State of Maine, nurse who went to Africa at odds over Ebola quarantine (Ebola Nurse Says No)

CNN ^ | 10/29/2014 | CNN

[Dallas59]

(CNN) -- Not long ago, Kaci Hickox was fighting Ebola in West Africa, doing what she could to treat those with the deadly disease. Now, she's in the middle of a different fight -- in the middle of Maine.

A Maine official said late Wednesday afternoon that the state is in the process of filing a court order to require Hickox to abide by a 21-day quarantine. This measure is meant to prevent her from spreading Ebola, given her hands-on role with the deadly virus.

In a written statement, Gov. Paul LePage said Hickox "has been unwilling to follow the protocols set forth by the Maine CDC and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for medical workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients." The statement didn't say which protocols she was resisting but added LePage is seeking legal authority to enforce a quarantine.

[null and void]

Bring out your dead! The Dark Man cometh! Bring out your dead! The Dark Man cometh! Bring out your......

(Since all records of obama's past were lost in a tragic boating accident and fire, no one can be certain that the guy in the red circle isn't him...)

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

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If I were a younger man I’d take a flame thrower to this place...

So what have you got to lose now old man?

[Recompennation]

I’m old and I’m tired real tired you see...

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You risk losing being old and tired?

[Dqban22]

Takes one’s breath away...... .....:

This is mind boggling!!! Don’t you think it’s about time Pee Wee developed a PLAN??? This is a time for LEADERSHIP, not his constant waffling. Is it time to panic? Of course not. The time to panic is when it is too late to develop a consistent plan of action. What is the incubation time for STUPIDITY?

Lewiston Idaho veterinarian’s Letter to the Editor re: Ebola, Nails it!

The present Ebola crisis in the world is frightening.
I have submitted the following letter to the editor of the Lewiston Morning Tribune:

Editor, Lewiston Morning Tribune:

If I wish to import a horse into the United States from Liberia or any African country other than Morocco, the horse needs to undergo a 60 day quarantine period at a USDA approved quarantine facility prior to mingling with the general population of horses in this country. Africa has a disease called African Horse Sickness that does not exist in the US; this is the way we have kept it out of this country.

African Horse Sickness does not cause disease in people, only horses; our government has determined that it would be devastating to the US horse industry if it were to come here.

The United States (and virtually all other countries) require a myriad of tests and often quarantine prior to bringing in a foreign animal.

I can’t legally cross state lines in the United States with a horse or cow without a health certificate signed by a USDA accredited veterinarian stating that the animal has been inspected and found free of infectious disease. In most cases blood tests are also required. In fact I can’t legally cross the Snake River and ride my horse in Idaho without a health certificate and a negative blood test for Equine Infectious Anemia.

I’m not complaining; the United States of America, the States of Idaho and Washington as well as the other 48 states take the health of our livestock very seriously, and we have a very good record at keeping foreign animal diseases out of our country. I am happy to do my part to maintain biosecurity in our animal population.

If I am a resident of Liberia incubating Ebola, to enter the United States all I need to do is present a valid visa, and lie when asked if I have been exposed to Ebola. Within hours (no quarantine required) I can be walking the streets of any city in the United States.

I feel very fortunate to live in a country that values our animals so highly.

David A. Rustebakke, DVM
Oct 29, 2014

[firebrand]

I hope the daministration is not playing chess with us on this. Obola has signed an executive order giving him the power to quarantine anyone with respiratory symptoms. If Kaci’s lawyers lose, that gives Obola court backup.

I know ebola is a totally different disease from “respiratory disease.” But the legal battle could be bad for us if the terms are not clear. Deadly pandemic yes, sniffles no?

[firebrand]

You see what happens when you lose trust in your government. Even desirable decisions are suspect!

[Ethrane]

I understand the sentiment on here and most places re: the quarantines for the health care workers returning from overseas after taking care of Ebola patients...but some things come to my mind that I believe everyone needs to consider. And, before I go further, I’m going to disclose to everyone that I am a Doctor. Anesthesiologist for those that are wondering.

