Posted on 10/10/2014 6:21:47 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control, likened the rapid spread of Ebola to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. While the spread of AIDS scared society—largely because so much about it at the time was unknown—a better analogy to the spread of Ebola may be the infamous influenza epidemic of 1918.
The scariest thing about the 1918 flu was that it killed not simply children, the old, and the infirm, but also those who were healthy and at the peak of physical fitness. In the United States, 99 percent of the flu’s victims were under 65 years old, and half the victims were between 20 and 40.
To be in the prime of life and health is no defense against Ebola, and being in the military may actually increase risk: Anyone who has ever spent time around American soldiers—and those from many other Western nations—knows the commitment each has to physical fitness and working out. On Army bases and on Navy ships, there are often lines for equipment or exercise stations at the gym. This may sound silly, and of course the Pentagon theoretically will put restrictions and regulations in place, but sweat is sweat.
That’s one of the reasons why it seems unnecessarily risky to insert U.S. forces into the heart of the Ebola hot zone. If Ebola is caused by exposure to bodily fluids, including sweat, then troops who sweat a lot in close proximity to each other will be at special risk, even if only a handful of U.S. troops encounter an Ebola victim.
Perhaps a much better strategy would be to use those forces to better protect America’s borders, as well as ports of entry. Security officials screen passengers before they board any flight departing the United States, but perhaps a better plan would be to couple a secure border with Mexico and Canada with mandatory (even if cursory) health screening for anyone boarding a flight to the United States. At this point, febrile individuals or those showing signs of deception when questioned about their previous whereabouts and contacts pose a greater threat to American national security than old ladies and toddlers with bottles of water.
When AIDS exploded, there were specific categories of people at risk: homosexuals who engaged in unsafe sex (and, indeed, anyone who engaged in unsafe sex); those who had blood transfusions with infected blood; and those from Haiti, where the disease was already epidemic. The young and healthy who did not engage in risky behaviors or who were fortunate enough not to need transfusions were largely out of danger. This was not the case with the 1918 flu, and it is not the case with Ebola, which is much easier to spread. It’s important to show support for Africa, but the U.S. military shouldn’t always be on the vanguard of public relations when they could contribute much more to American defense elsewhere and when the risks of so doing far outweigh the costs.
FYI
Hopefully this analogy only goes so far...
Yes, it’s communicable like the flu and not like AIDS which was behavior-based.
But we have to sure as heck hope it is not like the 1918 flu in terms of epidemic.
My paternal grandparents BOTH died from the 1918 flu.
If the military isn’t prepared yet to defend itself from bio terrorism and operate in infected regions after all these decades, then we need to get ready, because at some point Islam is going to attack us in a true biological attack, and the military will have to show up.
Limbaugh quoted a poll where 59% of US black people agreed with the statement that there would already be a cure for ebola if it was occurring in the US.
My response would be what is keeping Africans from developing the cure? What makes it our problem?
Well yeah the flu pandemic killed mainly those under 65 since the average life expectancy in 1918 was early 50s.
From the start it was known as the Gay Plague.
Unfortunately, the authorities didn't have the brains or courage to isolate the vector.
I’ve known people that have died from AIDs, it has killed 36 million so far, and kills about 130,000 a month.
The 1918 flu killed more people worldwide than WWI.
It was a killer and wide spread.
No one of my forebears died of it to my knowledge.
Walt Disney almost died of it as a young man.
What I been saying all along .... when Ebola hits in the millions then perhaps it’ll be scary. AIDS is/was preventable. Ebola transfers easy with just cursory touching.
Ebola runs 20+ times that.
Was the 1918 Flu the Spanish Flu? That’s what I thought, maybe I’m wrong.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/p/spanishflu.htm
1918 flu was the Spanish flu. I also know of persons killed in that epidemic.
Two infants who would have been my aunt and uncle died in that epidemic. My mother as an infant got it but survived.
Yeah. Same as Spanish flu but it didn’t start in Spain. Most likely it started at a military training camp here in the USA.
Where the hell is The World Health Organization? I’m sure we must be giving them megabucks every year. They’re the ones who are supposed to be handling this, NOT Uncle Sugar, and certainly not our military. I suspect 0bama sent the military just to speed up the start of the pandemic in the US.
A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread
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