Take this with a huge grain of salt..since it IS network TV.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Plane...-279336982.html

Was down in FtL today and my niece fwd'd it to me...I was reluctant to even post it but it's easy to see how quickly this could spread if someone wanted to intentally do so.

There is more good news, the nurse in Spain who caught ebola appears to be recovering:
Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola may be clear of the disease

Well, now that those initial 48 people are in the clear now, I see headlines and articles basically saying, "Now that the nightmare is over..." but we'll see if it's true that the nightmare is over. It sounds like people like Louise Troh are still being stigmatized, and she had a new apartment she put a deposit down on fall through. How many of those 48 basically lost their jobs because they had to be in isolation for three weeks? Can they get new jobs? Do their friends and coworkers shun them? I would really like to see some follow-up coverage on that issue because it would really serve as a teachable moment.

You would think us "educated" Westerners would be more enlightened than those people who stigmatize people who recover from Ebola in Third World countries but to me, that is still an open question. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about American patients who refuse to be treated by Nina Pham or Amber Vinson a year from now, just because of the stigma and how connected their names have become with this outbreak.

I can't recall much or any stigma surrounding the H1N1 outbreak. Is that because it's the flu? Something familiar that "everyone" gets at one time or another, even though so many people were deathly afraid of catching H1N1?

Edit: I admit that we don't know if the future landlord rescinded the offer of a new apartment because of the fear of Ebola (and would most likely never admit to it even if true), so I readily admit that I am making an assumption here. But some of the scare stories from around the country regarding the way that potential contacts have been treated so far are pretty outrageous so I doubt that the action was not Ebola-related.

Statement from Amber Vinson's family: "Family of nurse sick with ebola: 'in no way was Amber careless'"

It seems like there is some media panic to blame the victims and attribute to them enormous selfishness and carelessness. That's hard for me to believe, though we saw that in a tuberculosis patient some years ago. What worries me more than any individual patient is a healthcare system that seems to turn away people who tell them they might have ebola. "Nah, you're fine. Go home and sleep it off." Or "just get on the plane and stop calling with your temperature."

Looks like the NIH is responding by stockpiling -- Feds stockpile protective gear in expectation of emergency event/

I was reading the notice on FedBizOps.gov website. Does not seem unusual or alarming to me. Not like reading about the Social Security Administration soliciting bids for 174,000 rounds of .357 Sig hollow point ammo. The NIH notice is just asking for feedback about vendors that may be capable of filling such a contract, but is not an actual solicitation for bids to purchase the equipment.

The NIH supports a huge animal research infrastructure and lots of people who need to be properly equipped to do their jobs. Some of the protective equipment degrades, so it has to be purchased periodically on an ongoing basis. Events like the domestic Ebola scare can dry up supplies and the NIH is worried that they could run out while waiting for manufacturers to catch up. And the protective equipment specified sounds pretty run of the mill. Nothing like hazmat suits and respirators. To me, sounds like a prudent thing to line up a guaranteed flow of supplies for a year (if Ebola rages that long) with an option for additional years if it later seems like it will be necessary.

Stockpiling PPE...



It's alarming to me because... shouldn't they ALREADY have this stuff??? I saw that huge government warehouse in Indiana Jones. Don't they have a whole lot of PPE in there?

As for the ammo, that's enough for giving around 100 people a week-long firearms course. I'm sure SSA employs more than 100 guards.

Ebola toys!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-plush-toys-for-kids-selling-like-hot-cakes/

This article says that Ebola has reached another West African country, Mali.


I have read here that the Africa Union has pledged to send 1,000 trained health workers to affected countries. Pledges are one thing. We'll see if the AU can actually recruit 1,000 healthcare workers to go.

I was surprised to read in this article that so many hospital beds in Liberia's capital go unused. Apparently, it is because people are afraid of dying and being cremated instead of buried. The article says half the 742 beds are empty. I'm surprised because I keep reading about sick people who are turned away from hospitals and clinics because they are no beds.

So there are some major cultural issues to work through beyond just building and staffing more Ebola treatment units. And if people are kept at home in secret, then isolation, contact tracing, and safe burial are put at risk.