FactCheck: What we were told about Ebola
(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Sen. John McCain claimed on a Sunday talk show that “we were told there would never be a case of Ebola in the United States.” Not exactly. U.S. health officials, early in the outbreak, said it was highly unlikely, but we could not find any instances of them saying it would never happen.
At a July 28 press briefing concerning the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Stephan Monroe said the virus “poses little risk to the U.S. general population.” But, he added, “it’s possible that someone could become infected with the Ebola virus in Africa and then get on a plane to the U.S.” Monroe called this scenario a “very remote possibility,” but he didn’t say it could never happen, as the senator claimed.
Even earlier, in an April 2 Bloomberg News story about the outbreak, Monroe said a suspected Ebola case in Canada that turned out to be a false alarm “reminded us that any of these diseases are only a plane ride away.”
That is exactly what happened in Texas, where Thomas Duncan died Oct. 8 after contracting the disease in Liberia and flying to the United States.
Crowley, Oct. 12: Let me talk to you first about this breaking news we have this morning, and that is, look, I’m not a doctor, you’re not a doctor, we can only listen to doctors. But do you get the sense that the federal government is on top of this? Is there anything more you think the federal government can do?The U.S. agency chiefly responsible for preventing the spread of infectious diseases is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which acted early to contain the spread of the virus at its source. The World Health Organization said the Ebola outbreak started in Guinea in March. The CDC, on March 31, sent a five-member team to Guinea to assist on Ebola cases, according to the April 2 Bloomberg News article. At the time, the WHO reported that there were 112 confirmed Ebola cases, including 70 deaths, in Guinea. (As of Oct. 13, the CDC website had reported more than 4,600 confirmed cases in multiple countries, including 2,431 deaths.)
McCain: Well, first of all, from spending time here in Arizona, my constituents are not comforted. There has to be more reassurance given to them. I would say that we don’t know exactly who’s in charge. There has to be some kind of czar.
I think that we have to look at people coming into the United States, not only at our airports here but the places where they leave from. As you know, there are not direct flights from Africa. And Americans have to be reassured here. I don’t think we are comforted by the fact that we were told there would never be a case of Ebola in the United States and obviously that’s not correct. I was impressed by your panel, but frankly I’d like to know who’s in charge, among other things.
In the Bloomberg article in April, Monroe — who is deputy director for the agency’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases — spoke of the possibility of travelers bringing the disease to North America.
Bloomberg News, April 2: Last week, when Canadian officials feared that a severely ill patient who had recently been to Liberia may have been infected with deadly Ebola, the U.S. took notice. It was a “false alarm,” Monroe said, “that reminded us that any of these diseases are only a plane ride away.”On July 28, Monroe spoke again about the possibility of infected travelers arriving in the U.S. This time it was during a CDC press briefing that was held after two U.S. workers became infected with the virus at a hospital in Liberia. Monroe called it a “very remote possibility.”
Monroe, July 28: I want to underscore that Ebola poses little risk to the U.S. general population. … While it’s possible that someone could become infected with the Ebola virus in Africa and then get on a plane to the United States, it’s very unlikely that they would be able to spread the disease to fellow passengers. The Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the blood, secretions, or other body fluids of ill people, and indirect contact – for example with needles and other things that may be contaminated with these fluids. Most people who become infected with Ebola are those who live with and care for people who have already caught the disease and are showing symptoms.Less than two weeks after Monroe called it a “very remote possibility,” CDC Director Tom Frieden wrote on the CDC Director Blog that “there is a risk for Ebola to be introduced to the United States,” but that “widespread transmission in the United State is highly unlikely.”
Nevertheless, because people do travel between West Africa and the U.S., CDC needs to be prepared for the very remote possibility that one of those travelers could get Ebola and return to the U.S. while sick. We are actively working to educate American health care workers about how to isolate patients and how they can protect themselves from infection. Today, we are sending out a Health Alert Notice to remind U.S. health care workers of the importance of taking steps to prevent the spread of this virus.
