Althouse: The ebola scare in Dallas.

October 1, 2014

The ebola scare in Dallas.

Hide your kids.

110 comments:

MayBee said...: Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband. The Ebola Intruder.; 10/1/14, 5:28 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Oh, we finally get an Ebola post.; 10/1/14, 5:30 PM
Anonymous said...: Obama 2 weeks ago said...First and foremost, I want the American people to know that our experts, here at the CDC and across our government, agree that the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low. We’ve been taking the necessary precautions, including working with countries in West Africa to increase screening at airports so that someone with the virus doesn’t get on a plane for the United States. In the unlikely event that someone with Ebola does reach our shores, we’ve taken new measures so that we’re prepared here at home. We’re working to help flight crews identify people who are sick, and more labs across our country now have the capacity to quickly test for the virus. We’re working with hospitals to make sure that they are prepared, and to ensure that our doctors, our nurses and our medical staff are trained, are ready, and are able to deal with a possible case safely.

The unlikely event is here.

so a guy flies back from Liberia and goes to the hospital in Dallas with severe flu symptoms and nobody thinks about ebola? They release him to infect more folks till he collapses two days later and needs an ambulance?

So we have US patient zero, and at least one more local infection and hundreds exposed.

This does not make me confident in the competence of my government and its planning...; 10/1/14, 5:47 PM
Anonymous said...: If Ebola sweeps through the under- seven-over-seventy population Bill Ayers will get his wish and the government will save all that Social Security and education money. Whooey! A twofer.; 10/1/14, 5:54 PM
Unknown said...: I don't think there's an administration that has seemed so untrustworthy on every level, from the top down and extending outwards to every single cover-your-ass indifferent minor unfirable lying senseless minion.; 10/1/14, 6:02 PM
Diogenes of Sinope said...: The chances of contracting Ebola are very limited as are my chances of winning the powerball lottery. But I occasionally buy a powerball ticket and I think we should tightly control the nation's exposure to Ebola.; 10/1/14, 6:15 PM
Michael K said...: I don't blame them a bit. The lies and denial so far are setting records. The dates are wrong for example and the risk is greater plus the Germans believe the deaths in Africa will be horrendous unlike some politicians are saying. Even the WHO is getting pessimistic.

Liberia should prepare for thousands of new cases of Ebola over the next few weeks, as the number of people infected with the disease increases exponentially, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
"Transmission of the Ebola virus in Liberia is already intense and the number of new cases is increasing exponentially," WHO said in a statement.

Here we go.; 10/1/14, 6:25 PM
Gahrie said...: Look...they may contain and the end the outbreak this time...(though I wouldn't bet on it) but eventually it is either going to mutate to an airborne contagion, or our health system will get overwhelmed. ( I suspect we are not as prepared as we should be); 10/1/14, 6:27 PM
LilyBart said...: Why wasn't our government limiting entry to people from counties that are affected by this illness?

It is beyond me to understand why not! Its lunacy!; 10/1/14, 6:27 PM
Virgil Hilts said...: Keeping the 5 kids at home "as a precautionary measure?" WTF! You would have to be fucking insane to allow 5 children who were in contact with Duncan while he was symptomatic to go ahead and keep attending school until they actually start showing signs of being sick. Just like the hospital workers were fucking insane when they sent Duncan home on Friday. These kids should be in a ward under 24 hour surveillance and having their immune systems primed.

Was the Secret Service suddenly put in charge of the Dallas healthcare and school systems?; 10/1/14, 6:43 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Too late. Children have been exposed already. This will get worse before it gets better.; 10/1/14, 6:57 PM
MadisonMan said...: 1 case of Ebola does not an outbreak make.

I think we should all read Camus' The Plague soon.; 10/1/14, 6:58 PM
rhhardin said...: Bring out your dead!; 10/1/14, 7:07 PM
rhhardin said...: The virus is self-limiting once the survivors live far enough apart to avoid catching it from each other.; 10/1/14, 7:10 PM
Michael K said...: The CDC is doing its best to cover up the problems and I wonder where they learned that.

Because we still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola, few primary prevention measures have been established and no vaccine exists.

When cases of the disease do appear, risk of transmission is increased within healthcare settings. Therefore, healthcare workers must be able to recognize a case of Ebola and be ready to use practical viral hemorrhagic fever isolation precautions or barrier nursing techniques. They should also have the capability to request diagnostic tests or prepare samples for shipping and testing elsewhere.

Why did the CDC edit all of that information out? Did the science change, or did the government make the edit for some other reason(s)?

The first case in Nigeria urinated on health care workers and they got sick. I posted this on Chicagoboyz two months ago.

Upon being told he had Ebola, Mr. Sawyer went into a rage, denying and objecting to the opinion of the medical experts. “He was so adamant and difficult that he took the tubes from his body and took off his pants and urinated on the health workers, forcing them to flee.

Of the health care workers he urinated on, Eight of the Nigerian hospital workers are now infected with Ebola, including the doctor who attended Sawyer. One, a nurse, has already died.

That was posted August 8.; 10/1/14, 7:12 PM
Big Mike said...: @Drill SGT, the guy talks a lot. Making it come real? Not so much? All what "necessary precautions" were taken? Certainly the nurse who sent the fellow back home was neither trained nor ready.

