Ebola. Why worry?

Ebola. You can’t help but think about it.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian citizen who died early this month in a Texas hospital, was cleared by Liberian authorities to make that historic flight to America because, at the time, he showed no signs of infection, in particular, he had no fever. But the virus takes 2-21 days to incubate inside a victim’s body after exposure, though the average is 8-10 days. A lot of people can travel a lot of places in 2-21 days. It appears from news reports that Duncan lied to Liberian authorities about his exposure to the virus, because we all know that he had assisted an infected pregnant woman who later died, just days before he flew to the United States (or perhaps he didn’t realize she had died of Ebola?—I’m trying to be charitable). Regardless, he was more clear-headed about his exposure to the virus by the time he showed up at Dallas Health Presbyterian Hospital, September 25, with a fever of 103, feeling deathly ill, and asking for assistance. At that time he told medical personnel in no uncertain terms that he had just arrived from Western Africa. They sent him home with useless antibiotics anyway, though patient records indicate the receiving staff realized his fever was alarmingly high and he had just traveled from an Ebola-stricken region.

Duncan returned to the same hospital 3 days later, near death. This time he was admitted, but it was too late to save him. Duncan died October 8, but not after infecting two, and possibly more, hospital workers who were trained in infectious disease hygiene and who had taken every possible caution to protect themselves from transmission including wearing space-like personal protective equipment not immediately available to the rest of us.

The CDC fears widespread panic above all, though I’m not sure why. We have been told again and again that Ebola is no threat to the citizens of this continent. But consider: We were told that if it did arrive we had the medical infrastructure to contain it, though Texas Health Presbyterian has fumbled this contagion from beginning to end—do you have faith that your neighborhood hospital would do any better? We were told that Ebola is spread only by direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person—tell that to the two medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian who are fighting for their lives. We were told that a travel ban is unnecessary because only persons with active symptoms are contagious. We are urged not to worry.

On Monday, October 13, 91 citizens from Liberia arrived in America, all—like Thomas Eric Duncan—without fevers.

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P.S. - Within an hour of posting this blog, I read on national news that the second medical worker at Texas Health Presbyterian to contract the Ebola virus had flown from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas, Texas the day before she showed signs of infection. The CDC is now trying to find and interview all 132 people who were aboard that flight.