US troops to fight Ebola Virus.

Whiskeyjack

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TAC's Scott McConnell just published an article titled "Ebola Breaks a Border-Free World":

Scientist and writer Greg Cochran unearths an interesting morsel about the post World War I influenza pandemic, which killed 50-100 million people worldwide. After the war, the Pacific island of West Samoa passed from Germany to New Zealand’s control. Administrators were aware of the global flu outbreak, but powerful plantation interests opposed any quarantine of the island as bad for business. When the flu bug arrived via crewmen from the SS Talune, which visited regularly, roughly 90 percent of the population fell ill. In the end, more than a quarter of the island’s population died.

American Samoa was nearby, 60 miles away. The climate and infrastructure were more or less identical, and the islands were culturally and socially integrated through trade and intermarriage. A U.S. Navy officer was the administrator. He too was forewarned of the flu danger, but—not receiving any instruction from Washington—took matters into his own hands and responded in the completely opposite manner. He imposed a quarantine on the island, a kind of self-blockade. He even managed to persuade American Samoa’s chiefs to send out canoes to block visits of their kinsmen from their New Zealand-run neighbor. On American Samoa, there wasn’t a single case of flu.

In this case, human choices made not a difference at the margins, but all the difference. The flu was an unprecedented danger, there was no clear scientific protocol to follow. Modern medicine was still in its infancy. But in American Samoa, a cautious attitude towards a poorly understood germ made the difference between life and death.

It is a mystery why the United States allows any travelers at all to fly from the Ebola-infected countries of West Africa into American airports. If much of our politics is a fight over the proper role of government, virtually everyone agrees that shielding the population from infectious disease should be a top priority. And yet, bizarrely, every establishment instinct in Washington is to avoid overreacting, as if some terrible harm might come were it ever demonstrated that stemming the flow of West African tourists for a short period of time was not absolutely necessary.

One might think that Ebola, like almost everything else in Washington, would become a partisan issue. Hardly. The first federal officeholder to call for moratorium on flights from West Africa was a liberal democrat, Florida congressman Allan Grayson, who did so in July. After Ebola patient Thomas Duncan arrived in Dallas from Liberia, passing through Dulles airport en route, Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal made the case for banning West African flights. But these two stand almost alone. (In the past day or two, some more Republicans, perhaps sensing a new front to oppose Obama, have urged more rigorous airport screening.) But generally speaking, the establishment open-borders coalition has held firm, trumping partisan divisions, as leaders of both parties form a united front, repeating the Obama administration talking points that closing America’s airports to travelers from West Africa would do no good, or even “make matters worse.”

To be clear, there is no scientific consensus about any of this.

In Forbes, columnist Stephen Salzburg surprised himself by endorsing Jindal’s recommendation, noting there are expected to be 1.4 million West African Ebola cases by January. Salzburg writes that even the pro-flight Center for Disease Control has acknowledged that sick people are trying to board planes to the U.S.; 77 have been stopped so far. This figure is for known infected persons who have been stopped. How many managed to get through the rudimentary screenings in Freetown and other airports we don’t know. But when there are a million Ebola infections, many of them still asymptomatic, how easy will it be to screen infected travelers off the planes, he asks. It is perhaps necessary to point out that Salzburg is not a Fox news tub thumper but a top scientist, a professor of biomedical engineering and biostatistics as Johns Hopkins, with an illustrious career of research into bacteria and viruses behind him.

Another relevant voice calling for far sterner measures is Alexander Garza, who was chief medical officer of the Department of Homeland Security during Obama’s first term. Garza notes (not very reassuringly) that airport workers in West African countries have been trained to take temperatures of passengers. Who would deem this sufficient? Is it really prudent to entrust so much of American security to West African airport screeners?

Garza calls for the hiring of additional screeners at U.S. airports to essentially duplicate the African screening, and to question travelers more aggressively. He calls for a doubling of the Global Migration and Quarantine office budget (and staffing) until the disease is checked. Unstated but implicit in this argument is that travelers from West Africa ought to be quarantined until it is established they are indeed disease free. The United States did this as a matter of course with European immigrants during the 19th and early 20th century immigration wave.

But such calls for tougher measures are met with bland assurances that everything is under control, that flight bans would only worsen matters. Why? Well, it is argued that the foreign medical and aid workers Africa needs to combat Ebola’s spread use commercial flights to travel to the region. The concern for the medical workers’ travel and access is a valid one. But as the United States is flying thousands of troops to West Africa to help contain the epidemic, it would surely be possible for aid workers to fly back and forth on military planes.

In defense of the current, not very rigorous, regime, President Obama argues that “in recent months we’ve had thousands of travelers arriving from West Africa and so far only one case of Ebola.” But this was in the early stages of the epidemic, before the breakout of Ebola in West Africa’s cities. Does Obama really want thousands more West Africans flying here once Ebola cases number more than a million? The answer appears to be yes. Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies has pointed out that 13,000 visas for travel to America have been handed out in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea—which means that so long as such travelers don’t have a fever observed by the West African screeners when boarding and can get a ticket, they’re coming to the U.S.

