Ebola Friday October the 3rd 2014.
The Pandemic’s First Casualty — The Truth
Truth succumbed to Continuity of Government, Continuity of Career
by Infowars.com | October 3, 2014The government lies about risks, about border control and immigration, about preparedness and even about how Ebola is transmitted.
PRESIDENT EBOLA: In 2010 Obama Administration Scrapped CDC Quarantine Regulations Aimed At Ebola
12:11 AM 10/03/2014
In October 2014, the first patient on American soil infected with the Ebola virus sits in isolation in a Texas hospital, prompting calls for travel restrictions between the United States and Ebola-stricken countries.
Meanwhile, four years ago, the administration of President Barack Obama moved with virtually no fanfare to abandon a comprehensive set of regulations which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had called essential to preventing international travelers from spreading deadly diseases inside the United States.
The CDC had proposed the regulations in 2005 under the administration of George W. Bush, reported USA Today in 2010. The original impetus for the regulations was fear that avian flu would spread unchecked.
The regulations proposed under the Bush administration would have granted the federal government a power of “provisional quarantine” to confine airline passengers involuntarily for up to three days if they exhibit symptoms of certain infectious diseases. Federal officials would also have been able to quarantine passengers exposed to people with those symptoms.
There was a fairly long list of diseases. It included smallpox, yellow fever, diphtheria, pandemic flu, infectious tuberculosis, cholera — and viral fevers such as Ebola.
Before the Obama administration withdrew the proposed new rules, CDC officials had emphasized that they would only invoke the involuntary “provisional quarantine” when someone exhibiting a set of symptoms refused to work with federal officials voluntarily.
The proposed rules also would have compelled airlines to inform the CDC about sick passengers and to maintain contact information about all fliers in case the CDC and other federal agencies need to investigate a serious disease outbreak.
Airline lobbyists vehemently opposed the regulations. It would be too expensive, they said.
“We think that the CDC was right to withdraw the proposed rule,” Air Transport Association spokeswoman Elizabeth Merida told USA Today in March 2010. Merida also called the regulations “unprecedented” in terms of cost and red tape.
Civil liberties advocates also strongly opposed the CDC regulations.
“The fact that they’re backing away from this very coercive style of quarantine is good news,” ACLU legislative counsel Christopher Calabrese said in 2010, according to USA Today.
Other critics suggested that air travel regulations make no difference concerning disease outbreaks.
“They probably learned during H1N1 that this hope of preventing diseases from entering the country by stationing people at airports is unrealistic,” Jennifer Nuzzo of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center told the newspaper.
The H1N1 flu virus caused a worldwide pandemic in 2009.
The first man in the United States to be diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus is Thomas Eric Duncan. He picked up the virus after traveling to Liberia in September.
The State Department has dismissed calls for restricting travel from West Africa.
“I don’t believe that’s something we’re considering,” a Foggy Bottom spokeswoman said this week, according to The Washington Times.
Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, among others, has a called for such restrictions. Grayson, one of the earliest proponents for federal action on Ebola, wants a 90-day ban on travel from countries where the virus has broken out.
Other critics of the tepid Obama administration response have warned of “Ebola tourism.” The concern, as the Times explains, is that people will become infected with Ebola and come to the United States seeking its exceptional level of medical care.
Report: Liberians Flood Airport Attempting to Flee Ebola-Struck Country
Africans infected with Ebola may be trying to seek treatment in U.S., other countries
by Kit Daniels | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014
Liberians are apparently flooding Roberts International Airport in Harbel, Liberia, in an attempt to flee the Ebola-struck country, raising fears that more people infected with Ebola will fly into America.
Thomas Eric Duncan, the 40-year-old Liberian national who was diagnosed with Ebola a few days after arriving in Dallas, Texas, may have started a trend of “Ebola tourism” in which Liberians leave their country to seek better treatment for the disease.
“That’s not something we should be encouraging or allowing,” Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Times.
Overall, around 200,000 people from the West African countries hit hardest by Ebola hold temporary visas to the U.S., but the Obama administration has rejected calls to enact a visa ban.
“Based on State Department nonimmigrant visa issuance statistics, I estimate that there are about 5,000 people in Guinea, 5,000 people in Sierra Leone, and 3,500 people in Liberia who possess visas to come to the United States today,” Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Washington Examiner.