All hat, no cattle I believe they say down in Dallas.; 10/1/14, 7:21 PM
Julie C said...: Our government needs to stop allowing people from affected countries to come here-- full stop.

I lived in Liberia - the conditions back then were very bad and now, post civil war, even worse. I don't think most people here have a true understanding of how difficult life is there. Preventing the spread of the disease under those conditions is just not possible.

Of course, it will be easier here to stop a full fledged outbreak. But when silly health care workers do what was apparently done in Dallas (send him home the first time with some antibiotics) then God help us.; 10/1/14, 7:28 PM
chickelit said...: Althouse snarked: The ebola scare in Dallas.
Hide your kids.

Heh; 10/1/14, 7:30 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: We should stop flights out of West Africa. Not so much to protect the USA and Europe, but places like Bangladesh or India.; 10/1/14, 7:39 PM
khesanh0802 said...: First good question: why was someone from Liberia allowed into the country? (LilyBart). Second question: Are we still allowing people into the country from affected areas? Third question: Is anyone in this God-awful administration paying any attention?; 10/1/14, 7:41 PM
khesanh0802 said...: After Crack highjacked a thread I know I said I would ALMOST (!!!) welcome back moderation. However I don't. It really spoils the flow.; 10/1/14, 7:43 PM
mtrobertsattorney said...: And on a happier note, Obama has sent 3000 American troops to West Africa to fight the Ebola outbreak.

No naysayers please! We have been assured by Obama's advisors that the chances of any of these American service men contracting the Ebola virus is absolutely zero.; 10/1/14, 8:02 PM
traditionalguy said...: CNN's best on air analyst is Emory's Sanjay Gupta. He carefully tells the truth on medical knowledge. CNN had him on with the CDC PR guy to assure us we are safe. Sanjay had to get into an on air mild and pointed rebuke of the CDC's PR guy for saying standing next to an infected Ebola patient but with no touching is perfectly safe.

Sanjay pointed out that the CDC's own standard for safe is "standing more than three feet away" from sick People who will sneeze and spit, etc.

What was scary was the CDC's PR man trying to pull the wool over the eyes of a public that will risk their lives based on that false knowledge.; 10/1/14, 8:06 PM
Lydia said...: From the Washington Post:

A friend of the family said there was a cookout “for a lot of people” on Sept. 20 that Duncan attended. “That’s what we do when someone comes. We had a welcoming for him,” the friend said, who asked not to be identified.

Aaron Yah, 40, said that he saw Duncan on Sept. 20, the day he arrived in Dallas, and that he seemed fine. “The last time I saw him was Sunday at the Ivy Apartments,” he said. “He was lying down in bed. He told me he was sick. He said he was weak and had diarrhea.”

Later in the article, Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:

“It’s conceivable that one of the contacts of this person is going to wind up getting Ebola.” But officials would quickly stop it from spreading further.

Yeah, because they've been so on top of things from the very beginning, right?; 10/1/14, 8:34 PM
LilyBart said...: The White House said Wednesday it will not impose travel restrictions or introduce new airport screenings to prevent additional cases of Ebola from entering the United States.

Hey Obama voters, do you still feel that Obama "cares about people like me"?; 10/1/14, 8:43 PM
carrie said...: Why is the US letting anyone who has been to west Africa within the last 21 days enter the US? Doesnt the US have the ability to track the foreign countries that people have been to before they enter the U S? I know my brother recently had a hard time entering Russia because he had a Ukraine stamp on his passport.; 10/1/14, 8:49 PM
jacksonjay said...: LilyBart sez:

Why wasn't our government limiting entry to people from counties that are affected by this illness?

Fundamentally Transform America!

We now understand that Swaggy Smiles means to transform America into a Third World cesspool! He sends soldiers to Africa to "fight" the disease. Any chance one of our warriors getting this shit? He/they refuse to stop travel even though British Airways has stopped flights. He encourages Central American children to come here and secretly distributes them to every state.

I'm not really a conspiracy nut, but this is either intentional or he is even more incompetent than most of us believe.; 10/1/14, 8:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Don't forget about the Bird Flu!; 10/1/14, 9:08 PM
The Godfather said...: If Obama is thinking about this at all, he's thinking this won't spread into a major US outbreak. at least before the election.

I'm thinking if ONE AMERICAN DIES because of the incredible irresponsibility of this Administration, that's grounds for impeachment of the President and removal from office.; 10/1/14, 9:32 PM
Paul said...: Influenza Outbreak of 1918-1919.

In America, the disease killed around 700,000, and some estimates suggest anywhere from 50 to 100 million died worldwide.

All we need is for the Ebola to become airborn (BTW it has TWICE before.)

Meanwhile.. The White House says... 'Screening Procedures In Place At Our Border'".

Hahahaha.... yea sure Obama has all kinds of screening procedures, hence all the illegals here are just a figment of our imagination.

So as for taking their kids out of school, I don't blame them.

Obama said it was 'very unlikely Ebola would ever come here'.. then not one week.. IT'S HERE.

He also said Al Queada had been destroyed... He had complete confidence in the head of the Secret Service and you can keep your doctor.

