http://kokomoperspective.com/kp/a-cavalier-attitude-toward-ebola/article_6615ebca-4fc5-11e4-8c9a-0b44970881a8.htmlA cavalier attitude toward Ebola
by John Floyd
Posted: Monday, October 13, 2014 10:00 am
Why didn’t I get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I heard Dr. Tom Freiden, director of the Centers for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, make the following statement. Dr. Freiden stated, “I have no doubt we will control this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely.” What does that mean? What is his definition of widely? From the very start of the Ebola epidemic the CDC has treated the disease with a cavalier attitude.
I don’t believe in inevitability. Inevitability occurs when nothing is done to affect outcomes. Inevitability of the introduction of the Ebola disease in the United States has been the continuing attitude and focus of the CDC from the time it realized Ebola had reached epidemic proportions in West Africa. The United States imposed no international restrictions on air travel from the affected West African countries, no restrictions on Americans travelling to and from the affected areas, and very little monitoring of the health of people coming to the United States from West Africa.
The CDC has said the only way for the disease to spread is through body fluids, therefore there is no need for airline passengers to be concerned. Can a sneeze which carries mucous be considered as a body fluid? Admittedly, I am not an epidemiologist or even a medical doctor, but some things just don’t make sense. And can’t an infected person desperately trying to get to the United States for treatment hide the common symptoms of Ebola?
As I said in a previous article, “The genie is out of the bottle and this genie is deadly.” The CDC focus has been on pitiful prevention of the epidemic’s spread in the West African countries, and has not been the prevention of the disease travelling to the United States. Americans should remember, we are not dealing with countries that have anything resembling the American healthcare system.
The death reports are probably not accurate. The death toll has been reported at 3,000 for two weeks, meaning no increase in the deaths. If you believed those numbers the epidemic would seem to be diminishing. The truth is the West African nations don’t know how many have died and don’t have the resources for an accurate count.
In an interview Wednesday morning on Fox News, CDC Director Freiden said he did not recommend monitoring of anyone on the same flight with the Texas Ebola infected person. I find this incredible. If I had been on the flight I would want to know if I had been exposed and to what degree. And if there is no danger in flying with an Ebola infected person, why did the CDC fly the first infected patient back to Atlanta from Liberia on a specially equipped jet with isolation capabilities. Why were all medical workers in moon suits?
Now there is the possibility of a second case of Ebola in Texas. How can the CDC be sure that everyone who came in close contact to these two patients has been sequestered? As to stopping travel from the West African countries, Dr. Freiden incredibly stated on Fox News Tuesday that restrictions would interrupt airline operations. Who cares about airline disruptions when one is dealing with a possible deadly epidemic of a gigantic dimension?
If the disease Ebola gets loose in the United States, much of the responsibility will be directed at the very organization who should have known better, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s answer to the Ebola threat is the CDC can stem any potential spread through isolation of ill people, contacting people exposed to the ill person and further isolation of contacts if they develop symptoms. How do you like that for a plan to combat Ebola? It is called defense when it should have been offense.
The use of common sense by the United States government should have stopped all travel from the affected West African countries. But, of course common sense is dead in the United States.
The United States is presently facing a second epidemic, respiratory illness among American youth. In some cases the unknown disease is causing paralysis and death. Could this disease have been brought into the United States by youthful illegal aliens?
The thousands of children from Central American countries come from areas that have no immunization programs and poor or non-existent health programs. The possibility of them being transporters of the respiratory disease has never been mentioned by the national media, or interestingly enough, the CDC.
