I can't imagine being reckless as to fly on a commercial jet to another city in the heart of the incubation period. I feel for her for getting the illness because that's horrible. But what she did, even if it turns out okay (please God), will cost the airline, spread panic, cost hospitals and patients in Cleveland (and other destination cities) lots of money and just overall erode any confidence that the government is on top of this. I am wondering how the cleaning crew is reacting. Awful.

Most folks who are infected during these types of incidents are infected before results come in. You do realize how many feverish people come into hospitals every day, right?

Now I'll bet that around the country a lot more nursers are paying attention to anyone with a fever just from these cases. But we can't use entirely different hospitals and equipment for each new fever patient. I'm exaggerating I know, but I do think it is a little unfair to quickly assume nursers are doing less than their best in these situations. The standard and new protocol will probably focus more on simply raising equipment sanitation standards since that's a route more easily taken en masse.
I am certainly not blaming the nurses. It sounds like it was a Chinese fire drill - practically criminal. And as to treating each feverish patient as if it is ebola? The CDC is pretty much saying that, now. "Think ebola."

Live alone in apartment with no pets, HOWEVER was on a plane on monday the day before she reported a fever to the hospital. now CDC wants to talk to the other people on that frontier Flight #1143 from Cleveland to DFW.

The plane was taken out of service and presumably put through decontamination procedures, but not until Wednesday. It was used on five other flights following this nurse's flight before being pulled from service.

Ugh.

This Just In: I got a flu shot yesterday. The doctors are talking about all this on The Doctors.
I'm a-skeered . . . not.
Funding is being requested by the low-key money-grubbers.
It's that time of year. =)

Sorry to interfere with your Halloween Celebration.

I am certainly not blaming the nurses. It sounds like it was a Chinese fire drill - practically criminal. And as to treating each feverish patient as if it is ebola? The CDC is pretty much saying that, now. "Think ebola."

I think the way the hospital handled and treated the 1st patient was anything but a Chinese fire-drill and to say otherwise is irresponsible at best.

I agree the Nurse shouldn't have traveled while under observation and was an irresponsible thing to do from the local newspaper....

Ebola does not spread until a patient develops a fever or other symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea. Vinson didn’t develop a “low-grade fever” until Tuesday, a day after she flew back from her native Ohio to Dallas.

Because of that, Frieden said passengers on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 were at “extremely low risk” of being exposed.

I think the way the hospital handled and treated the 1st patient was anything but a Chinese fire-drill and to say otherwise is irresponsible at best.

I agree the Nurse shouldn't have traveled while under observation and was an irresponsible thing to do from the local newspaper....

Ebola does not spread until a patient develops a fever or other symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea. Vinson didn’t develop a “low-grade fever” until Tuesday, a day after she flew back from her native Ohio to Dallas.

Because of that, Frieden said passengers on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 were at “extremely low risk” of being exposed.

I'm not at all qualified to say if the response in Dallas was correct or inadequate, but we are starting to get some feedback apparently from some of the other workers at the hospital that suggests the response wasn't as structured as it should have been...issues about when/what kind of protective gear was/was not being used, disposition of contaminated hazardous materials...just a sense that the med community has a lot to learn from this incident it seems.

In statement, nurses at Presbyterian Dallas describe confused response to Ebola case | Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20141015-in-statement-nurses-at-presbyterian-dallas-describe-confused-response-to-ebola-case.ece)

This is one of those statements that you make that if I contest, will just lead you to eventually saying that you are right, everyone on this board doesn't know how to read, or is a part of the conspiracy/problem, blah blah blah.

Having worked in ERs, spent a considerable amount of time in MOPP 4, and in emergency medical situations, it pains me to see folks like you just sling around accusations like this. I'm not taking the bait. Just walking away even more convinced it is you who has the agenda here. No one with an iota of experience is going to start throwing 'practically criminal' around. But by all means, keep offering up your valueless contributions.

So you're good with the man left out in the open for hours, waste piled to the ceiling, progress notes in that report wearing booties is "probably" a good idea, evolving protocols for appropriate safety equipment, not washing between changes of robes, gloves, etc., having the same nurses changing cathetors and handling bodily fluids also caring for other patients? Remind me to avoid ebola centers with administrators sharing your comfort level. Your experience with emergency rooms is not what anyone would expect in dealing with an ebola patient in isolated intensive care. This has nothing to do with the ER.

