[cdad]

Just food for thought J as to why this is political and goes well beyond the November elections.

U.S. is Responsible for the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa: Liberian Scientist | Global Research

[J_9]

So you are going with conspiracy theories?

Arm yourselves with facts rather than fiction.

[tomder55]

Troops from the 101st Airborne Division leading the military response to Ebola in West Africa will only need gloves and masks to protect themselves from the deadly virus, so said Gen. David Rodriguez at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday.
“They don’t need the whole suit – as such – because they’re not going to be in contact with any of the people,” the commander of U.S. troops in Africa said.
Soldiers from the 101^st Airborne will primarily be building hospitals, ultimately leading what could be a contingent of 4,000 American service members. They’ll be housed either in tent cities at military airfields or in Liberian Ministry of Defense facilities, Rodriguez said.
Soldiers’ health will be monitored through surveys and taking their temperature on their way in and out of camps. If a service member does get sick, Rodriguez said they will be flown home immediately for treatment.
Next week, the 101^st Airborne will hold a traditional pre-deployment ceremony, known as a “color casing”, before departing for Liberia, though a handful of soldiers are already on the ground.

Nashville Public Radio | Fort Campbell Troops On Ebola Mission Won’t Get Full Protective Gear

[smoothy]

smoothy at what point did you think your administration might show common sense, they are responsive to an electoral cycle, not common sense. Could you imagine the howls of derision and lobbying should one of your precious citizens be deprived of the right to travel home

I gave up ever expecting common sense from this administration the first six months of it and the last 6.5 years have proven they are actually incapable of expressing any because nobody in it apparently has any.

[paraclete]

Big chance to change things coming up

[Alty]

Let's stick to the thread boys and not start any of the political back and forth you're both known for. If you want to talk politics, go to the political forum.

Bottom line, people are paranoid about Ebola. It seems a few of them are on this thread. So be it. If you're afraid that this is highly contagious, can be spread like the flu or the common cold, and won't listen to actual facts, your choice is easy. Bubble yourself. Sequester yourself in your home, don't go to work, don't interact with people face to face, wait for it all to be over before you resume your normal lives. I suggest that during this quarantine, you refrain from using the computer as well, since you're needlessly scaring others.

For those that are educated and know how this disease is contracted, unless you work in the medical field, or you're exposed to bodily fluids of someone with Ebola, you have nothing to worry about. The two nurses that contracted Ebola from a very sick patient, weren't properly trained to deal with this disease. They didn't have the proper gear. Not sure what you're getting news wise in the US, but the news in Canada, the CDC said "oops, our bad, we dropped the ball on this one and didn't properly train medical staff". So there you go.

The choice is yours. No reason to debate it, just decide what you believe, and the measures you're going to take to protect yourself based on what you believe.

I think that says it all and should end this inane discussion.

As I sign off I'd like to point out that the member that started this thread has mental issues that she's discussed on this site (so I'm not outing her) and she's easily manipulated by suggestion, and easily terrified. So let's not add to that. She's having a hard enough time dealing with things as it is. So stop scaring her when there's no reason to be afraid! PLEASE!

[paraclete]

You cannot go to the political forum because the thread will be moved back here. In the interests of free speech it has to be said Ebola hasn't been handled well and returning volunteer carers pose a threat to public health, however small. I doubt we have the full story on Ebola and in what ways it is infectious. Are we at risk from a sneeze? The actions of certain african countries have paid off in cutting down the spread and the more sophisticated countries should be prepared to learn from this. Anyone in contact with a victim should be quaranteened, not allowed to wounder the world at will. The situation on the cruise ship is ridiculous

[Catsmine]

If you want to talk politics, go to the political forum.

Alty, which forum do you think you're on? This IS the politics forum.

As far as this virus goes, one begins to wonder if it's the Center for Disease Control or Panic control. It certainly hasn't done much for diseases, other than the Tuskegee Study. Malaria's still around (which it was founded to control) although local health departments have cut it way back on their own dime. The one virus we thought we had eliminated, man's greatest enemy smallpox, they forgot and kept some alive. They can't even keep killed virus polio vaccine without letting it get contaminated.

As with FEMA during Katrina and the FBI in August 2001 and the ATF in Mexico and the IRS/TEA party groups, doubting ANYTHING and EVERYTHING the feds say has become the way to bet.

[Alty]

Current events is politics? Since when? I always thought that current events meant things that are happening right now. So you're saying that everything going on in the world right now, has to do with politics? That doesn't sound right to me.

Having said that, I'd suggest that people look at the original question. No mention of politics in that question at all. Now I get that many think this is a political issue. My issue with mentioning politics is when it strays off course of the original topic. Comments about giving up on the current administration, or comments about all the things you hate about the current administration, have no bearing on the topic at hand.

