Ebola Came To America Last Week. Since Then: 5,000 False Alarms. Zero New Ebola Cases.
Ebola arrived in D.C. last week — no, no, false alarm.
A passenger had Ebola-like symptoms aboard a jet from Texas to Florida — nevermind, not Ebola after all.
As predicted, the number of Ebola false alarms in the United States has skyrocketed since Thomas E. Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas on Sept. 30. In a briefing this weekend, the CDC said it’s been getting more than 800 calls a day from hospitals and other concerned parties, up from about 50 a day before Duncan’s diagnosis.
None of those thousands of calls have turned out to be Ebola.
One factor that’s helped fuel the spike in false reports is that Ebola’s early symptoms are quite general, like fever and vomiting. However, when it’s really Ebola, those symptoms quickly worsen and can turn into more visible afflictions, like bleeding from the eyes or a major rash.
People infected with Ebola usually start showing symptoms between eight and 10 days after exposure, although the disease can incubate for up to 21 days.
So far, none of the 48 Dallas residents who had contact with Duncan while he was symptomatic have shown signs of Ebola, Texas officials said on Tuesday. However, officials continue to keep close watch on all of Duncan’s contacts, with special monitoring of 10 individuals at high risk, Bill Hanna writes in the Star-Telegram.
Dr. Philip K. Russell, a virologist who oversaw Ebola research while heading the U.S. Army’s Medical Research and Development Command, told the Los Angeles Times that “there are too many unknowns here.”
“I see the reasons to dampen down public fears,” Russell told the Times. “Scientifically, we’re in the middle of the first experiment of multiple, serial passages of Ebola virus in man…. God knows what this virus is going to look like. I don’t.”
And in a mystifying development, a Spanish health care worker also just tested positive for Ebola. The staffer was part of the treatment team for a Spanish priest who contracted Ebola in Africa and died last month in a hospital in Spain; the staffer reportedly only entered the patient’s room twice, and both times wore protective gear.
Mysteries aside, health officials have persistently argued that the United States is not facing an Ebola epidemic. The CDC, for example, continues to stress that most Americans aren’t at risk for Ebola.
“In the past decade, the United States had five imported cases of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever diseases similar to Ebola (1 Marburg, 4 Lassa),” a CDC update reads.
“None resulted in any transmission in the United States.”
Ebola Came To America Last Week. Since Then: 5,000 False Alarms. Zero New Ebola Cases. - Forbes
Ebola arrived in D.C. last week — no, no, false alarm.
A passenger had Ebola-like symptoms aboard a jet from Texas to Florida — nevermind, not Ebola after all.
As predicted, the number of Ebola false alarms in the United States has skyrocketed since Thomas E. Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas on Sept. 30. In a briefing this weekend, the CDC said it’s been getting more than 800 calls a day from hospitals and other concerned parties, up from about 50 a day before Duncan’s diagnosis.
None of those thousands of calls have turned out to be Ebola.
One factor that’s helped fuel the spike in false reports is that Ebola’s early symptoms are quite general, like fever and vomiting. However, when it’s really Ebola, those symptoms quickly worsen and can turn into more visible afflictions, like bleeding from the eyes or a major rash.
People infected with Ebola usually start showing symptoms between eight and 10 days after exposure, although the disease can incubate for up to 21 days.
So far, none of the 48 Dallas residents who had contact with Duncan while he was symptomatic have shown signs of Ebola, Texas officials said on Tuesday. However, officials continue to keep close watch on all of Duncan’s contacts, with special monitoring of 10 individuals at high risk, Bill Hanna writes in the Star-Telegram.
Dr. Philip K. Russell, a virologist who oversaw Ebola research while heading the U.S. Army’s Medical Research and Development Command, told the Los Angeles Times that “there are too many unknowns here.”
“I see the reasons to dampen down public fears,” Russell told the Times. “Scientifically, we’re in the middle of the first experiment of multiple, serial passages of Ebola virus in man…. God knows what this virus is going to look like. I don’t.”
And in a mystifying development, a Spanish health care worker also just tested positive for Ebola. The staffer was part of the treatment team for a Spanish priest who contracted Ebola in Africa and died last month in a hospital in Spain; the staffer reportedly only entered the patient’s room twice, and both times wore protective gear.
Mysteries aside, health officials have persistently argued that the United States is not facing an Ebola epidemic. The CDC, for example, continues to stress that most Americans aren’t at risk for Ebola.
“In the past decade, the United States had five imported cases of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever diseases similar to Ebola (1 Marburg, 4 Lassa),” a CDC update reads.
“None resulted in any transmission in the United States.”
Ebola Came To America Last Week. Since Then: 5,000 False Alarms. Zero New Ebola Cases. - Forbes
