Have No Fear Even Though Ebola Is Here!

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Ok, my 2 cents:

I believe "we" (you, me, the CDC) don't know everthing about Ebola BUT... has anyone in the U.S. contracted Ebola from "exposure" other than direct contact with a sick (from Ebola) person yet ?
In two words... not yet.

But I'm sure that given enough people that lie to get into the country there will definitely be more people in the US that catch Ebola from direct contact with sick people riding public transportation, walking in malls, flying in crowded planes, etc. And if THESE people get sick and have Flu like symptoms, how many of these will assume they have Ebola? None. They'll walk around being infectious and exposing even more folks.

We're being overcautious by closing the bowling alley and changing out airline seats on a plane... and yet we're still allowing people from infected countries into the USA.

Airline check point: "Excuse me, have you been exposed to Ebola"?
Infected person: "Um.. I don't think so."
Airline check point: "Okay, right this way to a flight to the USA!"

We have to temporarily stop allowing these flights into the country at some point.
 
Airline check point: "Excuse me, have you been exposed to Ebola"?
Infected person: "Um.. I don't think so."
Airline check point: "Okay, right this way to a flight to the USA!"

Exactly!

"Only two minutes to my smoke break. I want outta here! Exposed to enough coughin' and snifflin' on this shift already..."
 
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Chris, I don't disagree with anything you have said. However, I do believe that an abundance of caution is in order until such time as all means of transmittal of this virus are known. Medical doctors have superior knowledge of disease as compared to the lay person. They have witnessed life and death up close and personal. But just because they have extensive education and experience does not make them immune to the diseases they treat. After all that has gone done since Mr. Duncan's deception and death, would it not be proper, at a minimum, to quarantine anyone traveling from western Africa into the United States at least for the 21 day incubation period of this particular disease?
 
Two things have to happen to be able to contain this. The first thing is that there needs to a simple diagnostic test to pre-screen those suspected of having been exposed to the disease and detect it earlier then appearance of a fever. The second is that the major source of the outbreak needs to be contained. This will never happen without the existence of readily available and widely distributed vaccine. I suspect both items are aggressively being pursued. How long it takes to do this will determine how common this disease becomes in today's society.
 
Chris, I don't disagree with anything you have said. However, I do believe that an abundance of caution is in order until such time as all means of transmittal of this virus are known. Medical doctors have superior knowledge of disease as compared to the lay person. They have witnessed life and death up close and personal. But just because they have extensive education and experience does not make them immune to the diseases they treat. After all that has gone done since Mr. Duncan's deception and death, would it not be proper, at a minimum, to quarantine anyone traveling from western Africa into the United States at least for the 21 day incubation period of this particular disease?

In short I would favor a monitoring similar to what is being done with "at risk" exposure people in this country. Give us your address, keep us apprised of your movements and temperature. I think this would work for one reason, incentive. If someone believes they are infected and comes to this country they are presumably trying to increase their chance of survival. If they choose to hide they will be just as likely to die here as they would in West Africa. If this is the case why come here? This system would also have kept Thomas Duncan from being sent home from the hospital the first time. If you keep people in quarantine you have to treat them if they develop disease just as much as you have to treat them if they walk into a hospital. Sure, in quarantine it would be a more controlled environment, but given the lessons learned (arrogance/deficiencies exposed) in the treatment of TD I don't think we will see as much, if any, transmission within hospitals here again.

In the end I just think that we as a country can deal with this in the best traditions of what we are. I just don't see it as a real threat to our society. The most encouraging thing I see about transmission is the fact that TD's family did not get this. Only the people that were around him when he was in the deepest state of infection were those that contracted the virus. Also, there have been admitted mistakes in the training and care of TD, so I the infection of the two nurses doesn't make me worry that Ebola is more transmissible than previously thought.
 
Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers who have treated Ebola patients have, by necessity, been in close contact with this disease and are therefore "high risk", as are citizens of those regions where this disease is rampant. As has been said many times, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Twenty one days of isolation for anyone coming to America from a "hot zone" looks like a prudent measure to me until such time as this epidemic in Africa has abated.

That's my two cents and probably not worth a plug nickel.
 
I was speaking more to the general traveler from the region. Yes, healthcare workers are by definition in close contact in sub-optimal conditions. No matter how hard they try they aren't going to get NIH/Emory/U Nebraska level perfect facilities and proticols. These healthcare workers need a different tier of monitoring than your general traveler. I don't know if I'd push for 21 days of isolation, but I certainly think that is a reasonable option to consider.

