Liberia to Prosecute Man Who Brought Ebola to US

[herding cats]

Source: Associated Press/ABC

Liberia plans to prosecute the airline passenger who brought Ebola into the U.S., alleging that he lied on an airport questionnaire about not having any contact with an infected person, authorities said Thursday.

Thomas Eric Duncan filled out a series of questions about his health and activities before leaving on his journey to Dallas. On a Sept. 19 form obtained by The Associated Press, he answered no to all of them.

Among other questions, the form asked whether Duncan had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of anyone who had died in an area affected by Ebola.

"We expect people to do the honorable thing," said Binyah Kesselly, chairman of the board of directors of the Liberia Airport Authority in Monrovia. The agency obtained permission from the Ministry of Justice to pursue the matter.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dallas-er-ebola-infected-patient-home-25908233

[Demeter]

1. I'm glad somebody is stepping into this breach of good health, manners, citizenship

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. I bet the inmates in the jail are looking forward to this guy's arrival.

[Sopkoviak]

3. Life in prison or the death penalty?

Can't happen here. Can't happen here. Can't happen here.

[Ex Lurker]

4. If he had stayed in Liberia, he would be dead or dying now

being treated in the US may save his life. This is why quarantine measures are so difficult. People will do what's best for them, which may be at odds with what's best for the general popualation.

[herding cats]

5. Exactly.

Right now I imagine prison is the least of his concerns. He saw his landlords daughter die from Ebola and knew the hospital there was not able to treat those stricken by the disease.

I still don't understand how he could put his family and loved ones here at risk knowing he'd been exposed, but I'm not living in his head and have no idea what his through process was at the time.

[erpowers]

12. Harm Americans

Do you think he may have wanted to harm Americans? I know he was not showing symptoms when he arrived, but he did not immediately go to the hospital once he got to America. Is there any chance that he was attempting to use his family to spread the disease? I am not freaking out, but the thought did cross my mind that maybe he wanted to make as many Americans as possible sick.

[herding cats]

13. I doubt that was his intention.

Think about it, if it were there are a lot of places he could have went and puked to spread the disease. Instead he went to the ER. He arrived in the US on the 20th, began to feel sick sometime four days after that so around the 24th. He went to the ER on the evening of the 25th, which is the night they sent him home. Then he went back on the 28th when he wasn't getting better from the pills they gave him, in fact he was getting much worse.

I suspect he was in a bit of denial and hoping he didn't have Ebola at all and just had a common virus like the hospital thought at first.

[freshwest]

19. I agree. Denial was probably at work with him. He even went home to his family. Doubt he meant harm.

I still feel Liberia has the right to charge him, but he may not survive to deal with that.

The way the disease is transmitted goes against natural human instinct to give aid and it was likely very hard for him to resist helping the woman get in the taxi for the hospital.

That is apparently what happened, his good will caused him to contract the disease and others risked being exposed.

A very cruel situation.

[LisaL]

21. He knew he was in contact with a person who died a short time later.

Yet instead of staying put, he got on the plane and came into US.
Where he exposed who knows how many people to this deadly disease.

[freshwest]

23. Denial is not just a river in Egypt as the song goes. Tempting fate is common. That's why the GOP

shouldn't have slashed Obama's package for dealing with Ebola in half. And I didn't say he shouldnt be charged by Liberia, but if he dies, and he may, it's a moot point, isn't it?

Nothing will bring him back to life, nor anyone that he infected who may or may not survive.

There is also a case of a woman in the hospital in NYC and another woman in London, who may not have touched someone as sick as the woman in the taxi was. I'll bet there are more than them, too, as another story says they suspect it in Utah, too.

I won't scapegoat this guy for a disease. I refuse to hate this guy, he is not 'Ground Zero' for Ebola in the USA, and nothing changes what happened in NYC, London or Emory where the aid workers with Ebola were treated.

Note, they survived the disease. Part of the reason there is hope for a cure is that not all people die from it and their blood is used as a source of anti-bodies to treat others with the disease.

This guy is not the be all and end all of Ebola, no more than gays, who at one time were maligned over AIDS, to the point of people wanting them to be quarantined in camps or even killed, as some wanted to shoot the kids crossing the border from Mexico.

The enemy is not people, it's the disease and the ignorance. Stating that I think Denial is a large part of the problem, is NOT the same as my condoning what he did.

If he dies and cannot be brought to trial for this, where will the outrage be directed next?

[1dogleft]

24. he will never go back

but even funnier is the comment "I expect people to do the honorable thing" that just cracks me up

[freshwest]

30. I think that was a political statement, not a true expectation. Nice words. Changes nothing.

[kestrel91316]

26. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but if he'd wanted to do that he wouldn't have gone to

the hospital, nor would he have told the hospital the truth about his travel.

I think he's just your garden variety dangerous fool.

[Iamthetruth]

46. So it's okay

Instead of him dying, he could be responsible for hundreds of innocent Americans dying.

[Ex Lurker]

47. I didn't say it's okay

just that people will usually act in their own best interest when it comes to life or death situations. Accordingly, we shouldn't be surprised when they do.