So yea, if one feels that uncomfortable, take the kids out of school.; 10/1/14, 9:50 PM
Anonymous said...: This does not make me confident in the competence of my government and its planning

It is Texas. They hate government there. Texans are constantly bragging about how the only small things in Texas are regulations and taxes.

Why are you so surprised this happened in that state?; 10/1/14, 9:53 PM
William said...: The nurse and the doctor who first treated him screwed up. I'm not indignant. That's what people do, and no malice was involved. Still, they screwed up and there will be no consequences for the screw up. But look what happens when some cop in a high pressure situation screws up. His career is over and there's a good chance he will spend years in jail.....Maybe the standards should be a little higher among medical delivery personnel, and a tad more forgiving for law enforcement officers.; 10/1/14, 10:04 PM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Political correctness kills.

Whether it causes a person to NOT walk the other way when seeing a group of Black men/boys, or not run the ebola screen on a dude because that would be profiling.

The most important thing we can teach our young ones these days, is to not give a fuck what others will think/say. Rather, think. Cultivate common sense, then act on it.; 10/1/14, 10:10 PM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: madisonfella said...
This does not make me confident in the competence of my government and its planning

It is Texas. They hate government there. Texans are constantly bragging about how the only small things in Texas are regulations and taxes.

Why are you so surprised this happened in that state?

You know what, clown? You better hope that --- on that dystopian future day, when we are all queued up at the border gates of The Free Republic of Texas, begging to be granted entry and citizenship, waving Texas flags and enthusiastically singing "The stars at night, are big and bright . . ." --- they don't know it was you that wrote that ignorant post.; 10/1/14, 10:18 PM
jacksonjay said...: Madisonfella is stupider than a clown! You do know, idiot, that Texas Presbyterian is NOT run by the State of Texas, right? It is PRIVATE, idiot! Apparently they had the protocols and failed to follow. NOT THE LACK OF REGULATIONS, IDIOT!

Obama is the fool who refuses to enforce any restrictions on travel! Swaggy said this was unlikely just two weeks ago! You would be OK with Governor Oops turning away Liberians at the airport? That's the way they ran Ellis Island back in romantic days of "Give me your poor..." Maybe we could round-up all the Liberians in Texas and quarantine them. We could all get on our horses and round-em-up!

Geez! Idiot!; 10/1/14, 10:55 PM
jacksonjay said...: BTW,Idiot, you remember how Governor Oops crowed about what he was gonna do when the Central American children were invited in? "Texas Guard, secure the border, blah, blah, blah." You know how that turned out, right? They're still coming! Why?

It's called Federalism. Ask the Lady Prof to explain it to you, AGAIN.; 10/1/14, 11:06 PM
Paul said...: Well actually Jacksonjay,

Rick Perry can only do so much with the Texas National Guard and still not be interfering with the federal INS.

But President put-put could sign a executive order this minute and send alot of the National Guard there, just as he ordered the bombing of ISIS.

But he won't as it's election time.

As for Texas and the Ebola case, the patient came by international airliner and the TSA has dibs on what is done at the airports, not the Texas government.

And the TSA is under Obama's control, not Perry's.; 10/2/14, 12:03 AM
Michael K said...: "It is Texas. They hate government there. Texans are constantly bragging about how the only small things in Texas are regulations and taxes.

Why are you so surprised this happened in that state?"

Inga, I'm only surprised that it happened in a state with an international airport because air travel is what will spread this epidemic. I expect that a million Africans will die in the next 12 months of this and the number of Americans depends on the CDC which mostly worries about guns in the home since idiots like you began to run it.

If the virus becomes airborne, we are in for it big time.; 10/2/14, 12:10 AM
richard mcenroe said...: Turns out Typhoid John changed planes in Dulles. Clearly TX's fault. And now they have third patient in Hawaii. Damn that Rick Perry!

Oh and it turns out the patient was a high-risk to overstay his visa and go indocumentado, and should never have been given a visa in the first place.

Texas issues visas, right?; 10/2/14, 12:20 AM
Anonymous said...: The Blue Emu expects people to believe that Texans aren't responsible for what happens in Texas? Obama has control of everything in that state, including the hospitals?

Sounds like someone needs more tin foil for their hat.; 10/2/14, 12:29 AM
Anonymous said...: The TSA ordered the hospital in Texas to send the patient home?

Please, Blue Emu, do go on with this theory of yours. The story gets even more fascinating every time you log back in under a different name.; 10/2/14, 12:33 AM
D. B. Light said...: Where it is going to get really tricky is when we move into flu season. The early symptoms of ebola are very like those of flu. Do we quarantine everyone who manifests flu symptom?; 10/2/14, 3:44 AM
RecChief said...: Conversation changer:

The guy knew he was sick from ebola before he go on the plane to Dallas.; 10/2/14, 6:11 AM
gerry said...: It is Texas. They hate government there. Texans are constantly bragging about how the only small things in Texas are regulations and taxes.

Dallas is a liberal Democrat progressive cesspool. So it does NOT surprise me that its governance is incompetent, or that, probably to save some money due to unmanageable administrative costs, they sent the guy home with some antibiotics. Hell, if he'd been diagnosed as ebola, the ACLU probably would have been screaming "PROFILING!!!" and Jesse Jackson and certified malicious liar Al Sharpton would have set up camp on the hospital lawn.

