Posted on 09/16/2014 2:42:15 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
The United States government is sending thousands of military troops to the west African nation of Liberia as part of the Obama administration's Ebola virus-response strategy, the White House said late Monday night.
....'A general from U.S. Army Africa, the Army component of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), will lead this effort, which will involve an estimated 3,000 U.S. forces.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I hope you are watching the Congressional hearings. There are some senators who are questioning why this has been placed under Dempsey. The CDC representative did not know why it was done and had no answer. Senator Mikulski emphasized that what she wanted was one single person to oversee and coordinate the inter-agency effort. She indicated that she will raise the issue with the WH.
These are professionals of all disciplines. These are the "brains" of the operation. They will be the ones gathering the data on the spread of the epidemic and analyzing the various strains involved. They will help direct the measures need to limit the spread of the disease. One hundred experts is a great commitment.
Wow, a whole one hundred people. Do you know how underwhelming that is given the current stage of the epidemic growth? The military is sending over 3000. You are right, the army’s capabilities don’t compare to the CDC’s the DWARF it!!!
How many of those 3,000 are experts in the field of epidemiology? The 3,000 will be building hospitals, providing logistical support from the air bridge to the US, and force protection of those Americans on the ground including those from the CDC.
I agree with you. We are sending the military to set up the logistical base to support the efforts of the professionals from other government agencies and to provide force protection. But sending 3,000 personnel, the vast majority of whom are not medical personnel, could be very risky.
Its times like theses that Im glad im not a soldure. I mean what are soldres going to do against a deadly virious except get infected?
We need 3000 soldures in Iraq fighting an enemy that can be killed with bombs and bullets, not standing in the line of fire of an enemy immune to any such military defenses.
Could we perhaps say this move is a result of Obama’s mass dilutions that the Government(and thus its force arm the military) is a health care organization?
It sounds like you are still harping on the 3,000 troops and that is the cause of your Army obsession.
Why would you be arguing with me about the 3,000 troops all this time?
As far as the CDC which is almost entirely domestic, do they even have the authority to run massive international operations, and the leadership? This is from the 1990s “The authority of CDC, for instance, does not cover international disease control and prevention, and USAID has limited technical and financial resources in this area.”
Military Infectious Diseases Research Program (MIDRP)
” The U.S. military has stationed uniformed scientists in the tropics for more than 100 years, and it’s active overseas laboratories have been in place for as long as 58 years. Military scientists live and work in the tropics to study the disease threats in naturally affected populations. Countermeasures and candidate solutions are studied through all phases of development including field testing. These military scientists serve as goodwill ambassadors, and contribute to developing health and science infrastructure in these tropical countries. Enduring relationships between tropical DoD facilities and ministries of health, international healthcare facilities, and local healthcare providers and researchers are of great value to the U.S. at a time when diseases such as SARS and avian influenza are potential global threats. The global MIDRP military presence provides a real-time early warning system in the identification and assessment of new and reemerging disease. Data from around the world is collected, analyzed, and immediately disseminated to military leadership and other agencies by the military’s DoD Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (DoD-GEIS) at the Armed Forces Health and Surveillance Center (AFHSC).
The MIDRP’s capabilities include basic science (discovery and the knowledge base to develop technological approaches) pre-clinical product optimization, and advanced animal model development. Clinical trials expertise for early FDA Phase 1 testing of drugs and vaccines through large (e.g. 42,000 volunteers for hepatitis A vaccine, and 62,000 volunteers for Japanese encephalitis vaccine) pivotal Phase 3 trials in developing nations is an especially valuable asset of the MIDRP. The DoD also has high containment laboratories, pilot Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant bioproduction facilities, and FDA regulatory expertise in the U.S. and in many international settings.”
martial law
Liberia has been a bloody mess for decades. Of course, since it’s in Africa, nobody’s noticed. American troops could have been used just to quiet the country down long ago, and it does have a special historical tie to the US that would have made such a move at least plausible. So now that the country is also suffering from an epidemic of incurable, deadly Ebola, suddenly US infantry is supposed to storm the beaches? What are they supposed to do, shoot a microbe? This is beyond nuts.
