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Friday, October 17, 2014

Ebola Realities (Updated)

In the video below the fold, Bill Whittle explains the Basic Reproduction Number — and more. Please watch the entire video before commenting:


Meanwhile: Obama DHS Now EXPEDITING Visa Requests From Ebola-Infected Countries. READ IT!


UPDATE: Obama’s New Ebola ‘Czar’ Does Not Have Medical, Health Care Background.

73 comments:

  1. OK, but is Whittle a little too optimistic about how Ebola may be contracted and spread? I'm just asking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jon,
      is Whittle a little too optimistic...?

      Perhaps.

      But he does point out information about how long the virus can live on a surface. I also like the way the he explains the Basic Reproduction Number.

      Delete
  2. AOW, I will watch the video when I have time later....thanks for posting.
    I just wanted to mention to you that Marcia Blackburn has come up with the idea most of us think might help; Nobody comes to America without waiting 21 days in quarantine from those countries affected.
    It sure beats the 'travel ban' idea which depends on travelers to be honest about how they feel AND doesn't stop all travelers, only those who say "I feel FINE!":)
    Like Mr. Duncan did, so he could get medical help here.
    I think this idea is one which needs to be at least discussed. Seems like it's wise to start putting America first and just ask travelers in Liberia, for example, to please wait in quarantine. Apparently, 150 travelers from those areas come in to the States a WEEK; so I don't think this is impossible.
    Oh, just NOW hearing Obama has appointed an EBOLA CZAR. Let's see how that goes. Again, Obama needs help by Republicans "why AREN'T you choosing someone to put in charge?" before he has an idea and acts on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EBOLA RESPONSE COORDINATOR is the title of the partisan who's been chosen to take over. Apparently, Obama's been called to task for 'too many czars' and so this is the new title. A Joe Biden Chief of Staff, an Obama Staff member, and worked under CLinton and Gore. Top of his class at Harvard. Let's hope he puts Americans first.

      Delete
    2. Z,
      Please do watch the video. It's important!

      Delete
    3. Z,
      Apparently, 150 travelers from those areas come in to the States a WEEK

      The figure that I saw was 150 travelers A DAY!

      Delete
  3. My office mate's wife works at the NIH facility in Bethesda where the 1st nurse was transferred.... should I go on vacation for the next five weeks?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if you haven't become sick from all the other infectious diseases they have treated there, I wouldn't worry :-)

      Delete
    2. Z,
      Well, I do recall some recent carelessness at the NIH. Something about smallpox vials improperly scored in a closet.

      Pathogenic Russian roulette!

      Delete
    3. If you like your Ebola-infected cube-mate, you can keep your Ebola-infected cube-mate.

      Delete
  4. In a comment above, Z mentioned the following:

    I just wanted to mention to you that Marcia Blackburn has come up with the idea most of us think might help; Nobody comes to America without waiting 21 days in quarantine from those countries affected.
    It sure beats the 'travel ban' idea which depends on travelers to be honest about how they feel AND doesn't stop all travelers, only those who say "I feel FINE!":)
    Like Mr. Duncan did, so he could get medical help here.


    Elephant in the room: the cost of treating even a few Ebola patients.

    I don't know the exact cost estimate for treating Thomas Eric Duncan, but it has to be sky high.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes,. that is a HUGE problem....paying for it all is going to be nasty.

      Bad news this morning, hopefully WRONG, is that a traveler from Nigeria into JFK has apparently died on board after a 'vomiting fit'... If it is Ebola, it looks like he must have been pretty sick before getting on the plane and it was missed. Or not looked for.
      I'm thinking Blackburn is right.....21 day quarantines. Sounds draconian but can we be draconian enough?

      Delete
    2. Z,
      I think that he was having a heart attack. Read that somewhere, but not sure about that.

      Delete
    3. No prob. We can fill up the Hudson River with sharks w/lasers strapped to their heads.

      Delete
    4. ...and if not, we can always re-open the Philadelphia Lazaretto*.

      *A leper colony administered by a Christian religious order was often called a lazar house, after the parable of Lazarus the beggar.

