US Dismisses Plea for Biological Disaster Response Teams (EBOLA)

A senior U.S. official rebutted a call from global aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for wealthy nations to deploy specialized biological disaster response teams to the region. ….

"I don't think at this point deploying biological incident response teams is exactly what's needed," said Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy on the National Security Council.

She said the U.S. government was focusing on rapidly increasing the number of Ebola treatment centers in affected countries, providing protective equipment, and training local staff. "We will see a considerable ramp-up in the coming days and weeks. If we find it is still moving out of control, we will look at other options," Smith told a conference call.

So the military-industrial complex won this round - and there won't be another one, given how fast this epidemic is spreading.

HERE'S A QUICK RECAP:

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) started begging for help last March, warning the world that Ebola was epidemic in the region - that it was out-of-control, and they didn't have the resources to fight it alone. Initially, Guinea was the only nation to report cases. The epidemic started at the border junction where three contries meet (Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia), apparently emanating from the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. MSF warned that Ebola was threatening to go global before Sierra Leone and Liberia even acknowledged their cases, and before the WHO recognized the situation officially.

Most "experts" insisted the epidemic was just an 'outbreak,' and would "burn itself out quickly." They were wrong. They're still wrong.

The WHO did not step up to the plate until April, and did not make Ebola a priority until it was too late. By the first week of September, experts' warnings were dire:

* The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is accelerating.
* It is spiraling out of control.
* It's not under control anywhere.
* The window for getting it under control is closing.
* The longer the epidemic goes uncontained, the more likely the virus will mutate and evolve.
* Ebola already may be airborne in monkeys - if the virus mutates to be airborne in humans, it will ravage the globe.

….Dr. Thomas Kenyon, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Centre for Global Health, said on Wednesday the outbreak was "spiraling out of control" and warned that the window of opportunity for controlling it was closing.

…"It's not under control anywhere."

He warned that the longer the outbreak went uncontained, the greater the possibility the virus could mutate, making it more difficult to contain. ….

On the virus mutation spectrum, Ebola has a relatively slow mutation rate compared with influenza and HIV, but its mutations still develop faster than those of the smallpox virus. Still, the longer the pathogen goes unchecked means that it will continue to accumulate mutations, some of which could prove more problematic and make it potentially more lethal or easily transmitted among humans.

The epidemic is now acknowledged in 5 nations: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Nigeria. None of the nations have the manpower or ability to identify, catalogue and report new cases and it's clear Nigeria is covering up whatever might be happening there. Reported cases are now at 3685 with 1841 deaths.

As of 31 August 2014, 3685 (probable, confirmed and suspected) cases and 1841 deaths have been reported in the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease by the Ministries of Health of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In Nigeria, there have been 21 cases and 7 deaths.

In Senegal, one case has been confirmed and there have been no Ebola deaths or further suspected cases.

Before the Ebola epidemic, there was at best 1 doctor per 100,000 people in West Africa - and about 5 public hospitals in 3 nations. Most of the doctors worked in private practices too expensive for most West Africans, and limited healthcare was provided by international charities. Now, the "health systems" are pretty much devoid of manpower.

* Residents face prison terms for 'harboring' Ebola patients, but there's nowhere to take them because most of the few hospitals have been abandoned by staff and charity centers are overwhelmed.
* Traditional funerals and burials are no longer allowed - so bodies lie in the streets because there's no one to pick them up for disposal.
* Hospitalized victims have no food or water, forcing some to "escape" and search for sustenance.


WHAT'S NEEDED: THE SHORT LIST

* Several thousand medical personnel
* Medical facilities
* Testing facilities
* Motorcycles, ambulances and other vehicles to transport patients to medical facilities
* Protective equipment, gloves and gowns
* Hazard pay and other incentives for local workers
* Help to protect local economies from collapse
* Food and water for patients and residents, because West Africa now has been cut off

Dr. David Nabarro, the senior United Nations Coordinator for Ebola, told the news conference the international effort to contain the outbreak needed to be scaled up three- to four-fold….

