outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

NPR's man in Texas, speaking to the BBC, pretty squarely put the failure to contain ebola in Dallas (to whatever extent) at the feet of the Fed gov, specifically the CDC. This is one thing I do not want to federal gov't to sleep on and get wrong, the way they do with everything else. Which makes me realize, yes, we are all doomed.

btw the NYT had a story about how the Liberian military is trying to "rebrand" themselves by being helpful in this crisis, which i guess is necessary if you're best known for shooting govt officials.

not sure i understand why this is the CDC's fault

Because they apparently left it up to the local hospital to handle it without providing much (any?) support or establishing/enforcing standard guidelines for putting on, taking off or cleaning equipment/suits.

For example, apparently in Africa the procedure is no one puts on or takes off protective gear without a trained third party witness present. This was not happening in Dallas, not least because I don't think anyone there was specifically trained in current ebola procedure.

the CDC has been issuing guidelines on what to do since practically day 1 ... easily googleable

but is oversight of that hospital the CDC's job or is that the texas health departments?

Asked why the CDC didn’t send a team as soon as Duncan was diagnosed, Frieden said: “We did send some expertise in infection control but think in retrospect, with 20-20 hindsight, we could have sent a more robust hospital infection control team, and been more hands on at the hospital on day one about exactly how this (case) should be managed. We will do that from now on any time we have a confirmed case.”

http://time.com/3507807/ebola-outbreak-cdc-dallas/

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The CDC has announced that the second healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola — now identified as Amber Joy Vinson of Dallas — traveled by air Oct. 13, the day before she first reported symptoms.
The CDC is now reaching out to all passengers who flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth. The flight landed at 8:16 p.m. CT.

I get that life goes on, but you'd think anyone who had been directly caring for an ebola patient would wait for the incubation to pass before getting back to business, given that it is a tremendously fatal, very contagious disease with no cure or specific treatment.

yikes. this has made me leery of even interacting with people who've been travelling to/from Dallas. I'm taking part in an academic conference in a few weeks, and by nature those things bring together people who have come from (and traveled through) all sorts of places. I recognize that at present the risk of contracting ebola is infinitesimal compared to being, I dunno, hit by a car on my way to work, but thanks to the media (?) I can't help but worry.

a union of nurses in Texas has come out with a statement, apparently drafted by nurses at the Dallas hospital that treated the initial Ebola patient, saying that there were no effective protocols to avoid contamination. if that's even close to true there could be a lot more infections before this settles down, not to mention a raft of very pricey lawsuits and a lot more fear among the public.

Apparently the plane took five trips before being taken out of service:

However, according to Flighttracker, the plane was used for five additional flights on Tuesday before it was removed from service. Those flights include a return flight to Cleveland, Cleveland to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL), FLL to Cleveland, Cleveland to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), and ATL to Cleveland.

On the plus side, re: the first nurse, who is now in good condition:

Nina Pham was diagnosed with the virus over the weekend and remains isolated in good condition. Pham’s dog — a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Bentley — has been taken into custody and is being cared for at an undisclosed location.

There was a report that the hospital's vacuum tube system was used to send samples from the ebola patient. You don't need to google CDC guidelines to know that was probably the wrong thing to do.

'bentley's gone to live on a farm' xp

yikes x1000. can they flush out that tube system with bleach?

btw they killed the nurse's dog in Madrid. :(

the way this is effecting my thinking is alarming in itself. I was about to go to lunch at an Indian buffet. now the very idea of eating at a buffet seems inadvisable. I'm being paranoid right? I should just go eat the Indian food?

affecting

are you in dallas?

no, i am very far from dallas--wisconsin to be exact. but, you know, someone who was on the plane with that nurse could be eating at that indian restaurant right now.

i should probably just lock myself in my apartment until further notice i suppose.

u probably take your life in your hands when you eat at a buffet at any time tbh

Yeah, that and salad bars. Spray that sneeze guard down with bleach and turn the heat lamps up to 11.

remember when obama ducked that sneezeguard, that's the obola vector right there

yeah I know that about buffets but someone it's not until i've been reading headlines about Ebola for months that i think, "hmmm, maybe that's not the best idea."

xpost

someone = somehow

I get the impression the CDC assumed a certain minimal level of competency/care at the average US hospital that was unwarranted in retrospect. federalism in action tbh

Yeah, that and salad bars. Spray that sneeze guard down with bleach and turn the heat lamps up to 11.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, October 15, 2014 2:27 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

standard salad bar recipe iirc

maybe if I get to the Indian restaurant early....

Salad Bars

cdc is an advisory / research body

they can't swoop in with helicopters and commandos and take over the hospital like something out of the movies

i feel like they should be treating patients as though the ebola is already airborne transmittable

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/us/ebola-infected-dallas-health-worker-was-on-flight.html

Frontier said in a statement that the aircraft “received a thorough cleaning per our normal procedures,”

why do i doubt the effectiveness of these "normal procedures"?

xpost But apparently after the infection spreads, they admit they could have sent "a more robust hospital infection control team" and say they could have "been more hands on at the hospital on day one about exactly how this (case) should be managed." And that "we will do that from now on any time we have a confirmed case."

So helicopters and ET spacemen? Of course not. Yet clearly they could have done more because they have said next time they will do more.

why do i doubt the effectiveness of these "normal procedures"?

Crop dusting: To covertly release intestinal gas while walking. Coined in 1985 on a Northwest Airlines flight from Boston to Frankfurt by Sol Squire, on-board translator, who had just walked the length of the DC-10 aircraft and noted he had "crop dusted" the passenger load.

xpost

i think they overestimated the hospital's ability to handle it themselves.

btw this whole thing provides me with reason #4,226 not to fly.

i think i'm just gonna get a hot dog. fuck a buffet.

make sure to buy it off a street stand

think i'm just gonna get a hot dog.

You, my friend, have just opened a whole 'nother can of worms.

i know, i was joking.

i'll just go eat at the chinese place down the street, surely nothing to worry about there.

or maybe i'll just get a vacuum-sealed bag of dried fruit.

why not just try that new liberian cuisine place that just opened up?

All the food is poison.

That's why I have been slowly exposing myself to all known toxins for my entire life. By the time I'm dead, I will be unkillable.

why not just try that new liberian cuisine place that just opened up?

― Mordy, Wednesday, October 15, 2014 12:42 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i actually almost ate liberian food a few months ago (in tenessee), but the restaurant wasn't open at a convenient time. i'm sure it would have been tasty. i worry about their business now. :(

saw those lie-beral media stories about how hep c and ebola are equally contagious, but man i don't fear getting hep c from just getting on a plane.

Last night a guy on the train got up, put his umbrella on an empty seat, went out between the train cars, and proceeded to loudly vomit for about three stops. I guess that was preferable to throwing up in the train but I wonder about the people walking below.

― Immediate Follower (NA), Wednesday, October 15, 2014 2:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Was this guy wearing a Dave Matthews Band shirt?

I'm glad people are finally listening to me i.e. building a wall around Texas.

saw a tweet yesterday noting that some politicians are hollering for an "ebola czar" and the guy's response, which was "that's called 'the surgeon general' and the gop won't confirm one, because nra."

yeah http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/10/14/after-smearing-surgeon-general-nominee-fox-wond/201147

This might be easily googlable, but what are the US/Europe/China etc. doing to help stop the spread in Africa? In addition to having humanitarian merit in its own right, doing so would obviously lessen the likelihood of spread to the US/Europe/China.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/another-100-u-s-troops-arrive-liberia-fight-ebola-n225581

though the short answer is surely "not enough"