Ebola, coming to a place near you soon!

Unfortunately, the testimony is proceeding as expected. This affair reminds me of an executive I once worked with, he was a West Point alum and former Army officer. We would be in a meeting, and he would begin drumming his fingers on the table. Then he would say sometimes you have to shoot a few villagers. And he was always right. Sometimes you need to do something dramatic. This is one of those times.

And before the idiots kick in, no one was or is advocating the literal killing of villagers. It was his way of saying we needed to do something dramatic in order to instill confidence.

 

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While politicians and health care officials are scrambling to cover their asses and keep their ridiculous paychecks, there are undiagnosed cases in the wilds of America and elsewhere.

Good job!

 

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Unfortunately, CDC Director Frieden was unwilling to answer all questions. He was evasive and was reduced to repeating the party line without any credible evidence to back him up.

Frieden seems to be missing the point. He can be the best contact tracer in the world, but won't help when you keep pouring water into the bucket. We could all be dead from Ebola and Frieden will be saying gee you have my sympathy but I have this great contract-tracer.

I hear they are considering adding people who treated Duncan on a no fly list. It's funny they don't seem to mind putting Americans on no fly lists but are totally unwilling to consider doing the same for folks like Duncan.

 

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My point exactly.

 

There will be more isolated cases of ebola in the USA but this whole panic mode is completely absurd. There is no doubt in my mind that the number of flu deaths this winter in the US will be greater by orders of magnitude than ebola deaths in the US. That being said we need to help those poor people in Africa where the real crisis is.

 

Well thus far the cases have not been isolated. And using your line of reasoning, the Black Death should have never happened. Every pandemic begins with a few cases.

How much has Duncan cost the American taxpayer? Two infected nurses, sanitation of 4 aircraft, two chartered aircraft, 3 apartment bio hazzard cleanups, medical treatment for Duncan , activation of the Cleveland command center, 2 school closings, numerous CDC and NIH officials for oversight, advice and training, it has cost the taxpayer millions. And then there are the economic costs which may have already cost trillions and we are just getting started.

If you still think it is not a big deal, I suggest you pick up the tab.

 

Yep!

 

Agreed. The panic over this is absurd. (But boy does it drive up ratings for news networks!) Fortunately even with all the hyperbole we are taking action where it counts - in Africa, where the solution has to begin.

 

Haven't read the entire thread yet but will do so shortly, but I agree with your assessment.
Further to your point:
You don't have to be a math guru to work out that for every person diagnosed over 200 people have to be tracked and monitored for potential infection that the world has a massive, overwhelming and catastrophic problem looming.
Monitoring ever exponentially increasing numbers of people isn't easy, if even possible.

Containment under the current response is simply impossible once it established beyond a certain thresh hold.
...and it isn't even air borne! (yet)

 

Also the Australian Government is under pressure to send medical teams in but has rejected the idea due to the lack of a secure evac strategy if any one gets infected. the AMA has strongly called for government to act. Doctors and nurses here are the most concerned I have ever seen them.
"WW3 has started (world vs Ebola) and we are procrastinating..." ~anon

 

Obama is destroying whatever remaining credibility he has for the sake of political correctness. Too bad he values political correctness and "fledgling" West African nations more than the health and well-being of the American people.

Obama needs less talk, less chaff and more results.

 

In Obama's defense, there are larger and more dangerous contingencies involved Joe and one of the reasons they have been down playing the threat by claiming health care confidence public-ally. IMO
..and no I wont go into my suspicions here...
The Australian Government is doing the same thing: "Our medical systems are sufficient blah blah blah" "The threat to Australia is minor" yet the AMA (Aust. Med. Association) is cracking it big time...

 

Absolutely correct, you don't have to be a math genius to figure out this could quickly mushroom out of control.

We now have scores of people under quarantine. A business has been closed for 21 days. And there may be 100's more exposed by the Ebola nurse who jumped on a plane to Cleveland. This one nurse alone may have infected 300 or more people. But we can all feel safe because Frieden has his contact-trace files. We may all be dead, but rest assured Frieden has it documented.

Clearly American health officials and now politicians have not been up to the task.

 

Sorry to say this but IMO and probably in the opinion of senior Western Government think tanks etc ... it is already out of control.
The truth of such has to be acknowledged first before a strategy for harm minimization can be worked out.
Once Ebola reaches areas generally referred to as "Asia" and South America, the reality of this problem will no doubt hit home big time... (tropical, subtropical areas in particular)

 

Indeed it is out of control. Today Obama ordered up reserves to support military ops to contain the disease in West Africa.

 

I'm inclined to agree.

Apart from several health care workers infected in west Africa and Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian who was infected in Africa and then came to the US (perhaps in hopes of getting better medical treatment here), there have only been two people infected here in the States, both hospital nurses who were in close contact with Duncan.

Nevertheless, while I wouldn't really call it panic yet, there's an obvious feeling of anxiety hovering over the country like a dark cloud. There's a hint of fear in the air, like the first taste of winter.

My sense is that the Ebola phenomenon is more psychological than medical, in this country, at this moment in time.

True. But flu's yesterday's news. Ebola's something new and unknown, something out of darkest Africa.

Pretty much everyone has had some strain of the flu at least once. People feel like they are familiar with the flu and that it isn't really all that bad.

But yeah, you're right. Add up all the people who are going to die of the flu this year, and it's a lot of people.

While I don't think that the current situation in the US is as bad as many people seem to fear it is, I fear that the situation in west Africa might already be worse than people think.

Turning that around isn't going to be easy.

 

deleted..

 

There are different strains of Ebola. Immunnity to one does not convey immunity to others. This is an outbreak of the Zaire strain.

 

Yes a bit of quick research showed that....which is why I deleted my post being relatively obvious.
Possibly a global information campaign similar (not the same) to the HIV dilemma may make a difference...
"Keep your distance until the crisis IS contained" sort of thing.. Minimizing the numbers that need to be tracked.
...just thoughts

 

I think you Australians should send some troops too. US troops are building hospitals and infrastructure.

If someone should become infected the can be evacuated to American hospitals in Germany or in th US.