      That way, we can keep the lazars. ;)

      Delete
    5. AOW, that makes more sense. Some DO vomit with a heart attack and dying immediately like that isn't very Ebola-connected.
      I guess every passenger anywhere who barfs is going to be thought to be crawling with Ebola germas now.

      Delete
    6. Vomiting is not an unusual event with a heart attack.

      Sudden death IS not associated with Ebola.

      Everything says false alarm.

      Delete
  5. Belize knows how to slam the door -- to protect its citizens:

    Belize Confirms Patient With Ebola Symptoms On Cruise Ship Off Its Coast

    ...“The Carnival Magic departed from Galveston Texas on Sunday, October 12 arrived in Mahogany Bay, Honduras on Wednesday October 15 and arrived in Belize this morning, Thursday October 16.

    “The ship was scheduled to leave Belize en route to Cozumel this evening at 5pm. However, it is still anchored in Belizean waters near State Bank Caye.”

    “We have also have confirmed that the Belize Coast Guard has been deployed to prevent anyone from leaving the ship; including the Belizean pilot on board.”

    In a press conference held last weak, Belize’s Ministry of Health stated that in the event of an outbreak of Ebola in Belize, no patient would be allowed into the commercial capital Belize City, where most of the Belize government cabinet officials reside. The MOH stated that the government hospital, the Karl Heuesner Memorial Hospital has but one Intensive Care Unit and they would not allow this to be overrun with Ebola patients. Belize is a a very poor country on the Yucatan Peninsula that depends to a large extent on tourism and grants from Venezuela for its foreign exchange income. Belize City is currently the main port of call for cruise ships....

    [...]

    The GOB reassures the public that the passenger never set foot in Belize and while we remain in close contact with US officials we have maintained the position that when even the smallest doubt remains, we will ensure the health and safety of the Belizean people....


    This is good political leadership, something that we in the United States do not have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A bit more from the above link:

      We are in close contact with the CDC and at this time it has been determined that the appropriate course of action is to simply keep the guest in isolation on board.”

      Anyone up for a cruise? Hmmmm.....

      Delete
    2. There are 4,633 passengers aboard that cruise ship that I mentioned above. Aren't they just thrilled to pieces? **snerk**

      Delete
    3. The port authorities did not grant the ship free pratique. Good for them.

      Pratique is the license given to a ship to enter port on assurance from the captain to convince the authorities that she is free from contagious disease. The clearance granted is commonly referred to as Free Pratique. A ship can signal a request for "Pratique" by flying a solid yellow square-shaped flag. This yellow flag is the Q flag in the set of International maritime signal flags.

      Since flying the Q flag involves a request for boarding by Port State Control, it has also become an invitation to Customs to inspect a vessel for dutiable goods or contraband, as in the "Rich Harvest" case"

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. yes, they seem to either smarter or less PC than we are. I suspect it's both. Didn't Britain and France do this, too? We heard that originally but it hasn't been discussed since.

      Delete
  7. Meanwhile, Why Philippines won't send medics to Ebola-hit areas

    MANILA - The Philippines has rebuffed a US request to dispatch medical workers to Ebola-hit regions, with the health ministry saying boosting the country's defenses against any local outbreaks was the priority....

    The fiscal costs of any political policy are something that every nation needs to consider. Apparently, those leading the United States have discarded that reality.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Local news here in the D.C. news: somebody who had been to the Ebola Hot Zone in Africa is sick in the Pentagon. I'm not sure what's going on over there right now, but the South Parking Lot is closed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From WTOP:

      (Updated at 11:00 a.m.) Arlington County’s hazmat team is on the scene at the Pentagon due to an Ebola scare.

      Medics responded to the Pentagon this morning for a report of a woman on a tour bus who was sick and vomiting. When they learned that she had recently arrived from Africa, the hazmat team was called out of “a complete abundance of caution,” Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman Chris Layman told ARLnow.com.

      A large portion of the Pentagon south parking lot has been cordoned off with crime tape, and police are telling those who don’t work at the Pentagon to avoid the immediate surrounding area.

      The woman has been transported via ambulance to Virginia Hospital Center. The county’s medical director also responded to the call and is at the hospital with the patient, according to scanner traffic.

