Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11437541)

Well that's not happening, not even close. From what I have seen the numbers are still growing rapidly, and the pledged support is going to take until the end of November to deliver, but would be inadequate even if delivered instantly given the numbers of cases today.

The figures show that 5% of fatalities are medical workers, so unless you find a larger number of trained doctors and nurses willing to play Russian roulette with a disease with a 60-70% mortality rate, the bigger issue is going to be finding enough people to deliver hands-on aid.

For these reasons I predict it is going to get worse, a lot worse, and spread to most other countries in Africa, and will likely lead to some sort of coordinated restriction on flights from any country in Africa.

Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP (Post 11437534)

The travel bans would backfire. That's just security theater in action: something that sounds like a good idea to laymen who know nothing, but makes little sense in the real world.

The way to deal with this is to get aid in country ASAP. It's not as if there are large numbers of them holding US-bound airline tickets, anyway. But what you shouldn't want are West Africans who try to get around the travel ban by traveling elsewhere within Africa, where they can spread the disease even further.

In any case, there are zero direct flights between the US and Liberia. How exactly would you propose to reduce that to a figure less than zero?

Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP (Post 11437546)

...the communities in Africa don't trust their governments...

Originally Posted by FlaviusAetius (Post 11437550)

First, no one suggests that we shouldn't get aid INTO those countries ASAP. That's why we're exposing 3,000 of our military folks there for that purpose. As for preventing people from flying to the US via Brussels or another point, a second spokesman for the CDC has assured a national audience that we have sophisticated and virtually fool-proof methods to identify passengers who are attempting to enter this country via connecting flights and could prevent their entry.

As a self-confessed non-layman, would you please explain how a travel ban on commercial flights involving people coming from the Ebola hotspots would be less effective at preventing the spread of Ebola into the US than keeping the doors open and relying on the new screening procedures that most experts are telling us are useless?

The Screening: What we've heard about the screening is that people coming here will be asked if they've been exposed to Ebola (and hope they don't lie like Mr. Duncan :fingerscrossed:), their temperatures will be taken with a device that doesn't touch them (and which we've been told is inaccurate and ineffective - especially if they chug Tylenol beforehand to bring their temperature down) - then they're told to monitor their condition if they do have a temperature, after which they're free to mingle with you and your kids if that's where fate takes them.

That's more effective than trying our level best to keep them out? Just asking.



The communities in this country don't trust their government, either.

Originally Posted by Mrs Danvers (Post 11438554)

Texas nurses: 'There were no protocols' about Ebola - CNN.com

In this article nurses treating patient zero were told to wrap their necks with medical tape as the protective clothing they had didn't cover their necks.

I am tired of seeing cleaners in hazmat suits going to clear the belongings of ebola victims and the people taking care of ebola victims get paper or plastic gowns and medical tape.

I wish that the hospital had fessed up to begin with about their lack of proper personal protective equipment and not had the public believe that ebola was Being transmitted through the proper attire.

I wish the CDC had not deemed the second Ebola victim as having breached protocol without knowing what happened or what she was wearing.

Appropriate use of medical tape is for bandages. And possibly taping up CDC and hospital spokespeoples mouths.

Originally Posted by Leslie (Post 11438897)

Erm, yeah. This shit is about get real.

Originally Posted by Jsmth321 (Post 11438799)

Second Texas health care worker tests positive for Ebola - National | Globalnews.ca

Another healthcare worker in Texas who treated Duncan has tested positive for Ebola and placed into isolation.


Seems to me that this hospital really botched this from the start, and I don't have much faith in the CDC at the moment either since they don't seem to know what's going on either.

I hope they can stop the spread before it infects more people.

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl (Post 11438958)

Stay safe. :fingerscrossed:

Originally Posted by Lion in Winter (Post 11439018)

She'll be fine as long as she stays away from the bodily fluids....

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11438968)

Therefore it's not surprising that one victim in Dallas has infected two other people, except that medical workers in the US should have better protective clothing and equipment. :(

Originally Posted by Yorkieabroad (Post 11439070)

Was just listening to an interview with a Medecins Sans Frontier lady who was saying that they haven't had a single staff member infected in Africa in the current outbreak. She reckoned it was down to developing rigid protocols over years of dealing with Ebola in Africa, and wasn't surprised that staff without the benefit of that experience were becoming infected, even with the "right" equipment, because the equipment without the training is next to useless, and the training and experience doesn't happen overnight.