Until the poor unfortunate died of ebola, of course.; 10/2/14, 7:20 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Hmm ..three of the four commenters with female names [Julie, Lily and Carrie] call for the US to halt travel from Liberia and other Ebola nations.

I bet the Beltway pundits will identify a trend called "Security Moms" very soon.; 10/2/14, 7:41 AM
MayBee said...: As someone who lived through the whole SARS panic when I visited here from Hong Kong, my instinct is to see panic being ginned up here about a disease that -so far- has been diagnosed in 1 patient here in the US.
One.

It isn't an epidemic. There's no evidence it will become an epidemic. We haven't had an epidemic here in a very long time.

Let's not be whipped into a state of fear by the same people who had us fearing SARS, the bird flu, and the swine flu.
Let's instead ask our immigration to check the temperatures of people coming here from West Africa, and give them a card to bring to the hospital if they do become ill.

America is at her best when we are welcoming, smart, and prepared.; 10/2/14, 7:48 AM
Alexander said...: In this case, welcoming and smart are mutually exclusive terms, and we know for a fact that we are not prepared.

So I think it's safe to say we won't be handling this "at our best".

Also, note that while SARS, bird flu, swine flu, and Western Nile all got big media coverage, Ebola was very hush-hush... it took a long time for the media to start talking about it in Africa, almost like the powers that be really didn't want word getting out.

Furthermore, the Fed going ahead and ordering 160,000 hazmat suits does make one wonder how much more they know that we don't. Especially when they keep getting caught out in obvious lies to the public.

US.gov - We're incompetant, and we do not have the best interest of the American citizenry at heart. But Trust Us.

As for Dallas specifically - if state and federal officials not only allowed an ebola victim from a country currently undergoing the pandemic into my state, and then allowed him to mingle with hospitalized people and schoolchildren... I'd stop bothering to listen to official 'advice' as well.; 10/2/14, 8:13 AM
Unknown said...: Epidemic? No.

But any parent who pulls their child from one of these four schools for a week or two is being prudent. Period. So, no one comes down with the virus, what is it going to hurt? The kids miss a few days of public school, and it gives a chance to see if an epidemic begins. No panic, prudence from responsible parents.; 10/2/14, 8:16 AM
MayBee said...: Our leaders from the NIH and CDC also need to sharpen their game when they do media.
It didn't help yesterday to watch the CDC guy try to pretend he didn't get Erin Burnett's point that someone can start to get symptomatic en route, and therefore checking only on the way out of Africa may not be enough.

And we need to figure out who pays for non-residents who need the medical services.; 10/2/14, 8:16 AM
Shanna said...: Oh, we finally get an Ebola post.

Seriously. Am I the only one who read the hot zone?

Also, note that while SARS, bird flu, swine flu, and Western Nile all got big media coverage, Ebola was very hush-hush...

This is how you know they're really scared.; 10/2/14, 8:25 AM
virgil xenophon said...: MOST scary from the American Thinker:

As ebola cases continue to crop up what actions are planned so that the virus will not enter the animal population of antelopes, porcupines, rodents, dogs and pigs and thus become an untreatable and unreachable reservoir of the virus that will never disappear.; 10/2/14, 8:26 AM
Shanna said...: Also, it's not a 'scare' when it's an actual confirmed case (probably 2 at least from what I hear).; 10/2/14, 8:28 AM
jacksonjay said...: Why is it so hard to understand that state and local GOVERNMENT "officials" had nothing to do with this screw-up? Feds should be shutting down travel. Geeez!

BTW, I'm headed for Ground Zero to have lunch with my daughter. She works and volunteers in the neighborhood.; 10/2/14, 8:29 AM
Shanna said...: Why wasn't our government limiting entry to people from counties that are affected by this illness?

We're still not going to do it, even now. Because basic public health measures are not cool to the utter feckless children in the Obama administration.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/219492-white-house-no-ebola-travel-restrictions

{I have family in dallas and it is a 5 hour drive away. This is too close to home right now}; 10/2/14, 8:32 AM
Alexander said...: AJ has the right of it. Give it a handful of cases and the white house will be scrambling to put in place all the restrictions, travel quarantines, etc. that all the women could possibly want.

And we've also got the 'mystery virus' starting its own death toll, alleged to have been brought to us by our friends south of the border.

Maybe, maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe, people wanting border control and not allowing tens of millions of illegals into the country had a reason for it beyond just hating brown people. Nah...; 10/2/14, 8:41 AM
Jaq said...: "According to my ideology, the disease can't spread in the US!"; 10/2/14, 8:42 AM
Sabinal said...: i think many folks outside of DC are not taking this seriously at all. Many still want to treat this like some political game - anything to blame Obama (and I never voted for the dude).
I don't remember the same type of anti-China panic during SARS and we had multiple people sick here in the US. Yet people believe that if we banned travel in Africa we would have never dealt with this.
Sooner or later it would happen. Notice Duncan came to the US through Belgium, not a straight flight to NYC.
If there was a real panic, people would not be online making smarmy comments; they would be stocking up on hand sanitizers, face masks and learning to bow rather than shake hands. Maybe even move to Canada - Nunavut looks great this time of year.; 10/2/14, 8:42 AM
Sabinal said...: "Let's not be whipped into a state of fear by the same people who had us fearing SARS, the bird flu, and the swine flu.
Let's instead ask our immigration to check the temperatures of people coming here from West Africa, and give them a card to bring to the hospital if they do become ill.