I'm not at all qualified to say if the response in Dallas was correct or inadequate, but we are starting to get some feedback apparently from some of the other workers at the hospital that suggests the response wasn't as structured as it should have been...issues about when/what kind of protective gear was/was not being used, disposition of contaminated hazardous materials...just a sense that the med community has a lot to learn from this incident it seems.

In statement, nurses at Presbyterian Dallas describe confused response to Ebola case | Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20141015-in-statement-nurses-at-presbyterian-dallas-describe-confused-response-to-ebola-case.ece)

I saw those reports coming from a Nursing Union who said they couldn't release any details other than the nurses at that hospital are not in a Union. I think that report also said there wasn't a hospital in the country, other than the ones set up for this, that was properly prepared. I believe they did the very best they could with the information and training they had but were far from a Chinese Fire Drill.

I think the way the hospital handled and treated the 1st patient was anything but a Chinese fire-drill and to say otherwise is irresponsible at best.

I agree the Nurse shouldn't have traveled while under observation and was an irresponsible thing to do from the local newspaper....

Ebola does not spread until a patient develops a fever or other symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea. Vinson didn’t develop a “low-grade fever” until Tuesday, a day after she flew back from her native Ohio to Dallas.

Because of that, Frieden said passengers on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 were at “extremely low risk” of being exposed.
She had a fever before she boarded.

I saw those reports coming from a Nursing Union who said they couldn't release any details other than the nurses at that hospital are not in a Union. I think that report also said there wasn't a hospital in the country, other than the ones set up for this, that was properly prepared. I believe they did the very best they could with the information and training they had but were far from a Chinese Fire Drill.

Their best wasn't good enough, unfortunately. I don't blame staff. I blame the administration and, to a certain extent, the CDC. They certainly knew these conditions weren't appropriate.

In other news, more effort from the Africa OpenData community to pitch in where possible. I love my job. :) Ebola Open Data Jam - Africa Open Data (Washington, DC) - Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/Africa-Open-Data/events/211518232/)

What is the object of the meeting? I wasn't clear what they were working on or how it would help.

Ebola outbreak assurances in U.S. overtaken by cases of the disease - CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-nurse-called-cdc-several-times/)

This is outrageous. I am glad to learn the nurse had the good sense to check with the CDC before flying commercially but why in the world they didn't they wave her off is beyond me. As a medical professional, she had to have known better but was looking for an out. The terms of her informal monitoring included staying off commercial flights but she went anyway. She also already knew her coworker was sick when she got on board.

Speaking only for myself, if I thought I might be hospital bound, I'd rather it have been near family.

Their best wasn't good enough, unfortunately. I don't blame staff. I blame the administration and, to a certain extent, the CDC. They certainly knew these conditions weren't appropriate.

I really hope you mean the hospital administration.

I really hope you mean the hospital administration.
Yes, I did.

The Africa Open Data group is like many others around the world. They meet, identify data sets, and stand up small, interesting projects usually leveraging some type of application. The most common type of 'end result' from these are visualizations of some type or another. But they really do very. Most organizers of these types of events, including myself, put 'community building' way up on the list of objectives for meeting. The more of these folks that know and work together, the more likely we'll get a sticky application or use case out of the efforts. For example, the Ice Map here during the Christmas Eve blizzard was able to come together so quickly due to the simple nature that we knew where the data was, had a volunteer list of technical help, and agencies with some kind of exposure and history dealing with people from the organization.

I think of it like prototyping big solutions through the assembly of people and technology. This group looks like they have some kind of App focus already with a repo set up in Github and they are currently identifying potential data-sets that might be leveraged. It's also common for agencies to host these or support them in some way as a mechanism for distilling potential technologies to invest in. It can be hard to know where to invest some technologies and these events give IT folks from agencies a chance to see prototype-like examples of several ideas. Occasionally, there will even be prizes for teams who build 'winning' ideas or products.

It's common at the start of these events for a more focused effort to be picked after several ideas are tossed out, teams are formed, and sometimes most importantly, what data/technology is actually available to them both as agency and volunteer resources.

