Free Republic

As a rule, one should not panic at whatever crisis has momentarily fixed the attention of cable news producers. But the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has migrated to both Europe and America, may be the exception that proves the rule. There are at least six reasons that a controlled, informed panic might be in order. (1) Start with what we know, and don’t know, about the virus. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other government agencies claim that contracting Ebola is relatively difficult because the virus is only transmittable by direct contact with bodily fluids...

During my years of medical training, back in the good old days, my professors hammered one very important aspect of medicine into our heads over and over: During a medical crisis, someone has to be in charge. There cannot be 20 voices in the room rendering opinions when somebody’s life is at stake. A prime example is when there is a code blue in a hospital setting where a patient is having a heart attack; there’s always somebody running the code, directing the staff with specific instructions on how to bring the patient back. You could take that same example...

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas lashed back Thursday at nurses' allegations that it had put workers at risk with shoddy protection policies and sloppy handling of waste while treating a Liberian man who died of the Ebola virus. [Snip] The hospital's response -- its second in two days -- in part shifted responsibility to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to the protocols the agency issued this summer to guide the handling of a patient infected by the virus, which is thought to have killed more than 4,400 people in West Africa. The hospital said the protocols...

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent more than $39 million on obese lesbians, origami condoms, texting drunks, and dozens of other projects that could have been scrapped in favor of developing an Ebola vaccine. “Frankly, if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would’ve gone through clinical trials and would have been ready,” said NIH Director Francis Collins, blaming budget cuts for his agency’s failure to develop a vaccine for the deadly virus. However, the Washington Free Beacon has uncovered $39,643,352 worth...

Complete Headline:Ebola-stricken nurse Amber Vinson may have had symptoms almost a week ago - BEFORE she left Dallas for Ohio, went bridesmaid dress shopping, and flew BACK to Texas Ebola-stricken nurse Amber Vinson may have been showing symptoms of the deadly virus as early as last Friday - before she flew to Ohio for the weekend and then back to Texas. The CDC made the shocking announcement on Thursday, after Miss Vinson was revealed as the second medical worker in Dallas to contract Ebola from the U.S.'s 'patient zero' Thomas Duncan. On October 10, Miss Vinson, 29, may have had...

(AUDIO-AT-LINK)There's no sign yet that Ebola has reached Minnesota. But experiences in Dallas highlight what government authorities can do, firmly and quickly, to try to stop more people from getting infected — at a time when the public is increasingly wary of government intrusion and authority. The state can lock you up for weeks. It could order your kids home from school and in some cases, kick you out of your job, at least temporarily. Health officials can inspect your house, open up your health records and maybe even seize your remains if you get sick and die. The government...

The Giants are heading to Dallas this weekend and have taken steps to ensure their traveling party is briefed on the deadly Ebola virus that has been contracted by two female health care workers in the Dallas hospital where one man, Thomas Eric Duncan, died from the virus on Oct. 8. The Giants face the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Complete Headline: Ebola air scare in the US: Infected nurse flew on Frontier Airlines HOURS she was hospitalized ...and now the CDC trying to track down all 132 passengers aboard her planeAmber Jay Vinson, the second nurse to be diagnosed with Ebola, was on a flight from Cleveland, Ohio, to Dallas just hours before she was hospitalized with the deadly disease. Now, the Centers for Disease Control are trying to track down all 132 passengers who were aboard Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 on Monday with Ms Vinson over fears they could all have been exposed to the virus. Everyone who...

In West Africa, one of the simplest ways to slow the Ebola outbreak is to educate people about how to keep from getting infected with the virus. Now, there are some signs that Ebola awareness is indeed driving down the number of cases in parts of Liberia — and Liberian musicians and DJs may deserve some of the credit. The airwaves in Liberia are saturated with songs about this disease. Early on in the epidemic the government and aid agencies commissioned public awareness songs but they actually ended up terrifying people. The message: There's no cure. Don't touch anybody. Stop...

When I recently called for the resignation of CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden, some of you may have thought I went too far. And yet here we are, facing startling claims that the Dallas medical staff who responded to the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States – including a nurse who is now hospitalized with the virus – had limited protocols in place. America, if you weren’t worried by Frieden’s inadequacy before, you should be now.