That includes increasing the number of motorcycles, ambulances and other vehicles available to transport patients to medical facilities; increasing the supply of protective equipment, gloves and gowns; providing hazard pay and other incentives for local workers; and taking steps to protect local economies from collapse.

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO assistant director-general for health security, said several thousand medical personnel would be needed to treat the sick as the outbreak grew along with several hundred international experts to help run laboratories and train healthcare workers.

Seems the USA and other nations are banking on technology - betting that new treatments and vaccines will come out of using West Africans as guinea pigs - and counting on a medical solution emerging before the pandemic hits. Which is incredibly stupid, given the current mutation rate. Most likely, Ebola will mutate too fast for the treatments to keep up.

Remember - viruses mutate in every new human host. At best, we're looking at 384,000 to 640,000 cases (new human hosts) within 6 months and 24,576,000 to 40,960,000 cases after a year.

Talk about playing chicken with public health.





.

They're thinning the herd.

Stupid

Absolutely stupid.

Ebola a bigger threat than ISIS is.

Enemy's don't have to be brown and carry a AK47 to be a threat.

Microbes have killed more people than wars.

But I guess a war on a virus isnt fancy and full of cool explosions for the Twinkie eating masses derp derp derp

That is stupid on the US's part.

Personnel with equipment and knowledge to canvas the neighborhoods and towns for those exposed to the virus is going to be more effective then health workers. There is no real treatment for Ebola, the best thing to do to stop the spread is to find and identify everyone who has it, and isolate them either in their homes away from other people, or somewhere else that can be contained.

12 soldiers with protective equipment and testing equipment going out and finding those exposed and isolating them, will save more lives then 12 nurses who go there to pretend to be helping sick ebola patients by giving them water bottles and dressing up in gowns.

For every person that is exposed and not found and isolated, they are why the virus is spreading. Not because there is a shortage of nurses and doctor's.

Looks like there just isn't enough profit for the U.S.A. to get involved!

Its only a matter of time before a infected individual arrives in USA or Europe and put our airport and hospital staff at risk.

No I doubt Ebola will spread like wildfire in the west. But even a few dozen or few hundred deaths is too much!

a reply to: soficrow

Normalcy bias or intentional ignorance?

I know that when speaking with most people in daily life about this, they don't seem to understand how this specific event can move from "over there" to the same room with them in a matter of hours.

Even the few who do get that next go to "well they've got that new 'miracle cure,' right?" Not realizing how limited in supply or even if it is actually effective as the ones who've received it may have survived anyway.

Even when it comes to their own country (and it will of it isn't halted NOW) they (most people) will still think of it as "over there" until it's in the same room as them.

Add to this the absolute conviction I have that those who control the narrative will keep stories of ebola outside of Africa hidden as long as possible; football season is beginning in 'murrica and absolute hordes of people will be focused on that particularly mind-numbing circus.



Then when they (the authorities) do act, it will be like this:

During the H1n1 scare of a few years ago, we know that law enforcement officials in several states practiced a DUI roadblock kind of scenario in several states in which they were equipped with mock vaccine testing equipment to tell whether someone, or not, had been given the new vaccine against the virus. The roadblock consisted a large van for processing, a couple of buses and chase cars on the flanks to run down people who tried to avoid the checkpoint. According to my well-placed sources in Colorado, this was rehearsed over and over. These law enforcement officers were told that their families would be collected by DHS and protected in isolation against the spread of the pathogen and any resulting rioting. A highly decorated State Trooper from Kansas, Greg Evensen (Ret.), stated on my show that these families would be not held for safekeeping, they were to be held hostage to force the law enforcement officials to do the bidding of the powers that be.

The Ebola Crisis Just Went From Bad to Worse

And a great majority of the beer-swilling, fast-food eating mouth breathers will eat it up because, just like the response to 9/11, it's for everyone's safety...

a reply to: soficrow

What gets me about this is the fact they everyone talks bad about the U.S. but when we don't want to intervene, we're the bad guys. NEWS FLASH . . . WE HAVE NO MONEY!!!!

If you people feel so obligated to help, pull your check book out, or whatever else you use, and donate to the cause you see fit. Otherwise, stop asking us for money.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Sorry but IF some outbreak happened in the USA then Martial law and quarantine is one of the best way to halt its spread.