      Layman said the bus was at the Pentagon for a tour of the Pentagon Memorial. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic has been shut down around it.

      As of 10:50 a.m., Arlington County was mobilizing its Emergency Operations Center to deal with the incident, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

      Delete
    2. Right now, the woman is in a quarantine tent outside Virginia Hospital Center - near the helicopter pad. Nobody milling around the tent is in protective gear.

      Delete
    3. From the WaPo:

      Arlington County authorities said a woman who was ill and recently had visited western Africa was taken to the hospital Friday morning and officials blocked off an area around the Pentagon, where she had been visiting.

      [...]

      “At 9:53 a.m, the patient was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center; however she did not exit the ambulance. ACFD then transported the patient to Fairfax Inova Hospital.”...


      Fairfax Inova Hospital is the largest regional hospital in Northern Virginia.

      Delete
  9. What a great way to get everyone's attention OFF of the scandals , wars, and all the other criminal acts of this president.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not trying to get anyone's mind off the scandals, etc.

      In my view, it is CRIMINAL that the Obama administration -- Obama himself -- has not acted on visas to prevent travel to the United States from the Ebola Hot Zone in Africa.

      Delete
    2. I think the IRISHMAN means that the whole intense news coverage on TV and radio re Ebola is a great way to get everyone's minds off the other stuff? Or maybe he's picking on you. Which would be wrong!

      Delete
    3. Despite the Ebola scare today right in my back yard, I'm still reading the news relating to multiple other issues.

      Just sayin'.

      Delete
  10. No more trips to Africa, no more re-entry until 21 days in supervised quarantine.
    Otherwise.... what the heck? Let 'em in. No problem. Oh, except we'll have an awful lot of deaths. God forbid. I've always thought America would do everything in its power to protect Americans.
    That line from Obama about how 'people won't tell the truth so we can't ban all flights' isn't even sensible. They may NOT KNOW they're sick... And if we let one lie, okay...how about the millions of us who need protection and so don't let ANYBODY in for a time?
    At least by banning all people until after a quarantine, we know what we're getting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Z,
      I have no problem with trips to Africa, but following those trips there must be at least 21 days in supervised quarantine over there, not here.

      For the life of me, I cannot logically think of one good reason for Obama's not shutting off the spigot. 4500 a month coming into America from Africa? YE, GODS!

      Delete
    2. planes turn around, so those planes need really good attention/cleaning before going back. I think that's happening, anyway.
      Ya, I absolutely can't figure it out, either. That line he uses is nuts. "We'll get people getting on board who won't admit symptoms..." Well, let's catch at least SOME!! And quarantine? Has to happen.
      I'm thinking this new guy will be of the 'mind' of Obama; 'gee, we hate to destroy their economy by halting flights...and some peoples' feelings will be hurt.'
      Man, I wish to heaven they HAD an economy TO destroy. Let's spend money helping THERE once we're in control here. Better to do that, in my opinion.

      Delete
  11. Update on something that's happened in the D.C. area today:

    The Pentagon-bus passengers have now been released and have been told that they can go anywhere they want -- after four hours of being confined inside that bus parked in a street in Southeast D.C.

    Inova Fairfax Hospital is testing the possible Ebola patient right now. She's been held inside a quarantine tent outside Inova Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia.

    ReplyDelete
  12. About today's possible Ebola incident at the Pentagon:

    ...The woman, who reportedly got sick in the buses’ bathroom then got off at the Pentagon, was transported via ambulance to a Inova Fairfax Hospital. The county’s medical director also responded to the call and is at the hospital with the patient, according to scanner traffic.

    Layman said the bus was at the Pentagon for a tour of the Pentagon Memorial.

    A tipster with knowledge of the emergency response tells ARLnow.com that the patient recently traveled from the West African nation of Sierra Leone, and that four first responders are being held at the hospital due to possible exposure. That tip could not be immediately confirmed.

    [...]

    The bus the woman was on was later stopped and detained near D.C.’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Pentagon bus was full of Marines.