Frieden, Aug. 8: There is a risk for Ebola to be introduced to the United States via an infected traveler from Africa. If that were to happen, widespread transmission in the United States is highly unlikely due to our systematic use of strict and standard infection control precautions in health care settings, although a cluster of cases is possible if patients are not quickly isolated. Community spread is unlikely due to differences in cultural practices, such as in West Africa where community and family members handle their dead.So, the possibility of an Ebola case in the U.S. went from being a “very remote possibility” to being a “risk” that could lead to a “cluster of cases.” But in both cases, the possibility existed. That also has been the position of President Obama and the White House, and for the same reasons.
The fact that Ebola cannot be spread through the air — like influenza — has helped to contain past outbreaks to a particular region, President Obama said at an Aug. 1 press conference. There have been 16 Ebola outbreaks since 2000, mostly in African countries,according to the CDC.
Obama, Aug. 1: Keep in mind that Ebola is not something that is easily transmitted. That’s why, generally, outbreaks dissipate. But the key is identifying, quarantining, isolating those who contract it and making sure that practices are in place that avoid transmission. And it can be done, but it’s got to be done in an organized, systematic way, and that means that we’re going to have to help these countries accomplish that.On Sept. 16, the White House issued a fact sheet saying an outbreak in the U.S. “is highly unlikely,” but “unintentional” cases were possible. This was two weeks before the CDC confirmed the first case of Ebola in the U.S. in Texas.
White House, Sept. 16: Despite the tragic epidemic in West Africa, U.S. health professionals agree it is highly unlikely that we would experience an Ebola outbreak here in the United States, given our robust health care infrastructure and rapid response capabilities. Nevertheless, we have taken extra measures to prevent the unintentional importation of cases into the United States, and if a patient does make it here, our national health system has the capacity and expertise to quickly detect and contain this disease.It would have been correct for McCain to say we were told that an Ebola case in the United States is highly unlikely, as conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh has said. But we can find no evidence that “we were told there would never be a case of Ebola in the United States.” We asked McCain’s office for evidence, but we did not get a response and neither did our colleagues at Politifact. If we do, we will update this item.
– Eugene Kiely
Factcheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. Based in Philadelphia, Factcheck monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Its goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. Find a list of Factcheck.org funders here.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/What_we_were_told_about_Ebola.html#BsEyQiMreij7w5e1.99
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Sen.
John McCain claimed on a Sunday talk show that “we were told there
would never be a case of Ebola in the United States.” Not exactly.
I have been studying Ebola from the beggining here at this blog site if you want to see how long I have been blogging and commenting about this. It was fairly obvious to me from the beginning that this likely was going to get out of hand "at least in Africa and possibly the middle East". However, I never completely expected the world to be affected the way it has already. And it looks like Ebola like AIDS is here to stay in the world and likely nations with good medical infrastructures and medical discipline will be the least affected over time and nations without good education and good medical western disclipline might be completely or almost completely wiped out.
The problem becomes very complex in that if everyone is panicked in a nation food doesn't flow to people. People can't work, nothing gets done, people starve in addition to getting Ebola. Because of this people who stay in Ebola infected areas might all die form starvation eventually because either they run out of money to buy food or they can't get food because everyone is afraid to bring it to them or all the police have died of Ebola and no one is there to protect them and terrorists and other criminals enslave, rape or kill whoever is left in a nation alive. It sounds a lot like ISIS or Boko Haram doesn't it?
The net effect could be the genocide through Ebola degrading the infrastructure of one country at a time which would create over 90% or more of the people eventually dead or maimed who stay there.
Also, there will be so many people who are walking wounded and psychologically vulnerable from losing one or both parents, children, spouses, lovers, dear friends, whole cultures etc.
So, anyway you look at this we are watching a nightmare now comparable at least at present to World War II beginning in West Africa. IF 10,000 a week of new Ebola infections occur I don't think any country or group of countries can stop this thing at present without nuking a whole country out of existence and killing everyone there. And that just isn't going to happen.
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