America is at her best when we are welcoming, smart, and prepared."

MayBee for the win. In fact' i'll top it - we should be checking temperatures of everyone coming in from anywhere.

No one will tell you they came from Africa for fear of ostracism *plus* you will hear accusations of racism if you only pick those from Africa (even though there are white Africans, I can guarantee all blacks would be asked that question first and a hurricane of bad PR and no more safety attempts at airports); 10/2/14, 8:50 AM
MayBee said...: I don't remember the same type of anti-China panic during SARS

There was. Berekely cancelled the visas of some Hong Kong exchange students out of fear of SARS. That was embarassing.

Hardly anyone in the US got sick from SARS, and nobody seriously. Yet people in the US were really, really afraid of it. I had people who wouldn't see me when I was in town. I had friends whose families made them stay in hotels for 21 days. None of us had been anywhere near anyone who had SARS.

It was a panic. I just don't want to see that happen with Ebola. Yes, it's bad. Yes, it needs to be handled well. But let's remain thoughtful.; 10/2/14, 8:51 AM
LilyBart said...: America is at her best when we are welcoming, smart, and prepared."

That's the problem - Welcoming we are - smart and prepared, not at all.; 10/2/14, 8:54 AM
jacksonjay said...: The neighborhood in Dallas is 25 square blocks with 33 languages spoken. What are the odds that this thing is already spreading.

What Would Craig Venter Do?; 10/2/14, 8:55 AM
Shanna said...: Hardly anyone in the US got sick from SARS, and nobody seriously.

See, that is fantastic. That is what you want. Now is the time to put in place measures to ensure we have the same results with Ebola. Not that people need to panic, but people need to take it seriously and stop it right now. Because if you let it get as far as it has gotten in Liberia, it because 50 times more difficult to stop.

I remember when they were talking about SARS I was very skeptical for this precise reason but I have been reading 'spillover' (which is a fantastic book, btw) and have changed my mind. SARS was highly contagious and they managed to contain it.; 10/2/14, 8:55 AM
LilyBart said...: Think about this - this Liberian man had close, personal contact with dying people, and only days later, boarded a plane for the US to 'visit family' (to escape and save himself, more likely).

And our government ALLOWS this - no problem?; 10/2/14, 8:56 AM
LilyBart said...: Our federal government seem shockingly unconcerned and uninvolved. Why?; 10/2/14, 8:57 AM
LilyBart said...: Our government won't even take what would seem like *ordinary* precautions? Why?; 10/2/14, 8:58 AM
jacksonjay said...: LilyBart sez:

And our government ALLOWS this - no problem?

And our government will PAY for his treatment (the best). Another reason to flee Africa.; 10/2/14, 9:03 AM
LilyBart said...: Think about this - this Liberian man had close, personal contact with dying people, and only days later, boarded a plane for the US to 'visit family' (to escape and save himself, more likely).

And are other people doing this?

Why, why, why are there NO travel restrictions from the Hot Zone?; 10/2/14, 9:07 AM
Brando said...: I'll be the first to acknowledge that the government only has so much power to do something about this--clearly quarantining everyone on every flight coming into the United States for a month until it is determined they don't have Ebola would be impossible. And someone who is contagious may not realize it (or realize it and not care) before they infect others.

But at least some sensible precautions ought to be taken to prevent the spread so that we can isolate it and treat who we are capable of treating--any flight coming from danger areas or flights with passengers who originated at danger zones (cue Kenny Loggins music) should be quarantined until health officials can ensure they aren't bringing Ebola into the country. If our government isn't already doing this (while we still won't allow shampoo that's not in a plastic bag, because terrorism) then they're failing their most basic duty to the security of its people.

Maybe the government is actually taking this more seriously, and just keeping it out of the media to avoid a panic--but at a certain point they need to make this clear because every time one of their predictions goes wrong (e.g., no Ebola will get into the U.S.) everyone loses confidence and panic sets in. If this goes to full blown hysteria it'll be near impossible to fix this.

Granted, Ebola isn't as contagioius as say the flu, but the fact that it can be coughed up on you should be enough to take the risk of contagion very seriously.

Sadder still is what might happen if this reaches a much poorer, heavily populated country like India or Bangladesh. They're far less equipped to deal with it and their population centers are incredibly dense.; 10/2/14, 9:16 AM
damikesc said...: Doesnt the US have the ability to track the foreign countries that people have been to before they enter the U S?

Because Obama is all about good, intelligent border security...; 10/2/14, 9:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Blogger RecChief said...
Conversation changer:

The guy knew he was sick from ebola before he go on the plane to Dallas.

10/2/14, 6:11 AM
---------------------------------

Yep! And now, a lot of others will be trying this.

But we're all safe. Viruses never mutate. Just like the bubonic plague never transformed into the pneumonic variety.; 10/2/14, 9:22 AM
gerry said...: They release him to infect more folks till he collapses two days later and needs an ambulance?

And he was vomiting all over the place, apparently.

