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Obama: Ebola monitoring must be 'more aggressive'

35 Comments
By JIM KUHNHENN

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U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday that his administration would provide “much more aggressive” monitoring of Ebola cases in the United States...

That would be nice, since the handling of this by his folks has been characterized by double-speak and outright bungling so far.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

They are really fumbling this. I can't believe that nurse (who had already reported a low fever), was stupid and selfish enough to fly commercially, or that those in charge were incompetent enough to let her. We need to get on the ball with this.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

A percentage of the population is stupid, another part is selfish. Fewer are both stupid and selfish. All we need a few hundred people infected and we have a major epidemic. This could break the bank in US to critical point. We are nearing $19 trillion and growing with the daily BS of running the current Fed Fiasco.

If it hits Mexico, they will swarm here for free developed world healthcare. Yes, healthcare was never denied Obamacare supporters. The Haz Mat supplies could not keep up with demand. Europe, the same. Asia seems safe for the moment...Back to that Selfish-Stupid individuals problem again...

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Passing through American airports will now get even more annoying. Carry-on luggage x-ray, belts, coins, bottled water and drinks, shoes (because there was that one case), pat down, and now - compulsory thermometer. I hope they get infrared cameras or those laser thermometers.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As usual,the O's team do a lot of talking and less of actions. There were no protocol in handling Ebola in the first place, and they said nurses breached it ? The fed. guideline should be enforced since day one, centralized facilities and specialists from CDC must be in place. There were no manual of how nurses should handle it nationwide! Leadership??

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

This is already such a joke. Too little too late as usual. The horse has been out of the barn for weeks so why bother chasing it with silly procedures that really are not going to stop transmission. Just shut down the borders out of Africa, isolate all people worldwide that have come in contact with any Ebola suspects and put and end to this charade. Action not words Mr. Obama.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Just shut down the borders out of Africa

Why?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Cue pictures of TSA agents or cops wrestling people to the ground if they so much as work up a sweat......

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

As one can see from Obama's response to the Ebola outbreak in Texas, he has no clues what to do. Obama is ALWAYS reacting to situations. He is never proactive on preventing things from happening in the US or other parts of the world. So, don't depend on the US for anything while he is in charge (?).

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

I semi-retract my negative comments about the nurse, Amber Vinson. The CDC apparently cleared her to fly. Morons.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Why?

To better isolate and contain the disease to a regulated controlled area to not allow it to spread. There are many away we can provide humanitarian aid from the air. Nigeria, Kenya, they blocked everyone from Mali and Liberia until further notice that the Ebola virus is better studied to not spread the disease and to find a cure or better medical relief. If some of these African countries can seal off their borders. We can and should do the same.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Too late! The disease is going to spread, and people are going to drop like flies. Time to invent a vaccine, just like they did in the movie "Outbreak" in, like what, 90 minutes.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

"Just shut down the borders out of Africa"

"Why?"

Multiple choice:

a. To annoy all the expats and missionaries in Africa who don't live in ebola hotspots.

b. To cripple the economies of Africa's most successful countries and put the blade runner Pistorious in his place.

c. To satisfy right wingers for whom the word "border" is a secret code word for Canadian fishing trips.

d. To mess with airlines for not allowing the Knee Defender product.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Why?

To better isolate and contain the disease to a regulated controlled area to not allow it to spread.

So, Morocco to Mozambique, Cape to Cairo and all points in between are to be sealed off?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

What gets me is that how liberals THINK that by halting all flights from Mali and Liberia you have to be THE MOST cold-hearted hateful racist person in the world. When there was an uproar about SARS a few years ago, No one said anything about racism, the moment you talk about Africa, then you have to be a racist. I mean, who are we to close the country for the time being until this situation is under control. And stop with the BS that it will affect the economy of these countries. There is a lot you can do without sending ground troops into that country, many ways. Funny how Obama is doing everything he can (supposedly) for Africa to fight Ebola, but ISIS cutting the heads off people, Iran about to have Nuclear weapons, but DON'T send ANY ground troops, it's perfectly ok for soldiers to bring back a virus and infect other people from a foreign country, we shouldn't be there, isn't that what the NO GO crowd want? But trying to stop radical terrorism, bad, bad idea. We can't stop ISIS, but we have all the answers and solutions to fight Ebola? This entire fiasco reeks of political correctness! Has nothing to do with ideology, but everything for votes and the party retaining political power for that, the Optics look good. Think about it, why won't Obama close our borders, why allow thousands to come in, bring diseases, crime, rapes and

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Where is Rick Perry?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

b4f,

What gets me is that how liberals THINK that by halting all flights from Mali and Liberia you have to be THE MOST cold-hearted hateful racist person in the world

Race has nothing to do with it. Africa is a huge and diverse area, of which a small portion presents a real health risk to the rest of us. There is no justification for shutting the whole continent.

What's the obsession with Mali by the way? More uninformed emoting?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Sense,

By Mali, I'm certain he means one of the following:

a. Senegal (1 case, no fatalities)

b. Spain (1 case, no fatalities)

c. Nigeria (20 cases, 8 fatalities)

d. Guinea-Sierra Leone-Liberia (8000+ cases, 4000+ fatalities)

e. One of the 190+ countries in the world not currently afflicted by ebola but all the same just begging for martial law airport closures 'cause they got funny-sounding names.

