We deal with infectious disease in hospitals every day. TB, influenza, HepB, Aids. We are used to using normal contact, fluid and respiratory precautions. there are only a handful of diseases out there that require the kind of level 4 biohazard precautions of Ebola, and we don’t see them in the US, thank God. And if we just put in place 1 step, a Travel Ban on the epidemic area, that would prevent almost all cases from getting to the US at this time, and t hose that did leak in could be sent to the 4 special unit hospitals we have.
There needs to be separate treatment facilities for these patients..isolation from a big fixed hospital. There is just too many people exposed in a normal hospital environment. Why would a huge hospital expose themselves to this issue? Certainly the shareholders and employees are not interested in the risk. Look at what has happened the Presby in Dallas..disaster.
Most of those diseases you mentioned are way more contagious than Ebola--if you can handle patients who have those diseases without infecting yourself, you should be able to handle Ebola patients. The reason the extra precautions are taken with Ebola is not because the disease is so contagious--it is not--but because the stakes are so high if someone makes a mistake and catches it.
I think part of the problem in Dallas was that the nurses saw so much hype about Ebola that they think it's some kind of supernatural monster--like the Andromeda Strain--and not a natural biological pathogen. So they overreacted, put on so much PPE that they could not work effectively and had difficulty removing it without propelling infectious debris from the PPE into their faces. And it wasn't until the CDC team arrived when the situation was improved.
When I have to deal with pathogens, I wear scrubs, lab coat, booties, bonnet, goggles, surgical mask, and double gloves. What do you wear?