The Obama administrative incompetence continues to be exposed.

If the SS was incompetent, why not the CDC?

The lightworker forbids bad news!; 10/2/14, 9:22 AM
Shanna said...: everyone loses confidence and panic sets in. If this goes to full blown hysteria it'll be near impossible to fix this.

There seems to be this pervasive idea that 'panic' is worse than an epidemic. So all of the efforts seem to be concentrated on reducing panic. Which, for me, looks a whole lot like people not taking the actual problem, the disease, seriously.

The problem in liberia is not panic. It is an epidemic that is killing people. A healthy dose of concern and serious measures right now would reduce panic, not cause it.; 10/2/14, 9:33 AM
chickelit said...: There seems to be this pervasive idea that 'panic' is worse than an epidemic.

That was the thinking aboard the Titanic before she sank.; 10/2/14, 9:44 AM
chickelit said...: I think it is a fair question to ask whether this fellow knew he might be sick and sought treatment here. The morality of saving ones self vs. infecting others is at play.; 10/2/14, 9:46 AM
RecChief said...: the reason nothing is being done is because you can't have an open border to the south and limit contact with any other part of the world.

It would strenghten those calling for a secure border, and politically, the Democrat Party can't have that.; 10/2/14, 9:58 AM
virgil xenophon said...: Following on chickenman@9:46 I'd add that there are probably going to be very significant numbers of infected Africans who come here to avail themselves of our superior health-care services--and the American taxpayer will get the bill--just as we already are for the schooling and healthcare for all the "children" illegals from south of the border..; 10/2/14, 10:00 AM
Brando said...: I wouldn't say panic is worse than the disease, but disease is much harder to fight when the population is in panic mode. At that point no one trusts anyone and there's no cooperation in fighting it.

Which is why the authorities need to appear in control--right now their incompetence is planting the seeds of disaster.; 10/2/14, 10:27 AM
Shanna said...: but disease is much harder to fight when the population is in panic mode

But we are no where near any of that kind of panic. Mostly we are at 'hey, maybe we shouldn't let people get sick and then head directly here' stage, and these are the people who are being told not to panic. That isn't panic, that is concern. There is an element of paternalism in the way the CDC is trying to reassure everyone.; 10/2/14, 10:34 AM
Fernandinande said...: Attention white people! No need to worry!

"Another method is disease infection through bio-weapons such as Ebola and AIDS, which are race targeting weapons. There is a weapon that can be put in a room where there are Black and White people, and it will kill only the Black and spare the White, because it is a genotype weapon that is designed for your genes, for your race, for your kind."; 10/2/14, 10:40 AM
Brando said...: I agree we're not in panic mode yet--which is why the government needs to nip this in the bud and convey competent leadership. If they keep telling us they have it under control and it's not spreading, then we get a bunch of cases in Seattle, Chicago, Miami, etc, people will panic. I know I'd certainly avoid traveling if that happened.; 10/2/14, 10:40 AM
LilyBart said...: I think we're more likely to panic if we perceive that our government isn't taking appropriate precaution.

I wonder if they aren't taking precautions because they value unfettered immigration over our health.; 10/2/14, 10:46 AM
Julie C said...: Didn't our government decide to stop air travel to Israel a while back after a rocket attack by Hamas? That lasted a couple of days. And there is a heck of a lot more travel to/from Israel and business taking place between our countries. Of course, it smacked of punishment to me at the time rather than genuine concern for safety.

Here's the difference between Liberia and Hong Kong. There is a reasonably competent health and security infrastructure in HK. Not so in Liberia. Sure, they can post someone to take temperatures in Monrovia but a nice bribe will get you through.

Furthermore, a person could have the disease for several weeks before it manifests. So temperature taking isn't going to do much to stop someone who has been exposed from coming here and spreading the disease.; 10/2/14, 10:50 AM
Shanna said...: I think we're more likely to panic if we perceive that our government isn't taking appropriate precaution.

Indeed. And in all this talking, they are glossing over the fact that even if we don't have a widespread epidemic, we could easily have a smaller one that kills many people. Like Nigeria, who had what 200 people infected after dealing with a single person, who came over on a airplane and was rushed immediately to the hospital. Is that just an acceptable level of loss to the people in charge? Because that is frightening.; 10/2/14, 10:57 AM
richard mcenroe said...: Liberians are the 5th most likely nationality to overstay their visas and go illegal. How much community cooperation do you think the government can expect to get here?; 10/2/14, 11:17 AM
Brando said...: I wouldn't attribute anything this administration is doing to anything other than incompetence. Their reaction to everything from the BP oil spill to the health care rollout to the VA mess to the ISIS war has shown that there's just no real leadership--only an expectation that if "no drama Obama" makes some lofty pronouncements everything will work itself out.

I'm all for delegating--we don't want another Carter who personally scheduled the White House tennis courts use--but you have to have competent people to delegate to, and keep a good view of how they're doing. This is likely another case of Obama assuming everything's under control because why shouldn't he be able to count on his underlings to take care of it?

I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop.; 10/2/14, 11:17 AM
MayBee said...: The CDC needs to do a much better job assisting the people who were with this man while he was sick. They don't know what to do. They are just people.

