# Using 20 kiloton warheads to combat ebola? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105 "2014-09-21T20:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/21 "2014-09-22T11:34:20Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > We did. > > Look into the history of smallpox. Encircling an area with active smallpox and preventing anyone from coming out was a _common_ technique. When vaccination became possible the strategy was to encircle, then vaccinate from the outer ring towards the interior. > > In some cases the people inside the affected zone were basically written off - if they could survive on their own, great, but outside aid, beyond leaving food on the borders of the quarantine zone, was not given. The same was done at times for the black plague. It’s harsh, but it can and does work. Not to mention back in the day of the plague they would burn everything the sick person touched. I think I once heard of whole towns being burned down to stop disease. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/22 "2014-09-22T11:40:58Z")
While the whole idea is ridiculously silly, I just have to say one thing: based on my experiences on this board and elsewhere online, if the West did decide to nuke or cluster-bomb much of West Africa for this or any similar crazy reason, it is my feeling that the rest of the world would shed a single tear and then move on, because a lot of Westerners don’t actually consider Africans to be fully-realised human beings deserving of much empathy or rights - they are accorded the same levels of sympathy as abandoned pets or wild pandas, but no more than that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/23 "2014-09-22T11:50:16Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Luckily, we live in a age of things like “thermometers” and “telephones,” enable us to manage public health without putting people under siege. Except the outbreak is now epidemic and “thermometers” and “telephones” are in short supply. “Public Health” has been overrun and the mathematical models are broken. All just an observation. In the current outbreak (now classified as the first ever Ebola epidemic) there are already more cases than _all previous outbreaks combined._ ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/24 "2014-09-22T12:32:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Except the outbreak is now epidemic and “thermometers” and “telephones” are in short supply. “Public Health” has been overrun and the mathematical models are broken. > > All just an observation. In the current outbreak (now classified as the first ever Ebola epidemic) there are already more cases than _all previous outbreaks combined._ Which is not surprising, as Ebola has killed very few people. The Spanish Flu killed 50-100 million. Even an ordinary flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 a year. Ebola, on the other hand, has killed a couple thousand people in the last 40 years before this outbrrak. It’s nasty and needs to get under cobtrol, yes. But it’s not a sci-fi supervirus. The only “mathematical models” it is breaking are those created by bloggers and political analysts who suddenly decided to also be amateur epidemiologist. Public health experts have been warning for decades that gutting Africa’s public health systems was asking for trouble, and given the many, many deadly diseases that are and have been raging out of control for decades, nobody is surprised another on had made it in to the mix. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/25 "2014-09-22T12:35:05Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Great, my normal temperature runs 94-95F … by the time I am warm enough to be considered dangerous I can have infected tons of people!:D:dubious::smack: > [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] How many people do you typically bleed, vomit or spit on in an average week?!? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/26 "2014-09-22T12:57:21Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Which is not surprising, as Ebola has killed very few people. The Spanish Flu killed 50-100 million. Even an ordinary flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 a year. Ebola, on the other hand, has killed a couple thousand people in the last 40 years before this outbrrak. > > It’s nasty and needs to get under cobtrol, yes. But it’s not a sci-fi supervirus. The only “mathematical models” it is breaking are those created by bloggers and political analysts who suddenly decided to also be amateur epidemiologist. Public health experts have been warning for decades that gutting Africa’s public health systems was asking for trouble, and given the many, many deadly diseases that are and have been raging out of control for decades, nobody is surprised another on had made it in to the mix. I agree with what you are saying here (other than your continuing to use “outbreak” rather than “epidemic”). But there are real epidemiologists who are concerned with the broken mathematical model. It is a shame the money now being promised to aid the current situation wasn’t spent early when the epidemic was just another outbreak. I just read about an increase in preventable deaths (pneomonia, etc) occurring due to increased wariness of going to a hospital (assuming it’s even an option) where you might be exposed to/wrongly diagnosed with Ebola. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/27 "2014-09-22T19:34:29Z")
