Tuesday, October 14, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
Ebola In America: Day 14
There is dismay at the disappointing news in Dallas that a nurse who treated Thomas Duncan has contracted the deadly Ebola virus. The Centers for Disease Control’s initial reaction was to blame the nurse for a “breach of protocol.” But the breach has yet to be identified and how the nurse became infected remains a mystery.
Needless to say, there is growing concern for the other health workers who helped to treat Mr. Duncan. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said, “We have to rethink the way we address Ebola infection control, because even a single infection is unacceptable.” Dr. Frieden added, “We’re concerned, and unfortunately would not be surprised if we did see additional [Ebola] cases in healthcare workers.” And this is coming from the very folks who repeatedly assured us that everything was under control.
Adding to the confusion, and the lack of confidence in the government’s efforts, is the fact that the CDC doesn’t know exactly how many hospital workers were treating Thomas Duncan. The Associated Press suggests it could be as many as 70 people.
Unfortunately, the nurse’s unexplained infection is raising disturbing concerns, including the possibility that the virus may somehow spread through droplets in the air. That still seems unlikely, but the CDC’s credibility is dropping by the day.
How Nigeria Succeeded
When news of Thomas Duncan’s Ebola infection broke, priority number one for the Obama Administration was to reassure the public. But Ebola seemed to be such a low priority at the White House that it was nearly a week before Obama told the American people that his administration would be “working on protocols to do additional passenger screening” at airports.
Out of curiosity, I re-read press accounts of how Nigeria responded after its first confirmed Ebola case this year. According to USA Today, Nigeria succeeded in stopping Ebola from spreading because, “The government immediately imposed strict measures to quarantine those who were ill and to screen thousands of their contacts. . .” Nigeria also imposed flight restrictions on “Ebola-infected countries,” something the Obama Administration isn’t even considering.
Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, suggested Sunday that the U.S. should consider “temporarily suspending the 13,000 visas” currently held by individuals in the most afflicted countries. Such a proposal would be widely popular with the American people — and it is the right thing to do.
A new ABC News / Washington Post poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans are concerned about an Ebola outbreak in this country and only 33% believe the Obama Administration is doing enough to prevent it. When asked whether they would support “restricting entry to the United States by people who’ve been in affected countries,” 67% of those surveyed said “Yes.”
Liberals Blame Conservatives
It’s election year, so it was only a matter of time before Ebola managed to work its way into a campaign ad. Liberals are now running ads blaming budget cuts at the CDC for the Ebola outbreak in Dallas. The ad will begin airing in Kentucky and will run in at least three other states. The ad was produced by the same group that created a spot depicting Rep. Paul Ryan pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair off a cliff.
The charge that budget cuts are responsible for the Ebola outbreak is, of course, ludicrous. And the left might want to think twice about pointing fingers. As we have noted before, it was the Obama Administration that cancelled quarantine regulations drafted in 2005.
Meanwhile, the government seems to have plenty of money for politically correct studies including one examining why lesbians are obese. After the Sandy Hook shootings, you may recall that President Obama ordered the CDC to conduct a study on gun violence as if it were some sort of disease. (The results were not what he had hoped for.)
The government also spent your tax dollars studying the health risks of dating a Mexican prostitute. Nearly $900,000 was spent on a cost/benefit analysis of snail sex. (Did they interview the snails?)
Budget cuts aren’t the problem. It’s left-wing bureaucrats with blank checks we need to be worried about.
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