Ebola Surveillance Thread

Free Republic Threads ^ | August 10, 2014 | Legion

[Smokin' Joe]

I have spent a little time compiling links to threads about the Ebola outbreak in the interest of having all the links in one thread for future reference.

Please add links to new threads and articles of interest as the situation develops.

Thank You all for you participation.

[PA Engineer]

I had not read this study previously, but I think others have referenced it. Heads up to Zerohedge linked study.

Lethal experimental infections of rhesus monkeys by aerosolized Ebola virus

The study supports other research about viral stability in lower temperature and humidity conditions, as well as respiratory transmission.

[freespirit2012]

It is just annoying because it is literally a game of life and death... and her silly whining about a smug customs officer and the horror of a 3 week quarantine is just disgusting...

[Smokin' Joe]

It gets better...

After Negative Ebola Test, Quarantined Nurse Criticizes Treatment at Newark Airport

[Smokin' Joe]

NJ official: Female health care worker who'd been in Africa isolated with fever

Colloidal silver and other Ebola scams: 'Fear opens wallets and closes minds'

Governor Cuomo did not tell NYC about new Ebola airport rules: mayor

Mitch McConnell: I stand with Obama on Ebola

JW Exposes Obama’s Ebola Plans (Weekly Update)

[Thud]

Federalism works both ways.

http://time.com/3537755/ebola-new-york-new-jersey/

"Christie and Cuomo Announce Mandatory Ebola Quarantine

State health department staff will be on the ground at state airports

Healthcare workers returning to New York or New Jersey after treating Ebola patients in West Africa will be placed under a mandatory quarantine, officials announced Friday, one day after a Doctors Without Borders doctor was diagnosed with the virus in New York City. Illinois announced a similar policy Saturday, meaning it will be enforced in states with three of the five airports through which passengers traveling from the Ebola-stricken West African countries must enter the United States.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie and N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement as part of a broader procedural plan to help protect the densely packed, highly populated area from any further spread of the disease.

“Since taking office, I have erred on the side of caution when it comes to the safety and protection of New Yorkers, and the current situation regarding Ebola will be no different,” Gov. Cuomo said. “The steps New York and New Jersey are taking today will strengthen our safeguards to protect our residents against this disease and help ensure those that may be infected by Ebola are treated with the highest precautions.”

New York and New Jersey state health department staff will be present on the ground at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey. In addition to implementing the mandatory quarantine of health care workers and others who had direct contact with Ebola patients, health department officials in each state will determine whether others should travelers should be hospitalized or quarantined.

The announcements mark a dramatic escalation in measures designed to prevent the spread of Ebola in the United States. Previously, only individuals with symptoms of Ebola would be quarantined upon entry to the U.S. under a federal rule from the Centers for Diseases Control and the Department of Homeland Security."

The feds just learned that the only international airports they control are on property owned by the federal government. The New York City and Newark, New Jersey, airports are not on property owned by the federal government.

[Smokin' Joe]

Audit: DHS pandemic supplies expired

All that Mountain House? The Ammo?

ER Doctor: What Scares Me Even More Than Ebola

N.Y. official: Ebola policy 'a real stunner'

White House Mocks Darrell Issa During Ebola Hearing

DOD Admission: Only One Plane Available to Transport Infected Soldiers Out of Africa, One at

McHenry Questions DOD on Ebola Preparedness

Rare footage captures Ebola discovery in 1976 (VIDEO)

Travel Ban, Visa Ban—Either Way, It Won’t Work. The only way to stop Ebola is at the source.