Temporary visas given to Nigerians have recently skyrocketed, with nearly 195,000 Nigerians currently holding visas, she added.
The Obama administration has similarly refused to impose a ban on travel from the Ebola hot zone into the U.S., despite pressure from a Florida Democrat and the fact that other countries have enacted similar bans.
Back in July, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) suggested the State Dept. ban citizens from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone from entering the U.S. and foreign travelers who have visited those countries in the previous 90 days.
Grayson grew concerned after an American who contracted Ebola in Liberia died in Nigeria after flying into the country through an international airport.
“This latest case is particularly troubling because Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, is the third busiest airport in Africa, and it offers direct flights to the United States,” Grayson wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry. “I urge you to consider the enhanced danger Ebola now presents to the American public, and therefore request that appropriate travel restrictions be implemented immediately.”
The administration ignored Grayson’s plea but, in contrast, British Airways, Air France, Korean Air and Kenya Airways decided to suspend flights to the Ebola hot zone in August.
“If [the Obama administration] instituted the travel ban when Alan Grayson, of all people, demanded it, [Duncan] wouldn’t be here,” Krikorian added.
Ebola Patient’s Family Under Armed Quarantine
Disobeyed request from authorities not to leave home
Image Credits: Facebook
by Steve Watson | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014The family of Thomas Duncan, the Dallas man diagnosed with Ebola, are now under armed guard, quarantined in their home, following an attempt to breach the restrictions and leave the apartment building, reports the AP.
“We didn’t have the confidence we would have been able to monitor them the way that we needed to,” Texas State Health Commissioner David Lakey said when asked about the controversial control order.
Those under armed guard include a woman identified as Louise Troh, thought to be in a relationship with Duncan, a 13-year-old boy, said to be the woman’s son, and two nephews in their 20s.
The family were ordered by state health officials Wednesday to stay in their apartment for 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola. However, it seems that the family are not keen to comply.
“Who wants to be locked up?” miss Troh, told the AP.
“I’m not sick with Ebola,” she informed CNN in an interview, adding that she wanted “for [health officials] to leave me alone, leave my kids alone.”
The AP also reports that the family are due to be moved from the apartment so it can be decontaminated, a process that has still not been carried out, days after the diagnosis was made.
Troh told the AP that there are still towels and sheets in the apartment that were used by Duncan while he was there.
Officials have not made it clear where the family is to be moved to. An attempt to clean the apartment was thought to have been made Thursday night, but did not occur as proper permits had not been obtained.
On Thursday, it also emerged that five members of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department who were briefly inside the apartment have been temporarily put on leave.
According to reports, the officers were forced to enter the apartment on the orders of Sheriff Lupe Valdez in an effort to get the family to sign a court order forbidding them from leaving the building.
Patient Being Evaluated for Possible Ebola at D.C.'s Howard University Hospital
Patient had traveled to Nigeria recently; is being isolated
Howard University Hospital is evaluating a patient for Ebola. Meanwhile, at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, a patient is in isolation with "flu-like symptoms and a travel history that matches criteria for possible Ebola." News4's Derrick Ward reports.
Friday, Oct 3, 2014 • Updated at 5:43 PM EDT
A patient is being evaluated for Ebola at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., a hospital spokesperson confirmed Friday.
That person has been admitted to the hospital in stable condition and is isolated. The medical team is working with the CDC and other authorities to monitor the patient's condition.
"In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient," said hospital spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton in a statement. "Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health."
Hamilton did not share further details about the patient, citing privacy reasons, but said the hospital will provide updates as warranted.
In a White House briefing Friday, Sylvia Burwell, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said of the Howard case, "What you see are people taking precautions."
The D.C. Department of Health released a statement shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, saying that the department has been working with the CDC and Howard University Hospital to monitor "any patients displaying symptoms associated with the Ebola virus."
There are no confirmed cases of Ebola in D.C., said the statement.
Meanwhile, at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, a patient is in isolation with "flu-like symptoms and a travel history that matches criteria for possible Ebola," according to a statement from the hospital. Lab results indicate the patient has another illness, though the patient's Ebola status is not known.
"We are working closely with the Montgomery County Health Department and State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) as well as the CDC to manage this case and to ensure we continue to be prepared to care for patients with Ebola symptoms," the statement said.
“We will only be making an announcement if and when there is a laboratory confirmed case, and that announcement would be made in conjunction with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the CDC,” Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Mary Anderson said.
