Ebola quarantine policies spread, despite science

Seattle Times ^ | 10/27/2014 | David Porter

[SeekAndFind]

Despite President Barack Obama's appointment of an "Ebola czar" to oversee and coordinate the U.S. response to the deadly outbreak, some politicians and even an Army general are going against White House guidance, submitting people to the kinds of quarantines that scientists warn could make containing the epidemic more difficult.

Obama said any measures involving health care workers "should be crafted so as not to unnecessarily discourage those workers from serving." U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, now in West Africa, said any returning workers should be "treated like conquering heroes and not stigmatized for the tremendous work that they have done."

Instead, a nurse who volunteered in Africa with Doctors Without Borders was forced to spend her weekend in a tent in New Jersey, despite having no symptoms other than a slightly elevated temperature she blamed on "inhumane" treatment at Newark International Airport. And now in Italy, a U.S. Army commander said he and his troops returning from Liberia will remain in isolation for 21 days.

Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams told The Associated Press on Monday that the decision to isolate returning troops was taken to ensure their family members' comfort, even though he none of them are showing symptoms, and he does not believe any soldier under his command is at risk of infection.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping...

A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread

[Pollster1]

"Just wait until flu season." If someone gets the flu, or even a cold, who also gets ebola, it's effectively airborne, regardless of the exact CDC/biowarfare definition.

We're about to find out; flu season will pick up over the next six weeks. We'll see what happens to Ebola rates as influenza-infected volunteers go to West Africa and spread flu there among the Ebola population.