That's a given. And with up to 28 days incubation... well, you know. (Probably walked across the southern border, unchecked, too.)
And now they are monitoring some school kids who had contact with the patient ... http://news.yahoo.com/video/abc-news-plus-special-report-220000361.html
That's what I find alarming when they seem so cavalier about containment. How can they be so sure of themselves? They can only contain AFTER the fact. One can infect 5 and those 5 infect a 100 or more. A 100 can become thousands. Who the hell knows. It can grow into hundreds of thousands or millions within a few weeks.
DALLAS (AP) — The airline passenger who brought Ebola into the U.S. initially went to a Dallas emergency room last week but was sent home, despite telling a nurse that he had been in disease-ravaged West Africa, the hospital said Wednesday in a disclosure that showed how easily an infection could be missed. The decision by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to release the patient, who had recently arrived from Liberia, could have put others at risk of exposure to Ebola before the man went back to the ER a couple of days later, when his condition worsened. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/01/ebola-texas-liberia_n_5915038.html
The first confirmed Ebola case in the U.S. – in Dallas – comes about six weeks after UNM Hospital took every precaution for a suspected case in Albuquerque. Tests for the patient here came back negative, and the way UNMH handled the situation in August is in sharp contrast to what happened with the first confirmed case in Dallas. A 30-year-old woman was admitted to UNMH in August with Ebola-like symptoms after teaching school in Sierra Leone, one of the African nations in the epidemic. Every precaution was taken; the woman was kept in strict isolation, and after her tests came back negative, her health improved and she went home. Dr. Meghan Brett is UNMH's contagious disease expert, the hospital epidemiologist. "I think Ebola is going to be an ongoing issue, where any hospital in the United States is potentially going to be at risk for seeing patients who are suspected of having Ebola," Dr. Brett said. "I think having a good plan and having the right training is key." In Dallas, doctors confirmed that a sick man told a nurse he came from Liberia – ground zero in the epidemic. The information stayed with the nurse; the man was given antibiotics and sent home. Two days later, he was back at the hospital, where he was diagnosed with Ebola. Now, everyone who had close contact with the man is being watched for symptoms – up to 18 people, including the ambulance crew that brought the man to the hospital. Dr. Brett is not out to second-guess or criticize her counterparts in Dallas, but the differences are obvious, and with this virus, medical professionals can't afford mistakes. Stuart Dyson
Yeah, its not like he was anywhere else.... Thomas Eric Duncan left Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 19 aboard a Brussels Airlines jet to the Belgian capital, according to a Belgian official. After layover of nearly seven hours, he boarded United Airlines Flight 951 to Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. After another layover of nearly three hours, he then flew Flight 822 from Dulles to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the airline confirmed.
Obama won't allow oil to enter the country from Canada, but he will let Ebola enter the country from Liberia.
This hospital episode illustrates an all too common problem in health care. Way too much depends on some nurse, who these days is also likely to be from africa, remembering to do something or having the presence of mind to notice something. or a doctor. They are human and make mistakes. If we ran nuke plants like that or the commercial air system, we would have disasters on a weekly basis. Law firms do not depend on a lawyer remembering when a court filing is due. They have sophisticated systems to remind them. Whenever I come into contact with the health care system however, i am struck by how much it depends on people doing their jobs properly. All human experience tells us that is a recipe for disaster.