No SARS testing at U.S. airports

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, April 8, 2003 | By Paul Sperry

[JohnHuang2]

Tuesday, April 8, 2003

Quote of the Day by rageaholic

[Henrietta]

This is just great. We have porous borders, and our government, sworn to protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic, refuses to do anything to staunch the flow of illegals, especially those from the South. We have a raging epidemic in Southeast Asia, yet our government wants to let these people into our country, EVEN THOSE THAT SHOW SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE.

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there feel that our government is just waiting for a big "crisis" to hit just to see how much more of our freedoms we will tolerate being usurped in the name of "safety?"

[BlackbirdSST]

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there feel that our government is just waiting for a big "crisis" to hit just to see how much more of our freedoms we will tolerate being usurped in the name of "safety?" Hazard to guess, it's the minority opinion, but one which you and I share. These thing's are purposely being ignored, it can't be construed any other way. Blackbird.

[lsee]

Dang, I can't think of anything more STUPID than this attitude. Travelers on international flights from quarantined areas should EXPECT to be detained. Geez, did any of them see "Outbreak"?

[TBall]

"Though still a medical mystery, SARS has a relatively low death rate of 4 percent." Yeah right.

[freeeee]

Ahem...

[Chad Fairbanks]

Oh, well, it's in WND, so it MUST be true... Believe everything you read? Any second sources confirming this?

[discostu]

Well there are four primary questions that need answering before we start testing incoming passengers for SARS:
Is there even a SARS test?
How long does the test take?
What's the incubation period before the test will come up positive?
Where are we going to put these people during the incubation and testing period?

Everybody acts like it's a no-brainer to test for SARS but frankly it's a no-brainer to NOT test.

[CathyRyan]

If this is true, stick a fork in us .... we are done.

[freeeee]

Believe everything you read?

No.

Any second sources confirming this?

I'll ping you if I find one.

Hypothetically speaking, if the article is in fact accurate, what would be your thoughts?

[aristeides]

Though still a medical mystery, SARS has a relatively low death rate of 4 percent.

[Im Your Huckleberry]

Once again, OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT PROTECTING US!

[Chad Fairbanks]

It would disturb me, if this does turn out to be accurate - at the very least common sense would dictate that those, from certain nations where this illness is prevelant, displaying symptoms would be screened...

[EternalHope]

Excellent points.

Well there are four primary questions that need answering before we start testing incoming passengers for SARS:

Is there even a SARS test?

Not really. The U.S. CDC can confirm it if you give them two weeks for testing. Various other tests can be done much quicker, but they have a high false negative rate.

How long does the test take? Too long to wait.

What's the incubation period before the test will come up positive? The false negative rate is high.

Where are we going to put these people during the incubation and testing period? Nowhere. If we let them come, we cannot confine them once they are here.

Everybody acts like it's a no-brainer to test for SARS but frankly it's a no-brainer to NOT test.

The only practical test is to screen for obviously sick people. This will not catch all cases, but it could catch enough to slow its spread. It is still thought that the most contagious time is when symptoms are present.

Even if we cannot keep it out, it is worthwhile to buy time. If the extra time we buy allows us to develop a practical and reliable test, for instance, we will be much better able to contain this. Likewise, it is still possible that this will turn out to be seasonal, or will burn itself out. In other words, slowing down the spread is worth doing even if we cannot keep it out in the end.

[unspun]

Customs, immigration, and border protection failures bump.

[freeeee]

at the very least common sense would dictate that those, from certain nations where this illness is prevelant, displaying symptoms would be screened

I'd prefer they were refused entry altogether. Actually, we should have our own customs agents screen people before they even get on the plane to leave the other country and come here. If they're sick on the plane, with given the recirculated stale air and close contact among passengers, a SARS victim could infect many others who will not show symtoms until after they have already cleared our own customs.

[Chad Fairbanks]

In an ideal world, maybe... but I doubt other nations would allow us such leeway - anything beyond granting or refusing visa would be met, I hate to say, with opposition...

Of course, if that is the case, we can always shut off ravel from and to that nation if they don't play along, but then that opens up other cans of worms...

[WestCoastGal]

Very little news on the networks or cable about this. On the crawl news at the bottom of the screen I see there are 148 cases in this country but nothing further as to where these are and if they have been quarantined. It's outrageous that they are doing business as usual at the airports. We all need to forward that article to O'Reilly at Fox News since he's probably the only one that will get after the story.

[discostu]

The obviously ill should be detained, but even then you've got to decide what's obviously ill. I have numerous allergies that tend to flare up in spring time, especially when I change environment (go form inside to outside, vice versa, taking a plane to another city or country would generally count). So there's a good chance were I to be disembarking from a plane that I'd do so with a long series of sneezes and the sacrifice of many kleenix, obviously sick? If you give me 15 to 20 minutes it'll clear... until I leave the airport (obviously I try not to travel this time of year).

If SARS is the next great plague I don't see much we can do about it, plagues traveled well before the plane was invented airport security isn't going to stop one. On the other hand we have to keep in mind that the press just eats this kind of thing up and makes everything seem huge by repeating the same bad news over and over. The Fox crawler this moring said 2300 worldwide sick and 100 dead, the big mid-west heat wave a few summers back killed more people than that. Maybe this will be a civilization ending thing, or maybe it'll be a Trivial Pursuit question in the 2010 edition. And boy will we ever feel silly if it turns out to be the later and we act like it's the former.

[freeeee]

we can always shut off ravel from and to that nation if they don't play along, but then that opens up other cans of worms...

Exactly. Then we're back to what we discussed earlier, which priority is higher:

Health and rights of Americans (quaranteen of Americans being an affront to rights), or

The privilidge of foreigners to come here, weighted by their influence and money.

Sad to say, I don't think this poses a dilemma for our government. They'll choose the latter without even thinking twice about it.