You should know that this thread was started by a Canadian. American politics mean nothing in Canada. We don't care about your president, he has no power where we live. This is about the Ebola scare, what's true, what isn't, and how worried everyone should be.

Is this the politics forum? I don't think so, but even if it is, this is not a political question. This is about one thing and one thing only, Ebola, and it's asked by an individual that is fearful of everything she sees on the news. So lets tone it down a bit, stick to facts. If you need to know why, look at her other recently asked questions. We're dealing with someone that doesn't need this added fear in her life right now, and definitely doesn't need to see people discussing their politics which have no bearing where she lives.

Frankly, I think this thread should be closed. It's not helpful. It's only serving to scare the asker even further because she doesn't know who to believe.

My last statement stands. If you're that afraid, live in a bubble until this passes. If you read the facts, know the facts, and accept the facts, you have nothing to worry about.

One dead US citizen, and the two sick nurses that treated him without proper training and gear, does not a pandemic make. Stop scaring people! :(

[paraclete]

What are you, the thought police? Ebola is unlikely to be a problem in Canada unless someone brings it there, same goes for the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia. Once we start to discuss control measures it becomes a political issue, at least somewhere. Whenever public administration such as the CDC fails, it is a political issue. It is a political issue that American service personnel were sent to Africa in an attempt to provide assistance. Mogrann should not be concerned unless she actually comes in contact with someone who is likely to be carrier.

Lastly on the subject of pandemics, the level of infection in the US has nothing to do with whether this is a pandemic, the number of dead people in a short time and the lack of cure determines that. Thousands are dead in AFRICA. So be alert but not alarmed

[smoothy]

When they have a political hack with less medical training that I have, which is actually very little... telling lies to the public about how safe we are (his qualifications are WHAT exactly?)... and all the while health care professionals in environmental suits are contracting it, along with 30+ years of me personally seeing one thing, and seeing the absolute opposite reported means I've got plenty of very valid reasons to call bull on what the administration is feeding us.

I also know misinformation starts at the top and is disseminated down the ladder. That's how it works all over the world.

So sorry to say, the Obama administration made this political very early on by ignoring all existing protocols for dealing with exceptionally dangerous very infectious diseases. And the fact they are still refusing to make any effort to keep the infected people away from here, then to make a long time partisan political hack lawyer (this is the very same clown who tried to steal the election for AL Gore in Florida via selective recounts the court shot down) to head up the Ebola task force instead of someone who actually does have medical training, made this nothing but political.

And I saw this starting back in the early 80's. For those of you old enough to remember the first Gulf war... which is most of you here. How many of you actually believed everything you saw on CNN? Well what I was doing during that entire show, starting before Desert Shield and ending well after The cease fire, was watching reading and verifying the integrity of ALL the orders bouncing between Schwarzkopf and the other command and the Pentagon, both ways ( there were others, not just me)... I also saw what was on TV which rarely were even close. But I also understood WHY that was the case. I didn't see everything but I did see the lions share. And that's not the only job I saw a lot of stuff first hand then saw what was reported. I also know a couple big players in US politics.

So.. I've learned NEVER take any politician at their word. Their word is essentially worthless.

I agree J_9 is the one here who best understands what's happening with this virus... but I also know her field of expertise is different than that, and that there is a lot of layers of bureaucracy between her and the people that have a reason to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. I also know a doctor that has been good friends of mine since he was in medical school back in the late 80's early 90's (he's been a friend since 1988) that I talk to frequently... and he doesn't answer to the CDC (he's not a US licensed physician) or the WHO because he's in Europe. And he tells me there is a huge misinformation campaign happening with this, even in Europe. But I already knew that before he confirmed it.

Long story short... I have absolutely no reason to believe they are being honest THIS TIME, when they have every reason to be dishonest and have a very poor past history of honesty. 2+2 does not equal 5, and the more someone tries to pressure you to believe it is... the more you question their motives behind WHY they want you to believe its 5.

[J_9]

Smoothy, if you are talking about my level of expertise being a labor and delivery nurse, I guess I need to update my credentials. While I do still deliver babies, 50-60% of my time is now spent in the ER. Not only do I treat patients in the ER, I am also responsible for triaging them when they first arrive to determine their illness and what level of care they will receive. So, you see, I'm actually on the front lines here.

I am am at higher risk of contracting Ebola than any one of you. We are consistently being updated on this virus via daily emails, webinars, and online courses through our infection control department.

I come into into contact with blood, vomit, and bodily fluids every time I clock in at work. I stay frosty and take proper precautions, but I'm not afraid.