      Also from the above link:

      A huge Pentagon parking lot remains closed and cordoned off, and a bus full of Marines is temporarily quarantined as medical personnel attempt to determine why a woman who boarded the bus suddenly became ill. The woman, a private contractor for the Pentagon, told first responders she was recently in West Africa.

      According to Pentagon sources the woman boarded the shuttle bus shortly before 10 a.m. to head for a change of command ceremony in Washington for the Marine Corps Commandant. The woman suddenly fell ill, got off the bus then passed out and vomited in the Pentagon parking lot. She was taken by ambulance to a medical facility for treatment including a blood test.

      Delete
  13. Replies
    1. Not panicked, Duck.

      Still awaiting word on the status of the woman now in isolation at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

      Delete
    2. From the latest update:

      A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the woman, who has not been publicly identified, works for Total Spectrum, whose website says it is a lobbying and public relations firm. Managing Director Steve Gordon told The Associated Press the Pentagon had contacted him, and he said the woman had not been out of the Washington area.

      Read more: http://www.wtop.com/1205/3724483/Pentagon-Sick-woman-claimed-Africa-trip#ixzz3GR3b6RDc


      [...]

      The military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to comment publicly by name, said the woman was on a shuttle bus taking guests to a ceremony for Gen. Joe Dunford, who is taking over as commandant of the Marine Corps. She got off the shuttle before it left the Pentagon lot and then vomited.

      Officials notified the FBI and were checking the woman's background and possible travel to West Africa.

      According to defense officials, seven Pentagon officers who assisted the woman were being isolated and might be kept in a tent at the Pentagon overnight. Several people who were on the shuttle bus also have been isolated.

      Delete
    3. FYI, one of my homeschool students was released from Inova Fairfax Hospital just the other day. He's not getting better! Nothing contagious, but he may well be back in Inova Fairfax right now because it has the only large children's hospital in the suburbs of Northern Virginia.

      Delete
    4. Duck,
      So I found out tonight after I got home from a concert.

      Whew!

      Delete
  14. I see that Nasty Pelosi is screeching once again about not having enough money to deal with the so-called Ebola crisis. Fact: NIH paid more than $25 million in personnel bonuses to people who spent nearly $1 million studying the sex habits of fruit flies. They are not from a rational universe, and the icing on this cake is that Democrats are claiming that the Ebola funding crisis is the result of GOP directed funding cuts. My thought is that given the fruit fly fraud and multi-million dollar bonuses, the GOP didn’t cut funding enough. The consistency here is that Democrats are loathsome liars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you sufficiently expert to state that the fruit fly study doesn't have an impact on American agriculture?

      Of course you aren't.

      Delete
    2. Nostradumbass said:
      "Are you sufficiently expert to state that the fruit fly study doesn't have an impact on American agriculture?"

      And pray tell, what business does the NIH have paying for a fruit fly study that would be under the purview of the Department of Agriculture?

      Logic of any type has never been your strong suit, which brings up your qualifications for expert clinical knowledge or comment, of which you have none.



      Of course you aren't.

      Delete
  15. AOW, from the Post:
    "Two officials with knowledge of the incident said they do not believe the woman has recently travelled out of the United States."

    The Belize cruise ship also seems to be an over reaction since the worker is completely symptom free and didn't have contact with Duncan or the other nurses.

    ReplyDelete
  16. AOW..video sound is fixed... So I was able to hear Biill Wittle's audio. And I'm glad I did. He, too, doesn't see the point in allowing air travel and the ridiculous reasoning Obama's using. I'm hoping against hope that the new Ebola Commissioner (as I said above, Obama appears to be sensitive to the term CZARS not having been well rec'd so it's only the media using czar as the term) see what WE see and tells Obama "What is WITH YOU? Just cut the few planes OFF for a few months.....so WHAT if a few will sneak out? It's better than a LOT of them coming with this disease"!

    I can hope. but, fat chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The epidemic has been active for month and so far NOBODY has arrived via direct flight from the affected countries.

      Duncan came in from Belgium.

      "A lot of them"? THEM?

      Delete
    2. yes "THEM"...THEM with the virus. Who'd you think?
      Also, you need to think bigger; because one patient came thru Belgium doesn't mean no patients are coming out of West Africa.

