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posted by LaminatorX on Saturday October 11 2014, @09:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the this-porage-is-just-right dept.

Russell Berman writes in the Atlantic that the Obama administration is trying to navigate a tricky course: Can officials increase public vigilance about the deadly virus without inciting a panic? "Ebola is scary. It's a deadly disease. But we know how to stop it," says Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC director speaking "calmly and clearly, sticking to an even pitch and avoiding the familiar political image of the whip-smart fast-talker." International groups wanted the US to step in sooner to help fight the outbreak in west Africa, while more recently some Republicans have called on the administration to ban travel from the most affected countries but Frieden and other officials say such a move would be counterproductive, citing lessons learned from the SARS outbreak a decade ago. "The SARS outbreak cost the world more than $40 billion, but it wasn't to control the outbreak," says Frieden. "Those were costs from unnecessary and ineffective travel restrictions and trade changes that could have been avoided." The government announced Wednesday that it was stepping up protective measures at five airports, where authorities will screen travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea with targeted questions and fever checks, an action, officials acknowledge that was taken not only to stop the spread of the disease but simply to make people feel safer. According to Berman the message, it seems to be, is this: Be afraid of Ebola. Just not too afraid.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Saturday October 11 2014, @02:13PM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Saturday October 11 2014, @02:13PM (#104767) Journal

    Is it true? Does he regularly see people traveling from Africa? If so, are they from affected regions? If the answer to both questions is "yes" then I don't find the response shocking -- there is a symptom free period where a person is contagious and if the person in the US was exposed to a person from Africa who was exposed to the virus, well, that's exactly how diseases spread and propagate.

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  • (Score: 2) by velex on Saturday October 11 2014, @02:51PM

    by velex (2068) on Saturday October 11 2014, @02:51PM (#104780) Journal

    However, I wouldn't be surprised to see this as a manifestation of racism. Your point is entirely valid. No matter what his skin color, if he's traveling to regions of Africa that are experiencing the outbreak, he is a risk. Yet, the racism becomes apparent because he would need to be experiencing symptoms to be an infection risk.

    I have to admit, I'm having a bit of schadenfreude about this (I'll self-flagellate in a closet later).

    Also, foreword to what I'm about to write: AIDS at this point primarily affects Africans.

    Here I am, a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania, and I don't have a drop of HIV in my body.

    It goes to prove that diagnosis by stereotype is an ineffective method of risk management.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 11 2014, @03:30PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 11 2014, @03:30PM (#104792)

      You wrote a comment that directly contradicts a statement made my the person you are replying to. Why did you not provide a source?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 11 2014, @04:52PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 11 2014, @04:52PM (#104807)

        Are you referring to, "there is a symptom free period where a person is contagious?"

        Because if that is what you are unhappy about, then let me tell you that hemocyanin is telling a "true lie."

        It is true that there is such a period. But it is not BEFORE symptoms manifest. It is only after you go through the period of getting deathly ill and then recover. [theguardian.com] After they survive the infection, some people continue to be contagious for a few weeks. But not in the same way they are contagious while they have symptoms, so far its only been found in semen.

        Since the black guy had obviously not come down with and survived an ebola infection, he's not a risk for shaking hands or having sex.

    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday October 11 2014, @05:06PM

      by Gaaark (41) on Saturday October 11 2014, @05:06PM (#104813) Journal

      Hey! Do you know how to Madison?

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---