The story about the Strong Elementary School teacher on leave is downright embarrassing. It may not be surprising that there are parents of children in the Strong Elementary School who are so ill-informed that they fear for their children’s safety in this case, but the School District’s action is inexcusable.
As an educational institution, the District has a responsibility to educate. They are in a position to give parents and the public accurate information about the realities of the Ebola epidemic. Horrifying as that epidemic is, especially for our brothers and sisters in West Africa, the risk of infection for anyone in Franklin County, Maine at this time is vanishingly small.
A teacher who attended a conference in Dallas but had no contact with anyone who had even been exposed to Ebola poses no risk at all. Transmission of the disease is made only by contact with someone who is symptomatic. In Franklin County, Maine, hysteria is a much greater public health concern than Ebola.
Elizabeth Kuhlman
Retired executive director of the Franklin County Children’s Task Force
“Embarrassing” while not necessarily totally benign is a close enough “fit” from my perspective
It might be interesting to think through the same scenario (Ebola threat) and accompanying public reaction (everywhere, not just Strong) pre Internet and 24-hour cable news
We all may well be better informed (not necessarily educated or better off), I probably am but it’s a lot of work weed out the misinformation/inaccuracies presented as to what it all means
What happened in Strong isn’t an embarrassment. Embarrassing is having your family tell your first boyfriend how you got your childhood nickname. But I believe that experience helped give me the backbone to stand up for what I believe in, regardless of ridicule. Sticks and stones… Maybe all the sheeple compelled to follow don’t understand but Strong’s parents do.
I’ve read the posts on CDC’s website. On October 17 it was reported that “Human outbreaks of EVD are hypothesized to begin through direct contact with an infected animal or its body fluids, and human transmission chains are driven by direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of infected patients.” What bothers me about that statement is the word “hypothesized”. The CDC didn’t even begin researching ebola until July 28 when it was stated during a press conference that the chances of ebola transmission in the U.S. was “very low”. Since then someone has brought ebola to the U.S. and it has spread to two other people (thus far) by unknown means.
The reaction of parents of Strong Elementary School is justified. The actions taken by school administration is not unreasonable. Entire schools in Cleveland, Ohio, were closed after Amber Vinson was diagnosed with ebola. A city hall in Ohio was closed because an employee’s husband works with someone who was on the same plane as Amber Vinson. A bus was quarantined after a woman vomitted in the parking lot of the Pentagon.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth pound of cure.”
What’s really embarrassing are the statements of the president and the CDC. They have said that restricting flights to the US from foreign infected areas will make it more difficult to fight the disease. That makes no sense and they refuse to explain themselves. At least two African nations have made it plain that they have managed Ebola for 30 years by quarantining people and areas until the disease runs its course.
Washington DC is suffering from an epidemic of the not-invented-here syndrome, compounded by an inability to admit mistakes. If there’s hysteria in the hinterlands, it’s caused by the bumbling of political hacks.
There is a bit of comical twist here “suggesting” two African nations know more about “treating” Ebola by letting the disease by locking every one up and letting it “run its course”
Last count I heard there were three cases actually ID’d in the country, being treated (managed?), a coupe brought here for treatment from elsewhere were doing better and maybe symptom free
What we are not “managing” here is the “hysteria in the hinterlands” which is not caused by bumbling political hacks but more by the increasing politicalization of the matter fueled by right wing wing nuts
It makes sense to me to be able to take a really close look at in coming traffic when you know where they are coming from
The President and the CDC DID explain why travel bans were not an effective ACTUAL way to deal with the spread of Ebola. They HAVE admitted mistakes…anyone not living in an alternate universe would know that.
The hysteria was generated by the right-wing media that wanted to capitalize on FEAR just before the Nov. elections. But looks like the quarantined 40 + people who were in ‘direct contact’ with Thomas Duncan prior to his hospitalization are NOT dropping like flies and are being released from monitoring, the lab tech who handled his blood has tested negative for Ebola. Only those exposed at the end of the Ebola victim’s life contracted the disease… so, who’s continuing to hope for bad news?
Some info that apparently didn’t make it into the left-wing media …
Ebola has been around for more than 30 years. It has been confined, mostly, to western and central Africa. The folks in the affected countries have observed over the years that when an outbreak is quarantined, it disappears after a while. The disease hasn’t been eradicated, but the outbreak has been controlled by preventing it from spreading.
That’s all those countries could do, lacking a healthcare infrastructure like ours and an endless supply of someone else’s money.
There have been hints that the CDC has a vaccine which needs testing for another 6 or 12 months. They may have developed it sooner if not for more important matters.