One of the most common outcomes I see from these events is their ability to locate and dust of potentially useful data sets. This can be pretty exciting to find some study's data from several years ago and be able to use it for mapping trends, for example.

I started hosting these types of events in OKC and eventually we were able to get the state to launch data.ok.gov. Giving access citizens, journalists, and technologists, all access to lots of public information. At one such meetup we had someone build an app that showed you how long it would take on average, for a firetruck to get to your house based on your an address, Google Maps API (navigation), and the location of the nearest fire department. He put a fun spin on calling it "Will your house burn?" :) It was a fun project that raised some eyebrows by a couple emergency managers who attended out of curiosity. It was cool to see them see how the data and technology might be leveraged, and for very little money.

There have been tons written on the subject. Happy to pass some of it along.

We'll have to see what they do this weekend. There are hundreds of these. Do a search on Meetup for "Open Data". Thanks for the excuse to gush. :)
Not sure I understand all that but it sounds fascinating and a fun way to work with bright, interesting people and issues.

A little unrelated but if everyone have or can get the influenza vaccine, you should do so.

As Ebola and the flu have similar initial symptoms, it's best we not clog up the hospitals emergency rooms as the flu season kicks in. I'm sure tons of people will flood the hospitals during the Ebola scare when they just have the flu. Especially with the Ebola craze, why stress the hospital systems even more? Consider it your patriotic duty!

A little unrelated but if everyone have or can get the influenza vaccine, you should do so.

As Ebola and the flu have similar initial symptoms, it's best we not clog up the hospitals emergency rooms as the flu season kicks in. I'm sure tons of people will flood the hospitals during the Ebola scare when they just have the flu. Especially with the Ebola craze, why stress the hospital systems even more? Consider it your patriotic duty!

Unfortunately there's a ton of people in this country with the IQ of a squirell and the media spins up their fears even more. It's ironic because they probably have the flu, they'll bring it to the hospital, and spread it in a place the flu really shouldn't be going around. The icing on the cake is the flu kills 55,000 people a year versus the 1 Ebola death count so far.

I have the opportunity this year to get the flu shot through my new employer but as in years past, I'm not going to bc I don't get the flu. My immune system is strong. Plus, I live by myself, no pets, so as always, I'll be fine.

I previously didn't take the flu shot.. however I am this year as my partner is a Nurse so its not a bad idea..

^^yeah, if my mate was a nurse too, I wouldn't mess around with that either!

Unfortunately there's a ton of people in this country with the IQ of a squirell and the media spins up their fears even more. It's ironic because they probably have the flu, they'll bring it to the hospital, and spread it in a place the flu really shouldn't be going around. The icing on the cake is the flu kills 55,000 people a year versus the 1 Ebola death count so far.
Certain populations are more susceptible to the flu and probably should get the vaccine. In contrast, Ebola strikes down young, old, strong and weak, alike, given the opportunity. Comparing the flu with ebola is really a stretch. I don't believe for one instant you'd lose much sleep if a neighbor coughed all over you and turned out to have the flu. You likely be irritated. In contrast, if that same person came down with ebola, you'd be as freaked out as the rest of us.

If flu had a fifty percent mortality rate (or 70%, depending on the source) with the lingering serious health conditions that typically accompany survival, it would make sense to compare them. However, Most people killed by the flu were already in a compromised health condition and I doubt many of us have ever known a healthy young person to die from the flu although it it all around us. There is simply no comparison between the two. The flu is easy to get but far more easily survived with a full recovery. You get ebola, you are going to be hospitalized if you want a chance and the odds are against you. There are typically serious lifelong medical problems that continue even if you beat the odds and survive. Most of us have had the flu, survived it and took off a day or two of work. Maybe.

The second nurse visited a bridal shop while she was in town and they are broadcasting the name of the shop and the cdc phone number to call if people visited it during the time the nurse was shopping (apparently she was there several hours). I feel so sorry for that shop owner. Most places like that are barely getting by and no one aware of the situation would be caught dead in there potentially trying on dresses and the like. Unintended consequences. Such a shame.

