Ebola comes to America

Good day all. This news came out late yesterday. The first case of Ebola has arrived in the United States. This isn’t someone who was transported in an isolation chamber back to the U.S. for treatment, this was someone who was sick, got on a plane and flew into the country.

The patient arrived in Dallas, Texas ((DFW Airport)), and got through immigration with no issues or notice. The patient was not, at the time of his arrival, showing any symptoms, so the chances of transmission on the plane are low. However, once the patient settled in, he started showing symptoms and went to the hospital. Now the CDC ((Center for Disease Control)) is tracking other people who came in contact with this person. Here are some details from Fox News:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Tuesday that a patient being treated at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for Ebola, the first case diagnosed in the United States. The patient left Liberia on September 19 and arrived in the United States on September 20, CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. It’s the first patient to be diagnosed with this particular strain of Ebola outside of Africa.

“[The patient] had no symptoms when departing Liberia or entering this country. But four or five days later on the 24th of September, he began to develop symptoms,” said Frieden.

The patient, who was in the U.S. visiting family in Texas, initially sought care on September 26, but was sent home and was not admitted until two days later. He was placed in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, where he remains critically ill, according to Frieden.

And there is the first two problems. First, why are we allowing unfettered transportation into the United States from Africa right now? Considering that the epidemic there is essentially out of control, we need to rethink how we allow people to travel to the United States from the “Dark Continent ((Africa)).” The second problem is the doctors at the hospital this man went to when he started showing symptoms. What the Hell were they thinking sending him home? Hello, we have a sick person who just arrived from one of the Hot Zones and you sent him home? Apparently I’m not the only person asking questions about that. According to Yahoo! News:

The first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in a U.S. hospital was evaluated initially and turned away, a critical missed opportunity that could result in others being exposed to the deadly virus, infectious disease experts said. On the patient’s first visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas last Friday, he walked into the hospital presenting “non-specific symptoms” and was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics, Dr. Edward Goodman, an infectious disease specialist at the hospital, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Excuse me, but aren’t antibiotics pretty much worthless when dealing with a virus? It certainly didn’t help this guy. He was back two days later.

On the second visit two days later, the patient, who has not been identified, arrived by ambulance, potentially putting at risk the emergency responders who transported the patient that Sunday. They have been quarantined but so far have tested negative for the virus

Nice going Doctor Quackenklutz. Whoever saw this guy and couldn’t do math has possibly helped start an Ebola epidemic in North America. Now it looks like they may have another patient down there. According to USA Today:

Health officials are closely monitoring a possible second Ebola patient who had close contact with the first person to be diagnosed in the U.S., the director of Dallas County’s health department said Wednesday. All who have been in close contact with the man officially diagnosed are being monitored as a precaution, Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said in a morning interview with WFAA-TV.

And the director, Zachary Thompson, is saying that while they are concerned, there is nothing to be alarmed about.

“Let me be real frank to the Dallas County residents: The fact that we have one confirmed case, there may be another case that is a close associate with this particular patient,” he said. “So this is real. There should be a concern, but it’s contained to the specific family members and close friends at this moment.”

Yeah, right. Whatever you say there Zack. There’s no problem at all. Except for this story that Associated (With Terrorists) Press just put out.

Authorities say five students who had contact with a man diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas are being monitored but are showing no symptoms of the disease. Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles said Wednesday that the students were in school this week after possibly being in contact with the man over the weekend.

Now I will grant that Ebola is generally only transmitted by contact with the bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, vomit, etc, and isn’t airborne. Also these children were not showing symptoms, and hopefully never will. Still, this should not even have been a concern and probably wouldn’t have if someone in that hospital had bothered to read any of the bulletins the CDC has been firing all over the place, or maybe just watching the news. If you want to know just how concerned people are, consider Obama butt kisser Chris Matthews. He got into a “discussion” with Dr. Ezekiel “Josef Mengele” Emanuel over how serious this is. Here are the details from Real Clear Politics:

On MSNBC’s Hardball tonight, host Chris Matthews tussled with Obamacare architect Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel over the how serious a threat Ebola is to Americans. Matthews and Emanuel also spar over President Obama saying it was “unlikely” that an Ebola case would strike the U.S.

“Obama said it was unlikely. It has happened. It’s here,” Matthews said.

And then we have Obamacare architect Emanuel saying “Don’t worry, be happy, and die at 75!”

Dr. Emanuel said there is some “fear mongering” going on here, but Matthews said he was just quoting the president and stating facts.

Real Clear Politics has a video of the exchange along with a partial transcript. I get the feeling that “Tingles” isn’t buying Dr. Emanuel’s assurances. This doesn’t surprise me since Ezekiel Emanuel has destroyed his credibility over the last few years. Head over and take a look. What’s also surprising is Tingles Matthews going against his lord and master, Barack Obama. When you’ve lost Chris “Tingles” Matthews, you’ve lost it all.

Ebola is a terrifying illness, and it is not a pleasant way to go. The fact that it’s showing up in the United States, along with other diseases we haven’t seen in decades, really does worry me. The world is due for another major pandemic ((Pandemic)). The last major one I can recall was the last major one was the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 and that one killed at least 50 million people, far more then were killed in World War One.

I know a few medically trained people, and we’ve had some discussions on Ebola. Right now, as long as the medical community pays attention, we don’t have a lot to worry about. However, as we’ve seen in Dallas, it looks like the medical community isn’t paying attention. That worries me.

Thatis*cough*all

~The Angry Webmaster~