The Facts About Ebola Funding
By GOV. BOBBY JINDAL
October 12, 2014
Over the past five years, the CDC has received just under $3 billion in transfers from the fund. Yet only 6 percent—$180 million—of that $3 billion went toward building epidemiology and laboratory capacity. Especially given the agency’s postwar roots as the Communicable Disease Center, one would think that “detecting and responding to infectious diseases and other public health threats” warrants a larger funding commitment.
Instead, the Obama administration has focused the CDC on other priorities. While protecting Americans from infectious diseases received only $180 million from the Prevention Fund, the community transformation grant program received nearly three times as much money—$517.3 million over the same five-year period.
The CDC’s website makes clear the objectives of community transformation grants. The program funds neighborhood interventions like “increasing access to healthy foods by supporting local farmers and developing neighborhood grocery stores,” or “promoting improvements in sidewalks and street lighting to make it safe and easy for people to walk and ride bikes.” Bike lanes and farmer’s markets may indeed help a community—but they would do little to combat dangerous diseases like Ebola, SARS or anthrax.
Per Frosty: “There have been hints that the CDC has a vaccine which needs testing for another 6 or 12 months. They may have developed it sooner if not for more important matters.”
And of course the “other expert”, Gov. Bobby Jindal sinks to new lows with more misinformation.
Per CBS News: “Earlier this week, NIH director Francis Collins said we’d likely have a vaccine already if not for a decade of budget cuts.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-isnt-there-an-ebola-vaccine/
Perhaps we would have an Ebola vaccine long before now if it were not for the unbelievable wasteful spending on part of the NIH and CDC. No mention of these wasteful expenditures on the CBS News story. They may have put into perspective the budget cuts to the afore mentioned agency. See below.
· CDC’s Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center cost nearly $110 million – including $10 million in furniture
· CDC spent $106 million on the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications & Visitor Center, when it already had one
· CDC built a $200,000 fitness center (inside a $21-milllion CDC building) that has $30,000 saunas, zero-gravity chairs, and mood-enhancing light shows
· Telling Taxpayers How to Eat ($15 billion) – Yes, that’s billion with a “b” in front. In a massive overstep of government power, Obamacare carved out $15 billion for CDC to convince Americans to make “healthy” choices through “Community Transformation Grants” (CTG). The CTG program “supports efforts to modify behavior through anti-obesity campaigns, as well as anti-smoking and pro-sin tax regulations and legislation” at the state and local levels, according to the bipartisan Citizens Against Government Waste.
· Grant Money to China ($90 million) – NIH awarded more than $90 million to Chinese researchers. This included $2 million to develop a vaccine for a parasite disease common in China. The Traditional Values Coalition asked, “As our country heads to fiscal ruin, why are we giving millions in taxpayer dollars to Chinese science — which benefits China and its institutions — when they hold more than $1 trillion in American debt?”
· Duplicate Agricultural Programs ($22 million) – CDC spent $22 million on their Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program. The problem? This project was nearly identical to efforts already underway at the Department of Agriculture. CDC allotted $181,966 for developing a smart phone app for specialized farmers in Tennessee.
· “Why Are Lesbians Fat?” ($2.87 million) – That’s one question NIH has decided to research for the last four years, spending more than $2.87 million so far on the project. The ongoing study is meant to explain why “women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic,” operating under the claim that “three-quarters” of lesbians are obese. First funded in 2011, the study is slated to continue into 2016.
· Promoting HPV Vaccine for Young Girls ($544,188) – CDC provided $544,188 for a study on how to boost the number of young girls getting Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccinations in Los Angeles County. Although CDC says the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk, it counts 772 serious adverse side effects, including 32 deaths, among the millions of doses administered to young girls between June, 2006, and December, 2008. Parents have raised moral objections as to whether young girls should receive the vaccine, which covers four sexually transmitted diseases.
· Drunken Monkeys ($3.2 million) – NIH spent $3.2 million getting monkeys drunk just to see what would happen. The agency apparently has quite a fascination with excessive drinking, since it also “doled out money in recent years for research on binge-drinking mice, inebriated gamblers and pilots seeking the sensation of flying drunk,” according to The Washington Times.
· Bizarre Sex Studies ($1.5 million) – Congress voted to give NIH $1.5 million to spend on four obscure sex studies: “Mood Arousal and Sexual Risk Taking,” “Study on Sexual Habits of Older Men,” “Study on San Francisco’s Asian Prostitutes/Masseuses,” and “Study on American Indian Transgender Research.” NIH still received the requested funds from Congress, despite efforts by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., in 2004 to defund the projects.
· Funds for Homosexual Activists in Public Schools ($1.4 million) – CDC gave The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the homosexual activist group, $1.4 million to create “safe spaces” in public schools starting in 2011. The funding will be distributed during a five year period, as GLSEN works in 20 targeted school districts across the country. GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard claimed in 2011 that safe spaces “are vital to these students’ health, success in school and life prospects.”