The CDC is now claiming the second nurse lied about not being sick, apparently based on interviews with people she contacted in Cleveland. They say she cancelled several bridesmaids activities over the weekend because she felt ill, and that she was running a temperature when she took her initial flight on Friday (I think it was Friday). They are now trying to contact the passengers on the first flight and the ones who used the first plane, thereafter. They were already doing that for her return flight. All affected crew are being monitored, as are some family and friends she had contact with. One friend has a small child with her during the contact and they are also being monitored.

I wonder if an Ebola Czar will be better than a Surgeon General?

I wonder if an Ebola Czar will be better than a Surgeon General?

None will be better then an Ebola SWAT team. I know this because the man behind the curtain told me so.....

Alarm after vomiting passenger dies on flight from Nigeria to JFK | New York Post (http://nypost.com/2014/10/16/alarm-after-vomiting-passenger-dies-on-flight-from-nigeria-to-jfk/)

All the teabagger types are going to hoot and say this means we need to ban travelers from ebola-infected African countries and direct flights need to stop immediately.

Thankfully our knowledgeable president has more wisdom than your typical Tea Party yahoo and will not stop flights. Ebola has to be contained in West Africa, and we can't do that if we ban travel from there.

EBOLA: The Facts And How To Protect Yourself - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | (http://www.news9.com/story/26805196/ebola-the-facts-and-how-to-protect-yourself)

Inhofe calls for travel ban amid Ebola outbreak - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | (http://www.news9.com/story/26806683/inhofe-calls-for-travel-ban-amid-ebola-outbreak)

A medical provider from the Dallas hospital in the group being monitored hopped on a cruise ship and local authorities aren't allowing her to step foot on shore to be air lifted back to the US. She's quarantined in her cabin with her partner. She isn't showing symptoms and 19 days have passed since she handled a specimen. The chances of her being sick are very, very low but still... If you are in a group deemed appropriate to monitor, WTH are you doing going on a cruise????

I honestly don't understand how people can be so frickin' stupid/self centered. The costs to the cruise line and the impact on their fellow travelers is high. Just a great situation for people who planned on an exciting vacation and some twit decided she would, too. Yes, unlikely that she is infected, thank goodness. But she is STILL deemed appropriate for monitoring. This sort of arrogant and self centered behavior is why it is so difficult to contain these things. Makes you lose faith in the judgment of medical "professionals" when they are making decisions for themselves, even if it could kill other people (or ruin their vacation) or make businesses take a huge hit.

The argument that she was very low risk is insane and irrelevant. If the cruise ship used the same logic of the passenger, they'd let her go her merry way and be held grossly negligent if someone got sick. Or, alternatively, if word got out that they let someone like that wander around, their business would tank even if the passenger wasn't infected.

I repeat what I said, above - Chinese fire drill.

DHS Started Expediting Visa Extensions from Ebola Countries in August
DHS Started Expediting Visa Extensions from Ebola Countries in August (http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/10/17/DHS-Started-Expediting-Visa-Extensions-From-Ebola-Countries-in-August)

AUSTIN, Texas -- As Ebola continued to ravage communities in West Africa this summer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced "immigration relief measures" for citizens of three countries affected by the deadly virus.

Yay for living in flyover country. Good for DHS strip searching granny trying to go visit family and bringing in folks from Africa. Need to settle them in Washington D.C.

Yay for living in flyover country. Good for DHS strip searching granny trying to go visit family and bringing in folks from Africa. Need to settle them in Washington D.C.

Mel,
That's a terrible thing to say, I just wish I'd thought of it.
C. T.

The WHO fears it could see between 5,000 and 10,000 new cases reported a week by the beginning of December; that is, as many cases each week as have been seen in the entire outbreak up to this point.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-ebola-crisis-much-worse-to-come-2014-10#ixzz3GWz9Aqli

http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/544185f5ecad04971c2b8274-1190-1006/20141018_wom455.png

- http://www.businessinsider.com/the-ebola-crisis-much-worse-to-come-2014-10?utm_content=buffere7ff4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Shepard Smith: 'Do Not Listen To The Hysterical Voices' In The Media About Ebola (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/15/shepard-smith-ebola_n_5992510.html)

Shepard Smith: 'Do Not Listen To The Hysterical Voices' In The Media About Ebola (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/15/shepard-smith-ebola_n_5992510.html)

This part nails it perfectly...


