<p>Passports are already checked at borders. Anyone holding a passport from an affected country would not be allowed to board a flight to the U. S. unless they’ve been away from that country for the incubation period 21 days. Same for those with other nations passports who are coming from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea. </p>
<p>Quarantines work. The more confined the area of the outbreak the easier it will be to control. The possibility of spreading Ebola to the world makes the situation much worse. And yes a few may slip through but the perfect should not be the enemy of the good.</p>
<p>As has been pointed out in this thread, many people have multiple passports and many countries do NOT stamp entry and exit to their country. Bribes will go way up as well so folks can get “clean”
passports.</p>
<p>If all countries have travel bans, where are people supposed o wait out their 21 day potential incubation period? If they are basically stuck in the “hot” country, they will never be allowed to leave? How will anyone be willing to go into a “hot” country under such circumstances?</p>
<p>What about people who have passports from non-West Africa countries–how do you know whether or now they have been to a “hot country” and how recently? Many countries do NOT stamp entry and exits. How do you keep these people from coming to US and other places? How do you know when they were last in a “hot” zone? Self-report?</p>
<p>I don’t expect the head of the CDC to speak on economics matters.
Know what’s spreading unchecked? Innuendo and finger pointing.<br>
No school closings in my area.</p>
<p>And the first patients flown back held US passports, no?</p>
<p>Just throwing this out there about school closings…if it was YOUR kid–would you send them? Until they present with some real FACTS (and right now they are bumbling about) why would you risk it? Hey, I don’t want a whole ton of infectious diseases–I’d stay home for one that might kill me or my kid.
As for “complete waste for those students”–another debatable topic.
Quarantines do work–hope they get in place soon. Not every hospital is equipped to handle quarantine measures–do you want to go to a hospital room where ebola patients have been? Was it cleaned properly?
Ebola can last up to 10 days on surfaces–wash your hands and use sanitizer.</p>
<p>I think its the sense that not enough is being done that makes people react this way. </p>
<p>I was once potentially exposed to hanta virus. I spent a week or more in Yosemite the summer of 2012. That summer 3 people who stayed in certain insulated tent cabins with mice infestations died due to hanta virus. (I stayed in a different type of tent cabin in the high country where one person came down with hanta virus but survived). 10 people contracted the virus. </p>
<p>I don’t remember the CDC being involved. The letters I got came from the park’s concessionaire. </p>
<p>Yosemite tore down the cabins that harbored the mice and built no more like that. They also (belatedly) sent out emails and letters to everyone who had booked a stay at the park that summer. That winter when I went there were mouse warnings everywhere in the lodge. “If you see a mouse, contact the manager immediately” that sort of thing. </p>
<p>By the following summer, park visitation was unaffected by the hanta virus deaths. People were not afraid to come to Yosemite. The problem was contained. There have been no more hanta virus illnesses linked to the park. </p>
<p>Yes, that was easier because hanta virus is not transmitted person to person. But if the park had not vigorously taken steps to keep the mice away from the tents, people would have vacationed elsewhere. </p>
<p>Since the Texas nurse is on a flight landing in this area, there is absolutely nothing else on the news on any channel. This is so ridiculous. Wonder why there is hysteria? News. </p>
<p>“That question was brought up during the hearing. National Transporation person said we have a capability to do,”</p>
<p>If you ever traveled internationally and crossed the US border, that statement can be taken as a complete joke! </p>
<p>“We”, as in the US, have pretty much no say how a country where a flight to the US originates handles visa and passport checks before pax board a plane. We can only check that stuff upon entry. </p>
<p>How can any of it be confirmed, since so many countries are NOT stamping when people enter and leave their countries? Do we just take people’s words about it, like Duncan? How do we know what National Transportation person is basing his or her info on–self-reporting? Does he or she think all countries are stamping entries and exits on passports? H and I have been in and out of several countries over the past many years but only have 3 stamps–two entries and one exit for Canada. S has similarly noticed that his passport is rarely stamped, tho he has traveled around the world.</p>
<p>How much do any of these officials honestly believe that self-reporting will work if the person being questioned knows that if he IDs a “hot” area, he will NOT be allowed into the US (or wherever he is trying to fly into)? This strains credibility.</p>
<p>Well considering my parents sent me back to school when a student died in my dorm from meningitis and before my school closed for h1n1 (which I did contract), I’d say yes I’d be sent to school lol. </p>
<p>We tend to not to give into hysteria though. Probably from working in hospitals for a long time (multiple generations)</p>
<p>My H worked in pediatrics in Newark in the 80s; ground zero for pediatric AIDS (he worked with the guy who first identified it, as a matter of fact.) My kids went with him to the hospital sometimes. They played with kids with AIDS. At this time, there were a couple kids in NJ schools who were HIV positive or had AIDS. They had to go to court to be allowed to attend school. In at least one town, once this happened, parents all kept their kids home rather than “take that chance.”</p>
<p>Spanish flu… transmitted like the flu, not like Ebola. In a time when we couldn’t treat it. In a time when medicine was not regulated. In a time when… well, you get the picture. </p>
<p>I’m well versed in medical history. It has taught me that if you’re going to get sick, now and here is a great place and time to do it. Ebola is unlike any other pandemic because it’s Ebola. You cannot draw parallels to any other medical catastrophe with the exception, MAYBE, of HIV. Except that we know what Ebola is and how it spreads right from US patient zero. </p>
<p>I think we also forget that we’re pretty much overdue for a major pandemic. That’s just kind of how these things work. Ebola is not that pandemic. It will likely be a flu mutation or other airborne virus. Ebola doesn’t spread easily enough in first world countries to reach epidemic proportions. </p>