(Source: WHO/Yahoo News)

3 ( +3 / -0 )

West Africans could just fly to a 3rd country before heading to the U.S.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I guess most of you don't know that the CDC has no authority but to provide guidance and recommendations to the local public health authorities. So the Texas Public Health Department is the authority in Dallas not the CDC.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Race has nothing to do with it. Africa is a huge and diverse area, of which a small portion presents a real health risk to the rest of us. There is no justification for shutting the whole continent.

Of course there is justification, why expose more people to a deadly disease? Shut it down, isolate the disease until they get this under control. The risk of transmission cannot be predicted since the symptoms don't develop for days or a week later. Once again, the PC liberal police think they have everything under control and as usual for the last 6 years that amounts to basically another disaster.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I don't care which party, but I am disgusted with politician who cut the research funding for Ebola treatment.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Nobody cares about the 1000's deaths in Africa. Now 1-2 cases in rich countries and Ebola becomes THE century threat!

Pathetic!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

B4f,

Texas is a bigger risk than Togo, never mind Tanzania or Tunisia.

Mess with it first!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

So the Potus is finally waking up to the problem? Maybe someone reminded him that an election is coming up.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Why?

What is amazing is that some of the countries that border Liberia and other hard hit countries with Ebola have sealed their borders from allowing people to leave them and enter their countries. Some of these countries are run by dictators. So some Third World dictators have enough sense to seal off their borders with countries they border where Ebola is rampant. Nigeria has done this, and the numbers of cases there are down.

With a travel ban, you don't stop the flow of aid going in, but if people do go in, they are immediately put in quarantine until they are cleared. That way you can still keep the flow of supplies into the country, and keep a reasonable measure of safety on who is coming out.

Also amazing is the fact that the US has sent over $160 million to Liberia and other places to help fight this disease. And yet, the US "patient zero" made a dash for the US to get better treatment. I don't buy the "he didn't know" defense. With all of the connectivity around, even in third world places, if he didn't realize that his family member died of Ebola then he was just plain stupid. If we have sent so much money to these places, where has it gone? Why are we (USA) sending military troops to help build shelters and mobile hospitals when these countries get millions to do this and yet where does it go? Recently there was a case in the USA where a son of one of these tin pot dictators (from Equatorial Guinea) was fined for $30 million from his lavish spending (buying the Michael Jackson white studded glove) along with other lavish items, all the while the rest of his country is living dirt poor His money was mostly made up of USAID and other foreign aid money.

Yet we hear that the US Healthcare system is not fair to the "poor" and yet a man would travel from Liberia with Ebola just to make it to a US hospital and at last estimate, run up a $500K medical bill that will not get paid, and stil his family has gotten Jesse Jackson and the rest of that crowd to drum up the "race card" in the disparity of treatment.

Ebola is a bad disease. Not going to jump on the band wagon and say "It's Obama's fault" no it's not for the disease. But I will fault him for not getting control (his appointees) and not being truthful with the public, and not taking it serious. The head of the CDC should be fired. One could get more truth from Pravda or Izvestia than what comes out of his mouth. But he is just a product of his upbringing. He was in the forefront back in the 80's when AIDS was first starting to spread, leading againt measures like quarantines until we found out more about the disease, since it would lead to a social "stigma" against the group then that were the majority of the cases, gay men. Kanye West famously said "George Bush doesn't care about black people" during the Katrina crisis, I think Obama has dropped the ball more on this one that Bush and Brownie may have done.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

When Obama cancels a fundraiser (political campaign trip), it is officially a crisis. It just got real. It just hit the fan.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Alphaape : And yet, the US "patient zero" made a dash for the US to get better treatment. I don't buy the "he didn't know" defense. With all of the connectivity around, even in third world places, if he didn't realize that his family member died of Ebola then he was just plain stupid.

I don't know if the news changed but originally they said Duncan helped out with a pregnant neighbor, not a relative, and that people didn't realize she had Ebola, they thought it was a problem with her pregnancy.

Also might have expected him to jump up and down in the hospital in Dallas shouting "I'm from Liberia! I might have Ebola!" if he came here for Ebola treatment, instead of letting them send him home with antibiotics. After going to all that trouble.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

A republican rep from Texas suggested suspending visas rather than banning flights. It has the obvious advantage of working even for those who don't come by direct flight. Flights are still necessary to move health workers in and out, who can have special visas and their own quarantine.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/220548-texas-republican-suggests-delaying-visas-from-countries-with-ebola

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Oboso will not do anything! He and his tranny wife will go off in the sunset as heroes

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I don't know if the news changed but originally they said Duncan helped out with a pregnant neighbor, not a relative, and that people didn't realize she had Ebola, they thought it was a problem with her pregnancy.

From the reports I have read, the family knew the woman had Ebola, since a relative of hers had already died from it, and he was in an area where it was rampant.

Funny how the WHO has said Nigeria is ahead of the Ebola outbreak. The reason why was strict containment of their borders. Also, they have made the hospitals that the first few patients had gone to basically a quarantine zone, and stopping people from leaving.

For those who are against a quarantine, think of a nation as your house. Would you let into your home a person who was very contagious and sick into your home and let them lounge and spread germs in your home? Even with the upcoming flu season, people are advised to stay at if sick so as to not spread it in the office, or kids are told to stay at home to not spread it in the schools. What's so hard about saying if you come from an area of rampant Ebola cases, it is not some anti-PC measure of saying that you can't come to our country or if you do you must be placed in some sort of quarnatine. Back during the mass immigration from Europe through Ellis Island and Asia through Angel Island, if you were sick, you were sent back. No treatment in the US just put back on the boat and sent back from where you came. Being too PC will be our undoing.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

More money for research is needed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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