First, it’s ludicrous to mandate quarantine of people returning from over there after taking care of Ebola patients in light of the fact that there is no similar FEDERAL order to quarantine EVERYONE coming to the US from endemic areas of Africa. I would hope that any health care provider, unless they possessed a death wish, employed/used the recommended care precautions and gear to avoid getting infected; they are trained in the symptomatology of Ebola and would monitor their health status quite carefully upon return. It is quite evident to me after watching how Ebola acts over the past months that it is not contagious unless you are ill (not arguing the screening by temperature, that is ridiculous). We can have that discussion in a separate thread.

Second, if you’re going to quarantine health care providers coming back from endemic areas who used proper precautions etc., what the hell are you going to do with the health care providers that take care of Ebola patients HERE? Quarantine us all also? Can I not see any other patients for 3 weeks after caring for an Ebola patient that happens to show up at my facility? How many health care providers (Doctors, RN’s and other ancillary hospital personnel) do you think exist in the US? Who is going to pay them all for the time they spend not working in quarantine, and who is going to be left to care for the other patients in the hospital (if you can get any providers to show up for work, knowing that if they show up and take care of an Ebola patient their lives will come to a halt both economically and socially for the next 21+ days)?

Just a thought...but some times you need to be careful what you ask for.

Of course, the proper question is why is the administration NOT restricting the in flow of potential Ebola patients in the first place.

[bravo whiskey]

Inform her if she doesn’t comply she will be shot like a rabid dog. And be prepared to do it. This creature is a threat
just call it a partial death abortion to get the libtards in agreement.

[firebrand]

Very good point. I think we get suspicious when they seem to be fleeing, although there is nothing wrong with fleeing per se.

I saw today that the people from the hot zone flying into the quarantining areas has stopped. Presumably they are going around those states now.

[Ethrane]

I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

The only answer is a nationwide ban on anyone traveling into the US from the endemic areas, with the exception of returning AMERICAN health care personnel who would then be subject to a quarantine. This would limit the inflow of infected people, and hopefully largely avoid the question altogether that I posed, of what to do with health care workers HERE that take care of Ebola patients.

Of course, that would take some common sense, and as we know, it ain’t to common.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Not a good comparison. The gentleman on the right is/was an honorable person, as far as I know.

[jwalsh07]

The infection rates of medical personnel in ebola outbreak areas is robust. That alone justifies the 21 day quarantine of returning medical personnel. If it is good enough formy brother grunts it is certainly good enough for medical personnel, no?

Comparing isolation and protective gear here in the US with third world countries is a non starter. AT low rates of infection here the number or medical personnel subject to quarantine is minimal. If the virus mutates and becomes aerosolized it won’t matter who gets quarantined because it is evident that our hospitals are not equipped to deal with high rates of contagion of a highly infectious and high death rate virus.

If you want an example of why medical personnell should be quarantined you need look no further thn the bowlingDr from Harlem with a need to travel the subway with symptoms of ebola infection. 21 days out of the life of this nurse and those like her will have negligible impact on medicl care here in America.

[Ethrane]

Ummm...before pulling the military card, be aware that I am a military trained physician with 22 yrs ACDU time before I retired. I understand your sentiment for the military, I share it. Personally, I think it’s stupid to even send them there, and even if they do, I trust the military to account for everyone’s whereabouts and only quarantine those that need it...but so be it. Plus, military members are federal employees and will get paid while in isolation...others are not. Small point, but it has some merit.

You are answering the question as someone that doesn’t understand the differences between third world Ebola care and what they would likely receive here in the US.