Some issues are complicated, but this one seems simple. So long as the epidemic is raging, why should even a single traveler come here from the Ebola-infected countries?

The deeper answer is that much of the American establishment has bought into “post-America”—the concept that the border shouldn’t mean much of anything. There is a right-wing and hawkish component to this: those feel we have the right and duty to meddle in every region of the world. ISIS is treated as primarily an American problem, as are ethnic fissures in Ukraine. The liberal side of the same paradigm is driven by guilt that the United States is richer or more successful than much of the world and hopes–by eliminating the significance of the border—to gradually erase such differences. The Washington Post recently ran an op-ed denouncing “borderism.” The piece opened by lamenting that someone born in New Mexico has better opportunities in life than someone born in Mexico. (“Not only did we take a lot of territory from Mexico, but we took the parts with all the good roads” someone once remarked, wryly.)

Few in Congress would go this far, but the belief that everyone in the world has some kind of civil right to get on a plane and fly to Dallas or Newark is pervasive. One might think a deadly virus whose capacity to spread and mutate is not yet widely understood by scientists would be sufficient grounds to constrain quite dramatically this supposed “right,” at least for a few months. But not in post-American Washington.
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HoosierMP33

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It is my conclusion that our leaders in Washington must immediately contact BVG if they ever hope to control the spread of Ebola. His defenses can shut down anyone, anything, at anytime. BVG is quickly becoming the Chuck Norris of defense....in fact, BVG is the only known man to actually scheme a defense tough enough to stop a Chuck Norris offensive attack.
 
Redbar

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ginman said:
There is no good reason that we should be allowing travelers from these nations until this is under control. It seems so obvious that it is hard to believe that we are not taking this precaution just the same as GB and France.
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I totally agree, there seems to be a bit of hubris on the part of the medical community and the usual inertia on the part of the political bureaucracies. This virus is either being underestimated or a minority of people are allowing unnecessary potential exposures for reasons that a majority would simply not agree with. This is where not having accountability in the political class will hurt us all.
 
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Late Ebola patient's nephew: 'Nobody tried to help Eric' - CNN.com

By Greg Botelho, CNN
updated 9:56 PM EDT, Fri October 10, 2014

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In an emotional interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, Weeks alleged that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital officials "said no to everything" relatives requested and "lied to us the whole time." He also accused the hospital of giving Duncan inferior treatment because he was poor, had no health insurance and was black.
"Had (he) been another color, he probably would be living today, he would have survived it," he said. "And that's what's really hurting me the most: ... They treated him the way they did because of the color of (his) skin.
"... You stand a chance if you're white, but not if you're black."
This wasn't the first time members of Duncan's camp have made such claims.

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The hospital refutes it point by point.
 
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Ebola: U.S. troops battle invisible enemy in Liberia - CNN.com

By Brent Swails and Nima Elbagir
updated 1:56 AM EDT, Sat October 11, 2014

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Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, the commander of U.S. Army Africa who is leading the advance team into Liberia, says the mandate here -- straight from President Barack Obama -- is different from other missions.
"We were brought in to provide our unique capabilities and fill the gaps," the two-star general says.
Will Ebola spread via migratory workers? Ebola battle through nurse's eyes NYC's 'Little Liberia' prepares for Ebola 'Big mistake' may spread Ebola in Spain U.S. Ebola labs open in Liberia
In other words, Williams and his troops are here in a supporting role and not a leading one.

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"There is no question in my mind that we are making an impact," the U.S. unit's chief medical officer, Colonel Jim Czarnik says.

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Czarnik points to four recently opened Ebola testing labs, run by military personnel that are already making a difference.

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But there are just four labs in a country where nearly 1,000 cases of Ebola have been confirmed.

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"Soldiers are used to moving toward the sounds of the guns. These are the loudest guns that the world has heard in a long time.
"There is no better fight worth fighting then the one in Liberia right now," says Czarnik.
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ginman

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ND NYC said:
Brooklyn teen hospitalized with Ebola-like symptoms | New York Post

good grief...hope this doesnt turn out to be the real thing.

ps whats a teenager doing for 2 weeks in sudan of all places? that place is a lawless, hell on earth with all the fighting going on right now

granted its not a known affected country but still
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No kidding! It like the stories of the backpackers who get detained after accidentally crossing into North Korea or Iran. They couldn't find a better place to hike?
 