· Centers for ‘Gun Disease’ Prevention ($2.6 million) – CDC spent $2.6 million on studies that also seemed to favor greater gun control before when Congress defunded the research in 1999. Apparently Congress thought CDC had more important issues to study, like how to control actual diseases. For FY 2015, President Obama is asking Congress to grant CDC $22.2 million in new funding to study and prevent gun violence. Obama has made similar requests in previous years, though unsuccessfully.
· National Institutes of ‘Gun Control’ ($5 million) – Separately from the CDC, NIH also handed out nearly $5 million for research promoting gun control as of October, 2009, according to an article in The Washington Times. NIH pursued research on “gun related violence,” despite the issue being well outside the organization’s typical domain. Grants included “$642,561 in taxpayer funds to learn how inner-city teenagers whose friends, acquaintances and peers carry firearms and drink alcohol on street corners could show up in emergency rooms with gunshot wounds.”
· Cocaine Enhances Japanese Quail’s Sex Drive ($181,406) – No joke, this was a real study sponsored by NIH and slated to run through next year. Why quail? Because “quail provide a convenient and interesting alternative to standard laboratory rats and pigeons.”
· Empowering Women to Choose Contraception … in Jail ($279,789) – Liberals have long battled to expand women’s access to contraceptives. So in June 2012, NIH allocated $279,789 “to improve contraceptive use for incarcerated women” as they neared the end of their jail time. The program, which ran from June 1, 2008, through on May 31, 2014, was ultimately intended to reduce unexpected pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among recently incarcerated women.
· Bogus AIDS Experiments ($4.9 million) – Results of an HIV/AIDS vaccine study funded by NIH were faked by researcher at Iowa State University (ISU), calling into question $19 million in grants awarded to the same researcher over the years. “Inauthentic” samples throughout a period of four years made the vaccine reportedly appear far more effective than it actually was. Although NIH refused to pay ISU the final installment of the grant money, the university was allowed to keep more than $4.9 million after paying back the researcher’s salary – nearly three-quarters of the original grant.
· Sex Workers Spreading STDs ($675,786) – Ever wonder why sex workers spread HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)? The answer might seem obvious, but NIH is spending $675,786 to find out exactly how and why in an ongoing study. Researchers are continuing the regular testing of 600 female sex workers on the U.S.-Mexico border for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia.
· Examining ‘Barriers to Correct Condom Use’ ($423,500) – It turns out “young, heterosexual adult men” weren’t using condoms as frequently as NIH would like. A study investigating the apparent problem in 2009 came with $423,500 price tag.
Amanda, Where/when do you think it will end?
CDC this and CDC that. How many people have been diagnosed with Ebola in the US? How much has the hysteria cost us so far? Not just the money!
The parents have a right to be concerned. They have the right to pull their children out of school and figure out how they will make up the lost time. The leaders have a right to make knowledge sensible decisions in light of what the parents think! Anything less than that will tend to keep us on our current path of hysteria.
One neat thing about the whole social network and access to information is that there are facts out there. Try to research them!
This says it best.
CNN,
Fear-bola attacks the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking,” she says. “It starts with a low-grade concern about the two health care workers diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas and slowly builds into fear of a widespread epidemic in the United States.”
Thanks for the LONG article from the right-wing blogs. Can’t believe that people take the time to write and read such
dis-information. Red State, Michelle Malkin, National Review…certainly have their talking points synchronized!
Yes, Fear-bola, here’s how to stop it.
Actual…are you saying that these expenditures never took place? Are you saying that these are not wasteful expenditures? You, sir, are the one who is spreading dis-information by purporting to voters reading this that the alleged budget shortfalls at the CDC were caused by congressional budget cuts and therefore the reason we do not have a vaccine for Ebola. As I have already submitted, just the opposite true, but I will never expect the far left media and blogosphere to ever let these facts see the light of day.
Snowmelt:
If you give some thought to these appropriations, (although, I suspect some of them are being blown out of proportion), but even so, when you think about them, they all have merit. Far, far more merit, than the Trillion dollars we have squandered in the Middle East, killing people and blowing things up and making the people there hate us.
Really, honestly, I’m not trying to be snarky, I ask you, think, with an open mind.
You don’t get to work at the top of the CDC by being stupid. These people all have good intentions- if they didn’t they could probably make far more working in the private sector. Not all research leads to great results. That is true of all endeavor. For all the successes, there are always more failures. We blew up a lot of rockets before we got one that got us to the moon.
So, have an open mind, just for a minute, look at it from another perspective.
FEAR= False evidence appearing real. Enough said!