Illinois orders mandatory Ebola quarantine for high-risk travelers

[Smokin' Joe]

NYC Ebola Patient's Condition Worsens As Fiancee Returns Home

[Vortex]

Updated

RISK TIMELINE
		OCTOBER													NOVEMBER																														DECEMBER
Person	Event	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Dr. Kent Brantly	Released (08/21)	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90
Nancy Writebol	Released (08/21)	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90
Anon WHO Dr	Transferred to Emery (09/09)	40	41	42
Anon WHO Dr	Released (10/20)			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58
Dr. Rick Sacra	Released (09/25)	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83
Thomas Duncan	Arrives @ DFW (09/20)	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Thomas Duncan	Symptomatic (09/24)	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Thomas Duncan	First Trip to ER (09/25)	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Thomas Duncan	Admitted to Hospital (09/28)	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Thomas Duncan	Died (10/08)	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Thomas Duncan	Cremated (10/09)	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69
Ashoka Mukpo	Transferred to Nebraska (10/05)	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ashoka Mukpo	Tested Negative (10/21)				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57
Nina Pham	Symptomatic (10/10)	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Nina Pham	Transferred to Bethesda (10/16)	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Nina Pham	Tested Negative (10/23)						1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55
Amber Vinson	Symptomatic? Flight DFW/CLE (10/10)	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Amber Vinson	Flight CLE/DFW (10/13)	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Amber Vinson	Admitted to Hospital (10/14)	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Amber Vinson	Transferred to Emory (10/15)	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Amber Vinson	Tested Negative (10/21)				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57
Dr. Craig Spencer	Bowling / Public Trans (10/22)					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Dr. Craig Spencer	Admitted to Hospital (10/23)						1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Anyone	Exposed Today (10/26)									1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42

[Smokin' Joe]

Obama choreographed hug with Ebola victim

[fatima]

He has been downgraded to critical.Hope he pulls out of this.

[Smokin' Joe]

Another doctor who treated Ebola came through JFK

[Smokin' Joe]

Duncan's Nurses: We Held His Hand When Nobody Else Would

Top NIH official slams Ebola quarantines (will “disincentivize” healthcare volunteers)

[Smokin' Joe]

#Ebola Nurse Complaining About Quarantine is Left-Wing Democrat, CDC Employee WITH UPDATE

[Dark Wing]

Elena M,

We seem to have a “flaming datum” confirmation of your rumors of “unhappy to the point of disobeying Ebola deployment orders” enlisted at Ft Campbell and Ft. Carson.

The Brass were saying they were going isolate troops in West Africa, and now I am seeing serious money going into this.

Short of mutiny, or the covered up investigation of a fragged officer, the Brass doing an immediate about face and throwing serious _unbudgeted money_ at the Ebola medevac mission from West Africa is what I consider confirmation.

---

Pentagon builds units to transport Ebola patients

Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY 11:13 a.m. EDT October 26, 2014
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/world/2014/10/26/ebola-transport-military-patients-aircraft-phoenix-air/17669025/?

As more U.S. troops head to West Africa, the Pentagon is developing portable isolation units that can carry up to 12 Ebola patients for transport on military planes.

The Pentagon says it does not expect it will need the units for 3,000 U.S. troops heading to the region to combat the virus because military personnel will not be treating Ebola patients directly. Instead, the troops are focusing on building clinics, training personnel and testing patient blood samples for Ebola.

“We want to be prepared to care for the people we do have there just out of an abundance of caution,” Defense Department spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea said.

She said prototypes would be tested in the next month before being deployed in the field by January.

Currently, transport of Ebola patients from overseas is done by Phoenix Air, a government contractor based in Georgia whose modified business jet is capable of carrying just a single patient.

The Pentagon’s transportation system will allow the Air Force to use C-17 or C-130 transport planes to carry up to eight patients on stretchers or 12 patients who are able to walk, said Charles Bass, a Defense Department chemical engineer working on the project. Elzea said the cost of the units couldn’t be provided as the final contract for the project is still under negotiation.

Bass, a former Army officer, said the units are key to providing peace of mind to U.S. troops in Africa.

“It’s important when you’re on deployment that you feel that someone has your back,” he said. “(It) adds confidence to the people who are deployed.”

Phoenix Air, which currently offers the only medically approved means of carrying Ebola patients at a cost of $200,000 a flight, has flown more than a dozen missions since late July, said Dent Thompson, company vice president of operations.

