When do we start taking Ebola serious?

My big issue is why are we treating people all over the place? They just flew the nurse from Dallas to Maryland to be treated - WTF?? Isn't there a greater risk by moving patients all over the place? Emory was the place the first victims were flown to, why were all patients not treated there? Now we have 3 states where Ebola patients have been treated. Containment and isolation, hello??

Some of my friends and family have a place to go if it starts spreading fast that is away from any population larger than 2000 and the site is still 8 miles from there. We have our own well, food stores, medical supplies, guns and ammo for 5 months. But if necessary we could stay a lot longer. So people need to take it seriously and the government needs to get a clue.

Great question, MSG Brad Sand. I think that Ebola is just a little more contagious (easy to transmit) than I thought, and probably than most people thought.

I'd say we'll take it seriously when more Americans get infected and die from the Ebola virus. I don't think it will take too terribly many in number to scare/shock Americans into reality. This is a serious threat - especially when healthcare workers who are professionals and are taking precautions get infected.

Testing potentially infected (but non-symptomatic) travelers who enter the U.S. is a weak attempt to stop the virus from spreading in the U.S. If I travel to Liberia, contract Ebola, then fly back here and get tested on day #5, say, or even day #10, and I don't have any symptoms ... what happens the next day when I start having symptoms. Some people will go to the hospital, others will not. And we could have a real mess on our hands.

It seems that the CDC's guidelines for how Ebola is transmitted may have to be tweaked, based on recent experience right here in the U.S.

Its a non-issue until someone at 1600 Pennsylvania ave comes down with it.

I'd say it's being taken pretty seriously now... I was in a meeting with our 2-star general last week and a 1-star about it today. It's definitely on the radar.

As soon as it actually becomes a problem, then we can deal with it.

Thousands die from influenza varients annual in the us, AIDS-related deaths nuumber in the tens of thousands.

The biggest danger is the over hype the media is giving to this. The Ebola virus only spreads between people who have contact with bodily fluids. The hemorrhages caused are by and large dealt with by health professionals (in the US), and they are the ones that need to carry the most concern.

In the poorer, stricken countries of Western Africa, the main contributing factors to the spread include lack of good hygiene, especially with handling of the dead, and lack of quality medical infrastructure.

Caution is certainly advised, but over-reaction and scared media hype is not helping things.

It's going to take more deaths for the apathetic to get real about this problem. Our political leadership is weak on the issue and our aid response to affected countries is even worse.

It's knocking on our door folks...

1975..

More recently: As soon as it landed on our shores.

If this outbreak were to occur during any other administration I would most likely be less concerned about a possible epidemic. Currently, I feel I should prepare for a pandemic. Even if it's not easily contracted, which it isn't that hard, the ineptitude of our current Bumblers in Chief does little to ease my concerns. This whole thing has all the signs of a huge cluster f**k about to happen if officials don't get their heads out of their rears

! dead American should be enough but the problem in my opinion, don't quote me on this, is that the people working higher up in the CDC and elsewhere don't know what they're dealing with and/or how to handle it. In Norfolk, VA there is a standing order that anyone presenting with Ebola like symptoms is to be immediately Quarantined from others in a seperate exam room until Ebola can be ruled out. They also have that if we recieve a confirmed Ebola case patient is to be moved into the Quarantine rooms in the main hospital and PPE worn at all times with De-con afterwards. This is what the US CDC needs to do. They need to fully Quarantine this Virus and treat it as it is clasified. SEVERE INFECTIOUS DISEASE. I'm from Dallas and my entire family lives there. My grandfather flies in and out of DFW very often. I'm constantly worried with how there seems to be no quarantine of the infected patients how soon will my grandfather and 100 of thousands of americans get the Virus.

The viral load is not high enough in the asymptomatic patient to be contagious, although the Nurse was supposedly running a fever of the 99.5F I have been taught afebrile in an oral temp of 98.6-100.4F. The measures that the OP wants taken by every health care professional to quarantine for 21 days after any contact (If I understand correctly) are excessive IMO. On any given day you may walk by, touch, or talk to a CNA, RN, MD, APRN, or Whatever who has provided care for TB, MRSA, Varicella, the Flu, VRE, HAV, HBV, C-Diff and a whole host of other nasty crap.