Running around all MERIKA! Rioting , looting, protesting and waving your gunz about ect will just make any pathogen spread quicker.

originally posted by: crazyewok
a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Sorry but IF some outbreak happened in the USA then Martial law and quarantine is one of the best way to halt its spread.

Running around all MERIKA! Rioting , looting, protesting and waving your gunz about ect will just make any pathogen spread quicker.

You have our government and our people sorely mixed up. You can toss all the insults you want but the people of America will help each other if there ever was a problem, I can assure you of that. And, our government can try to put martial law on us, it won't work. Sorry, that's why we have our guns and our forefathers built that into our constitution for that simple fact. You spout off at the lip about America an awful damn lot while you sit in the UK.

originally posted by: OptimusCrime
a reply to: soficrow

What gets me about this is the fact they everyone talks bad about the U.S. but when we don't want to intervene, we're the bad guys. NEWS FLASH . . . WE HAVE NO MONEY!!!!

If you people feel so obligated to help, pull your check book out, or whatever else you use, and donate to the cause you see fit. Otherwise, stop asking us for money.

But your looking at a REAL threat to national security here.

Viruses dont care who they infect, they have no agenda, take no sides and refuse talks and diplomacy.

Its not a case of being world police here or "intervening" for another country benefit. Its about stooping a microscopic insidious enemy coming to the USA and killing Americans.

Your not so broke you cant afford to drop bombs on ISIS? Then your not broke to not fight this new enemy Ebola.
Id say ISIS should take a back seat to this.

originally posted by: crazyewok
a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Sorry but IF some outbreak happened in the USA then Martial law and quarantine is one of the best way to halt its spread.

Running around all MERIKA! Rioting , looting, protesting and waving your gunz about ect will just make any pathogen spread quicker.

I went back and read my post trying to find where I said, or implied, that rioting and looting were on the list of acceptable responses amd was unable to find such.

They couldn't get enough people to fall for the flu shot, but they'll get them to line up for miles for the golden ebola shot, no matter how new it is...

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: OptimusCrime
a reply to: soficrow

What gets me about this is the fact they everyone talks bad about the U.S. but when we don't want to intervene, we're the bad guys. NEWS FLASH . . . WE HAVE NO MONEY!!!!

If you people feel so obligated to help, pull your check book out, or whatever else you use, and donate to the cause you see fit. Otherwise, stop asking us for money.

But your looking at a REAL threat to national security here.

Viruses dont care who they infect, they have no agenda, take no sides and refuse talks and diplomacy.

Its not a case of being world police here or "intervening" for another country benefit. Its about stooping a microscopic insidious enemy coming to the USA and killing Americans.

Your not so broke you cant afford to drop bombs on ISIS? Then your not broke to not fight this new enemy Ebola.
Id say ISIS should take a back seat to this.

Our military already has money in the budget for operations, as well as the black budget. We can't help every single country with every single problem they have. Do you realize how much money we give away? You probably don't because it doesn't effect you. We give away billions upon billions. And, we NEVER get it back. EVER. We saved the world from the Germans and not a penny was repaid to us. That's forgotten though, because it wasn't your generation that did it.

If you want the ebola thing taken care of, call your UK government, or whatever you call them, and tell them to send money over there, you have enough of it, right?

originally posted by: OptimusCrime

originally posted by: crazyewok
a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Sorry but IF some outbreak happened in the USA then Martial law and quarantine is one of the best way to halt its spread.

Running around all MERIKA! Rioting , looting, protesting and waving your gunz about ect will just make any pathogen spread quicker.

You have our government and our people sorely mixed up. You can toss all the insults you want but the people of America will help each other if there ever was a problem, I can assure you of that. And, our government can try to put martial law on us, it won't work. Sorry, that's why we have our guns and our forefathers built that into our constitution for t
hat simple fact. You spout off at the lip about America an awful damn lot while you sit in the UK.

Like in New Orleans during Katrina?