[ZombieHorde]

6. How could bureaucracy fail?!

So funny. I hope the guy gets the help he needs.

[corkhead]

8. easy, put people who profit from its failure in charge of it.

[calimary]

9. BINGO!!!

"Easy, put people who profit from its failure IN CHARGE OF IT."

That's the "Nailed It!" post of the year, corkhead!

[Dopers_Greed]

10. +1000

[Psephos]

7. Why did the US grant him a visa, anyway?

1. Unmarried
2. Living outside country of citizenship
3. Unemployed
4. Liberian (5th-worst country for illegal visa overstays)
5. Sister already lives in US

That's five strikes against him, based on the criteria most countries employ for visa screening. Two strikes is enough to disqualify most people...three for sure.

Oh, and one more consideration: Traveling from an Ebola-infected village in an Ebola-infected country.

Now why would he want to do that?

You want to blame someone, start with the negligent US Immigration office.

[rocktivity]

11. He isn't even a NATIVE Liberian?

rocktivity

[kestrel91316]

27. He probably came on a tourist visa. Almost anybody can do that.

[Cayenne]

14. Why are planes even still arriving from Liberia?

[KansDem]

17. He took three flights

He came into the US from Brussels



Daily Mail

[uppityperson]

31. They aren't. There are no direct flights from Liberia to the USA. nt

[shanti]

49. Puzzling...

Since travelers from west africa must go thru europe, why is the U.S. the only place where there have been any other Ebola cases?

[uppityperson]

50. It would almost make one think that it isn't highly contagious and only through contact with bodily

fluids which typically doesn't happen during flights or in airports. Most of the cases in WAfrica are to caregivers of the already sick, contagious people.


The problem about ebola is not that it is highly contagious, but if you do get it you have a 50-50 chance of recovering.

[christx30]

53. The question should be

Last edited Mon Oct 6, 2014, 02:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Why are we still approving visa applications from west Africa? Flights will still come in from Europe, but the people won't.

[snagglepuss]

15. It'd be interesting to know at what stage the ebola outbreak was at when he went to Liberia.

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. Rick Perry will protect him

[ReRe]

18. I don't think Duncan is going to pull thru this...

... they can't prosecute a dead man.

[LisaL]

20. Shouldn't they wait and see if he survives first?

You can't prosecute a dead one.

[YOHABLO]

22. Screeeeeeeeeech .. you mean that's all they have is a damn questionnaire asking them about symptoms

The Liberians should have medical professionals checking out each and everyone that boards a plane flying out of the country. The U.S. and other countries should be meeting all arrivals at the GATE with medical professionals and quarantining those who could be a risk factor.

[Blue_Tires]

25. That sounds impractical

and I don't think there is enough money and manpower to have adequate screening facilities to check out everyone at the departure and arrival airports...

And even if for the sake of argument they did, global airline operations would slow to a crawl and they wouldn't stand for that...

[kestrel91316]

28. They also check temperatures. But they clearly don't have good contact tracing and isolation

policies and procedures, or he'd be snugly esconced in Tent #1 of a 3-tent quickie Ebola Hospital.

[uppityperson]

32. They don't have enough medical professionals to treat the ill, much less check every departing

passenger.

[hedgehog]

35. I think every medical professional in Liberia is busy treating victims of the disease.

[Drayden]

29. His disregard for other lives is obviously apparent

But what I find really disturbing and stunning is his callous disregard for the lives of his own family members, including I believe his children. He watched neighbors die in a horrific way and rushes to the United States and exposes his own family, children? And returns to them after the first trip to the hospital? If I were exposed to such a horrible disease that I witnessed the results of with my own eyes, I would get as far away from my family and society as a whole as I could. From what I understand this was a small, crowded apartment and he was throwing up amongst them for two days. The will almost assuredly fall ill

[mainer]

33. 1.He didn't know he was sick. 2. He didn't know he was exposed to Ebola

The woman who infected him in Africa died of what everyone assumed were complications of pregnancy. How can a man be charged with knowing what no one else knew at the time?

The rage against this man is astonishing. He is not a criminal. He is a victim.

[LisaL]

34. Who assumed this woman died from complications of pregnancy?

She was vomiting blood.
That's not a complication of pregnancy.

[mainer]

37. It was reported on the TV news last night

by a correspondent in Africa, who interviewed the villagers. At the time, no one realized she'd died of Ebola. She had been having stomach cramps and was 7 or 8 months pregnant. If the villagers thought she had Ebola, would so many have rushed to expose themselves and bring her to a clinic? The clinic they brought her to was a general medical clinic, not one of the special clinics set aside for Ebola patients, an indication that the villagers did not realize she was infected.

And here it is in print:

"Neighbors say Duncan had days earlier helped carry to a taxi a pregnant woman who later died of Ebola. Her illness at the time was believed to be pregnancy-related.

At the time Duncan left, it’s not clear if he knew of the woman’s diagnosis. Officials have said Duncan was showing no symptoms when he boarded the plane and he was therefore not contagious."