The Fox News host emphasized that political gamesmanship is skewing media coverage. "With midterm elections coming, the party in charge needs to appear to be effectively leading. The party out of power needs to show that there is a lack of leadership," said Smith.

This whole Ebola mess has gone overboard. Seems like everyone here in central Texas is freaking out about something they don't got. I first and foremost blame the Dallas Presbyterian Hospital, in which they did not follow protocol. 2nd I can say the nurse who flew back from Cleveland to Dallas known better before she boarded the flight. Might I add all the news hype doesn't make it any better, all they care about is ratings. That's why they love scaring the public and that's why I don't watch news anymore.

Ebola news seems to be more than a tad overstated.

What may scare me more is the E-bolo outbreak, with free shipping no less.
Large Southwestern Sterling Silver Hypnotic Turquoise Cluster Bolo Tie items in The Seymour Gallery store on eBay! (http://stores.ebay.com/The-Seymour-Gallery/Bolo-Ties-/_i.html?_fsub=6687024018)

Happily, the cruise passenger (turned out to male) doesn't have ebola. Ruined a lot of vacations for a lot of people but at least the ship line should rebound faster.

Happily, the cruise passenger (turned out to male) doesn't have ebola. Ruined a lot of vacations for a lot of people but at least the ship line should rebound faster.

Just got this from Moore Schools:

Good Evening,
Moore Schools has been made aware that there were staff members, as well as, students on the same cruise as the lab technician who worked with the Ebola patient in Texas.
Erring on the side of caution, those employees will not report to work until the District can confirm that the lab technician has been cleared and there is no medical threat.
We have been able to identify some of our students who were on the cruise. They will also be kept out of school and not allowed to attend school activities until there is no medical threat as determined by the CDC. Tonight I am asking that that If you have a student who was on the cruise, please keep him or her out of school until further notice and notify your school’s attendance office.
Our hope is that we will have the “all clear” by late afternoon on Tuesday, October 21st.
For more details, go to Moore Public Schools / Overview (http://www.mooreschools.com) under the Superindent's Message or see the district’s facebook or twitter pages

Just got this from Moore Schools:

Good Evening,
Moore Schools has been made aware that there were staff members, as well as, students on the same cruise as the lab technician who worked with the Ebola patient in Texas.
Erring on the side of caution, those employees will not report to work until the District can confirm that the lab technician has been cleared and there is no medical threat.
We have been able to identify some of our students who were on the cruise. They will also be kept out of school and not allowed to attend school activities until there is no medical threat as determined by the CDC. Tonight I am asking that that If you have a student who was on the cruise, please keep him or her out of school until further notice and notify your school’s attendance office.
Our hope is that we will have the “all clear” by late afternoon on Tuesday, October 21st.
For more details, go to Moore Public Schools / Overview (http://www.mooreschools.com) under the Superindent's Message or see the district’s facebook or twitter pages

So they've been cleared, but not cleared enough? This is the hysteria fed by the news cycle, not rational decision making.

It is a lot easier to catch Ebola than what some here are claiming. It can last on a dry surface for up to two hours I read. Do you know how many people rub their eyes, sneeze, cough, wipe the back of their neck or front of cheek? Everyone. If that's the case, perhaps it's better to be safer than sorry. I'd rather see the school overreact a bit than say we're sorry we let the disease loose by not taking precautions.

The hysteria continues. Someone told me yesterday the he would refuse to fly if it required a connection in Dallas.

CDC to revise Ebola protocol, Pentagon preps team - Tulsa World: National (http://www.tulsaworld.com/ap/national/cdc-to-revise-ebola-protocol-pentagon-preps-team/article_3a457f6b-4b91-5cfa-981b-687870441fdc.html)

It is a lot easier to catch Ebola than what some here are claiming. It can last on a dry surface for up to two hours I read. Do you know how many people rub their eyes, sneeze, cough, wipe the back of their neck or front of cheek? Everyone. If that's the case, perhaps it's better to be safer than sorry. I'd rather see the school overreact a bit than say we're sorry we let the disease loose by not taking precautions.

