Obama Officials Bloviate About Settled ‘Science,’ DoD Scientists Fear Air Transmission of Ebola

Pretending to be guided by “science” rather than practicing politics in service of their post-American agenda, Obama administration officials persevere in the irresponsible suggestion that Ebola cannot be transmitted through the air – i.e., that it requires physical contact with an infected person that results in exposure to bodily fluids. It should go without saying that because viruses mutate, responsible scientists would never claim that the “science” about them is “settled.” But quite apart from the dynamic circumstances, government scientists are obviously concerned about air transmission in the here and now, even as the spin-meisters claim it cannot happen.

Aaron Klein has uncovered a “broad agency announcement” (BAA) from the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), soliciting research proposals to combat Ebola (in connection with the government’s efforts against chemical and biological threats). The BAA is appended to a “Federal Business Opportunities” notice – the notice can be found here, and the BAA is an attachment atop the right column, accessible through the link “HDTRA1-15-EBOLA-BAA”).

At page 7, Section 2.2.4 (“Ebola Characterization”), the Defense Department’s BAA explains that Ebola is “aerostable” and, since other filoviruses infect through “the respiratory route,” it is at least theoretically possible that Ebola could, too. (The CDC elaborates that Ebola is a filovirus.) As the BAA puts it:

While current science indicates the disease can only be transmitted by contact with contaminated body fluids, it remains unclear if other transmission modes are feasible. Filoviruses are able to infect via the respiratory route and are lethal at very low doses in experimental animal models, however the infectious dose is unknown. There is minimal information on how well filoviruses survive within aerosolized particles, and in certain media like the biofilm of sewage systems.

The BAA goes on to add (my italics): “While current science indicates the disease can only be transmitted by contact with contaminant ”Preliminary studies indicate that Ebola is aerostable in an enclosed controlled system in the dark and can survive for long periods in different liquid media and can also be recovered from plastic and glass surfaces at low temperatures for over 3 weeks.”

At page 9, section 2.2.6 (“Topic: CBT-02, Rapid Disinfection Processes), the BAA further explains that the Defense Department is thus looking for treatments that could combat deposits of Ebola transmitted “as an aerosol” as well as by the better known means of bodily fluid contact (again, my italics):

The DTRA is seeking innovative technologies for rapid disinfection of interior surfaces with viral contamination. The technology must prove effective against viral contamination either deposited as an aerosol or heavy contaminated combined with body fluids (e.g. blood, vomit, feces)….

To be clear, neither the Defense Department’s assertions nor Mr. Klein’s reporting of them state conclusively that Ebola is transmissible through the air. What they convey is that the science is not settled, that it is unlikely to be settled given the evolving nature of viruses, that the possibility of airborne transmission is far from outlandish, and therefore that the responsible course is to prepare for that possibility until it is proved that the virus cannot be transmitted by air.

Instead, the Obama administration – for which Ebola is being treated as a matter of politics, not science – prefers to roll the dice.

This histrionic nurse who refused to obey the Ebola quarantine is another Wendy Davis trying to become in the new darling of the democratic MSM.

This nurse is a typical democratic spoiled brat that in pursuit of his political agenda she puts in grave danger the health of her family and neighbors. If she had arrived in NY, where the governor is Democrat, instead of NJ, she would have not mounted such a disgraceful show.

While Obama disregards the Ebola menace, the Ebola panic spreads at the Defense Department.

Soldiers returning home from Ebola infested African countries are quarantine 21 days in Italy before entering U.S.

430 doctors and nurses died killed by the disease while treating Ebola patients in Africa...

Some African countries put 42 days in quarantine those coming from Ebola countries.

Why are health care workers coming from Ebola countries not forced to be at least 21 days in quarantine when they return to U.S.A. for the protection of their own families and the country?

TAKES ONE’S BREATH AWAY....:

This is mind boggling!!! Don't you think its 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

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