Ebola evacuations to US greater than previously known

[B2G]

Source: Yahoo News

An undisclosed number of people who’ve been exposed to the Ebola virus — not just the four patients publicly identified with diagnosed cases — have been evacuated to the U.S. by an air ambulance company contracted by the State Department.

“We moved a lot of other people who had an exposure event,” said Dent Thompson, vice president of Phoenix Air Group. “Many times these people are just fine, they just had an exposure. But you have to treat it as though the disease is present.”

How many exposed patients have been flown from West Africa to the U.S.? Thompson said medical privacy laws and his company’s contract with the State Department prevent him from revealing the figure.

“I’m not avoiding it,” Thompson told Yahoo News. “I’m just not allowed to talk about it.”



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/us-ebola-evacuations-has-included-more-patients--air-ambulance-operator-says-160126831.html

[B2G]

1. “Many times these people are just fine"

How many times aren't they??

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. 4 - it says so in the OP

if you read it. And the article confirms "The State Department confirmed the four known Ebola patient transports".

Always worth reading the OP, even if you're the person posting it ...

[B2G]

11. I might suggest YOU read it.

“We moved a lot of other people who had an exposure event,” said Dent Thompson, vice president of Phoenix Air Group. “Many times these people are just fine"

A lot of other people in addition to the 4 that we knew had it and were/are being treated.

It's pretty freakin clear what this article is saying.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. 'An exposure event' means they were exposed to it

You asked how many times they were not fine ,and the answer is '4'.

"A lot of other people in addition to the 4 that we knew had it and were/are being treated. "

That's what you say, not what the article says. It's clear to me what the article is saying, but not, apparently, to you.

[B2G]

13. We shall disagree, but

I have excellent reading comprehension skills, thanls much.

[magical thyme]

15. periodically, articles pop up that a person in one place or another with symptoms

who was in an exposure area tested negative for ebola.

I'm guessing (and hoping real hard) that's the times they're not "just fine."

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Kicking. Thank you. nt

[TwilightGardener]

3. How nice of them to tell us.

[B2G]

4. Yep. It's this kind of thing

that makes me wonder if anyone has tested positive outside of W. Africa. There have been many reports of people being tested in numerous countries and they've all either come back 'negative' or no further word.

Unless it got to the point they couldn't hide it any longer, I doubt we'd even know.

[mnhtnbb]

6. My husband--an MD with some tropical medicine experience years ago--

is determined not to fly anywhere--be in an airport or on a plane--until
this plays out. He's even talked about getting in a 2-3 week supply of
food so we wouldn't have to go out. He's that afraid of it.

Personally, I'm not that afraid of an exposure since we don't have any trips
planned--by plane--anyway. But I've had my fill of airports in the last
year for other reasons.

I do think there's a very good possibility that information is being withheld.

And I also wonder how many people who've been exposed are just booking
their own arrangements home--without telling anyone--possibly even with
symptoms?

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

8. I think we're being kept in the dark, as well

These countries are very poor, so closing the borders could have just as much of an effect on their physical well being as the ebola virus. When food shipments and other necessities stop coming in and exports stop going out all hell breaks loose. Dead is dead. It doesn't matter if you die of ebola or starvation, and is why the UN and World Health Organization doesn't want to close the borders. (I listen to BBC 4 and this matter was discussed a while back.) They believed they could contain the disease, but they can't.

The economies of these countries needed to be protected or you would have another tragedy of a different kind.

[TwilightGardener]

14. My suspicion, too, that info is being withheld, because they're afraid

of a paranoid/hostile/panicky public. And yes, I think people who know they've been exposed (or are coming from these regions) are quietly going out to parts unknown and hoping for the best. Edit to add: Interesting, what your husband thinks. I personally don't have much faith that they're going to get this under control for a while, either.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

5. More medical personnel exposed?

I'm afraid that this disease is easier to contract than we have been led to believe.

The WHO needs to get its act together and start soliciting funds from around the world to combat this outbreak! If we can collect money for Katrina and 9/ll, the people of the Philippines, the people of Thailand after the tsunami, surely we can collect money for the people suffering on the continent of Africa!

[dotymed]

7. I fear that

this devastating disease (?) will not be (if it is) confined to the African continent.
Where are the measures needed to stop the spread of this relatively short lived outbreak? They have not been implemented.
Ebola has the propensity, if not quickly isolated and treated to be the next black plague.
If a frequent traveler, say GOP elitist, were to contract Ebola and attend a GOP fundraiser or convention
I am sure that then, quarantine protocol would immediately be implemented.
We(?) are playing with Greek fire and that may be intentional. There are many protocols not initiated. Why? Even IF this is contained in Africa, it could have been stopped by now. That it has not brings forth some ugly questions.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

9. See my post #8

for more info

[dotymed]

16. I am not advocating closing the borders.

IMO the CDC (way under funded..thanks 3rd way) should pull out all stops to stop this fast acting virus. That would require quarantining some people and small areas but not the borders.
They have the technology to stop the spread of Ebola rather quickly because it is such a fast killer with a short incubation period.. I hate that exposed non-Africans are being flown here to be cured while the native people suffer.
The CDC should set up field hospitals and take the cure there. Do the investigative work to find all possibly exposed people and
give them the cure. Quarantine an infected area if needed but not the country. The way that this is currently being handled will, IMO,
eventually lead to a border closing as it gets out of control.
As Barney Fife would say: "nip it in the bud"; before it becomes an international epidemic.

The current strategy of helping (mainly foreigners) after they are carriers is like trying to put the water back in a broken glass. It will not work.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

17. First off

Closing borders or closing areas....the WHO has been against that. Now, it's spreading.

And as far as non-Africans being treated with superior treatments here, I am ALL for it. Those non-Africans are there risking their lives helping the people on the continent of Africa; you would think that we could, at the very least, guarantee them the best treatment available if they do get the virus. Or are we supposed to leave them there to die away from their loved ones here?

Think of it as the medical version of the military's "leave no one behind."

[dotymed]

18. obvious miscommunication.

The very best treatment should be freely available to all, regardless of nationality, ability to pay or skin color, IMO.
I am suggesting that the CDC provide the best care, there where the sickness is. I believe that would be safer than risking exposure by flying those brave healthcare workers to another area, increasing the possibility of exposing others. The infected/exposed locals should also get the very best care available.
I believe that every life is precious and deserving of the very best chance for survival. I just think it is prudent to take that
treatment to them instead of taking them to the treatment.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

19. Of course, they should all get the best treatment

But it's not available right now. Imagine how limited they are in medical equipment - like ventilators. And only a few doses of the treatment available. Until the powers that be get their act together, the very best care should and will continue to go to the health care workers. Heck, the British ebola survivor is already planning to go back. He sure couldn't do that if he was dead.

[B2G]

21. Of course they deserve the best care

But you can't put decades worth of medical infrastructure in place overnight.

*That's* the challenge.

[Earth_First]

20. Have no doubts about it...

...the government would lie to cover up the scope of any similar type event within the borders of the United States.

To protect you, of course...