U.S. officials said at the White House briefing Friday that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was not just an international health crisis but a national security priority.
The health systems of some West African countries are "inadequate" and not capable of stemming the outbreak that they face, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, who runs the infectious disease division of the National Institutes of Health. But, he said, the U.S. system is able to handle any cases of Ebola that emerge safely.
Between July 27 and Oct. 1, there have been 100 consultations between the CDC, state and local health departments, and healthcare providers regarding persons suspected of Ebola, according to a CDC spokesperson. Only 15 warranted testing by CDC or one of the labs certified to do Ebola testing because they met the profile and symptoms were consistent.
Fourteen labs in the U.S. can test for Ebola, and most will still send a sample to the CDC for confirmation.
So far, only one of those 15 cases tested by the CDC has tested positive for Ebola.
Ebola is contagious only when infected people are showing symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who have been exposed to Ebola will show signs of it within 21 days of exposure, the CDC said.
"There is no risk to people who have been in contact with those who have been sick with Ebola and recovered, or people who have been exposed and have not yet shown symptoms," said Dr. Thomas Frieden of the CDC.
On Tuesday, the CDC confirmed the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed in the United States. The patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, flew from his hometown of Monrovia, Liberia, and through Brussels, Belgium on Sept. 20 before entering the United States via Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He then traveled on to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Duncan, a Liberian man with family in the United States, first went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Sept. 25 but was sent home. He returned to the hospital via ambulance Sunday.
On Friday, he was listed in serious but stable condition.
Thursday, news broke that a freelance NBC cameraman covering the outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia had tested positive for Ebola after experiencing symptoms of the disease.
The cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, had been working with chief medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman. NBC News is flying Mukpo and the entire team back to the U.S. so Mukpo can be treated and the team can be quarantined for 21 days.
Snyderman told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that she and the rest of her crew have shown no signs of the disease and have taken precautions while covering the outbreak, including washing their hands with bleach.
The crew are quarantining themselves as a precautions
Dallas Schools to Install Remote Temperature Monitors to Detect Ebola
Five schools to be monitored until further notice
by Mikael Thalen | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014
Five schools in Dallas are set to install remote temperature monitors in order to detect fevers among students as the fear of an Ebola outbreak spreads among residents.
Produced by Wello Inc., the “WelloStation” devices will provide “fever surveillance” detection in order to alert school faculty to possible fluctuations in body temperatures according to the company’s website.
“The WelloStation measures your body’s core temperature using a patented, non-contact and non-invasive process,” the product description reads. “An elevated body temperature is the number one indicator of infection. WelloStation quickly screens for fevered individuals so you can either prevent them from entering or perform additional medical checks.”
The announcement follows more than a week of countless fumbles by local and federal authorities as suspected Ebola cases begin popping up across the country.
Law enforcement officers were outraged Thursday after finding out that five unprotected employees with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department were ordered to enter the apartment of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan to present his quarantined family with a court order barring them from leaving their home.
Later that day, Americans were shocked to find an unprotected cleaning crew using pressure washers to blast potentially tainted vomit off the sidewalk outside of the Ebola patient’s home.
Texas health officials also admitted Thursday that the apartment had not yet been cleaned despite protocol. A Hazmat crew finally called out to the scene more than three days after the initial prognosis was delayed further after being ordered to obtain a permit in order to clean the apartment.
A growing number of experts including the United Nations’ Ebola response chief and professors at the University of Illinois are warning that the current situation could spiral out of control if federal authorities do not begin taking more drastic measures.
Missouri Doctor: ‘It’s Just A Matter Of Time Before [Ebola] Is Carried To Every Corner Of The World’
October 3, 2014 12:26 PM
In this handout from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a Ebola virus virion is seen. (Photo by Center for Disease Control (CDC) via Getty Images)
Dom Giordano
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Dom Giordano talked with Dr. Gil Mobley, who believes the CDC is lying about the threat posed by Ebola and staged a protest at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to expose it.
Mobley, a doctor in Missouri, is convinced that Ebola will soon be infecting people all over the globe.
“For months, doctors in my community — since we had a meeting six weeks ago — have been convinced that the United States will be importing clusters regularly. Right now, on the continent of West Africa, there are a million people in isolation, in quarantine, because of Ebola, and ten thousand passengers leave West Africa every single day. It’s just a matter of time before this disease is carried to every corner of the world.”