I think the number is too high and exposes too many people to infection by the virus. The vast majority of them will be non-medical personnel. And IMO DOD should not be the lead agency.
As far as the CDC which is almost entirely domestic, do they even have the authority to run massive international operations, and the leadership? This is from the 1990s “The authority of CDC, for instance, does not cover international disease control and prevention, and USAID has limited technical and financial resources in this area.”
I provided you information from the CDC website. They have a global mission. They have hundreds of people stationed overseas along with those acting as US reps in international health organizations. CDC gathers information from all over the world.
The vast majority of US State Department personnel work in the US. The same holds true for DOD.
Just like you keep going on about the 3,000 troops when I agree on them, and have never said anything else, you just can't seem to get anything into your head, as you have continued pretending that you are arguing with me about the 3,000.
You just keep chanting CDC, but you might as well take the opportunity to learn something about what you know nothing about, the military's involvement in disease and infection outbreaks, and Sars and Ebola, internationally.
CDC has a broader mission and more people engaged in research.
Actually for the relevant areas to this discussion, the military seems to be vastly more involved directly, in complexity and internationally.
The CDC is mostly focused on the U.S. and almost all of their budget goes to issues unrelated to this whereas the military focuses on it.
Did you find that list of huge international operations that the CDC leads?
Just another way to spread our wealth around. Your taxpayer dollars at work enriching Liberian pockets.
Really? I have a big problem with sending the military there.
First of all, it's not their job. Their job is to protect our borders and our citizens.
Plus - are these military going to be held in quarantine for 7 months? That is how long the virus apparently lives in sperm. Are we going to ask these people to be celibate for 7 months?
Sure ... not like anything could go wrong there ...
Yes. Place them at our border and keep everybody out. Let citizens in and keep them in quarantine for 7 months.
Amount of time gets more exaggerated with each successive post. Seven weeks according to WHO or 61 and 82 days in separate examinations. Plus the virons are not proven to be infectious at that point. But I don't like the army going either. Little to nothing they can do and not their job.
Not in terms of medical research and epidemiology. It is not even close.
CDC has more than 15,000 employees in nearly 170 occupations. The field staff is assigned to all 50 states and more than 50 countries. CDC’s FY2014 budget is $11.3 billion.
The CDC is mostly focused on the U.S. and almost all of their budget goes to issues unrelated to this whereas the military focuses on it.
What is the military budget for infectious disease control and the staffing size?
Did you find that list of huge international operations that the CDC leads?
The Center for Global Health is the part of CDC that deals in international cooperation. The scope and intensity of global health challenges ensures that no single country or agency can work alone to meet them. To contribute to shared global health objectives, CDC works in close partnership with a wide array of international agencies and institutions to shape global health policies and to fund, implement, and evaluate programs. CDC's partnerships with international and multinational organizations include the World Health Organization and its regional offices, other United Nations agencies (such as UNICEF and affiliated agencies (such as the United Nations FoundationExternal Web Site Icon), the World Bank, other federal agencies within the U.S. Government, private foundations, universities, and global health organizations.
CDC's global health partners include the following:
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the leading United Nations institution charged with determining global health policy. CDC contributes to WHO's efforts through the secondment of CDC staff to strategic posts within the WHO structure, with special attention to the WHO Regional Offices (e.g. PAHO, AFRO), and through grants to support specific programs of global importance, such as polio eradication and surveillance for emerging diseases. In addition, a number of WHO Collaborative Centers are based within CDC, sharing staff, research initiatives, and publications for use by the global health community.
The World Bank is the leading institution for investments in health and development and thus plays a critical role in shaping global health policy. Other regional development banks may provide new opportunities to address specific global health issues in the future. CDC has had assignees at the Bank since 1997.
The United Nations Foundation (UNF), with an annual endowment of $100 million, provides financial support to United Nations agencies for projects in the areas of child health, population, women's health, and the environment. CDC collaborates on policy and technical issues, helping to shape the UNF's health agenda in the developing world. (A CDC staff member is assigned to UNF.)
