There doesn't seem to be much concern domestically for what has been evolving in W. Africa. This is likely due to the fact that most of the information available indicates that Ebola requires either direct contact or exchange of bodily fluids, mitigating its vectors for infection. That, combined with the vast expanses of ocean between the US and the effected African locations, and the chances for infection are virtually nil. Seems that this "direct contact" premise is not necessarily true based on a 2012 study referenced in a
BBC Article. One of the scientists involved is Dr Gary Kobinger from the National Microbiology Laboratory at the Public Health Agency of Canada. He told BBC News this was the most likely route of the infection.
"What we suspect is happening is large droplets - they can stay in the air, but not long, they don't go far," he explained.
"But they can be absorbed in the airway and this is how the infection starts, and this is what we think, because we saw a lot of evidence in the lungs of the non-human primates that the virus got in that way."Seems the Ebola virus, with a handful of known strains, is mutating as viruses do, giving rise to a
new strain and an
unprecedented epidemic in Guinea.
So, who would authorize two people infected with Ebola to be
transported across that vast expanse of ocean to the US for treatment rather than setting up a suitable treatment facility where they are? Will the health care professionals that staff the designated facility be quarantined as well, or will they go out for lunch and home at the end of their day? Who is in breach of Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S. Code § 264), whereby the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to take measures to prevent the entry and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States and between states?
In 1989 & 1990 there was the really stupid case of importing research monkeys from the Philippines, a known source of Ebola. They were held in a quarantine facility in Reston, VA for the requisite 30 days. "Funny" thing was that they had no direct contact, and they were not all in the same room when they began to succumb to what was later identified as the new
Ebola-Reston strain. Also found some news and agency sources that are stating that city's with international airports are quietly establishing quarantine centers. Could that be the reason for the cited importation? That they want to know what they're up against?
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