      Delete
    3. The epidemic has been active for almost a year.

      One infected man flies in from Belgium and you freak out.
      But you think big?

      But watch out for a lot of "them".

      Delete
  17. AOW: This isn't surprising but it's despicable. Yahoo's homepage News is telling all its readers that THE GOP IS USING EBOLA FEARS IN THE CAMPAIGN.
    Yes, apparently, suggesting to Obama that they might want to restrict travel is a campaign strategy and it's 'criticizing' him.
    Here's the problem with the article: Both Reps and Dems want air traffic stopped...and both Reps and Dems say travel should not be restricted.
    But they got their HEADLINE IN...and most people don't read the articles :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Take comfort, Irish. Remember that they TOO will die. And won't it be fun to see it happen, even as we writhe in pain on our own death beds?

    Imagine Ovomit and Mickey-Boo-Boo watching Sascha and Malia writhe in agony as explosive diarrhea and bloody vomit spout uncontrollably from their tortured bodies wracked by high fever, stomach cramps, body aches, tremors and dehydration -- knowing that this could have been prevented, if it hadn't been for THEIR incredible stupidity.

    [NOTE: I put that in bold face type, for the convenience of certain ultra-shrill leftwing bigots who no doubt will delight in quoting me to their viciously depraved, lunatic followers. Heh heh heh!]

    Even if I die with similar symptoms, I would still be able to laugh through sobs of agony to see Poetic Justice reign supreme.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thousands upon thousands of Americans die every year from preventable illness, while you cons refuse to do anything to improve America's healthcare, and then you whine and cackle "Ebola!" and "Political Correctness" when a handful of people get sick.

    Why don't you cons suggest something helpful, and maybe actually important and relevant, for a change?

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tell you what... we'll do something progressive with our money next time, like spend a few million on a lesbian weight gain study... or "medicalize" gun ownership.

      Delete
    2. Would THAT be "relevant" or helpful?

      Delete
    3. Why don't some of you Socialist/Commies take some of the billions of dollars you loot from the treasury every year and spend it on what its supposed to be spent on instead of stuffing it in your pockets and enriching your "fellow travelers"?

      That would help a great deal.

      Delete
    4. Warren!

      Did you get the email that I sent you the other day? The email had attached a photo of the Mustang (reconditioned) and an invitation for interview on The Gathering Storm Radio Show, the latter on November 28.

      Delete
    5. Come on Warren, the defense budget has increased.

      Why are you upset?

      Delete
    6. Nostradumbass said:
      "the defense budget has increased."

      If that were true, it would probably be siphoned off to pay for more pencil pushers and "progressive" social engineering projects. Maybe something like 'Jeeps for Jihades' or 'Home female genital mutilation kits' or something along those lines.

      I'm upset that you that consider yourself part of the "Progressive Intellectual Elite", and can't seem to figure out that water is wet and that Rudyard Kipling was unerring in his critique of fools such as you.

      ~~ "As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
      There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
      That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
      And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

      And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
      When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
      As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
      The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
      ~~

      Delete
    7. Nothing helpful or relevant at all. Sur-prise, sur-prise!

      I really can't think of any great thing conservatism ever accomplished. Not one.

      JMJ

      Delete
  20. Spreading the fear, job #1.

    Had funding not been cut we might have already developed an effective vaccine. So, I guess it's thank you "wise" conservatives in congress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RN
      Spreading fear of Conservatives might be your number 1 job but aren't you afraid you ruin your effectiveness by admitting it at the beginning of your post?

      Just say'in..

      FYI, since you seem so dense, the Department of Defense was the only Department to actually have a reduced funding rate. Every other Department actually received an increase in funds, just not at the "projected" rate they expected to receive

      Delete
  21. So, Americans possibly exposed to Ebola are under these restrictions, including not riding public transportation, but those entering the United States from the Ebola Hot Zone do not have such restrictions? What kind of sense does that make?

    ReplyDelete
  22. All I can tell you AOW is that it is a darn good thing we have another community organizer running something as important as the Ebola virus ...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great article, I am happy to visit this website :)

    ReplyDelete

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