Ebola comes to America

A man in Dallas has  the Ebola virus, the first diagnosed case in the United States.  Do you think this country could handle a plague?

From CDC Confirms Patient In Dallas Has The Ebola Virus « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth:

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed that a person in Dallas definitely has the Ebola virus. Tuesday’s official determination makes the Dallas patient the first diagnosed Ebola case in the United States.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are holding a press conference now. CDC Director Thomas Frieden related the information that the individual had traveled to Liberia. The person left Liberia on September 19, and arrived in the United States on September 20 with no virus symptoms. Frieden said it was four or five days later that the patient, who is believed to be male, began developing symptoms and was ultimately admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Sunday, September 28. . . .

Now that the virus is confirmed Frieden said the next steps are three-fold. “First, to care for the patient… to provide the most effective care possible, as safely as possible, to keep to an absolute minimum the likelihood or possibility that anyone would become infected. And second, to maximize the chances that the patient might recover.”

Frieden said another important step would be to identify all of the people who may have had contact with the patient while he could have been infectious. Frieden did state with emphasis that Ebola DOES NOT spread from someone who is not infectious. “It does not spread from someone who doesn’t have fever and other symptoms,” he said. “So, it’s only someone who is sick with Ebola who can spread the disease.”

Officials said once those who had contact with the patient are identified they will be monitored for 21 days after exposure, to see if they develop fever. Frieden said, “If they develop fever then those same criteria are used to isolate them and make sure that they are cared for as well as possible, so that they maximize their chances [for recovery] and to minimize or eliminate the chance that they would infect other people.”