# Mandatory Ebola Quarantine, Can't this be done a bit more intelligently? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629 "2014-10-27T03:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629/101 "2014-11-06T18:09:36Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > And how many Americans died as the result of bird flu, anthrax, and Ebola? > > Fewer than died from standard flu. > > The “Ebola Czar” shouldn’t even exist. It’s a ridiculous post, and any communication could be handled by an individual within the CDC. > > You’re in more danger from driving in traffic or getting the regular flu than from Ebola. Obviously, we need a Flu Czar and a Car Czar. You should take up that ebola czar thing with Obama. He created the position. The CDC was called before the oversight committee to explain the numerous incidents of the CDC failing to follow the CDC’s own procedures. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629/102 "2014-11-06T18:27:07Z")
Kaci, and the CDC, tried to calm the public panic by educating them about the proper protocols and actual risks. How is not following the CDCs recommendations calming the public panic? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629/103 "2014-11-06T21:07:41Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > On one hand, the head of the CDC just said that ebola is a forest fire and no embers can be overlooked or ignored. If there are embers left after a forest fire we don’t say the fire-fighting efforts were a failure, we mount a watch to look for overlooked embers. It happens, so you need a surveillance system to watch for such things to deal with them before they flare up. The fact that one person came to the US and then suffered and died from Ebola doesn’t mean the system is a failure, either. It’s what happens subsequently that determines if measures are effective and effective put into action. > [@](#): > > The CDC then failed to notify hospitals that ebola was present in the U.S. and OK’d the flight of a contagious patient. WTF are you ranting about now? NO ONE knew Mr. Duncan had Ebola when he arrived in the US so the CDC couldn’t notify anyone about him, as they didn’t know either _because he wasn’t sick yet._ If you’re talking about the nurse who went to Cleveland - SHE WAS NOT CONTAGIOUS DURING THE FLIGHT. That’s why no one caught Ebola from her. For that matter, Mr. Duncan was NOT CONTAGIOUS DURING HIS FLIGHT, only after he developed symptoms days later. It would help if you could grasp a fact or two during this conversation. > [@](#): > > When a CDC employee is quarantined in NJ, and then in Maine, the CDC didn’t try to calm the fears of the public. Hickox certainly did nothing to calm the fears of the public. The invisible spin doctor ebola czar definitely didn’t do anything to calm the fears of the public. The “fears of the public” were IRRATIONAL, but oddly enough, you didn’t listen when this wasn’t pointed out, and neither did a lot of other people. The quarantine in New Jersey was not medically warranted. It was purely political grandstanding and a give in to mob hysteria. Likewise, the quarantine in Maine was not medically warranted, which is why Ms. Hickox challenged it in court. The court sided with her, hence she is being monitored (in accordance with CDC, WHO, MSF, etc. guidelines) but unless she shows symptoms there is no need to quarantine her. Clearly, there are some people, such as yourself, who refuse to have their fears calmed. I see no reason why we should make public policy based on your panic rather than science. > [@](#): > > You are allowed to ask your government questions about your health and safety. You should expect your government actually clear up any misunderstanding. The government, in the form of the CDC, has been pretty clear. Can’t help it if people refuse to listen, though. > [@](#): > > The various claims that ignorant people are just ignorant people and will never understand something so simple and the government agencies shouldn’t bother trying to explain, or keep trying to explain, is what’s nonsense. As I have said, the CDC website has all manner of information on Ebola, including the official guidelines of whose at risk, how much, who should be monitored, and who should be quarantined. Have you bothered to look? If you can’t be arsed to [click on a link](http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/exposure/monitoring-and-movement-of-persons-with-exposure.html) then the failure to communicate does not lie with the government but rather with you. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629/104 "2014-11-07T05:46:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Kaci, and the CDC, tried to calm the public panic by educating them about the proper protocols and actual risks. How is not following the CDCs recommendations calming the public panic? Coming so soon (weeks) after the CDC had just been called on the carpet for not following its own procedures, the CDC’s reputation was somewhat less than stellar. Have you ever held a position where you were responsible for the training of others? Maybe as a coach, teacher, or instructor? After you have established your credentials and convinced the trainees to trust you, do you present your basic material one time and quickly move on to more complicated matters that require a thorough knowledge of the basics or do you rephrase, repeat, and rehash the basics until your trainees understand the material? Do you blame the trainees because you failed to properly do your job and train them? Hickox, the CDC, the WH, and the spin doctor ebola czar failed to convince the public that they actually knew what they were talking about. Knowing that Hickox had been exposed to ebola and had an elevated temperature, the public preferred that Hickox be isolated for 21 days. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629/105 "2014-11-07T12:32:00Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Have you ever held a position where you were responsible for the training of others? The CDC does not train medical personnel in the sense you seem to mean. The Dallas hospital where Mr. Duncan was treated was supposed to insure that their personnel had the necessary training to do their job and the necessary supplies to do their job, which they failed at - why do you not blame _them?_ > [@](#): > > Knowing that Hickox had been exposed to ebola and had an elevated temperature, the public preferred that Hickox be isolated for 21 days. You do know that it is NORMAL for one’s body temperature to vary throughout the day? That exertion or emotion can alter it? Ms. Hickox’s temperature was _mildly_ elevated and if I remember correctly was entirely consistent with normal variations, not at the level required on the CDC recommendations for isolation. Her initial reading at the airport should have been followed up immediately at a hospital with more reliable instruments and it was not. The “public” didn’t decide to slapped her into a quarantine unacceptable by medical standards, the governor of New Jersey did and it’s a black eye to Chris Christie. An _unheated_ tent in New Jersey in October? No bathing facilities? That’s just jack stupid. That’s not isolation or quarantine that’s _punishment_ for someone that was imposed with no trial for the “crime” of trying to save lives on another continent. If New Jersey had really wanted to “help” her they would have at least put her in an isolation ward in a hospital but they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629/106 "2014-11-07T18:18:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The CDC does not train medical personnel in the sense you seem to mean. The Dallas hospital where Mr. Duncan was treated was supposed to insure that their personnel had the necessary training to do their job and the necessary supplies to do their job, which they failed at - why do you not blame _them?_. The Dallas hospital doesn’t dictate policy to the state of New Jersey or to any of the other 7 or 8 states that have come up with ebola quarantine policies. It is, however, the CDC’s job to educate healthcare facility staff and the public. Repeatedly implying that the ignorant public is too ignorant to educate isn’t going to improve the publics perception of the WH, CDC, or the ebola debacle. The time wasted doing that could be better spend actually educating the public. And doing it as many times as is necessary to get the point across. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-ebola-quarantine-cant-this-be-done-a-bit-more-intelligently/702629.md?page=5)