READ: University Of Pennsylvania Alum Dr. Nancy Snyderman Quarantined Over Ebola
He insists the CDC is underplaying the threat posed by the disease and is intentionally misleading the public.
“They said the chance of importing a cluster — just two weeks ago — was extremely small, yet we knew that it was a sure thing. And the very same day that the President echoed [Director Tom] Frieden’s sentiment at the CDC that it’s very small, that very same day, they made the misdiagnoses in Dallas and sent this infectious guy home to infect these other people.”
READ: NJ Man Accused Of Shooting Down Neighbor’s Remote Control Drone
Mobley said it is inevitable that an Ebola crisis will break out in the United States.
“That disease is going to consume every third world country on the planet, and then we will be importing these clusters on a regular basis. I have no question that we will be able to stomp out this cluster in Dallas, but what happens when it happens on a weekly basis? Already the Dallas Health Department is overwhelmed; they’re flying people to Atlanta. I don’t care how advanced any industrialized nation is, there is a threshold where we will outstretch the resources and it becomes uncontrolled.”
Doctor Dons Ebola Protection Suit to Protest CDC
Microbiologist calls out CDC lies
by Infowars.com | October 3, 2014Two days after a man in Texas was diagnosed with Ebola, a Missouri doctor Thursday morning showed up at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport dressed in protective gear to protest what he called mismanagement of the crisis by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Patient being tested for Ebola, other illnesses at Toronto hospital
Doctors at Toronto General Hospital are testing a patient for Ebola, but as Austin Delaney explains, they believe the risk is extremely low.
As a precautionary measure, one person is being held in isolation in Toronto and tested for Ebola. Meghan Furman has the latest.
CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Thursday, October 2, 2014 8:27PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, October 3, 2014 3:08PM EDT
A patient hospitalized at Toronto General Hospital with a fever is in isolation and is being tested for Ebola as a precautionary measure, health officials confirmed on Thursday.
Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infection prevention and control at the University Health Network in Toronto, confirmed the patient recently travelled to Nigeria. While Nigeria hasn’t had a case of Ebola for over 21 days, it is currently listed among the West African countries that have had outbreaks.
“Whenever we see somebody who fits the screening criteria, and those are essentially someone who comes from a country that’s on the outbreak list and has a fever, then we are going to screen them for Ebola virus,” Gardam told CP24 News in a phone interview.
This undated photo made available by the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, shows the Ebola virus viewed through an electron microscope.
Gardam stressed it is "exceedingly unlikely" that the patient has Ebola. But the hospital must test as a matter of protocol. "The way the protocols go, if you decide to test, you really have to treat them as if they have Ebola up until the point that test comes back negative," he said.
He added that Nigeria and Senegal are West African countries that have had small numbers of Ebola cases earlier on in the outbreak, but haven't had ones recently and are about to "fall off" the outbreak list.
In an earlier email statement, the University Health Network said Ebola is one of "several diagnoses being considered at this point" for the patient. Toronto General Hospital is one of the four partner hospitals within the network.
Meanwhile, the patient is in isolation and staff caring for the patient are using protective equipment.The health network did not provide any details about the patient.
Test results are expected to be available in the next 24 hours.
Ebola strikes fourth American in Liberia
NBC freelancer in Africa diagnosed with Ebola
Monrovia (AFP) - A US television network prepared Friday to evacuate a cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia, as the UN’s pointman flew to Sierra Leone, calling the epidemic the world’s "highest priority".
Ashoka Mukpo, 33, who was working as a freelancer for NBC news, discovered he was running a fever on Wednesday, his network said, and is in quarantine in a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treatment centre.
Hired by NBC only three days ago, he is the fourth American to contract Ebola in Liberia.
"The doctors are optimistic about his prognosis," Mukpo's father Mitchell Levy said in a message to family and friends quoted by NBC, adding that his son had worked on humanitarian projects in Liberia for several years.
By far the most deadly epidemic of Ebola on record has spread into five west African countries since the start of the year, infecting more than 7,000 people and killing about half of them.
The virus, spread through infected bodily fluids, can only be transmitted when a patient is experiencing the symptoms -- severe fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, massive internal haemorrhaging and external bleeding
Liberian Red Cross staff search for people who have died from Ebola, in Monrovia on October 3, 2014 …
Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Mission on Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), travelled to Sierra Leone on Friday for the second leg of a tour of the three hardest-hit nations.
