just a moment, but you mentioned that, and I want to actually go straight to, this has been for the last couple of days. If you've been paying attention in Nigeria, the wife of a Swiss diplomat was in Uganda for about two weeks. She comes back to Nigeria and And for, I believe it was 17 days, but a pretty decent amount of time, she's walking around doing her thing. And all of a sudden she ain't feeling so good. She goes and gets diagnosed with Ebola. And right now they have at least 44 contacts that they've identified. And everyone now is having to self-isolate. But here's the deal. They're like, how did she get this? They believe there is a Kenyan man who was in the Uganda airport on the same day at a nearby gate. He died from Ebola. They traveled on the same day. close to one another, and they're trying to figure out, they haven't said for sure whether or not there's a link, but they've actually been able to identify a Kenyan man who died and this wife of a Swiss diplomat who may have crossed paths somehow.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: That's two infected people in the same airport even. Who else are they infecting?
00:06:06
Speaker 2: Exactly. This is frightening. And so once you're talking about an international airport and who knows what's going on, And so now she's recovering in Switzerland, but this is some scary stuff. And if you aren't already freaked out, wait till you hear from Dr. Gene Casilla. He said that the current outbreak is quote unquote unprecedented. And I'm going to read some of what he has told the press. We want countries to know that they are not safe if they don't take appropriate measures. Each country, not only in the African region, but all continents, must now increase the preparedness level and the possibility for treatment.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: Possibility for treatment. It looks like he wants help developing something.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:07:03
Speaker 1: There's no known treatment for this particular strain.
00:07:07
Speaker 2: Exactly. And he said it is the first time three African regions have been affected by Ebola. The geographic extension of this outbreak is unprecedented. And then he reminded folks, hey, remember when you all didn't think COVID was coming to your neck of the woods? This was his quote. We don't want to see the UK and other countries become the hotspot. Obviously, he knew when he said that that was going to Definitely have some people take notice.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: Was this the WHO guy or the CDC guy? This is the CDC.
00:07:36
Speaker 2: This is Africa's CDC. His name is Dr.
00:07:38
Speaker 1: Kassia.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: And that is what he is warning the world today.
00:07:47
Speaker 1: It seems isolated. This is a part of the world. It takes us 20 hours on a plane to get to. And even when you land, you've got to travel on foot. dirt roads for hours and hours to get to some of these places, roads that seem so isolated from us, away from us, and we seem safe from it. And that is why it isn't urgent. That is why he's trying to drop European names in his quotes, because that's y'all. It's isolated to y'all. Y'all are dying.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: We aren't.
00:08:21
Speaker 1: This isn't urgent to us yet.
00:08:22
Speaker 2: We care.
00:08:23
Speaker 1: Hate to see what's happening to you. But That's what's happening. And until you see some other places and their citizens start being impacted, hopefully not. But Africa, I have to give them, for making this point, it feels like y'all are on your own. Good luck.
00:08:42
Speaker 2: Yes. And obviously they want help, but they're also saying it's not just for us. It's for your protection as well. The African countries affected right now, the DRC, Uganda, we know about both of those, Kenya and Nigeria. And that was the first case with this woman who brought it back, they believe, either from the Ugandan airport or who knows where else. And then in Europe, right now, you had medically evacuated patients who went to Germany, medically evacuated patients who went to the Netherlands, Switzerland. And France actually had a reported case as well. So they've all been isolated. There's been no indication that any of those infected people spread it to anyone else. But look, this is some scary, scary stuff. And a lot of people are concerned, and that includes the United States of America. Because yes, the CDC has just announced that... beginning November 3rd, anyone flying from any other country in the world must sign a statement confirming that they have not visited the DRC within the past 21 days. They have to sign it. The airlines have to require it. You will not be allowed to board a a plane unless you sign this. And then the airlines are required to keep those signed documents for 42 days. And even if you've had a layover and you don't deplane and you stay on the plane and you had a layover in December, one of these countries, Uganda, South Sudan, you also are not allowed.
00:10:22
Speaker 1: Wait a minute, but go back here. Did you say anybody flying in from anywhere has to sign this?
00:10:27
Speaker 2: Yes, if you're coming in from Mexico, if you're coming in from the U.K.
00:10:32
Speaker 1: Does it apply to U.S. citizens as well, coming back?
00:10:34
Speaker 2: Yes, every single person has to sign this statement. Now, Americans, this has been in place for a while, Americans who are returning from either Uganda or South Sudan, they now have to be routed through Dulles, Atlanta, or JFK for travel. specific screening, but that's only for Americans. If you're from any other country, you ain't allowed in if you've been to any of those countries in the past 21 days.