It's so easy to catch that the index patients family has apparently not caught it, nor has the ambulance crew that took him to the hospital, nor the people on his flights, nor more of the numerous medical staff that took care of him, nor other hospital patients and staff. Yes, it's so easy to catch.

Some people are over reacting. So what? We are finding our way and better over reaction than under reaction, given the stakes. Assuming that a rational people will behave within a narrowly defined band of "appropriate" behavior and that anything outside the ban is "panic" on one end, or "recklessness" on the orher is just an arbitrary and unnecessary attitude.

If people want to worry, let them. If they are over reacting, time will correct this. We are going to have to work through a period of rebuilding trust in the the authorities because they over promised and the hospital simply didn't deliver the way we were told by our governmental leaders they would. The word coming is that the hospital used protocols appropriate in the field but not in an intensive care situation (with iv's cathetors, etc.). It was a fundamental error and they've admitted that. We've had the CDC clear the second nurse to fly on commercial flights and that is mind boggling.

To say passengers are being too cautious, to me, is missing the points. First, it is absolutely none of our business if someone wants to be ultra cautious - even irrational to our way of thinking. It doesn't hurt anyone and seems a bit mean spirited to judge them. I would much rather sit next to someone who is wrapped in a plastic bubble than the second nurse. But when I'm not sitting next to the one in the bubble, what do I care? Unlike the nurse, that person isn't doing anything that is even potentially hurtful.

The second point is that the medical authorities and government have over promised and trust is deeply compromised. There is absolutely nothing wrong with questioning authorities who have already blown it and trying to comtrol the reactions of others through ridicule and shame is just odd. Eventually, as we learn more about this, it will sort itself out. The panicky screams of EVERYONE IS PANICKING!! Is not helpful. When we start jumping off buildings, we're panicking. If we are concerned and being overly cautious, that is our business.

This is new in this country. I am personally relieved now that the family living with that first patient seem like they are going to be okay. Getting a few stories like that will calm everyone down. Demanding that people accept a certain reality at this stage of the game is an uphill battle. Don't worry about it until and unless people continue to believe certain against the evidence presented. If no one gets sick from the traveling nurse or the ambulance, etc., people will calm down without a lecture. And if they want to continue to be very cautious in their own behavior, why is that our business? Short of an expert in the field we are getting our information from people who have blown it, repeatedly. They may be giving us good info but some aren't going to take their word for it. I certainly don't think they would hesitate to lie to our face to try to control panic. Because of that, I am trying to understand this through other ways.

Some people are over reacting. So what? We are finding our way and better over reaction than under reaction, given the stakes. Assuming that a rational people will behave within a narrowly defined band of "appropriate" behavior and that anything outside the ban is "panic" on one end, or "recklessness" on the orher is just an arbitrary and unnecessary attitude.

If people want to worry, let them. If they are over reacting, time will correct this. We are going to have to work through a period of rebuilding trust in the the authorities because they over promised and the hospital simply didn't deliver the way we were told by our governmental leaders they would. The word coming is that the hospital used protocols appropriate in the field but not in an intensive care situation (with iv's cathetors, etc.). It was a fundamental error and they've admitted that. We've had the CDC clear the second nurse to fly on commercial flights and that is mind boggling.

To say passengers are being too cautious, to me, is missing the points. First, it is absolutely none of our business if someone wants to be ultra cautious - even irrational to our way of thinking. It doesn't hurt anyone and seems a bit mean spirited to judge them. I would much rather sit next to someone who is wrapped in a plastic bubble than the second nurse. But when I'm not sitting next to the one in the bubble, what do I care? Unlike the nurse, that person isn't doing anything that is even potentially hurtful.

The second point is that the medical authorities and government have over promised and trust is deeply compromised. There is absolutely nothing wrong with questioning authorities who have already blown it and trying to comtrol the reactions of others through ridicule and shame is just odd. Eventually, as we learn more about this, it will sort itself out. The panicky screams of EVERYONE IS PANICKING!! Is not helpful. When we start jumping off buildings, we're panicking. If we are concerned and being overly cautious, that is our business.

