ABC News article from Sep. 30: "How The CDC Will Make Sure Ebola Doesn't Spread in United States"

[brentspeak]

To ABC News' credit, they haven't scrubbed this one yet.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cdc-make-ebola-spread-us/story?id=25876311

How The CDC Will Make Sure Ebola Doesn't Spread in United States

Sep 30, 2014, 7:23 PM ET
By GILLIAN MOHNEY

To stop the deadly Ebola virus from spreading in the U.S., health officials said they have already started tracing anyone involved with the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed here.

Officials from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control confirmed Tuesday that the first Ebola patient has been diagnosed in the U.S., after arriving from Liberia. In a press conference in Dallas, CDC director Tom Freiden said local health department officials were prepared and had already started tracing people who had come into contact with the unidentified Ebola patient now being treated in Dallas.

“I have no doubt that we will control this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country,” said Freiden, who confirmed a CDC team was also en route to help track anyone connected to the infected patient.

To track any potential exposures and stop the outbreak, Freiden said medical officials will first interview the patient and then family members. From there officials will outline and investigate all of the patient's movements after the symptoms appeared and he was contagious.

snip

Those at risk of being infected will be monitored for at least 21 days, which is the duration of the Ebola incubation period.

[JoePhilly]

1. "does not spread widely in this country"

[brentspeak]

2. Given CDC's track record on this so far

you feel confident in its competence?

[JoePhilly]

3. Let's see ... 2 people infected .... no American deaths ...

[brentspeak]

4. I didn't know the CDC found a cure for ebola n/t

[Ms. Toad]

5. Hmm....a disease with a reproduction factor of R2

developed in a country where conditions make it likely to spread. First case here, where we are told they know how to handle it, and the number of new patients infected has already met that reproduction rate (and there are dozens more still in the at risk period).

No need for hair on fire (closing schools because someone who was on the flight with Vinsen walked through the doors) - but we do need to stop pretending it can't happen here, and take the risk of transmission seriously and stop doing stupid things because we think we're invincible (increasing the coverage of PPE, not allowing any clean touching dirty removal steps - enforced by a buddy approach, imposing rigorous monitoring period restrictions, treating any elevation in temperature or symptoms of an exposed person as Ebola until it is proven not to be, etc.).