For years gun control advocates have tried to turn incidents of 'gun violence' into a public health issue in order to justify wide reaching government regulations, but a new scientific poll from the National Shooting Sports Foundation shows the vast majority of Americans view violence committed with guns as a criminal issue, not one of public health. The poll also shows an overwhelming majority of Americans believe the Centers for Disease Control should be focused on combating illness and disease, not 'gun violence.' An overwhelming 84 percent of survey respondents said gun violence is a criminal justice issue, rather than...

Complete Headline: Dallas Ebola victim's stepdaughter - who took him to hospital as he was 'vomiting wildly' - is given all clear to return to work as nursing assistantThe stepdaughter of Texas Ebola victim, Thomas Duncan, who called 911 and rode in the ambulance with the man she calls 'Daddy' has been told she can return to work, MailOnline can reveal. Nursing assistant Youngor Jallah, 35, has been in 'quarantine' in her small Dallas apartment along with her husband, Aaron Yah, 43, and their four children ages 2 to 11 since Thomas Duncan's devastating diagnosis last Monday. MailOnline has reported...

The car that transported Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan to the hospital is wrapped in plastic on Friday as a hazmat team prepared to clean the apartment in Dallas where he had been staying. Hazmat trucks pulled up outside the apartment, five days after he was admitted to the hospital and days after relatives, including children, were confined there by state officials.

A Sacramento hospital announced Tuesday that one of its patients may have Ebola. Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center said in a release the patient is isolated. The hospital's Dr. Stephen Parodi said in the release 'We are working with the Sacramento County Division of Public Health regarding a patient admitted to the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be testing blood samples to rule out the presence of the virus.

TALLAHASSEE — With thousands of immigrant children seeking shelter in a growing humanitarian crisis, Florida's surgeon general on Friday raised the specter that they could pose a threat to public health.

(English-language translation) The Department of Health declared a Chikungunya virus epidemic in Puerto Rico since it is a new virus in the island, the population does not have the antibodies to fight it, and cases are concentrated in the same zone. As of June 25, 206 cases were reported in the island. It was [also] reported that 89% of cases in Puerto Rico were registered in the Metropolitan Area: San Juan, Carolina, and Bayamón. So reported Health Secretary Ana Rius this morning, explaining at the same time that, through Administrative Order 324 that declares the epidemic, all health plans must...

**SNIP** Drug-resistant tuberculosis also appears to have spread, with several counties in southern Texas reporting twice the usual average number of cases. TB is a disease that needs to be carefully monitored and screened for, a prospect that is not possible under the current circumstances. Dengue fever, a potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease that causes fatigue, pain in the bones and muscles, and fever, and infects close to 100 million people worldwide every year, has been detected this year in southern Texas for the first time since 2005. Illegal immigrants, possibly from Mexico, are a likely source. If infected mosquitoes begin...

Many of the thousands of illegal immigrant children and teens crossing the United States border are carrying deadly contagious diseases that could easily create a major health crisis in this country, doctors say. In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Dr. Jane Orient, an internal medicine specialist and the Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), said that by admitting these huge groups of children who come from countries where medical screenings are minimal and hygiene is poor, the United States is at risk for epidemics of serious diseases and viruses that the nation has not...

Several U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector have reportedly contracted scabies from contact with detained illegal immigrants. According to a report by Action 4 News, about 10-15 percent of apprehended illegal immigrants have scabies in the RVG area. "A lot of people [are] coming in with the disease, and it seems to be spreading, not just within the McAllen station, but throughout the Valley and to some of our agents," Chris Cabrera, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, told the local media outlet. Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border...

Backward step in fight against HIV/AIDS Story Updated: May 25, 2014 The T&TMedical Association wishes to express its disappointment with the decision by The UWI to terminate Prof Brendan Bain for statements he made while delivering expert testimony in a court in Belize. This is clearly a case of shooting the messenger! There is irrefutable evidence that MSMs are at a higher risk of contracting (and spreading) HIV/AIDS. As a matter of fact they were one of the four original groups to be identified as being at risk when HIV first appeared on the scene in 1981 (remember the original...