[smoothy]

Without a doubt you have far more training than any of us. Most likely more than all of us combined.

But I also know everything isn't filtered down from the top. Only what they want everyone to know.

Having been privy for a number of years to the same daily security briefings the President sees once upon a time... and all the restrictions imposed upon those who do get it I know there are MANY things that are kept from the public for any number of reasons, most of them I do not question. You live with it because its part of the job and its what's required, besides you agreed to it when you accepted the job. Liking them or agreeing with them has no bearing, some you will some you won't but you treat them all as you are required to do if your job makes you privy to them.

Eric Snowden had a problem with living up to his end of the requirement and we see what that got him.

Decades in and around the Government has made me wary of anything that comes from the government.

Oh to be 20 and blissfully ignorant to all the dealings happening out of sight to you again....but those days are long gone. I never thought I'd be saying that. ( no I wasn't say that to you....just speaking about myself before I got involved and was made aware of all of this decades ago, it does change your perspective on life.)

Would I go back and change thigs if I could do it all over again? Maybe certain things....but I've gotten to see a lot of things few people have...and from that perspective, it was a small price to pay.

[Alty]

J, you're not afraid because you know the facts. Sadly it seems that most of the people are getting their information from the media, or online.

I still want to know why this is on every news channel when only one person in the US actually died of Ebola, and the only other people infected are two nurses that treated him and didn't have the proper training or gear to do so.

Or am I being misinformed? Are there more confirmed cases? Are there 4 people, not 3 that actually had or have Ebola in the US? Maybe 5? If so, that's not on the news, only the one dead patient and the two sick nurses are being televised here.

That's a huge percentage of the population in the US, isn't it? I mean, we always knew you all were smaller than us land wise, but I didn't think that 3 sick people would cause this much of a panic in a country as populated as the US. Especially because the two nurses getting sick, is logical due to lack of training and gear to treat that patient safely.

I'm going with knowledge on this one not the ramblings of people that don't know Ebola from the common cold.

In other words, I'm listening to J9 here. She knows more than all of you combined, and if she's not worried, why should any of you be worried?

[J_9]

The funny thing is that you all refuse to believe what you are being told. Actually, nothing is being held back. This virus is not airborne. You, as in the general public, stand a higher risk of contracting tuberculosis than you do Ebola. You see, tuberculosis is airborne.

Last year 56,000 people in the US died of the flu, it is airborne. To date, only one person in the US has died from Ebola. To contract Ebola you must come into contact with blood, semen, feces, vomit, from an infected person. Those bodily fluids then must enter your body through a wound or mucous membranes.

I'm much more afraid of the flu than I am Ebola.

[Wondergirl]

Duncan's relatives who were in quarantine were released today.

Three Ebola cases out of 320M people in the U.S.

[smoothy]

Why? Decades of being privy to intentional misinformation from a number of countries. Yes some of them friendly nations. One does not chose to simply forget that.

And the population density where these patients are being shuttled around to multiplies the risk to everyone in those regions means one of the wrong screw-ups can multiply exponentially practically overnight.

And they already have had a number of very close calls. The fact it hasn't been significantly worse is luck... not someone doing the right thing. If they had their acts together there wouldn't have been any close calls.

You are welcome to believe anything you wish...I'm not trying to sway your mind at all. I'm a prepare for the worst, then hope for the best kind of person. When something bad happens, I'm at least somewhat prepared for it. Been blindsided too many times in my younger years.

[paraclete]

Let's forget the politic'n and get back to Ebola, when responsible people start saying things like thousands of infections a month obviously there are those who will be concerned, but they are talking about Africa, west Africa specifically. Control of disease on this scale requires drastic measures to minimise infection and may including clearing of various areas. I observed news footage of people in Liberia. There is panic there and possible breakdown of order, certainly the mood of the crowd was noncooperative and their leadership is blaming external sources for lack of response as if they are capable of solving the problem. there is a solution but not one that is acceptable

[J_9]

The fact that isn't significantly worse is not luck. It's because this virus is hard to get. You could walk past someone with Ebola in the mall. You won't catch it, yet you walk by someone who has the flu, you can get the flu.

There is only one dead in the US and two sick. Those two are responding to treatment and we've already cured two others.

Again, in, you stand a higher risk of catching TB than you do Ebola.

[smoothy]

Clete.. its that sort of thing that government everywhere hope to avoid. And the more in the dark people can be kept and the longer people can be kept in the dark... the more order can be maintained.. the powers that be would sacrifice entire cities if it will maintain order and thus... their control.

Do I hope this all bows over before it gets worse? Most certainly.