Ebola updates .... October 3, 2014

I hope the USA will be transparent in whatever it is they are doing to control Ebola and not use the same kind of secretive tactics that they have been using with the jihadi issues which kept the general public ignorant of Muslim extremism for more than a decade. Transparency from the government is  very important ... not only to fight Muslim extremism but now also this plague of Ebola.  The more we know, the more aware we will be to overcome this disease.

From WashingtonPost:
D.C., Maryland hospitals evaluating two patients who have Ebola-like symptoms.

Two Washington area hospitals said within hours of each other Friday that they had admitted a patient with symptoms and travel histories associated with Ebola.
A patient, who had recently traveled to Nigeria, came to Howard University Hospital in the District overnight "presenting symptoms that could be associated with Ebola," spokeswoman Kerry-Ann Hamilton said in a statement.
"In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient," she said. "Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health."
Just hours later, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Md., confirmed that it is evaluating a patient who "presented with flu-like symptoms and a travel history that matches criteria for possible Ebola."

But, the hospital said in a statement: "At this time, lab results indicate that this patient has another illness and we do not have a confirmed diagnosis of Ebola."...........

From Politico:
Bobby Jindal: Ban travel from Ebola nations  
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Friday called on the Obama administration to impose a travel ban on flights to the U.S. from countries with Ebola outbreaks.
“We should stop accepting flights from countries that are Ebola stricken,” the Republican governor said in a statement......

From Townhall:
CDC Director Doubles Down   on Lack of Flight Restrictions From Ebola Stricken Countries
In light of the first case of Ebola in the United States emerging earlier this week after Thomas Duncan traveled to and from the country of Liberia to attend a funeral (and then knowing he was infected, lied on a medical form before hopping on a flight back), many people are asking why flight bans or restrictions to Ebola stricken countries have not been put in place. 

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest essentially argued that because America has the ability to treat the disease, that it is unnecessary to implement travel restrictions in order to prevent it from coming here..........

Important to read this in full.
From ScienceMag:
 Ebola survivor II, Nancy Writebol: 'We just don't even have a clue what happened'
Ebola nearly killed Nancy Writebol in July—and it also made her famous, which helped broadcast to the world that it needed to respond more aggressively to what had grown from a small outbreak into an out-of-control epidemic.

Writebol, a clinical nurse associate, became ill with the disease while working for the missionary group SIM in Monrovia. She and her husband David spoke with Science on 24 September about a topic that has yet to receive much attention: How do health care workers who are trained to protect themselves nevertheless become infected with the Ebola virus? The Writebols also discuss how the outbreak grew into an epidemic, as well as the treatment she received both in Liberia and then at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity...........

Let's hope that Dr.Tom Frieden is right and we are just going through something like the Toronto SARS scare of some years ago.  
From NPR:
....."I have no doubt   that we will control this importation, or case, of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country," said the director of the CDC, Dr. Tom Frieden.

Why is Frieden so sure this virus won't spread beyond a handful of cases?

It boils down to something called "R0."

The reproduction number, or "R nought," is a mathematical term that tells you how contagious an infectious disease is. Specifically, it's the number of people who catch the disease from one sick person, on average, in an outbreak.*

Take, for example, measles. The virus is one of the most contagious diseases known to man. It's R0 sits around 18. That means each person with the measles spreads it to 18 people, on average, when nobody is vaccinated. (When everyone is vaccinated, the R0 drops to essentially zero for measles).

At the other end of the spectrum are viruses like HIV and hepatitis C. Their R0s tend to fall somewhere between 2 and 4. They're still big problems, but they spread much more slowly than the measles.

And that brings us back to Ebola. Despite its nasty reputation, the virus's R0 really isn't that impressive. It typically sits around 1.5 to 2.0...................