In the latest installment of “Ebola quotes” here on Outbreak News Today, we’ll look at recent statements by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD and David Nabarro.
Starting with the UN’s Special Envoy on Ebola David Nabarro who says because of their special roles in Africa, they are at increased risk for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). According to Nabarro Friday, “There are some reports that in the countries affected by the Ebola outbreak…women are particularly at risk. Partly because of their role as healers, partly because of their role as carers in the home and partly because also they are most involved in household activities and this puts them at particular risk of getting infected.”
How long are officials saying the largest Ebola outbreak in history will last?
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the deadly Ebola outbreak can be ended “by the middle of next year” if the world speeds up its response. He continues, “Our end game is not near. We must get to zero cases. Ebola is not a disease where you can leave a few cases and say you’ve done enough.”
Mr Ban said the situation in Mali was of particular concern.
Remember when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled a modeling tool for called EbolaResponse a couple of months ago when the federal health agency delivered such alarming predictions as there would be 1.4 million Ebola cases by the end of January, 2015?
Well, here it is in November and the director of of the CDC came to an obvious conclusion. Dr. Thomas Frieden said Wednesday at a US Senate hearing concerning the September predictions, “We don’t think the projections from over the summer will come to pass.” Frieden did not offer up a new prediction.
Finally, an opinion piece published in Burlington Free Press called the mandatory quarantine measures enacted in some states were “not based in the contemporary science of disease control, but are instead a remnant from how we fought contagious disease in the 19th century.”
The piece by Allan McCoy states:
The recent use of quarantine is the latest expression of our historical reliance on this practice. Instead of being based in the medical science of Ebola, mandatory quarantine is a remnant of our fight against contagious diseases like yellow fever and cholera in the 19th century.
It is ill suited to fight contemporary outbreaks because public health science does tell us that stopping an outbreak like Ebola at its source in West Africa is the best way to protect the U.S. and a policy of mandatory quarantine will make U.S. health care workers think twice about volunteering to go to West Africa.
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