Ebola Update By Bam Bam
Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark. In the last 48 hours the President has issued an executive order updating the list of quarantinable diseases for which persons can be detained and quarantined. [1] The order specifies that persons suffering pneumonia-like symptoms may be quarantined.
Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled. This subsection does not apply to influenza. [1]
The state of New York conducted the state’s largest no-notice emergency response exercise testing for the States ability to respond to a biological attack.
Today, the Health Department is conducting the largest no-notice emergency response exercise in New York City history that will test our ability to respond to the release of a biological agent. Called RAMPEx, which stands for Rapid Activation for Mass Prophylaxis Exercise, the exercise involves notifying and deploying over 1,500 staff from more than a dozen City agencies and setting up 30 temporary locations that would be used to rapidly dispense life-saving medication in the event of an emergency. The majority of participants in today’s exercise were given no notice, meaning most participants were not informed of the day or time of the exercise, in order to better test and simulate a real emergency and response. [2]
Although government officials and media reports insist Ebola is not airborne, the Center for Disease Control has issued a report specifying protocol for airline personnel dealing with suspected cases of Ebola. [3] The report recommends that airline personnel provide the sick person with a facemask “to reduce the number of droplets expelled into the air by talking, sneezing, or coughing.” [3]
The same report issues guidance for airline cleaning crews. Of particular importance is the recommendation to wipe down all surfaces commonly touched by passengers—because the Ebola virus can live for days on surfaces and anyone touching contaminated surfaces can become infected. [4] Cleaning crews are cautioned against using compressed air because doing so “might spread infectious material through the air.” [3]
The CDC has issued recommendation for the prevention of transmission via standard, contact and droplet transmission. [5] The report issues protocol for dealing with including “body substances, contaminated medical supplies and equipment, contaminated environmental surfaces, or contaminated air.”
Officials in the affected West African countries have taken draconian measures to slow the spread of the disease. Officials in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have announced plans to utilize police and military personnel to seal off the outbreak epicenter. “We have agreed to take important and extraordinary actions at the inter-country level to focus on cross-border regions that have more than 70 percent of the epidemic,” said Hadja Saran Darab, the secretary-general of the Mano River Union bloc grouping the West African nations. “These areas will be isolated by police and military. The people in these areas being isolated will be provided with material support.” [6] The exact geographical area was not specified but is expected to be quite large. Darab did not outline the exact area to be part of the isolation zone, but the epicenter of the outbreak has a diameter of almost 300 kilometers (185 miles), spreading from Kenema in eastern Sierra Leone to Macenta in southern Guinea, and taking in most of Liberia’s extreme northern forests. [7]
Could this happen in the United States? Could large swaths of the country be placed under lockdown? Absolutely.
At this time there is no cure or vaccine for Ebola. The National Institute of Health has fast tracked clinical trials of a potential vaccine. [8] Researchers are hoping a modified rabies vaccine may protect against Ebola. [9]
References
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