Ebola in America

Oh, and we may be in with a chance of having our own case:

A man in his 40s who arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda airport Monday after spending two months in Liberia was found to have a fever, and officials decided to check him for Ebola, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.

The result of the blood test at a Tokyo research facility will be known early Tuesday, the officials said.
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Stay tuned...
 
DavidJames said:
Evidence they were bragging about it please.
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shuize said:
I know, right? Just because Dr. Spencer only stayed in Guinea long enough to get some good Facebook photos and then couldn't bother to "self-quarantine" longer than it took to lace up his bowling shoes, that doesn't mean his burning need to get out and meet friends (possibly exposing them and everyone else riding near him on the subway to Ebola) had anything to do with a narcissistic need to brag about his selfless charity work.
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Thanks I thought you were making it up.

Just curious, your contempt for people who help others, guilt? It clearly is contempt because you could have made your point in much less emotional way.
 
The rules on when to quarantine can be determined by applying math to the cost minimization problem. If you can estimate the risk and cost associated with each action you just need to crank the numbers to determine the action that minimizes the overall cost. Of course, we saw what happens when politicians get involved and their perceived political costs trump everything else.

It is true that a quarantine can reduce the cost to the rest of society when the virus spreads. But that cost has to be balanced against the very high cost of depriving an individual of their freedom. The equations however are not fixed as there are other options that can potentially reduce the overall cost.

The suggestion I made earlier about Plumb Island was not a joke. By creating a desirable quarantine environment we reduce the risk of the virus spreading and lower the cost associated with restricted freedom. While Plumb Island may not be so attractive this time of year, there are other options available. The Navel base at the southern tip of the big island in the Caribbean would have excellent weather year round.

I envision small cottage clusters to each house a small number of visiting professionals on their return from humanitarian service. The clusters allow personal interaction but limit the number of contacts each individual would have during this period. They would allow a combination of relaxation and professional exchange with peers.
 
Dan O. said:
The rules on when to quarantine can be determined by applying math to the cost minimization problem. If you can estimate the risk and cost associated with each action you just need to crank the numbers to determine the action that minimizes the overall cost. Of course, we saw what happens when politicians get involved and their perceived political costs trump everything else.

It is true that a quarantine can reduce the cost to the rest of society when the virus spreads. But that cost has to be balanced against the very high cost of depriving an individual of their freedom. The equations however are not fixed as there are other options that can potentially reduce the overall cost.

The suggestion I made earlier about Plumb Island was not a joke. By creating a desirable quarantine environment we reduce the risk of the virus spreading and lower the cost associated with restricted freedom. While Plumb Island may not be so attractive this time of year, there are other options available. The Navel base at the southern tip of the big island in the Caribbean would have excellent weather year round.

I envision small cottage clusters to each house a small number of visiting professionals on their return from humanitarian service. The clusters allow personal interaction but limit the number of contacts each individual would have during this period. They would allow a combination of relaxation and professional exchange with peers.
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That would work. Even I'd consider living in a leper colony if the wi-fi and food were decent. If we make it attractive enough, people will get the disease just to improve their life status. Like the poor sap who is so bereft of resources he will commit a crime just for the chance to live in jail.

What will really seal the deal is a celebrity tie in. Any ideas on who should be the Ebolaville spokesperson?
(I'm not sure if they'd actually have to get Ebola or just be a paid shill for the idea. We'd probably want the authenticity that comes from using the product though. "I'm a rich movie star. I can vacation anywhere I like. Let me tell you why I spent a month on Ebola Island...")
 
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Concentrating people who might not have ebola on an island with people that do have ebola is not something I would want to do have go through.
 
Travis said:
Concentrating people who might not have ebola on an island with people that do have ebola is not something I would want to do have go through.
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Well, sure. Now. You haven't yet seen the ad campaign or our spokesmodel. We'll run it like the ice bucket challenge. You have to go to Ebola Island, but guess what? You get to nominate someone else!

Sounding better all the time, isn't it?
 
Link.

A group that advocates for Africans in the Bronx is calling for action after it says two brothers who had recently immigrated to the borough from Senegal were beaten and badly injured by several people who called them “Ebola” in school.

The 11- and 13-year-old boys, in sixth and eighth grade, respectively, were attacked Friday afternoon at I.S. 318 in Tremont, according to the African Advisory Council. Their father, Ousame Drame, said they were pummeled by other students in the schoolyard during lunch after enduring weeks of taunts.
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catsmate1 said:
Link.
A group that advocates for Africans in the Bronx is calling for action after it says two brothers who had recently immigrated to the borough from Senegal were beaten and badly injured by several people who called them “Ebola” in school.

The 11- and 13-year-old boys, in sixth and eighth grade, respectively, were attacked Friday afternoon at I.S. 318 in Tremont, according to the African Advisory Council. Their father, Ousame Drame, said they were pummeled by other students in the schoolyard during lunch after enduring weeks of taunts.
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Smart bullies. They taunted for weeks to make sure the kids weren't infected before they took the risk of pummeling. It might be dangerous to beat someone who actually had Ebola. :D
 
marplots said:
Smart bullies. They taunted for weeks to make sure the kids weren't infected before they took the risk of pummeling. It might be dangerous to beat someone who actually had Ebola. :D
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We can't take the chance. Every kid that participated in that pummeling is obviously infected with the stupid. They need to be placed in isolation until tests come back proving that they are stupid free.
 
Travis said:
Concentrating people who might not have ebola on an island with people that do have ebola is not something I would want to do have go through.
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That would be pure stupid unless the goal was to decimate the population of that island.

The quarantines we are talking about are for the people with a low but non-zero risk of having Ebola. The risk of transmitting Ebola by someone that is symptom free is also very low. Putting a small group of professional health care workers together that have similar exposure risk and all know the early warning signs will not significantly increase anyones risk and solves the problem associated with complete social isolation for those three weeks.

The problem we might have is there doesn't appear to be enough turnover in humanitarian aid workers providing Ebola care to provide a suitable social group. So far we are only hearing about 1 or 2 returning doctors or nurses per week.
 
Apparently the state of Connecticut has imposed a 21 day quarantine on health care workers returning from West Africa. Rachel Maddow interviewed one last night that has been confined to his own apartment for 12 days. He had no contact with Ebola patients, and tested negative for the virus but did help set up an IT system to manage contact tracing.

Link.
 
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We need to isolate this thing before it spreads. If an IT worker is at risk that puts our entire IT infrastructure at risk. Immediate action needs to be taken. The administration of this forum needs to immediately suspend any poster that has visited Connecticut for 21 days. The stupid must be stopped! :D
 
Dan O. said:
We need to isolate this thing before it spreads. If an IT worker is at risk that puts our entire IT infrastructure at risk. Immediate action needs to be taken. The administration of this forum needs to immediately suspend any poster that has visited Connecticut for 21 days. The stupid must be stopped! :D
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We need to update our anti-virus software.
 
Dan O. said:
We need to isolate this thing before it spreads. If an IT worker is at risk that puts our entire IT infrastructure at risk. Immediate action needs to be taken. The administration of this forum needs to immediately suspend any poster that has visited Connecticut for 21 days. The stupid must be stopped! :D
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Wait, wait, wait! You mean this IT worker has been talking to Madow via Skype, no less? Skype! That means he has access to the internet! Why a quarantine like this is like no quarantine at all! :jaw-dropp I have seen no evidence provided anywhere that Ebola cannot spread through the internet! Zero! No studies at all!

This is very scary! :eek:
 
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