> [@Amberlei](#): > > Bravo, indeed! > You have no idea how tempted I am to say this to him. I feel a bit sorry for him, though, as his conspiracy theories have driven away all the rest of the family. Crazy as it sounds, this is nowhere near the most bizarre thing he’s thought of. Please, PLEASE start another thread along the lines of “Stupid Consipracy Theories I’ve Heard First Hand” and share at least one of his doozies in the OP. The rest of us can join in with ones we’ve heard. For best results, no FOAF or Googled-up theories; these have to be ones the poster has directly heard from the mouth of some live CT-spouting person. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/28 "2014-09-22T20:08:59Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > How many people do you typically bleed, vomit or spit on in an average week?!? An AVERAGE week?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/29 "2014-09-22T22:32:51Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > How many people do you typically bleed, vomit or spit on in an average week?!? Pam Poovey: All together, or individu…never mind. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/30 "2014-09-22T23:15:57Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > How many people do you typically bleed, vomit or spit on in an average week?!? > [@msmith537](#): > > An AVERAGE week?😃 > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Pam Poovey: All together, or individu…never mind. > > Stranger _snicker_ Depends. If I am ill, and go to a doctor, I could go to a general sick call on a military base - and 2 that are closest to where I would be vacationing and thusly away from my PCP are Air Force bases with fairly high populations … and the guys have a heck of a lot better chance of going somewhere and themselves contacting a lot more people that 130 guys on a submarine headed out to make holes in the water somewhere. If I go to my PCP, in his New London office, I can be in a waiting room of 40 to 50 people, and given the hispanic demographic of that particular office, I can be potentially contaminating families with more than just one or 2 kids [I have seen the parade of pre-school vaccinations and sports examinations and more than one family lined up with 4+ kids each.] I don’t know if you have seen the Mythbusters episode where they hooked up Adam Savage with a nasal drip tube of UV dye, and checked how much spread he would get from a generic drippy nose, and his workspace was totally glowing under the UV light, and then they set up a half an hour ‘party’ with 6 people sitting around a round table and then checked how much it spread on people that he did nothing more than pass glasses of champagne, played a few rounds of some party game and shook hands. Short of walking around with a mask, gloves and gown if I thought I was sick, I can not see how to NOT spread ebola. [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/31 "2014-09-23T03:35:13Z")
I haven’t heard your friend’s theory before, but I suspect that bombing to stop Ebola would be a very bad idea. I mean, just think about it, not only would the germs now be air born, they would be radioactive. How’s that for turning it into something that would create zombies? Honestly, Ebola isn’t that dangerous. It has a transmission rate of probably less than 1 to 1.3. (meaning that 1 person can infect up to 1.3 people) Yeah, its horrifying and fatal, but that’s also why it probably won’t spread world wide. It kills its victims too quickly. Doesn’t your friend read zombie books? Everyone knows that its the flu that’s going to wipe humanity out. That stuff has a transmission rate of up to 1 to 5 and it kills slowly. Turn it radioactive and mutate it some and the zombie apocalypse is right around the corner. As was mentioned above, the Spanish flu (aka H1N1) killed more people than were killed in World War 1. That’s some scary stuff. Tell your friend to do what someone I knew did. He bought 20 acres out in the middle of nowhere and built a bunker. Said bunker had a keypad on the inside and the door automatically locked when it was closed. This way he couldn’t get out until he sued the keypad. Hence, when the mind control rays had him, he wouldn’t be able to remember the combination and would remain inside where he was safe. (I was never quite sure if it was to protect himself from flying saucers or the government or both, but it kept him too busy to try to get his hands on nukes.) ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/32 "2014-09-23T09:53:17Z")