Many Ebola patients in Africa are taken care of in open air tents, not enclosed facilities, and if you do not know how this affects transmission you should read up on it. Most if not all African Ebola patients are not afforded the most invasive procedures (and most dangerous) at near end of life..these procedures actually have the capacity to increase the capacity for American health care workers to become infected. The bioethics questions of what care should be afforded based on likely benefit vs. increased risk to American health care workers are just starting to be asked. Sure, the virus may mutate and this may all be moot, but I’m here to tell you now that if modern American health care medicine is applied to Ebola patients, the risk of infection will be higher for American health care workers than it is for the providers in Africa.

As for ‘isolation gear’, I’m also here to tell you that there ain’t enough isolation gear to go around, true BSL-4 gear is hard to come by. Most hospitals are scrambling to get gear for an initial outfit, and if we get a sizable number of Ebola patients here, it’s going to be even harder to come by. And it ain’t just having the gear either...there are very few people in the health care field in the US that have actually been trained to don and then remove this gear safely...lord knows, I’ve received no training in it though I was trained in MOPP gear in the military in the 80’s.

And, finally, while the Dr. from Harlem riding the subway was unwise and foolish, the fact that the relatives of Mr. Duncan who resided with him in the Dallas apartment never got Ebola (that I know of) makes me think that the subway risk was minimal though not zero. I’m not defending him, just saying.

You can keep on imagining that Ebola would just be a blip on the wall for the american health care system, that everyone’s just going to show up for work like normal...I was just asking the question if we are similarly going to quarantine those health care workers that care for Ebola patients HERE also.

[Girlene]

First, it’s ludicrous to mandate quarantine of people returning from over there after taking care of Ebola patients in light of the fact that there is no similar FEDERAL order to quarantine EVERYONE coming to the US from endemic areas of Africa. I would hope that any health care provider, unless they possessed a death wish, employed/used the recommended care precautions and gear to avoid getting infected; they are trained in the symptomatology of Ebola and would monitor their health status quite carefully upon return.

Ebola Has Killed More Than 200 Doctors, Nurses, And Other Healthcare Workers Since June

[jwalsh07]

You are answering the question as someone that doesn’t understand the differences between third world Ebola care and what they would likely receive here in the US

I would politely suggest you reread what I wrote. Specifically the part about comparing US healthcare to Third World healthcare a non starter.

My training in theArmybesides the infantry stuff was as a CBR NCO. There are only two ways to del with bio warfare or civilian contagion and they are the same. Quarantine and decontamination. That is Army doctrine and it should be CDC doctrine. That it is controversial in civilian life and not in military life is not surprising tome, it is smply par for the course. Inefficient half mesure yield sub optimal results.

Your argument does not hold water specifically because US healthcare is much better at decon than third world countires are. I thought I had made that clear but judging by your second paragraph, maybe not.

PS: It was not a military card, it was a hypocrisy card. Quarantining soldiers wholesale with minimal interaction with highly infectious people while not quarantining medical staff with close contact with highly infectious people is, well, insane.

[Ethrane]

Umm, as a Doctor, do you think that I don’t follow stuff like that?

there have been over 13000 cases of Ebola according to the WHO...these people have been afforded care, round the clock for the duration of their sickness, at least for those that went to a health care facility ...I’m not sure how to quantify the number of potential exposures experienced by health care workers caring for these patients...I am sure it is quite large, on the order of hundreds of thousands. While not insignificant, with a kill rate of 70%, with 200 deaths you are talking about 285 health care workers getting infected.

I understand the risk...I am asking, are we going to quarantine AMERICAN health care workers taking care of AMERICAN Ebola patients here in AMERICA.

Because the answer to that is important.

[Girlene]

Iam asking, are we going to quarantine AMERICAN health care workers taking care of AMERICAN Ebola patients here in AMERICA.?

Why not?

[Birdsbane]

Most Freepers, I believe, would agree that ebola is better dead than spread. Perhaps she needs to be enlightened.

[NYRepublican72]

Let her defy the ban. It will help LePage get reelected on Tuesday.

Typical selfish liberal.