UNICEF, a key partner in child health initiatives, has been a particularly critical ally in CDC's global immunization activities. As the final phase of the global campaign against polio approaches, UNICEF collaboration will continue to be a critical element as CDC and its partners achieve the goal of eradication.
Within the U.S. government, the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) has had a longstanding relationship with CDC to support common global health objectives. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Global Health Affairs coordinates global health policy for the Department, providing opportunities to CDC, as well as relying on its technical resources. Several CDC staff members are assigned to USAID to work on these collaborative initiatives. The Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) serves as the locus for inter-agency collaborations in global health. The U.S. Department of State(DOS) is a crucial partner in carrying out CDC's overseas programs and activities. DOS is responsible for assuring that all U.S. Government overseas programs and activities are consistent with the overall goals and objectives of U.S. foreign policy. Through its embassies and diplomatic corps around the world, the Department offers protection and support for agency personnel on long- and short-term assignments.
In the private sector, several U.S. foundations demonstrate an interest in global health issues and projects by supporting programming in areas important to CDC. For example, the Rockefeller Foundation, with the help of consultants trained in the CDC EIS program, implemented the Public Health Schools Without Walls program, which shares the mission and competency-based field epidemiology training approach used by the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently has given high priority to its global health programs. Its areas of emphasis, including vaccine delivery, maternal mortality reduction, malaria, and TB are aligned with CDC's interests, leading to many collaborative efforts. Rotary International Icon supports the efforts of CDC and other global partners to add polio to the list of diseases eradicated from the world - a goal that is within reach.
Many U.S.-based international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are actively engaged in international health projects. The relief agency CARE, for example, participates in a joint CARE-CDC Health Initiative(CCHI), which makes best use of CDC's technical and scientific expertise and CARE's on-the-ground capabilities to address critical health issues in countries around the world. The eradication of Guinea worm and the prevention of river blindness throughout the world tops the Atlanta-based Carter Center's list of global health concerns. Through The Carter Center's efforts, community-based intervention programs primarily in Africa have greatly reduced the burden of these diseases among some of the world's poorest people. Combining forces with the CDC, WHO, UNICEF and others, The Carter Center helps make the idea of public-private partnership in global health a reality.
Launched in February 2001, the Measles Initiative is a long-term commitment to control measles deaths in Africa by vaccinating 200 million children and preventing 1.2 million deaths over five years. Leading this effort is the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO.) Other key players in the fight against measles include the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and countries and governments affected by measles. While the Measles Initiative is focused in Africa where the majority of measles-related deaths occur, partners also work on a wide-range of health initiatives around the world, including measles control and other vaccination services outside of Africa.
One way that you remain in ignorance, is you don’t even read.
You keep just posting masses of stuff that is irrelevant, go find something that actually says the things that you are trying to promote, and post only the relevant parts.
Just posting a bunch of text is meaningless.
Who will provide the logistics support for this initiative if the military doesn't participate?
First of all, it's not their job. Their job is to protect our borders and our citizens.
Don't you think containing the Ebola epidemic to West Africa protects our citizens and national security?
Plus - are these military going to be held in quarantine for 7 months? That is how long the virus apparently lives in sperm. Are we going to ask these people to be celibate for 7 months?
What is the source of that assertion? I just watched the Congressional Hearings on Ebola and one of the American doctors who survived the disease, Dr. Kent Brantly, said he was evaluated as being disease free. Other medical authorities who were on the panels never mentioned any such lingering remnants of the disease. i.e., for 7 months.
According to the WHO, people are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. For this reason, infected patients receive close monitoring from medical professionals and receive laboratory tests to ensure the virus is no longer circulating in their systems before they return home. When the medical professionals determine it is okay for the patient to return home, they are no longer infectious and cannot infect anyone else in their communities. Men who have recovered from the illness can still spread the virus to their partner through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery. For this reason, it is important for men to avoid sexual intercourse for at least 7 weeks after recovery or to wear condoms if having sexual intercourse during 7 weeks after recovery.
Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days after onset of illness in a man who was infected in a laboratory. The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2 to 21 days. The disease lasts about two weeks. You either die or survive during that period.
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