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/02/dallas-ebola-patient-lied-about-caring-for-sick-on-travel-documents/

[LisaL]

38. Per NYT, she was takend to an Ebola ward but turned away for lack of space.

Which makes it clear it was known she had Ebola. At least to those who was trying to place her in a hospital (of which Mr. Duncan was one).

"Turned away from a hospital for lack of space in its Ebola treatment ward, the family said it took Ms. Williams back home in the evening, and that she died hours later, around 3 a.m."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/world/africa/ebola-victim-texas-thomas-eric-duncan.html?_r=0

[mainer]

40. Another article says family thought it was from pregnancy.

"MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Thomas Eric Duncan rushed to help his 19-year-old neighbor when she began convulsing days after complaining of stomach pain. Everyone assumed her illness was related to her being seven months pregnant.
When no ambulance came, Duncan, Marthalene Williams' parents and several others lifted her into a taxi, and Duncan rode in the front seat as the cab took Williams to the hospital. She later died."

And:

"All the cases, including Duncan's, appear to have started with Williams, though some wondered how a pregnant woman who stayed at home could have contracted Ebola"


Convulsing during the late stages of pregnancy is a sign of eclampsia, a well-known complication of pregnancy. It's completely believable the family thought that was the reason for her convulsions. And she was the first in the neighborhood to get Ebola.


http://www.aol.com/article/2014/10/03/many-sick-in-us-ebola-patients-liberia-hometown/20971791/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing5%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D539872

[TorchTheWitch]

43. only two of her family members took her to the hospital

Her father and her brother. Other family members who spoke to journalists may not have known or been told that she had Ebola in order to spare them fear. Her brother started having symptoms the same day that Mr. Duncan started his, but he died in 2 days. Apparently, the father has also died.

Currently, Mr. Duncan is going down hill and is now critical. I don't think he'll make it. I'm wondering if the delay in treating him because of being sent home at first had a hand in how he is now. Apparently, the sooner treatment starts the better ones chances.

Mr. Duncan has not received any ZMapp since the only handful of doses have already been used, and there is no more now. I just learned very recently that ZMapp is not made from the blood of survivors but from the tobacco plant. Whatever it is that's being done with the blood of survivors seems to be some kind of thing in testing and hasn't been named or tried yet.

I'm so curious as how it was thought that using something from tobacco plants might make a possible cure. Did someone just sit around thinking "What about tea leaves? Potato roots? I'll go out for a smoke and think on it... hey! How about tobacco?"

[Marrah_G]

44. Scroll down to "production" it's pretty fascinating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZMapp

[freshwest]

48. Thanks, mainer. Some of MSM wants us to react like this:

That's from the 'Burn the Witch' scene. I can just picture some people who are panicking starting to shoot anyone they think is from Africa, to save the USA from Ebola.

Just like the characters at the border who wanted to shoot the kids coming across because they were 'bringing diseases.' The GOP is still running on the belief that Mexicans, etc. are bringing Ebola.

Gays were targeted during the Reagan era for 'spreading AIDS' and that mindset has resurged again in some circles and it's also being used politically by the RWnuts.

Muslims in the USA are now seeing an uptick in threats and violence since ISIL started up and this can be the same thing. We don't want mobs of ignorant people roving about looking for whoever they're being told is a danger to them.

Nor do we need the likes of Gohmert who is running with his claim that Obama's plan with sending troops specially trained to work with diseases to Africa is his plan to bring them back and kill millions of Americans!

He sent them there to end the anarchy and panic breaking out there, which ensures more deaths and the possibility of it going global. I appreciate your links on this...

I won't get on board with any kind of mentality that blames human victims and not the disease. All of this is in the news to panic Americans instead of the good news of the CDC's progress on a vaccine for the disease released in September, but given no press. This is the Segretti method to run too much to refute just before an election.

And MSM isn't going to help keep things factual. There is an excellent piece by Charles Pierce on how this is being fanned to a flame by the media. The calmer voices are being shouted down.

[hedgehog]

36. Question: what would have happened to the money he spent on the plane tickets if he had

been forced to cancel his flight that day?

[LisaL]

39. Probably not refundable tickets, as most tickets are these days.

[Sparhawk60]

41. "We expect people to do the honorable thing,"

"We expect people to do the honorable thing,"

Wrong answer. When people feel their lives are at stake, they will often do any thing to save it. In this case, the man lied on a form to get the heck out of Africa and in to the US so he can get better medical care.

We can't even get people to limit them selfs to ten items or less in the express check-out, why would we expect people to behave any better when their life is at stake??

[mainer]

42. It's not clear the man lied on his form

He was asymptomatic when he left Liberia.

The villagers didn't realize the index case (who infected him) had actually been suffering from Ebola. She was 7 months pregnant and suffering seizures (which could have been eclampsia) when they picked her up and brought her to the hospital.

[Iamthetruth]

45. Good

It's attempted murder.

[hughee99]

51. I bet the penalty for this isn't nearly as bad as HAVING EBOLA. n/t

[CullenBohannon]

52. The question is

how many more "Duncans" are coming here.........