I'm hopeing someone gets a working vaccine soon. The monkey tests with Glaxo's experimental vaccine are the most impressive I've seen, and their vaccine manufacturing group is really, really good. Hopefully this works when it goes into people. https://online.wsj.com/articles/experimental-ebola-vaccine-creates-immunity-in-tests-1410191860

I'll see you tomorrow Ted. We may not agree on everything, but I think we can agree that flying rockets is preferable to thinking about Ebola.

Edit: I just skimmed the news, and it looks like a mandatory quarantine of a returning health care worker may have caught one. I suspect that will be the norm now.

Edit2: Never mind the Nj person tested negative.
 
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Complex systems inevitably fail. When they fail, they fail catastrophically. The CDC is a complex system

The CDC keeps using that word (quarantine)...and there are an awful lot of people who don't quite get it.

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It doesn't mean going for take out, bowling, hugging your wife and children, jogging, riding on public transportation...
 
I have an interesting/dark Sense of Humor, and have thought up a funny Ebola Song, but it would require a few People to be in the Video and stuff, and most People are to PC these days to be a part of it, so sadly it will only ever play in my Head.
If I released the Video/Song I had in my Mind on something like Youtube, it would literally be the most "Viral" Video ever!:wink:
 

What's wrong with the Picture is that the U.S. Army is in it.:mad:
Everyday I remind myself how Thankful I am that I got out in 05'.
Atleast I got to fight in a real War in 03' and 04'.
Now, not only are they not aloud to Destroy the Enemy, they don't even get to meet him because they are off playing nice with sick Folks in West Africa.:rant::mad:
 
What's wrong with the Picture is that the U.S. Army is in it.:mad:
Everyday I remind myself how Thankful I am that I got out in 05'.
Atleast I got to fight in a real War in 03' and 04'.
Now, not only are they not aloud to Destroy the Enemy, they don't even get to meet him because they are off playing nice with sick Folks in West Africa.:rant::mad:


I had a surprise visit yesterday from an old friend named Bill. Bill flew helicopters in Vietnam and was the best man at my wedding in 1973. Anyway, he suggested that if the U.S. Army was going to fight Ebola in western Africa then maybe the CDC should go fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Makes perfect sense to me. :kill:
 
Australia has closed its borders to travelers from the Obola infected areas and has now joined the ranks of international pariahs not following the CDC guidelines. World Health Organization is also at odds with the CDC.

Doom on you, CDC.
 
We've got a Vermonter in Quarantine now.:eyeroll: His name is Peter Italia, and apparently he went to West Africa to "Investigate".
He was pulled aside by FBI Agents on his return to JFK, and is now in "Voluntary Quarantine" at an undisclosed Location in Rutland County.
The Local News says he has a Facebook Page that shows he believes that Time Travel and his other Whack-a-Doo Theories can be used to cure Diseases.:facepalm:
 
His name is Peter Italia...............The Local News says he has a Facebook Page that shows he believes that Time Travel and his other Whack-a-Doo Theories can be used to cure Diseases.

Whack-a-Doo Theories like these guys: Reinhard Bonnke, Benny Hinn, T. B. Joshua, Peter Popoff, etc.? I cannot understand why these faith healers and others like them have not flown down to the outbreak hot zone and started to hug and embrace the worst of those stricken with Ebola to cure them of this dreaded disease. If they can heal the sick are they not immune? Where is their humanity now that this plague has infected so many?
 
He spoke by Phone to the Local News tonight and was saying stuff like, "I do Time Travel, that's what I do."
Guess he can just travel forward 21 Days and not have to worry about his Quarantine.:lol:

As far as that Nurse in Maine, she's obviously one of these entitled little Brats whose Parents told her that she is "Soooo Special, yada, yada, yada...".

:kill:

Everytime they talk about her on the News, they show like 20-30 of her "Look at me! I'm so SPECIAL!!!" Selfies.:puke:
 
The idea of gov't imposed quarantines for health care workers who test negative via a PCR test and have no symptoms simply amazes me. She's not contagious, she agreed to do reasonable monitoring of her condition, and she isn't interested in any high-contact activities that might be considered edge-case risky. There's absolutely no reason to shut her up in her house. No science behind it whatsoever.

The quarantines in highly defined cases like hers are knee-jerk reactions designed to make people feel their government is doing something. Something is often no the right thing.

If the nurse in Maine has to be quarantined, then so does any health care worker immediately following any care of any Ebola patient. Pretty soon we would have had no health care workers in Texas a few weeks ago. And if we shut them all up on return, even when with proper monitoring and reasonable precautions they pose no risk, health care workers will stop going to where they can help and the problem will get WORSE.

Point the extinguisher at the flames, people. We need to shut this outbreak down in Africa. Telling people if they go over there, that they can't have their freedom for 21 days isn't going to help us.

Marc
 
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