Posted on 10/02/2014 2:24:56 PM PDT by jazusamo
Health officials are refusing to answer growing questions about their response to the first Ebola case in the United States.
Under intense questioning from reporters, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Texas health department and the City of Dallas repeatedly declined Thursday to provide details about the steps being taken to prevent an outbreak.
Texas Health Commissioner David Lakey, who participated in one press call Thursday, would not identify or describe the four individuals who have been quarantined due to possible exposure to Ebola. They were later referred to as "family members" at a separate press conference. Officials confirmed that roughly 100 people are being questioned about possible exposure to the virus. Only a "handful" likely could have caught it, and no one but the patient is showing symptoms, they said.
Neither would Lakey explain why the quarantine order was necessary, saying only that it brings "confidence" that key medical monitoring will take place. Another official said later that the four individuals sought to leave home, but would not provide more detail.
He also declined to answer questions about the hospital communication error that allowed the Ebola patient, identified by media outlets as Thomas Eric Duncan, to return home Friday after seeking treatment.
"Unfortunately, connections weren't made related to travel history and symptoms," Lakey said. "I don't have that final analysis right now. We're still investigating how the information fell through the cracks," he said.
While health officials have vowed transparency as they deal with the Ebola patient, they are also charged with maintaining calm and say they are leery of spreading misinformation.
"We will give you all the valid information we have as soon as we have it," said CDC Director Tom Frieden.
But limiting disclosure can undermine agencies' credibility when information spills out on its own.
Neither Texas nor the CDC has confirmed Duncan's identity or his flight path through Brussels and Washington, for example. The Liberian government revealed the patient's name on Wednesday, while United Airlines confirmed his presence on one of its flights.
Frieden acknowledged Thursday that Ebola would pose a risk to the United States until the epidemic stops in West Africa.
"The plain truth is that we can't make the risk zero until the outbreak is controlled," he said. "What we can do is minimize that risk by working to ensure that there are no more individuals that will be exposed [here]."
Frieden also said that, in theory, a sneeze or cough could spread the virus from someone experiencing Ebola symptoms. Officials had previously downplayed this possibility, focusing on direct contact with bodily fluids.
"There are certainly theoretical situations where someone sneezes and you touch your eyes or mouth or nose," and catch the virus from any transmitted particles, he said. [But] realistically you can say what may be theoretically possible as opposed to what actually happens in the real world," he added.
Texas health officials faced their own barrage of questions at a Thursday afternoon press conference.
Reporters asked: How many of Duncan's younger contacts were in school this week? Why weren't the four individuals quarantined in a medical facility? Why weren't soiled linens that likely carry the virus immediately removed?
The event became increasingly confrontational.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings scolded journalists for being "part of the problem" while calling the response to the case "at best, disorganized."
"It is, at best, disorganized out there and we have some members of the press that are creating a bit more of that," he said. "We need everybody to be professional."
Journalists complained about the lack of information as officials left.
"Is this transparency?" asked one reporter. "You bring us all here and then only take six or seven questions?
I have a job to do."
The picture is dated 10/2...Does that mean it sat there for 4 days? And then a pressure washer. With all the fine spray those throw around. Unbelievable.
Research: Reston, Virginia 1989 filovirus USAMRIID sterilization procedure formaldehyde airborne aerosol
“Reston Primate Quarantine Unit”
Reporterette on that video says 8 different languages in the Ivy Apartment complex. Very telling.
Your second question would require someone to measure the number of viral particles in droplets directly; USAMRIID would be the only ones interested enough IMHO, and it would probably be in the context of weaponization and hence not publically releasable. I have heard experts state 500k to 1M virus particles in a drop, but don't recall if it was blood or saliva, and they definitely didn't state the diameter of the droplet.
My link is mis-labeled but it goes to the right article.
Still no word on the doctor who was on monitoring status and then admitted to Bethesda on Saturday.
And each lie is exposed in ever shorter periods of time.
Notice they didn’t tell about the 3 Richardson ISD (TX) students they had to remove from their classrooms today.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3210523/posts
Three more that need to be in quarantine.
.
You also need to know that 1 to 10 virus particles are sufficient for infection in humans; not sure what probability is associated with that, but typically references are to 50% likelihood. Just because you get hit by a droplet with a million particles that STILL doesn’t mean you get a full blown infection. It has to pass through physical barriers (skin, mucous membranes, respiratory tract, etc.)— If skin is unbroken, it is very unlikely to pass through. If you rub your eye or get it in your mouth, chances are much worse but not 100% for a single viral particle. So there you go; lots of unknowns.
Little doubt about it.
The handwriting was on the wall at the first CDC news conference when the guy refused to answer whether the infected man was a U.S. citizen, not once but twice.
Well that just changes everything now doesn't it!
See we do so much better than they do in Africa...we’re much safer dontcha’ know...
Pressure washers create all kind of mists and aersols during use. Probably the worst tool to decontaminate that area.
In one study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ebola virus lived on a surface in a perfectly controlled environment for up to six days. But the environment at an airport, for example, or a school is not perfectly suited to support viruses.
Ebola is easily destroyed outside of the body, experts say. UV light, heat and exposure to oxygen all deactivate the virus over time.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/health/ebola-us-reader-questions/index.html
Sure is it is pure coincidence that this happened in a place in a Red City of a Red State. /s
That river of Ebola vomit probably drains to the pool.
The “close associate” that they said likely also has Ebola seems to have vanished... we haven’t heard about those test results, or anything about that person.
How 'bout pets walking in it and lapping it up on a hot day and then cuddling with the kids on the sofa.
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