Brando- I agree with you. The health leaders of this country need to display leadership and take steps to make people feel confident. As I said, temperature checks coming into the country. Information about where people from Western Africa will be staying when here. Cards for people (perhaps stapled to their passport) to give to health professionals if treatment is sought (indicating date this person came from infected area).
Those are things we did during SARS.; 10/2/14, 11:19 AM
Brando said...: MayBee--those are exactly the sort of things a competent government would do immediately. Step up border enforcement (it's not unreasonable to think some infected people may come over the land border) with both Mexico and Canada, special restrictions on flights and passengers from target areas--even requiring wearing surgical mouth masks (as the Japanese do on their subways when they have colds) on international flights.

Some of these measures will actually help, but also they're good optics--it's important that everyone have some confidence in their government so that when further steps need to be taken they'll comply.

If the administration waits until this spreads a bit more, look out. It won't be pretty.; 10/2/14, 11:42 AM
Alexander said...: Or here's an idea - don't let people in. Forget temperature and registration; West Africans have no right to travel in the United States, they have no right to visit anywhere in the United States. Americans, on the other hand, have a right to a government that doesn't exacerbate and magnify the vectors for deadly diseases entering the country. Priorities, yo!

Look, when Europe had Mad Cow, nobody had a problem with banning European beef imports, or banning people who visited Europe from donating blood to the Red Cross. This really hurt the agricultural sector in Europe, but that's not our problem. Course, Europeans are white so you can get away with doing reasonable precautions.

Course, with this level of idiocy it's gonna be reeeal funny watching all the progressive idiots defending Mexico's right to shoot on sight anyone travelling south boung over the Rio Grande.; 10/2/14, 12:00 PM
MayBee said...: Have someone with the CDC take the temperature of the children who were exposed every day, a few times a day.
If it will make people feel better, have everyone at the school take their child's temperature everyday before they send them to school.

Again, that's what we had to do in Hong Kong.

I'm listening to CNN talking about the family he was staying with, and my heart is breaking for them. They don't know what to do, how to get food, how to clean the apartment. The CDC should have a plan in place.; 10/2/14, 12:05 PM
Shanna said...: They don't know what to do, how to get food, how to clean the apartment. The CDC should have a plan in place.

That's awful. And makes it more likely they will leave and infect others, if the people aren't careful. I completely agree the CDC should have had a plan in place, months ago when it was obvious that this would happen. (apparently we aren't deporting liberians anymore, so it was doubly obvious!).

When West Nile was first popping up, we got actual fliers in the mail with details. These people who are under quarantine, especially the guys family, should probably not be at home, but at the very least they could deliver food and instructions for cleaning. Or some of their friends could.; 10/2/14, 12:08 PM
Brando said...: One would think that certainly since 9/11 we would have smart procedures in place to detect, isolate and treat infectious diseases considering it's a real possibility that some terrorist group would use such means to sow havoc and destruction here. If this is how they're handling unintentional spreading of Ebola, how would they be able to deal with a planned outbreak directed by our enemies?

Imagine if the 19 hijackers from 9/11 instead had infected themselves with an airborne disease, dispersed to shopping malls in major urban areas, and coughed on several passers by.; 10/2/14, 12:42 PM
LilyBart said...: The CDC should have a plan in place.

Yes, especially since they did nothing to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Just read an article stating that the ambulance used to bring the man to the hospital was in serve for 48 hours afterward. People who were in that ambulance during that period have NOT been contacted and urged to be tested and to use precautions.

How is it we're being led by such incompetents?

On their heads be any deaths.; 10/2/14, 12:43 PM
LilyBart said...: Have someone with the CDC take the temperature of the children who were exposed every day, a few times a day. If it will make people feel better, have everyone at the school take their child's temperature everyday before they send them to school.

This is what you call closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.; 10/2/14, 12:44 PM
Shanna said...: One would think that certainly since 9/11 we would have smart procedures in place to detect, isolate and treat infectious diseases

Apparently Bush put in place procedures after the 2005 bird flu that called for quarantines run through airports, etc...But Obama rolled them back in 2010.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-04-01-quarantine_N.htm; 10/2/14, 12:47 PM
MayBee said...: This is what you call closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.

One horse has escaped. We want to make sure more do not.; 10/2/14, 1:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Just read an article stating that the ambulance used to bring the man to the hospital was in serve for 48 hours afterward.

Is that the same article that named Obama as the ambulance driver?

That asshole just won't quit until he destroys our country.; 10/2/14, 1:17 PM
Paul said...: Just to let you know folks....

The TSA missed him getting off the plane from Liberia cause Obama removed the quarantine/information gathering regulations for people entering the country from hot zones 4 years ago. Regulations that had been put in place by the Bush administration.

Yes if Bush was still president (as Obama seems to think he is sometimes) they would have stopped him and given him a thorough interview about where he came from and what he did over there.

Hope for change in 2014. Vote all Democrats out to show our displeasure with this Administration's stupidity.; 10/2/14, 2:02 PM
damikesc said...: The TSA missed him getting off the plane from Liberia cause Obama removed the quarantine/information gathering regulations for people entering the country from hot zones 4 years ago. Regulations that had been put in place by the Bush administration.

Even more ironic.

WHO demanded those increased regulations?