"The only way we will end this crisis is if we end every single last case of Ebola so there is no more risk of transmission to anyone, and when that's accomplished, UNMEER will go home," he told journalists on Thursday in the Liberian capital Freetown.
The UN envoy said he was intent on contributing to "the highest priority for the international community -- for the whole world, not just the United Nations".
The World Health Organization said in its latest situation update there was still a "significant shortfall" in capacity in west Africa, with 1,500 more beds needed in Liberia and 450 in Sierra Leone.
Around 160 health professionals pledged by Cuba to Sierra Leone arrived Thursday, reported an AFP correspondent at the airport near Freetown. Britain has pledged £120 million ($190 million, 150 million euros) to help build an estimated 700 treatment beds, fund new community treatment centres, support existing public health services and support aid agencies in Sierra Leone.
Medical staff wearing protective clothes transport an Ebola patient to the isolation ward at the Uni …
-'Unpardonable' traveler -
meanwhile were monitoring 100 people in Texas who had potential contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian diagnosed with Ebola. Four family members were also ordered to stay home.
The man -- the first person to be confirmed with the deadly disease on US soil -- flew from Liberia and arrived in Texas on September 20 to visit family.
He was in contact with a known Ebola patient in Liberia, according to US media reports.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said Friday he had behaved irresponsibly by travelling despite knowing he was potentially infected.
Hospital staff build new units to treat Ebola on October 1, 2014 in Monrovia (AFP Photo/Pascal Guyot …
"The fact that he knew and he left the country is unpardonable," Sirleaf told Canada's public broadcaster CBC.
Meanwhile NBC News president Deborah Turness said the crew working with Mupko in Liberia were being closely monitored but were showing no symptoms.
"However, in an abundance of caution, we will fly them back on a private charter flight and then they will place themselves under quarantine in the United States for 21 days -- which is at the most conservative end of the spectrum of medical guidance," she added.
The camerman is thought to be the first Western journalist to contract Ebola covering the west African outbreak, although several have died in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Germany said on Friday a Ugandan doctor who had contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone while working for an Italian non-governmental organisation had been hospitalised in Frankfurt, the second Ebola patient to be treated in the country.
- 'Five infected every hour' -
Save the Children warned that five people are being infected with Ebola every hour in Sierra Leone and demand for treatment beds is far outstripping supply.
If the current "terrifying" rate of infection continues, 10 people will be infected every hour with the virus in Sierra Leone by the end of October, the London-based charity warned.
The extent of fear which the epidemic is engendering in the country was underlined on Friday when it emerged a middle-aged man in the quarantined city of Makeni had died after setting himself alight, fearing his family had infected him with Ebola.
Neighbours said the man became depressed after his wife and daughter were taken for Ebola tests at a holding centre.
"The man was heard saying he'd rather die than hear any news of his family being suspected of Ebola," one told AFP.
"He doused himself with petrol and then struck a match to be engulfed in fire."
By the time firefighters arrived he had been incinerated, hospital sources said.
Liberia imposes media restrictions on 'invasive' Ebola coverage
By Bate Felix 12 hours ago
An ambulance carrying American missionary Nancy Writebol, 59, who is infected with Ebola in West Africa …
DAKAR (Reuters) - Journalists will need official permission to cover many aspects of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, under new rules that the government said aimed at protecting patient privacy.
The move was announced on Thursday, the day an American cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia became the first foreign journalist to test positive for Ebola. There was no indication that the new rules were related to that case.
Growing international media interest in the outbreak that has killed nearly 2,000 people and infected 3,696 in Liberia has highlighted the challenges to the West African country's healthcare system.
Journalists could be arrested and prosecuted if they fail to get written permission from the health ministry before contacting Ebola patients, conducting interviews or filming or photographing healthcare facilities, officials said.
"We have noted with great concern that photographs have been taken in treatment centers while patients are going in to be attended by doctors. That is invasion of the dignity, privacy and respect of patients," Tolbert Nyenswah, assistant minister of health and head of Liberia's Ebola Incident Management System, said.
"Ebola patients are no different from any other patients. We should do that (report) under permission so that we don't just take pictures or send out stories of naked people (in a way) that does not respect their privacy," he said.
