U.S. Considering Tougher Ebola Screening at Major Airports

[magical thyme]

The Obama administration is strongly considering ramping up screening for Ebola at major airports in the United States, sources told NBC News. The U.S. is weighing whether to deploy the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other personnel to key hubs for flights that originate in West Africa, where there are thousands of cases of the virus, the sources said. The enhanced measures would be a supplement to screenings done at the point of departure in countries with high Ebola infection rates.

Passengers arriving in the U.S. could be questioned about whether they had contact with infected people in their country of origin, and their temperatures could be taken for any warning signs. The boosted screenings at a handful of American airports would cover three-fourths of all arriving passengers from West Africa.

(OHare, Dulles, Newark, JFK represent 75% of incoming from W. Africa according to the linked video.)

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/u-s-considering-tougher-ebola-screening-major-airports-n218826

[kestrel91316]

1. This is a no-brainer. If they don't get a handle on this, the only way to keep it out is a 21 day

forced quarantine on entry. Not feasible, and not affordable, and a logistical nightmare. Ellis Island is closed.

Rabies is kept out of Japan, Hawaii, Australia, and the UK by draconian quarantine regulations on animals. It works, but it is a royal pain in the ass.

[customerserviceguy]

2. I'm for the forced quarantine

If we even have to let anyone in here from the affected places, which I don't think we do.

I'd do whatever it takes, including sanctions, to persuade the governments who have airlines flying out of the affected areas to stop the flights. Yes, there are still ships, but they're a lot slower, and they cannot propel disease across the planet in the space of a day or two.

That "royal pain in the ass" for people who can't bring their pets with them, talk to someone who's had a series of rabies vaccinations about pains in the ass.

[kestrel91316]

5. The royal pain in the ass was me talking about the freaking paperwork and hassle complying with all

the crap. Hawaii is the worst IMHO. But I still support those policies. I've had to deal with rabies (cat from Mexico) and I really don't care to ever have to go through THAT again. I had an adverse reaction to the RIG shot and had a fun 24 hours in infectious diseases isolation at LA Co-USC, rofl.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Still

Paperwork and waiting are way less serious than having a disease that will kill you half the time, even when you have the very best medical care in the world.

[kestrel91316]

10. Oh absolutely.

[840high]

3. Do it.

[AngryAmish]

4. Let's do this in the same shitheaded way we screen for terrorists.

Let's randomly pick passengers, like the grandma from Ames, IA going to her granddaughter's wedding in Tulsa, and screen her. But if you are arriving on a one-way ticket from Monrovia, well, you can skip customs.

As a nation we are too stupid to survive.

[kestrel91316]

6. As a species, we are too stupid to survive. That said, while we live, we need to soldier on.

[customerserviceguy]

8. Well said

When governments fight things, they often find the most inefficient way possible.

[davidn3600]

9. How would this have prevented Mr.Duncan from entering?

1. He already lied on his forms leaving Liberia, why would he tell the truth here?
2. He wasn't showing symptoms until after 2 days of entering the country
3. Most flights from Africa enter the US from connections. You going to do this with every single international flight? And what do you do if they do have a fever or look sick? People still get the flu, you know. People still get airsick and the common cold. What do you do with those people?

Unless you want to hold for 21 days every person that enters the country, there is no way you can stop this in any effective way.

This is looking more like a case of the government doing something for the sake of doing something.

[magical thyme]

11. it may have, and it will stop others who become symptomatic en route.

And it will also give them a chance to question in person, with follow on questions. It is easier to lie by checking off a box on a form than lie face to face with somebody asking questions in a concerned manner. And they can provide very clear directions on what to do if they develop symptoms. They can even recommend that for their own safety and that of the people they are visiting, that the individual should monitor their temperature and if there is a spike, this is what they need to do. These will be CDC personnel who know what they are looking for and know how to ask the questions.

The # of CDC contacts by doctors for suspicious patients has skyrocketed since the Duncan case -- there had been something like 100 calls over a couple months and 800 in the last week.

That suggests to me that probably already there have been hundreds, if not thousands, that have left Ebola countries asymptomatic, developed mild symptoms either en route or after arriving that visited a doctor, were not considered suspicious due to either being overlooked or not meeting the criteria that would raise a red flag, and sent along with antibiotics or antivirals. And that doctors and nurses have learned from this.

People from those countries will continue to come here, and as it continues to spread, the likelihood of an infected person coming here increases. So we need to step up monitoring at every stage. This is an important step, imo.

[MindPilot]

12. I fear TSA's over-reaction far more than any infectious disease.

I just can't wait until some wannabe drill instructor TSA goon decides I need a physical exam and blood draw before I can go to Phoenix.

[magical thyme]

13. it won't be TSA. It will be CDC employees. nt