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Ebola scare in Brooklyn was false alarm | New York Post

By Natalie Musumeci
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October 11, 2014 | 12:57pm

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But tests completed on Saturday showed the patient does not have Ebola. “Ebola was ruled out. There are currently no patients suspected of having Ebola in New York City,” said Levi Fishman, a spokesman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

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BBC News - UK expects 'handful' of Ebola cases

11 October 2014 Last updated at 13:22 ET


The UK should expect a "handful" of Ebola cases in the coming months, the chief medical officer has said.

Defending airport screening, Dame Sally Davies said it was a "blunt instrument" but would save lives.

She rejected criticism in a leaked email circulated to doctors that the screening was a "political gesture".

The UK held exercises earlier to test its response to an outbreak, as the US started screening some people arriving in the country.

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In other developments:

  • The Spanish nurse infected with Ebola at a Madrid hospital, Teresa Romero, improved overnight and is talking, medical sources say
  • Macedonian officials say test results have proved a British man previously thought to have died of Ebola did not have the virus
  • The Confederation of African Football says it has no plans to change the January-February schedule of the African Nations Cup, after hosts Morocco called for a postponement over Ebola fears
  • The UN special envoy on Ebola, Dr David Nabarro, has warned that the world might have to live with the disease forever unless almost every country is mobilised to fight it
  • Liberian health workers say they will go on strike on Monday if the government has not resolved the issue of risk and hazard allowance paid to them by then.
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A couple of days ago, Jesse was opposing W. Africa travel bans as profiling.
 
IrishinSyria

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ginman said:
Call me crazy, but when I was in the military we fought enemy soldiers not contagious disease in Africa. I can't understand putting 3000 soldiers at risk of getting a fatal disease in Africa. I'm in favor of no boots on the ground on this one!
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Just out of curiosity, when were you in the military. Because when I was in the Army we fought things like poverty, crime, disease, and illiteracy much more than we did enemy Soldiers.
 
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Texas health care worker tests positive for Ebola - CNN.com

Texas healthcare worker tests positive; would mark 1st Ebola transmission in U.S.
By Joe Sutton and Holly Yan, CNN
updated 6:41 AM EDT, Sun October 12, 2014


A healthcare worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for Ebola after a preliminary test, the state's health agency said.

Confirmatory testing will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The employee helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person ever diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Duncan died on Wednesday.

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johnnycando

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Patient zero has given the illness to patient one.

When we hit 10 patients, we are in deep shit.
 
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In a response to the family member complaining about substandard care I believe the hospital mentioned that 50 staff members had worked on that patient's care. So far there's been no details offered such as admitting ER staff, attending physician, nurse, housekeeping,, etc.


The video at the CNN link states this a confirmed case but the article clearly says that a preliminary test on Saturday indicated possible ebola and that the CDC would run further tests to confirm.
 
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johnnycando said:
Patient zero has given the illness to patient one.

When we hit 10 patients, we are in deep shit.
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Would he be patient zero or would it be the pregnant woman he contracted it from? I believe she, her brother, and others involved preceded him in death.
 
johnnycando

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BGIF said:
Would he be patient zero or would it be the pregnant woman he contracted it from? I believe she, her brother, and others involved preceded him in death.
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I think he's referred to patient zero due to vector purposes.

He came from the hot zone into territory that has never known the likes of the disease.

Mr. Duncan: I will never feel sorry for you or your family.

I would piss on his corpse before burning him into ashes.

What a very very selfish act.
 
irishff1014

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johnnycando said:
I think he's referred to patient zero due to vector purposes.

He came from the hot zone into territory that has never known the likes of the disease.

Mr. Duncan: I will never feel sorry for you or your family.

I would piss on his corpse before burning him into ashes.

What a very very selfish act.
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That's a bit strong isn't it?
 
johnnycando

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irishff1014 said:
That's a bit strong isn't it?
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Do I offend you?

I have 3 little girls. Lots of family. More friends. And people I don't know that I care about on here.

Everyone is at risk now for one man's actions.

A little strong? If I knew I could do something more and be more retaliatory to him or his headstrong family members citing racial injustice with this horrific disease, I would do it...
 
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irishff1014 said:
That's a bit strong isn't it?
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It struck me that way too ... at first. After all he was a good samaritan, helping a sick pregnant woman in need.

On the other hand he was in a country with a known health disaster and he traveled about after contact with her making contact with how many other people. Was he naive? Misinformed? Didn't care? Did he tell the truth to the screeners when traveling? Or did he want to make a quick exit, safety be damned? (I suspect that's where Cando's thoughts lie.)

When he became ill did he tell those around him of the gravity?

Did he offer full disclosure or did he obfuscate fearing deporting?

The hospital messed up by discharging him.

Regardless if you lived in a country with such a calamity and you became sick (symptoms) here would you not have refused to leave that Dallas hospital until you were tested/treated? Dead man walking!

"Go ahead and call the security or the police but let them know before they touch me that I have symptoms of ebola and have not been tested for that disease. And be sure to let your insurance carrier know. Do you have an ebola protocol? Are you following it?"
 
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