That includes flights carrying three people infected with Ebola — physician Kent Brantly, missionary Nancy Writebol and cameraman Ashoka Mukpo — from Africa to the United States. The company also has carried other patients or those exposed to the virus to Europe and within the USA, Thompson added.

Phoenix Air handles emergency Ebola flights, including for the U.S. military, through a contract with the U.S. State Department. Non-governmental groups seeking the service reimburse the U.S. government for Phoenix Air services, Thompson said.

The Pentagon isolation units will be similar but smaller than the ones used by Phoenix Air. Those units, created four years ago, were developed in response to emerging diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory System.

The containment system is a tent-like structure held up by a metal framework within the jet. The single patient is attended to by a doctor and two nurses in flight, Thompson said.

In addition to being able to hold more patients, the Pentagon units will also be set up on pallets that can be rolled onto the military aircraft. The patients will be divided between two isolation units, and a third connected structure will allow medical personnel leaving the units to remove potentially contaminated protective gear, Bass said.

The toughest part of any Ebola transport mission is decontamination after each flight, Thompson said. Phoenix Air uses a complex process of fogging and spraying toxic disinfectant inside the module before removing and incinerating it. Similar procedures will be used for the military’s larger isolation units under development, Bass said.

[ElenaM]

This is interesting.

(Lancet Oct 25 2014) Ebola control: effect of asymptomatic infection and acquired immunity

Evidence suggests that many Ebola infections are asymptomatic, a factor overlooked by recent outbreak summaries and projections. Particularly, results from one post-Ebola outbreak serosurvey1 showed that 71% of seropositive individuals did not have the disease; another study2 reported that 46% of asymptomatic close contacts of patients with Ebola were seropositive. Although asymptomatic infections are unlikely to be infectious, they might confer protective immunity and thus have important epidemiological consequences.

Big snip

Unlikely to be infectious? I don't know about that.

At any rate, it's yet another display of how little we actually know about Ebola Zaire.

[ElenaM]

Thanks for the post. I don’t know how widespread the agitation is within the entire military structure but I know what people on the ground are saying at those two bases and the enlisted troops scheduled to deploy are very, very unhappy with their “mission.”

I agree—the brass putting unanticipated money into creating Ebola evacuation units seems to verify what I’m hearing.

Who knows, perhaps dissension in the ranks is actually going to get somewhere this time.

[ElenaM]

According to researchers writing in The Lancet, the R0 in Liberia is 2.49 as of October 24.

Dynamics and control of Ebola virus transmission in Montserrado, Liberia: a mathematical modelling analysis

[palmer]

testing patient blood samples for Ebola

Without an isolation chamber and proper techniques that can be as dangerous as patient care.

[Dark Wing]

There is the smell of ideological driven death around the CDC that even 60 Minutes cannot hide.

No “CDC guidelines” that relies on the truthfulness or voluntary cooperation of possible Ebola victims will result in anything other than infection and death.

---

‘60 Minutes’ Just Broke New Details On The Dallas Ebola Case. Here’s What They Revealed.

10/26/2014 @ 9:40PM
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2014/10/26/60-minutes-just-broke-new-details-on-the-dallas-ebola-case-heres-what-they-revealed/?

60 Minutes on Sunday told the story of a hospital tackling Ebola. A story of brave nurses and determined administrators. A story of heroes, frankly.

It was the story of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas — the hospital that treated the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. A hospital that’s been widely criticized, since Texas Health nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson also got sick with Ebola.

You may think you know the details of what happened in Dallas. But 60 Minutes asks you to think again.

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley sat down with four of the nurses who treated Thomas Duncan, the initial Ebola patient.

Here’s what we learned.

1. Whether intentionally or not, Duncan misled authorities about his exposure to Ebola.

When Duncan first presented to the hospital on September 25, he didn’t specify that he’d come from Liberia or even West Africa — the center of the Ebola outbreak.

Duncan only said he’d returned from “Africa,” which could’ve meant one of dozens of nations, most of them far from the Ebola outbreak. Perhaps the nurses could’ve pressed him further. But with Duncan’s symptoms not that severe yet, and with no real reason to think he had Ebola, they sent him home.