PQ. if you're responding to my post please note that I didn't say that I was judging the person I mentioned. He is a customer of mine and I would never do that. I am entitled to have a personal opinion about it though. My thought about it was that even if a person didn't make a flight connection in Dallas he likely would have no way of knowing if a plane he was on had been to Dallas previously or if a person on his flight had been to or from Dallas recently. I wouldn't say that to him and I will certainly follow his wishes without a comment to him. Sometimes you like to pile on or jump on some comment just to be contrary.

F
PQ. if you're responding to my post please note that I didn't say that I was judging the person I mentioned. He is a customer of mine and I would never do that. I am entitled to have a personal opinion about it though. My thought about it was that even if a person didn't make a flight connection in Dallas he likely would have no way of knowing if a plane he was on had been to Dallas previously or if a person on his flight had been to or from Dallas recently. I wouldn't say that to him and I will certainly follow his wishes without a comment to him. Sometimes you like to pile on or jump on some comment just to be contrary.
No, I wasn't responding to to your comment and I also don't think telling everyone to settle down constitutes "piling on." My comment was in response to the sarcastic and belittling tone in the previous message. We all know, if we are honest, that there is a large group of people sneering at their more fearful neighbors. Not helpful. Not respectful. Not remotely appropriate. Sharing information is one thing. Shaming is another.

Tried to put together what's going on with the nurse/tech/Moore Schools situation as best I can:

A lab technician/nurse who handled specimens from the original Ebola patient (Duncan) boarded the subject cruise ship on 12 Oct. Upon hearing about the secondary infection of one of the direct care nurses, she and her husband chose to self-quarantine - even knowing she had handled only a sealed specimen container (presumably blood?) and that (presumably) only with proper lab protections. The chance of her, or her husband, catching the disease are/were almost vanishingly small, albeit non-zero. There were apparently one or two families with members employed by and children attending Moore Schools on board that same boat.

Upon their return over the weekend, they were both tested, and both have tested negative for Ebola. The CDC is now performing confirmation testing, and I presume that's what the Moore superintendent (Romines) is awaiting before allowing the staffers or students to return to school.

Considering these boats house thousands of people (depending upon the boat), the chances of either of them even passing one of them within five feet down a corridor is probably at best 1:100, let alone the chances of coming into contact that would meet what's been described as the threshold of a potentially infectious contact with body fluids. And if neither of the two passengers of concern are shedding any virus as the tests would indicate, one would be hard pressed to know how they could possibly infect anyone else.

The response may fall into the extreme category, but if a couple of days of waiting allows for a final confirmation from the CDC about their status, it's a cheap insurance policy in my book.

The hysteria continues. Someone told me yesterday the he would refuse to fly if it required a connection in Dallas.

I think its one thing to be "safe than sorry" but yes I agree it has turned into total hysteria. I've heard multiple stories of people connecting in DFW and Love walking around with surgical masks.

People's lives are being ruined over this. I heard a story of a teacher in Maine who was told to stay home for 3 weeks because she merely stepped foot in Dallas. She had no contact with anyone from the hospital and was just at a convention at the Hilton Anatole (that's 12 miles away from Presby) but some of the busybody parents found out and they freaked out to the district.

I am in Dallas and frankly, I've been pleasantly surprised at the attitudes here...vigalant but calm. Can't say that for the rest of this paranoid nation. Wasn't it just 3 weeks ago everyone was worried that ISIS was going to sneak into this country and start beheading people? The US has the attention span of a 9 year old with ADHD, so once this "outbreak" is over I am sure we will certainly find some new thing to be outraged about.

This may be the dumbest bit of media-fueled hysteria ever, and that's saying something.

People's lives are being ruined over this. I heard a story of a teacher in Maine who was told to stay home for 3 weeks because she merely stepped foot in Dallas.

Wow. On the one hand, you have to put yourself in those geographic shoes at least for a second. Just notionally, if we here in OK had heard that the first Ebola case had been in Maine, then heard that someone had been in Maine, it'd at least make you blink twice. You'd think about it. You'd make that mental connection, no matter how improbable or impossible the real risk would be. Now, hopefully, the rational side of your head would take over, and you'd filter out the facts from the nerves, but obviously not so much in this case.