Democratic Senators.

Including a notable junior Senator from IL who did a speech about how the Bush admin was unprepared for the avian flu that never actually seemed to impact anybody in the US.

So, Obama crapped regs he demanded Bush institute.; 10/2/14, 2:23 PM
Brando said...: Obama has been doing a pretty good job rehabilitating Bush's image.

Now imagine that the next White House occupant ends up making everyone wistful for the sage leadership of Barack Obama.

Don't think it can't happen.; 10/2/14, 2:34 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: What's not being said is that Ebola is going to keep happening.

As long there are flights from West Africa, infected people are going to get to the US. It's not going to stop at one.

Worse, as long as air travel continues from Liberia and Sierra Leone other parts of the world are at risk. The rest of Africa, India, Bangladesh, South America, are at risk. These are places where an Ebola outbreak would be horrific.

Stop the flights. Stop pretending this is going to be over soon. It won't be. Deal with reality.; 10/2/14, 3:02 PM
Julie C said...: Glenn Reynolds just linked to a photo of a janitor pressure washing the vomit in front of the Ebola victim's family apartment.

Hmm. Pressure washing ...

I hope to hell that's a photoshop.; 10/2/14, 4:56 PM
Jupiter said...: "Stop the flights. Stop pretending this is going to be over soon. It won't be. Deal with reality."

I'm afraid the reality is that they are not going to stop the flights. That would be the sensible thing to do, but it runs counter to the preferences of our so-called elites, who have somehow concluded that everyone on Earth should be accorded the rights of a US Citizen, except for US Citizens.; 10/2/14, 7:07 PM
jr565 said...: "The TSA missed him getting off the plane from Liberia cause Obama removed the quarantine/information gathering regulations for people entering the country from hot zones 4 years ago. Regulations that had been put in place by the Bush administration.

Even more ironic.

WHO demanded those increased regulations?

Democratic Senators.

Including a notable junior Senator from IL who did a speech about how the Bush admin was unprepared for the avian flu that never actually seemed to impact anybody in the US.

So, Obama crapped regs he demanded Bush institute,

I bet Garagemahal & ARM screaming the loudest about Bush not acting quickly enough when it was avian flu. And now are quietest when Obama is shown to be a complete tool who isn't doing enough when it comes to Ebola or even doing away with the very regs dems demanded of Bush.; 10/2/14, 7:20 PM
LilyBart said...: the preferences of our so-called elites, who have somehow concluded that everyone on Earth should be accorded the rights of a US Citizen, except for US Citizens.

Sad, but true.; 10/2/14, 8:03 PM
George M. Spencer said...: "The pandemic affected everyone. With one-quarter of the US and one-fifth of the world infected with the influenza, it was impossible to escape from the illness.

Even President Woodrow Wilson suffered from the flu in early 1919 while negotiating the crucial treaty of Versailles to end the World War.

Those who were lucky enough to avoid infection had to deal with the public health ordinances to restrain the spread of the disease. The public health departments distributed gauze masks to be worn in public. Stores could not hold sales, funerals were limited to 15 minutes. Some towns required a signed certificate to enter and railroads would not accept passengers without them. Those who ignored the flu ordinances had to pay steep fines enforced by extra officers. Bodies pilled up as the massive deaths of the epidemic ensued.

Besides the lack of health care workers and medical supplies, there was a shortage of coffins, morticians and gravediggers. The conditions in 1918 were not so far removed from the Black Death in the era of the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages."

Nature has a sense of humor. Just as soon as everyone who lived through the flu crisis of 1918 has passed away and there's no living memory of what a quarantine was like, a plague happens again. At least this time children can continue their schooling on-line. It will be a great boon for those private on-line education companies. Netflix will boom. Wars are like this, too. As soon as everyone who lived through one has forgotten how horrible they are, they happen again.; 10/2/14, 8:21 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Here's a great website (influenzaarchive.org about how the flu affected life in various American cities.

For example, Cambridge, Mass.:

"On October 4, Massachusetts Governor Samuel W. Mc Call issued a statewide request that mayors and health authorities issue closure orders and gathering bans as a way to help control the spread of influenza. The next day, the Cambridge Board of Health voted to close all pool halls, bowling alleys, ice cream shops, and places serving beverages, and to ban church services. The Board also requested that attendance at funerals be limited to immediate family members only. A few days later, on October 9, the Board added auction rooms to the list"

Imagine no open Starbucks. It's easy if you try.; 10/2/14, 8:25 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Smallpox was like Ebola. Not airborne, only contagious with symptoms, and highly lethal.

That wasn't a problem, right?; 10/2/14, 10:02 PM
damikesc said...: I bet Garagemahal & ARM screaming the loudest about Bush not acting quickly enough when it was avian flu.

Probably. And it'd be weird since I don't think it ever reached the US in the first place.; 10/3/14, 6:57 AM
Shanna said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/3/14, 8:06 AM
Fen said...: "better hope they don't know it was you that wrote that ignorant post."

Too late. As a native Texan, I can assure you that if the walls ever tumble down, Inga will be shot on sight if she comes anywhere near Texas.

And I'm saving her little gem for when she whines about how her kids are vomiting blood.

What a cunt.; 10/3/14, 12:50 PM