Why don't we use the only proven measures that have been
shown to stop Ebola? Any person who
gives the Ebola epidemic any thought realizes that isolation and quarantine are
the only tools we have that are 100% effective in halting the Ebola
epidemic. So why do our public health
officials and our elected officials refuse to block all travel from West Africa
until a 21-day quarantine has occurred?
Here are some of the more common reasons against isolation and
quarantine:
Reason 1: As stated
by the President last night (October 16, 2014)--- People could do “broken
travel” that is fly to another country—say France then fly to the U.S. and the
21 day quarantine would have the opposite effect. Furthermore, the President added that this is
the advice he is getting from the head of the CDC, NIH and others in his
administration.
Answer 1: Do the quarantine smartly—that is require ALL
persons wanting to travel to the U.S. obtain a visa and make the waiting period
for the visa to become valid 21 days. All such persons must come to the U.S.
embassy in their country to obtain the visa application in person and have
their temperature taken. After the
21-day period they must return to the embassy (or airport station) and receive
the valid travel visa.
Reason 2: This would
hinder the world’s efforts to halt the epidemic by making travel more
difficult.
Answer 2: This is
disingenuous. No one advocates blocking
travel to West Africa we just need to take the precautions that will prevent
Ebola from coming out of West Africa.
Reason 3: This would hurt the economies of West Africa.
Answer 3: This is very short sighted. Compare the cost of loosing the revenue of
150 passengers a day from West Africa to the U.S., with the cost of dealing with Ebola here; a
few thousands of dollars versus tens of millions of dollars. How much has the one case of Ebola cost us
already—millions of dollars and still counting Furthermore, these 150 people
can fly to the U.S. after a 21-day quarantine making the financial loss
minimal.
Reason 4: This would
be an anti-African action.
Answer 4: No, this is simply using our best science to stop
the epidemic, isolate the epidemic where it is and allow the richer countries
to concentrate their Ebola efforts in West Africa rather than at home.
Reason 5: Scare our
public so that our Congress will increase the budgets of the CDC and the NIH
and possibly the military.
Answer 5: This will work but we are grabbing the tiger by
the tail—if the Ebola epidemic spreads to the U.S. then this policy will have
backfired.
I can’t think of one good reason that we don't do the
obvious—isolate and quarantine—can you?
If you are like me and can’t think of a good reason not to isolate and
quarantine you must try to reach out to all of your contacts, our elected and
public health officials and world health officials now.
Steven Keller, Ph.D.
Professor, New Jersey Medical School—Rutgers University
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