<p>Direct flights versus non-stop flights = different things. Given the 21 day incubation period whether one changes planes in Brussels or not is a distinction without a difference. </p>
<p>I just read this morning that the Peace Corps pulled all its volunteers out of the three countries at the end of July. </p>
<p>Definition of direct flights:</p>
<p>“A direct flight in the aviation industry is any flight between two points by an airline with no change in flight numbers, which may include a stop at an intermediate point. The stop over may either be to get new passengers (or allow some to disembark) or a mere technical stop over (i.e., for refuelling)”</p>
<p><a href=“Direct flight - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_flight</a></p>
<p>I don’t believe there are direct or non-stop flights by any carrier from any the the hot zone countries. I think one needs to take a connecting flight to the US. </p>
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<p>Meningitis isn’t really an airborne disease either. It’s only communicated by passage of body fluids. Although this includes tiny saliva droplets from speaking in close contact, I don’t see this as much different from ebola except that there is a reliabl treatment for meningitis.</p>
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<p>Maybe, but most of the people who keep saying that there is no danger are not doing any critical thinking either, they are just recapitulating a meme. </p>
<p>I haven’t heard anyone at all say there’s no danger. The critical thinking part comes in assessing what is a danger and what isn’t. For instance the people making fun of “clipboard guy” are not applying the facts we know, while clipboard guy was. Removing Peace Corps members from the affected area is a reasonable response; pulling kids out of school because the principal was within a couple of thousand miles of the affected area is not. The gray areas are where the medical community should err on the side of caution. </p>
<p>Yes, critical thinking can include waiting before getting hysterical. It does not automatically mean saying “no danger at all,” which isn’t critical thinking, at all. And, the fact that the Peace Corps removed volunteers proactively doesn’t mean they’re hysterical, either. </p>
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<p>Interestingly, I haven’t seen anything in the media when clipboard guy is being discussed to counter the assumption that he put himself, and by extension, others, in danger. Good grief, Ms. Vinson was covered head to toe in Hazmat and he never touched the lady. NO CONTACT with her body fluids whatsoever.</p>
<p>This is second hand, re: Amber: “he said the protective covering she wore while caring for fatal Ebola victim Thomas Duncan left her neck, eyes and legs exposed.” And from HuffPo: “According to the AP, Duncan’s medical records show that hospital staff did not initially wear proper protective gear around him.”</p>
<p>And clipboard guy: “His role is to oversee the process of transport including on the tarmac,” Randy Davis, vice president at Phoenix Air, told NBC News. “Part of our protocol is to have 1 person NOT in a bio-Hazard suit.”</p>
<p>Davis said the man, who he did not name, is the team’s medical safety coordinator. Standard protocol is for him to wear street clothes, Davis said, because the suits can block field of vision and hearing. Davis said the man has been trained on keeping safe distance from patients and is ready to “suit up” if needed." <a href=“Mystery Solved: Plainclothes Man at Ebola Scene Perplexes Viewers – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth”>Mystery Solved: Plainclothes Man at Ebola Scene Perplexes Viewers – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth;
<p>^ LF, that is exactly the explanation I heard several days ago after people were freaking out and saying how stupid it was that “clipboard guy” wasn’t wearing protective gear and how it was a perfect example of the failure of our public health entities (despite the fact that Phoenix Air is a private company.) </p>
<p>Another instance of non vetted info and speculation going out over the blog-o-sphere and creating an unnecessary brouhaha. </p>
<p>I wonder how many days it takes, if ever, for false and/or misleading information to stop being repeated as fact. </p>
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<p>How about if the principal goes to Liberia, he/she self-quarantines until everyone is sure he’s ok. What if he feels fine coming back when he comes back but starts to develop symptoms at school the next day. </p>
<p>Speaking as someone who has to work under sterile conditions, you basically have to be paranoid in order to prevent contamination. </p>
<p>Hey, get Ebola now - get it before they run out of it!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/ebola.html”>http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/ebola.html</a></p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>^I had no idea all of these microbes had eyes.</p>
<p>Omg, BB, funny. Hope no one is offended.</p>
<p>Oh, these guys have been selling these microbes for a while! I have a dish full of plush TB bacteria sitting on the shelf that D got a while ago as a gift from someone… Might need to add that to the weekly bag (see Bag a week thread).</p>
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Please tell me you didn’t say that on the other thread. I know you were responding to that illogial comment by AW, but… ouch!</p>
<p>Sorry, jym! Yes, that was in reference to AW’s comment quoted in my post.</p>
<p>“How about if the principal goes to Liberia, he/she self-quarantines until everyone is sure he’s ok. What if he feels fine coming back when he comes back but starts to develop symptoms at school the next day.”</p>
<p>Why not just admit that the parents over reacted by pulling their kids out of school instead of throwing up a hypothetical scenario? </p>
<p>You’re using that “logic” thing again, EB. Tsk tsk </p>
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Why not just admit that the parents over reacted by pulling their kids out of school instead of throwing up a hypothetical scenario?
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<p>Um…that hypothetical scenario means it’s not over-reacting. </p>
<p>Am I talking to actual dogs here? I seem to be outnumbered.</p>