Ebola Quarantine Imminent? Canadians in West Africa Told: "Leave While You Still Can"

Canada's Health Minister Rona Ambrose is "urging" Canadians in Ebola-ravaged West Africa to "consider leaving now." A media moment before news broke about a secondary Ebola transmission in Texas, Ambrose announced, "Today we are asking Canadians living in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia to consider leaving by commercial means while they are still available."

Experts have been pleading with the world's nations to "give 'er" and stop the epidemic's spread in West Africa. But it didn't happen. Not enough, not fast enough. Now… are they giving up? Pulling out even before they got in?

There now are almost 8,400 cases and 4,033 deaths - up from 1,323 cases and 729 deaths at the end of July - a 640% jump in less than 2 1/2 months. And that's just the reported cases.

Experts say the key to containing the epidemic is to stop the virus' spread in West Africa - and insist, "Ebola cannot be ignored in the hope it will burn itself out."

Ebola outbreak: Canadians in 3 West African countries advised to leave
Oct 11, 2014

Health Minister Rona Ambrose is urging Canadians in three countries in West Africa where the Ebola virus is raging to consider leaving now.

The federal government issued a travel advisory Friday aimed at 216 Canadians who live in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

"Today we are asking Canadians living in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia to consider leaving by commercial means while they are still available," Ambrose said in Edmonton Friday.

A total of 8399 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported in seven affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, and the United States of America) up to the end of 8 October. There have been 4033 deaths.

As of 27 July 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the four countries stands at 1 323 including 729 deaths.

….Michael Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. .…raised a possibility that he said virologists are loath to discuss openly but consider behind closed doors: the prospect that the Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air.

….The key to containing the outbreak… is to beef up efforts to stop the spread of the virus.

…."If we wait for vaccines and new drugs to arrive to end the Ebola epidemic, instead of taking major action now, we risk the disease's reaching from West Africa to our own backyards,"….

…."Ebola cannot be ignored in the hope it will burn itself out," Peter Piot, one of the scientists who first identified the Ebola virus in 1976, and his colleague Adam Kucharski, Piot, now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said in their editorial.

…."If we wait for vaccines and new drugs to arrive to end the Ebola epidemic, instead of taking major action now, we risk the disease's reaching from West Africa to our own backyards,"….

Hmmm, sounds to me that might be the intent of the CDC and the vaccine companies..
We continue to watch the lack of ability for the CDC to properly train anyone in handling this issue home and abroad. Now they are having customs agents test and or screen incoming flights for symptoms? and wearing only a simple face mask? while others are wearing Full air feed suits?? it IS quite a sad situation and seeming deliberate or absolutely incompetent.

It is far too late to isolate or quarantine the West African counties hardest hit by this virus. That ship has sailed. The main thing is that they have continued commerce and trade in the midst of the worst outbreak Africa has ever seen. That alone is cause for great concern and now we will see this spread to other countries and continents.

I have so much to say and so little that will make a difference. So for me it is now a waiting game, a dangerous one at that as the ignorance will get far worse than the debacle we witnessed in Dallas.

My main concern at present is that the Ministry of Information will continue to block any true coverage of this pandemic and only in the scrubbed annals of history will get a partial picture of the horrors that took place for the people of Africa.

Infrastructure should have already been put into place for food/water/health distribution available to ALL citizens affected. That with education and PPE's along with competent waste disposal could still help more than simply quarantining men women and children in Ebola Death camps.

a reply to: antar

It is far too late to isolate or quarantine the West African counties hardest hit by this virus. That ship has sailed.

If they would just stop the flights that might be one way to stop it from "flying" here.

In fact if people sail in ships from there instead of flying that might be one way to quarantine potential hosts instead of turning them loose on the Tarmac.

By the time a ship reaches the East or West coast of America, the incubation period might have time to show symptoms.

People are so impatient and the air lies sooo greedy they will infect us all before the US government stops flights from West Africa all together. Tooo late.

a reply to: soficrow

"Today we are asking Canadians living in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia to consider leaving by commercial means while they are still available."

Second case confirmed in Dallas yesterday. Will that be enough to stop flights from there altogether, you think? Big Airlines all be the death of us all.

Could be the Canadian government is giving a subtle warning for Canadians to leave, before they take measures to stop all flights, I hate to say that but I hope that's what they are doing.

Also noted Rona Ambrose stated to leave by commercial flights while you can. Perhaps the airlines and government combined will eventually stop all flights coming in.

I can't believe how bungled everything has been handled so far.

I hope all Canadians listening who do come home and properly quarantined and monitored for 23days after arriving.

I'd hate to encourage an exodus of Canadians in West African back into Canada - without taking proper precaution!

a reply to: antar

I wonder if the boys in Dallas will develop some common sense. Quite a few trade shows are scheduled to be held in Dallas. IMHO they should be cancelled. Yeah, it will hurt the local hotels/restaurants, but it's a small sacrifice to protect the people, right? (insert eye roll). Otherwise, if conferences and trade shows continue, can you just imagine the spread?

I like the fact that Canada has stated that all travelers returning from there will have to be examined by a quarantine officer, in other words, we are not going to trust that you won't lie upon entering the country. Tough measures to be sure, but better safe than sorry.

If I was returning from there, I would be glad to be tested.

a reply to: alphacenturi

Uh huh. Ambrose is scheduled to hold an Ebola news conference today. Will update.

Health Minister Ambrose's "Ebola Update" was little more than promo for the Ebola vaccine developed at the Level 4 bio-lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba (which also helped develop ZMapp).

Meanwhile, local Manitoba TV news announced that the Government of Manitoba had ordered more Personal Protective Equipment for use in Manitoba's hospitals.

Draw your own conclusions.