00:10:56
Speaker 1: How are they going to manage that? It's going to be something, an app you do it, or is it going to be a paper?
00:11:02
Speaker 2: I guess they're working, but they're putting this on the airlines and they are saying that airlines, yes, the airlines have to do it. They have to kind of like, you know, back in the day, it doesn't happen as much anymore. where you have to sign, some countries you still have to sign their little immigration form and they hand them out on the plane. But here's the deal. This has to be collected before you board the plane. So you can't even get on the plane until you hand over this signed. So think about this. All of us who travel internationally, we do a lot. I don't think we have. Oh, we do have one international trip planned in December. But... Anytime you're coming back in, you will have to have a signed piece of paper saying you haven't been to the DRC within the past 21 days. Isn't that wild?
00:11:45
Speaker 1: All right.
00:11:45
Speaker 2: When we come back, we're going to remind you about what we know right now about Ebola or this specific strain of Ebola and remind you why this is one of the scariest diseases on the planet. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Yes, we have some pretty frightening Ebola headlines today, and among them, something from America. The Trump administration apparently has announced it is funding the development of an experimental vaccine to try to protect against the, and I'm going to try to say this, Bundabugyo virus. That's the type of Ebola that that has been at the centerpiece or the, at the center of this outbreak in the DRC. So we are, that says a lot. If we're already now greenlighting, if the Trump administration is greenlighting and funding a development of a possible vaccine for this strain of the virus, that would speak to our level of concern.
00:12:54
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah. I mean, we just decided to jump in. This is our contribution. That's great. Um, Right. But they haven't had all this time. Why haven't we? They've known about this strain for a long time. And no, this is the one we got.
00:13:06
Speaker 2: No.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: Combat.
00:13:08
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think it's getting scarier. The Department of Health and Human Services, they just awarded a $ 36 million contract to New York-based company. It's a biomedical research organization to develop this vaccine. And literally, this was just announced hours ago upon this recording. So this is all developing and happening in real time. And you may remember, the World Health Organization declared this a public health emergency May 17th. So we haven't done so great in these past several months.
00:13:38
Speaker 1: Didn't they say they were possibly weeks or months behind even when they declared it?
00:13:42
Speaker 2: They believe that it began spreading as early as February.
00:13:47
Speaker 1: Way behind. Still catching up.
00:13:49
Speaker 2: It's very concerning. Now, I needed to be reminded of this. We've had a couple, like we've had the hantavirus, we had some plague issues. There have been all these viruses, and I know we pay more attention to them now after we've all gotten through the pandemic. So yes, I think we might have normally been like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, after 2020, we're paying attention. And so how this particular strain of the virus spreads, it's through contact with bodily fluids. But It doesn't have to be person to person. If you have a bodily fluid on clothing or your bedsheets, anything, if you come into contact with an object that has a bodily fluid on it, you also then can contract this form of Ebola. Now, it's not as contagious as, say, COVID-19 because it's not airborne. They say as far as they know because, yes, we learned this in the pandemic that viruses mutate. Viruses change. But as far as they understand, it's not airborne. However, it's very infectious. They said it only takes a small amount of bodily fluids to infect a person, and there is up to a 21-day incubation period. So that's also frightening because you could be walking around with it. Now, they say you don't spread it until you become symptomatic. But here's the deal. There are dry symptoms that evolve into wet symptoms. So the dry symptoms are fever, joint and muscle pain, headaches and fatigue. Okay, that sounds like a really bad cold or the flu or some little bug. You wouldn't immediately think, ooh, do I have Ebola, right? So that goes on for a little while and then it evolves into what they call wet symptoms, which is vomiting, diarrhea, and here's the scary part, bleeding from the eyes. Bleeding from the mouth, the nose, the rectum. I think that's what we think of when we think of Ebola. And yep, that is very much what happens in the later stages of this virus.
00:15:51
Speaker 1: Oh, my goodness.
00:15:53
Speaker 2: Happy Thursday, everybody. But seriously, this is... We hadn't heard about it for a while. Maybe we all just hoped it had gone away or that they had gotten ahead of it. You'd hear a headline here or there. Today, this caught our attention and we wanted to put it on your radar because this is something our government is paying attention to and funding. We just threw $ 36 million to a private company to try and come up with a vaccine. That means there is real concern that this thing could spread out of Africa and... God knows where. So we will keep our eye on this developing story. We always appreciate you listening to us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach, alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.