After Duncan was re-admitted to the hospital three days later, significantly sicker, the hospital suspected Ebola might be the cause. But even then, Duncan wasn’t wholly honest. He said he hadn’t been exposed to anyone who was sick from Ebola, even though later reports revealed that Duncan had bravely helped carry an Ebola-infected woman to a local hospital in Liberia.

Duncan also told a nurse that he’d buried his daughter who died in childbirth — but he said that she hadn’t died from Ebola. Duncan later denied the story to federal officials.

2. The hospital was unprepared, partly because the nation wasn’t ready.

Public health officials have said this repeatedly: Nearly any hospital would’ve faced challenges if an Ebola patient unexpectedly walked through their doors. Texas Health was reportedly in the middle of Ebola training when Duncan showed up.

(“There had to be a first hospital, and unfortunately for Texas Presbyterian, it was them,” said Dr. Sean P. Elliott, medical director of infection prevention at the University of Arizona Health Network, told the New York Times.)

One enormous challenge, the nurses told 60 Minutes, was that protections to treat Ebola patients were initially unclear. For instance, when the nurses first treated Duncan on September 28, they were wearing gowns, masks, gloves, and face shields.

That’s seemingly plenty of protection…but it still left their necks exposed. And that could be a fatal mistake when treating an Ebola patient. It’s probably the reason why nurses Pham and Vinson got sick.

This lack of sufficient protection has been widely reported, and blamed on the hospital. But the nurses say they looked up protocols from the CDC, and as of late September, that’s what the CDC recommended.

Scott Pelley: So the CDC protocols that you would’ve looked up the day he came into the emergency department was in your estimation deficient?

All four nurses: Yes.

Within 48 hours, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital moved to equip its staff with suits that didn’t expose any skin — three weeks before the CDC made that policy their new national standard.

3. The Ebola patient presented unprecedented challenges.

After the hospital confirmed that Duncan had Ebola, they had to make crucial, rapid decisions. First, they emptied the entire 24-bed medical intensive care unit to focus just on Duncan.

They also told staff that they had an Ebola patient, and they gave them the option to opt out. As a result, every staff member involved in Duncan’s care ended up being a volunteer — from doctors to nurses to housekeepers.

Still, treating Duncan was unlike anything the care team had done before. Nurses worked two at a time, for two-hour shifts, wearing full-body protections that left them soaked in sweat under the suit.

Duncan’s vomit and diarrhea also presented logistical challenges; it was all hazardous waste, because anything with Duncan’s bodily fluids could infect someone else. And he was producing an unbelievable amount of it.

“I’ve been in health care for nearly 20 years,” ICU nurse John Mulligan told 60 Minutes, “and I’ve never emptied as much trash as just from the waste of his constant diarrhea.”

4. The nurses are still reeling from the experience.

The nurses who treated Duncan remain nervous. At least a few of them are still self-monitoring, because they were exposed to Nina Pham or Amber Vinson and they’re still within the 21 days window for infection.

One nurse said he’s been having repeated nightmares of his coworkers getting infected and dying from Ebola.

But they’re also traumatized by the experience of treating Duncan — watching the patient slip away, despite everything they did to try and save him. Duncan remains the only U.S. patient to die from Ebola.

“It was the worst day of my life,” Mulligan told 60 Minutes. “This man that we cared for, that fought just as hard with us, lost his fight. And his family couldn’t be there.”

“I was the last one to leave the room. And I held him in my arms. He was alone.”

[Jim Noble]

No “CDC guidelines” that relies on the truthfulness or voluntary cooperation of possible Ebola victims will result in anything other than infection and death

My interest in the history of plagues and pestilence is what led me to my career.

Once again, we see progressives discarding the wisdom of the ages, in this case JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN. Of course, someone on the run from horrible death in a West African Ebola hut is going to lie. I would, and so would you.

It was ever thus. THAT'S WHY QUARANTINE LAWS WERE WRITTEN.

Laws take human nature into account. Progressivism denies the existence of human nature.

Even with the stakes this high.