Posted on 10/28/2014 10:23:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Over the weekend, a strange and revealing episode of political theater surfaced. An American nurse named Kaci Hickox, who had just returned to the United States from West Africa where she had been working with Doctors Without Borders to help patients afflicted with Ebola, was quarantined against her will in a tent inside a Newark hospital. To public-health officials, this seemed an extreme overreaction: There was no reason to think that Hickox, who was completely healthy, had Ebola, and soon she began to protest the absurdity and inhumanity of her circumstances. Among other indignities, she was provided no shower.
That Hickox was confined in this manner was a direct consequence of a policy of mandatory 21-day confinement for any health-care worker returning from the Ebola zone that was made on Friday by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. (That same day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had made a similar announcement.) Over the course of the weekend, virtually the entire public-health and political Establishment turned against Christie and Cuomo. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, appeared on five Sunday shows to point out that there was no scientific basis for the quarantine and that it was socially counterproductive; Obama administration officials were reported to be working feverishly to get Christie and Cuomo to reverse the policies; local public-health officials were said to be furious that they hadn't been consulted, that the governors had gone over their heads.
The outcry was so vigorous that both governors eventually changed their policies; today, Hickox was given permission to go home to Maine. Nevertheless a mystery lingers. Christie is an unusually talented politician, and both he and Cuomo are exceptionally accomplished. Why did both men so badly misread this? What were they thinking?
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...
According to the forehead scan, she had a low-grade fever. But, she claims that her face was flushed at the time because she was angry about being detained - if true, that could result in an inaccurate reading from the forehead scan. Shortly after the forehead scan, her temperature was taken orally, and showed no fever.
It's like the rush to write articles decrying the as-yet-to-materialize anti-muslim backlash every time muslims blow up some citizens.
They view every attack or crisis as a political issue to be managed. And they are terrified not that people will die from ebola (too many people alive anyway), but that any stupid deaths could hurt the Democratic party if the public is allowed to believe Obama's not doing enough.
So what do you call it when millions of us were “confined” to tents, “without showers” in places like Korea, Iraq, Tarawa, Afghanistan, Germany, Okinawa, Belleau Wood and a thousand other places? Does she not see the irony?
If you are a propagandist you are prepared to play it whichever way it goes.
If they detain her and she doesn’t have ebola, you scream to the high heavens. If they don’t detain her and she does have ebola, you scream to the high heavens. Either way, you pound that drum.
I read that claim, too, and it might be true. But, in healthcare, no chances can be taken.
It seems other states are looking at what went wrong in TX and trying to avoid making the same mistakes.
There is no panic. And the note of common sense struck by the quarantines of the three governors will help preserve the lack of panic.
It is instructive to note that the DOD is using the same quarantine protocols.
Exactly. While it is correct that Christie is tilting at windmills, so is Cuomo.
Exactly. Also, travelers are required to receive immunization shots before visiting certain countries.
I’m sure this nurse didn’t disagree with that policy.
Africa culls it's herd at will. It's GDP is reduced by the number of mouths to feed. America otoh, will come up with a vaccine if it means 20,000,000 people die in the process.
Obama already has the replacements in the amnesty pipeline. It's really quite out in the open and obvious.
1. A quarantine is absolutely standard procedure for an epidemic disease. Whether it is applicable in individual cases is a decision hopefully qualified people are paid to make. These will occasionally get it wrong and it is preferable to have any errors be on the safe side.
2. Politicians are not "qualified people".
3. Journalists are not "qualified people".
4. Attorneys are not "qualified people".
This is a communicable disease with a 70% mortality rate. It needs to be taken calmly and seriously. It does not need to become a political football.
How many Americans have died from Ebola? Zero.
How many Americans have got Ebola who weren't in direct contact with dead or almost dead Ebola patients? Zero.
How many Americans have Ebola right now? Apparently zero.
What about the Dr. in NYC who rode the trains, etc.?
I think it better the US err on the side of caution. Remember, we set an example for other countries. Can you imagine what happens if Ebola makes it to Central or South America and starts to spread because quarantine was not official policy?
Plus, it is public confidence which is the big danger. If people get the impression that un quarantined people are riding the subway, airlines, etc. the public will stop traveling and the economy goes down fast.
Christie is doing the right thing.
EBOLA PANIC IN THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT...!!!
Soldiers returning home from Ebola infested African countries are quarantine 21 days in Italia before entering U.S.
430 doctors and nurses died killed by the disease while treating Ebola patients in Africa...
Why they are not forced to be quarantine when they return to U.S.A. for the protection of their own families and the country?
Only a loony liberal can argue that ebola is not a potential crisis but global warming is.
I can’t stand Chris Christie, but he made the right call to quarantine the lib nurse.
Should one of my loved ones contract Ebola because of government incompetence and political games, they won’t need to worry about panic, they will need to worry about me.
It is crazy that there is even a debate on all of this. The Democrats are making a very big gamble with their nonsense. If a couple dozen folks from around our country come down with Ebola, our country will stop dead in it’s tracks.
As with so many other issues in America, this was avoidable.....all it would have taken was REAL leadership.
There’s no panic and I’m here, right now, in NYC. Everybody going to work and riding the subways. There is, though, a sense of strong caution. Not the same thing. The two govs did the right thing although they backed off it.
Blood on their hands.
Takes one’s breath away...... .....:
This is mind boggling!!! Don’t you think it’s about time Pee Wee developed a PLAN??? This is a time for LEADERSHIP, not his constant waffling. Is it time to panic? Of course not. The time to panic is when it is too late to develop a consistent plan of action. What is the incubation time for STUPIDITY?
Lewiston Idaho veterinarian’s Letter to the Editor re: Ebola, Nails it!
The present Ebola crisis in the world is frightening.
I have submitted the following letter to the editor of the Lewiston Morning Tribune:
Editor, Lewiston Morning Tribune:
If I wish to import a horse into the United States from Liberia or any African country other than Morocco, the horse needs to undergo a 60 day quarantine period at a USDA approved quarantine facility prior to mingling with the general population of horses in this country. Africa has a disease called African Horse Sickness that does not exist in the US; this is the way we have kept it out of this country.
African Horse Sickness does not cause disease in people, only horses; our government has determined that it would be devastating to the US horse industry if it were to come here.
The United States (and virtually all other countries) require a myriad of tests and often quarantine prior to bringing in a foreign animal.
I can’t legally cross state lines in the United States with a horse or cow without a health certificate signed by a USDA accredited veterinarian stating that the animal has been inspected and found free of infectious disease. In most cases blood tests are also required. In fact I can’t legally cross the Snake River and ride my horse in Idaho without a health certificate and a negative blood test for Equine Infectious Anemia.
I’m not complaining; the United States of America, the States of Idaho and Washington as well as the other 48 states take the health of our livestock very seriously, and we have a very good record at keeping foreign animal diseases out of our country. I am happy to do my part to maintain biosecurity in our animal population.
If I am a resident of Liberia incubating Ebola, to enter the United States all I need to do is present a valid visa, and lie when asked if I have been exposed to Ebola. Within hours (no quarantine required) I can be walking the streets of any city in the United States.
I feel very fortunate to live in a country that values our animals so highly.
David A. Rustebakke, DVM
Oct 29, 2014
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