Does your friend know that a top-secret team of Americans and Germans is trying to aerosolize the Ebola virus for efficient person-to-person transmission by air? They are nearly there - just a few more mutations to go. Meanwhile the Russians managed to powderize the Ebola virus and dusted it all over Crimea and parts of Ukraine. When the experiment got out of control, the Russians were forced to annex Crimea, and are now doing the same thing in Ukraine as well. Thousands of Russian soldiers were reportedly eaten alive by ebola-zombies (“zombolas”). At least a couple of Islamic terror groups are harvesting infected flesh to manually catapult into their enemy countries, in the age-old fashion of Islamic (halal) biological warfare. A few slimy Chinese have also been spotted fooling around, probably trying to copy whatever they can of the American experiments. North Korea, recognizing the threat to the world order, is preparing its nukes to sterilize the affected regions in Africa and save humanity. All my sources are verified and credible. Let me know if you need more information. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/33 "2014-09-23T14:45:38Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > … Thousands of Russian soldiers were reportedly eaten alive by ebola-zombies (“zombolas”). … “Zombolas” is the female form of the word. The male is called a “Zamboni.” ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/34 "2014-09-23T20:35:55Z")
You guys realize that this is all a cover up right? In 1965 the CIA discovered ancient documents referring to an artifact of great power located on the continent of Africa. Those documents describe in great detail a symbol of immense power. This artifact grants those who possess it almost unlimited power to rule. Victory in battle is guaranteed for the armies who march under it’s influence. No one can withstand it’s allure and the nations of the world kneel before those who wield it. Secret agents have been infiltrating and influencing the highest levels of society and government all over the continent ever since, searching intently, assassinating or destroying all who stand in their way. The war in Iraq was nothing more than a covert mission to discover the location of the artifact. The CIA planted both the WMD story to support the war AND the “war for oil” objection to give those opposed to the war a platform. Both sides were fed their political views by the CIA to keep them fighting amongst each other and hide the true nature of the invasion. Based upon the findings in Iraq the CIA, with help from a secret cabal of US political and government leaders, has recently discovered a site that may finally provide clues to the location of the artifact but a huge area will need to be excavated and undergo archeological research. So how does the CIA isolate and control a huge tract of land in Africa and keep prying eyes away from it’s true goal? Why, you infect the population with a deadly and terrifying disease and then send in troops to contain the spread and “help” those in the area. This is the first phase in what will be a huge multi-year operation. Wake UP people! When people who worship power above all else gain their prize they will usher in the age of the anti-Christ and he will rule without mercy for 10,00 years! ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/35 "2014-09-23T22:16:51Z")
Even for Obama, sending troops into an area which you plan to obliterate with nukes seems like exceptionally poor planning. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/36 "2014-09-23T22:24:14Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > Even for Obama, sending troops into an area which you plan to obliterate with nukes seems like exceptionally poor planning. Well, obviously he’s only sending the white Christian American troops. Then, once they’re all out of the way, he’ll bring in the UN Cuban/North Korean/Chinese troops to “restore order” here at home. Wheels within wheels, man. Wheels within wheels. [Wake up, sheeple!](http://xkcd.com/1013/) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/37 "2014-09-23T22:40:55Z")
Didn’t we have an ebola outbreak sometime in the 90’s? How did that end? ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/38 "2014-09-24T15:02:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > “Public Health” has been overrun Unfortunately, in Africa that really isn’t saying much. The countries involved probably each have as much medical infrastructure as a fair-sized county anywhere in the US. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/39 "2014-09-24T15:21:46Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Well, obviously he’s only sending the white Christian American troops. Then, once they’re all out of the way, he’ll bring in the UN Cuban/North Korean/Chinese troops to “restore order” here at home. > > Wheels within wheels, man. Wheels within wheels. > > [Wake up, sheeple!](http://xkcd.com/1013/) > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Zombies are looking for brains. > > Your friend is safe. It’s posts like these that keep me coming back here. Damn, I love you guys. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105/40 "2014-09-24T16:27:51Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Didn’t we have an ebola outbreak sometime in the 90’s? How did that end? With a full-scale nuclear war. But they managed to hush it up and keep it out of the newspapers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-20-kiloton-warheads-to-combat-ebola/699105.md?page=3)