Your guns cant help you in a virus outbreak. Sorry but why resist during a REAL emergency when TEMPORARY isolation and quarantine will be one of few effective tools? What will fighting curfews and martial law help with? Except spread the diseases further?

Im not taking permanent martial law but temporary state of emergency here until the outbreak is over. And that is allowed in your constitution in a state of emergency.

What do you expect your neighbours to do to help?

Your looking at something only trained professionals can deal with

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: OptimusCrime

originally posted by: crazyewok
a reply to: jadedANDcynical

Sorry but IF some outbreak happened in the USA then Martial law and quarantine is one of the best way to halt its spread.

Running around all MERIKA! Rioting , looting, protesting and waving your gunz about ect will just make any pathogen spread quicker.

You have our government and our people sorely mixed up. You can toss all the insults you want but the people of America will help each other if there ever was a problem, I can assure you of that. And, our government can try to put martial law on us, it won't work. Sorry, that's why we have our guns and our forefathers built that into our constitution for t
hat simple fact. You spout off at the lip about America an awful damn lot while you sit in the UK.

Like in New Orleans during Katrina?

Your guns cant help you in a virus outbreak. Sorry but why resist during a REAL emergency when TEMPORARY isolation and quarantine will be one of few effective tools? What will fighting curfews and martial law help with? Except spread the diseases further?

Im not taking permanent martial law but temporary state of emergency here until the outbreak is over. And that is allowed in your constitution in a state of emergency.

What do you expect your neighbours to do to help?

Your looking at something only trained professionals can deal with

Let me tell you something, New Orleans is a dump. The people who live there were more inclined to get free stuff than help their community. That's how it is in every major city and ghetto in America, just like Ferguson. There are other parts of this country that are not like that.

We would stay in our houses and mind our business if we're told to, any animals running around acting like New Orleans deserve to catch ebola and die.

originally posted by: OptimusCrime
We saved the world from the Germans and not a penny was repaid to us.

I see your one of those "Merikans" you forget you saved the world in equal conjunction with the UK+commonwealth and Russia right? without one none would have won.

originally posted by: OptimusCrime
If you want the ebola thing taken care of, call your UK government, or whatever you call them, and tell them to send money over there, you have enough of it, right?

I do think the UK should and it is. But seeing as this affects the USA too then you should be getting involved too! It should be a team effort here!

If the USA has billions to spend on ISIS it can bloody well help in the fight with Ebola that's just as if not more dangerous to AMERICA! Are you really that short sighted?

DP

originally posted by: crazyewok

originally posted by: OptimusCrime
We saved the world from the Germans and not a penny was repaid to us.

I see your one of those "Merikans" you forget you saved the world in equal conjunction with the UK+commonwealth and Russia right? without one none would have won.

originally posted by: OptimusCrime
If you want the ebola thing taken care of, call your UK government, or whatever you call them, and tell them to send money over there, you have enough of it, right?

I do think the UK should and it is. But seeing as this affects the USA too then you should be getting involved too! It should be a team effort here!

If the USA has billions to spend on ISIS it can bloody well help in the fight with Ebola that's just as if not more dangerous to AMERICA! Are you really that short sighted?

I don't mind helping, we will help when we see fit. Not when another country tells or asks. Just because you ask for something, you don't get it instantaneously.

a reply to: crazyewok

But your looking at a REAL threat to national security here.

Viruses dont care who they infect, they have no agenda, take no sides and refuse talks and diplomacy.

I quite agree with you here except that I would say that it threatens not just national security, but the security of most of our society and is a danger which transcends any such notions of nation or state.

The problem being we have greedy, self-centered psychopaths for leadership the world over and their plans don't really care what you or I think. They probably even think they're safe from this little bit of genetic code we call a virus.

As OptimusCrime mentions, I'd trust my neigjbor before I'd trust a suit or uniform because "we're the government and we're here to help."

Why does the title say that the US dismisses and not the world dismisses. Everybody insists that America is not the world's police force but they expect America to jump at every crisis. China has invested loads of money in Africa lately, why are they not being questioned about not helping. This should be a world problem not an American problem.
And why is nobody calling out obama? He runs the country after all.