And that's where I think the long-term deterioration of media is really crippling the dissemination of facts. If you rewind this situation to, say, 20 or 30 years ago, I think facts would have had a much better chance of getting out rather than hysteria. But the media is so hype-drive, so social-media driven, so be-the-first-to-get-it-out-there driven, facts have little chance in light of appealing to emotions.

Same kind of thing happened in Dallas this weekend. Supposedly, someone got sick at a DART (train) station. Somehow, that got translated into "someone on the Ebola watch list" got sick at a DART station, which translated to hazmat, which all in varying degrees got retweeted and spun out...all until (finally) cooler heads prevailed, and the right info got out..the individual had *nothing* to do with any watch lists, did not have Ebola, he just had the misfortune of having an upset stomach at a DART station. And it went nuclear.

I was in Dallas for OU-TX weekend, and in honesty when all the Ebola business broke I had at least a fraction of hesitation about it. I tried to educate myself about what was real and what wasn't, went and had a fun time. But the fear of this hideous beast is a powerful thing, and I have a hard time blaming folks for having that fear, but those same people have a responsibility to do some due-diligence and read about what's real, and what's hype. Today's media, particularly social media, is arguably the *worst* place to make that distinction.

Belton ISD in Central Texas temporarily closed three of its campuses Thursday after Learning that two of its students traveled Monday on the same Cleveland-to-Dallas Frontier Airlines flight as nurse Amber Joy Vinson, whose Ebola diagnosis was announced by health offiicals early Wednesday.

This may be the dumbest bit of media-fueled hysteria ever, and that's saying something.

I still think the "shark attack craze" of the summer of 98 has it beat.

I still think the "shark attack craze" of the summer of 98 has it beat.

Sharknado?

None will be better then an Ebola SWAT team. I know this because the man behind the curtain told me so.....

Alarm after vomiting passenger dies on flight from Nigeria to JFK | New York Post (http://nypost.com/2014/10/16/alarm-after-vomiting-passenger-dies-on-flight-from-nigeria-to-jfk/)

All the teabagger types are going to hoot and say this means we need to ban travelers from ebola-infected African countries and direct flights need to stop immediately.

Thankfully our knowledgeable president has more wisdom than your typical Tea Party yahoo and will not stop flights. Ebola has to be contained in West Africa, and we can't do that if we ban travel from there.


There are more Ebola infections in the United States than there are in Nigera, as in Nigeria doesn't have any infected people. Maybe they should block our flights?

And there are NO flights to the US from the infected countries to block. Our infected man flew to the US from Belgium.

Nn
I think its one thing to be "safe than sorry" but yes I agree it has turned into total hysteria. I've heard multiple stories of people connecting in DFW and Love walking around with surgical masks.

People's lives are being ruined over this. I heard a story of a teacher in Maine who was told to stay home for 3 weeks because she merely stepped foot in Dallas. She had no contact with anyone from the hospital and was just at a convention at the Hilton Anatole (that's 12 miles away from Presby) but some of the busybody parents found out and they freaked out to the district.

I am in Dallas and frankly, I've been pleasantly surprised at the attitudes here...vigalant but calm. Can't say that for the rest of this paranoid nation. Wasn't it just 3 weeks ago everyone was worried that ISIS was going to sneak into this country and start beheading people? The US has the attention span of a 9 year old with ADHD, so once this "outbreak" is over I am sure we will certainly find some new thing to be outraged about.

Wait. You think the woman has had her life ruined by being told to stay home for 21 days?????

Nn

Wait. You think the woman has had her life ruined by being told to stay home for 21 days?????I'm sure she is getting paid. I don't think her life is ruined.

I'm sure she is getting paid. I don't think her life is ruined.

No, her life isn't ruined. But that doesn't change the fact that sending her home because she visited Dallas was incredibly moronic.

No, her life isn't ruined. But that doesn't change the fact that sending her home because she visited Dallas was incredibly moronic.
The hyperbole in a post complaining about overreaction was ironically amusing.

The hyperbole in a post complaining about overreaction was ironically amusing.


It wasn't my post.


Now please note that my saying the decision to send her home for traveling through DFC was "incredibly moronic" is not hyperbole at all, it's exactly what that decision is.

Nigeria declared Ebola-free; 'spectacular success' (http://news.yahoo.com/nigerias-ebola-outbreak-officially-over-104227798.html)