CUBAN MEDICS ARRIVE
The outbreak of the disease which causes fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea has overwhelmed health systems in the three most affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea where it originated. It has also spread to Senegal, Nigeria and the United States.
The first person to be diagnosed with the disease in the United States could face prosecution in Liberia for making a false declaration on an airport questionnaire if he returns to the country, Liberian officials said on Thursday.
Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian, had helped a pregnant woman in Liberia who later died of Ebola, just days before he flew to Texas via Brussels and Washington two weeks ago. On an airport questionnaire meant to help control the spread of the disease he wrote that he had not had contact with an Ebola sufferer.
U.S. authorities said Duncan was in a serious condition and four of up to 100 people he had direct or indirect contact with, have been quarantined.
The World Health Organization has declared the epidemic an international public health emergency, and governments from the United States to China, Cuba and Britain have sent troops and medics in an attempt to contain the disease.
A first batch of 165 medical staff - 62 doctors and 103 nurses - from Cuba arrived in Sierra Leone on Thursday to join the fight against the disease after more than two weeks of training with international experts at a Havana hospital specializing in tropical diseases.
Another 296 Cuban doctors and nurses will go to Liberia and Guinea after their training.
"We have 165 medical officers, qualified health professionals that are here to help us in the fight against Ebola," said Sierra Leone's deputy Health Minister Madina Rahman. "As we know we need as much healthcare and professionals as possible. This will make a dent in the fight, we need more if we can get more," Rahman said.
(Additional reporting by Josephus Olu-Mammah in Freetown; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Peter Graff)
Sheriff’s Officers Fearful After Being Ordered into Quarantined Ebola Apartment
Feds tell sheriffs no risk in entering quarantined residence
by Mikael Thalen | Infowars.com | October 3, 2014
Five employees with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department entered the quarantined apartment of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan Wednesday night after being ordered to bring his four family members a court order barring them from leaving their home.
The five, who were ordered to enter the residence by Sheriff Lupe Valdez, were joined by a doctor and the head of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department.
The incident was learned after sheriff’s deputies noticed the squad cars used by the five being taken out of service unexpectedly the following morning.
Speaking with WFAA 8, Dallas County Sheriff’s Association President Christopher Dyer said the sheriff’s members were uneasy at best.
“They’re very concerned,” Dyer said. ”Their families are concerned. You’ve got to go home and tell your spouse, ‘Hey, I was just inside this house where a guy had Ebola.’”
“My concern is for the deputies and their families, and I want to see Dallas County do everything that they can to alleviate their concerns.”
Dryer went on to blast the federal government’s lax attitude towards the situation as well as their decision to use sheriff’s members to enter the home.
“My anger is really with the feds,” Dryer said. “Let’s move that family. Let’s move everybody out of that building. I don’t care if it’s overkill. Let’s do overkill. I don’t think sending a few deputies in there is the right course of action.”
Incredibly, the quarantined family alerted sheriffs to the fact that federal agencies allegedly in charge have failed to even provide them with food.
“What kind of planning is that for the feds?” Dyer said. “You quarantine them, but you’re not going to make sure they have food?”
Although Dryer was able to convince the sheriff’s department to put the five officers on leave to be checked by doctors, the CDC continues to claim they were never in danger.
Despite their claims, a growing number of medical experts are arguing that the virus is much more easily transferred than previously thought.
Professors at the University of Illinois are currently warning that even face masks are not enough to protect from infectious aerosol particles.
The United Nations’ Ebola response chief Anthony Banbury also warned of the growing possibility that Ebola could mutate and go airborne.
While the quarantined family is not currently showing symptoms, a reoccurring theme of carelessness from those in charge has outraged citizens.
Dallas residents and Americans alike were shocked Thursday evening after a news helicopter captured photos of an unprotected cleaning crew using pressure washers to blast vomit off the sidewalk outside of the Ebola patient’s home.
Texas health officials also admitted Thursday that they had yet to clean the apartment as well, making the possibility of infection among the quarantined family that much greater.
Despite the CDC telling citizens and reporters that they would finally clean the apartment during a Thursday afternoon conference call, a quarantined family member admitted that Duncan’s bed sheets had yet to be removed late Thursday evening during an interview on CNN. A seperate report claimed that a cleaning crew did in fact arrive last night wearing Hazmat suits, raising questions as to why the sheriffs were not provided with similar protection.
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