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Ebola is a disease that has been spreading through West Africa since its first outbreak in 1976. A man, who had flown from Liberia to Texas last week, was recently confirmed to be infected with Ebola. As the first person in the U.S. diagnosed with this virus, he is currently isolated in the hospital and receiving treatment. For the most part we have been taught about the widespread transfer of diseases from country to country, a significant historical example would be from the Columbian Exchange (the diseases that were spread from the Europeans to the Native Americans). As for now, I feel as though the health officials are doing a fair job of keeping the disease from spreading, but it's hard to say. After all, it only takes one person to start the epidemic here.
What do you guys think? Should we be worried about the infection spreading? Is the government doing enough to prevent it?
I think the US will be fully prepared to treat and possibly cure patients suffering from Ebola. There is already a drastic decrease in mortality rate of Ebola patients. However, it is upsetting that despite being told to test anyone and check travel history of people who arrived with similair symptoms of Ebola, the patient was still turned away, leaving him out and contagious for another 2 days.
ReplyDeleteAs Elyse had said, the US government as of now is well-prepared to take care of Ebola. Due to this reason and the fact that Ebola in the US cannot be spread except through contact with bodily fluids of the infected, there is no need to begin panicking about the possible spreading of the Ebola virus. However, the government seems to be taking this situation not as seriously as one might hope, seeing that they had sent back the patient despite the demand to keep an eye out for those who have certain travel records.
ReplyDeleteI think that the U.S. is completely capable of containing the Ebola virus. The fact that an epidemic hasn't erupted thus far is a good indication of the viruses containment. Im sure the government is well aware of its seriousness and will do everything in its power to prevent a potential spread. Although in this case their laid back attitude won't pass considering the fact that they left the man out in the world for 2 days still very well contagious. They should be more concerned with checking travel history and testing for potential carriers. I'm sure this event has opened the eyes of the U.S. gov't as to how serious things can be and how they should continue being capable of containing such diseases.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other commentators. The U.S. seems to have a good handle on how to deal with the situation. During the Columbian Exchange, it was a time when medicine and treatments had not been created or discovered. This is probably a factor in what started the spread of disease: incapability to prevent it. We are now in modern times with health care and a large amount of knowledge about treatments. I don't think that this will be a problem in the U.S., at least for now.
ReplyDeleteLike Parisa, I agree with everyone else. I believe the US has been handling this situation pretty well. But because this man has been the only one diagnosed with this virus in the US, I don't think this is anything to get worked up about. It seems that they are taking good care of him and he is being kept away from anyone else. Like Edgar said I think we should be more concerned about checking other recent travelers for the disease since thats how this man got Ebola. For now, I do not believe that we should be worried about the infection spreading.
ReplyDeleteI think the US is doing great at handling this situation because this is the only known case of this disease in the US. This disease is also very deadly so I think the US os taking many smart precautions when handling this disease and will do almost anything to prevent it from spreading. I also agree with Edgar that travelers should be chwcked because we want to contain this diseasw and not allow it to become a bigger issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the students above. I do think the U.S is capable of dealing with this situation. They (the health experts) knew that it was bound to reach the U.S. at some point or another. With that in mind, they were somewhat already mentally prepared. Thus far I think that the government will do everything in its power to prevent Ebola. I think we should be somewhat worried about the infection possible spreading because it is better to be safe then sorry and end up saying we did not take all the procedures to prevent Ebola.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the USA could keep Ebola contained and eliminated because the United States has advanced tremendously in the medical field and I think that doctors and scientists will be able to find a cure and a prevention to this disease. This has very dangerous potential and I think it is on the top of the priority list for the Us government to enforce some work to be done to prevent this disease from spreading anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s only natural for America to start freaking out about this. Now should we be freaked out by this, probably not. By reading this article it sounds like the government has a very tight hold on the disease. As they have incubated the man with Ebola and are now gathering the people who he came in contact with. Which doesn’t seem to be a lot. So I think everyone should just remain calm and actually think about the possibility of getting this disease.... close to 0%. The U.S. has been waiting for this disease to come for years so I think that we are fully prepared to take on this disease even if it starts to spread.
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally understand what you mean. This definitely wouldn't the first time the US overreacted about something, but this probably isn't something we all should take too lightly either. Granted, we are most likely the safest from getting the disease since we're so far away, but there's no doubt that this is also what the neighbors and family members of the man who got it thought before he had been diagnosed.
DeleteIn my opinion I think we should be scared and careful from that disease. Doctors in the U.S should be ready to help those people with that disease. Also like others said we should be thankful that the doctors are helping the man out and keeping him with good health. I wanna say to Cherie Chen that this is a great article good job.
ReplyDeleteThe government takes issues like this very seriously and is definitely equipped and able to deal with the situation at hand. There is no need to be scared, only aware of the risks.
ReplyDeleteI feel that whoever has this disease should sacrifice them to prevent the disease from spreading since there is no cure. Also, the government should stop all flights to and from central africa to prevent infected people from getting in the U.S. The government needs to suclude the infected people in the U.S. to prevent the virus from spreading and killing millions.
ReplyDeleteI beleive that this shouldn't be taken lightly every precaution should be taken in order to avoid an epidemic as well as mass histaria. i think it is comforting he is getting treatment because perhaps the CDC can create a cure before it spreads saving millions of lives. this is scary because it is completly possible someone else has Ebola and wasn't isolated and is currently spreading the disease to others
ReplyDeleteI believe that we should be worried about ebola, because it is incurable and it is transmitted through bodily fluids. Once it is in the U.S. it could spread like wildfire, through a handshake, a kiss. This is very dangerous, because it would easily spread through out the U.S.
ReplyDeleteWe need to be more careful when having Ebola going around to every country. One person can change everything and this might happen soon. The U.S is doing good with protecting us by trying to help the one infected in Texas but we should't be relieved yet because there may be another way for it to be transmitted to another person.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is a serious disease that can be very dangerous if it is spread but i believe that it is very preventable if we just keep ourselves clean and do not touch anything infected having to with needles, blood, bodily fluids, etc. If we can kill the virus before it spreads we will not have a major epidemic.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that this disease is extremely dangerous when one is contaminated with it. However, when looking at different sources, the countries that are dying quickly because of Ebola are the countries that don't have the supplies or medication to treat it. The patient who is currently being treated in the U.S. is under a tremendous amount of help, as oppose to those in African countries who are not receiving an effective amount of help or treatment. I think the U.S. government is doing a good job at taking this seriously so that it will not spread rapidly.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this is a very serious situation. The government has to be very careful of monitoring people who are suspected of having this virus. Especially people who travel internationally. It is a really good sign that the officials were able to track down the person with this incurable virus. Overall the U.S is doing a great job at stopping this virus from spreading. Because they know if it spreads, it can be deadly, and it will cost a lot of money for its treatments.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the US government is making a great effort trying to handle this disease so that it would not spread throughout the country. With our technology and our advantage in the medical field, which is different than of that in Africa, causes us to be able to treat the effected person tremendously. I also think that the US needs to be prepared for anymore people with the infection so they would able to treat them, and also protect and provide US citizens with vaccinations, so they would not be worried about getting the infection.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we should educate and be aware of this disease but I also believe that we should not panic and blow this problem out of proportion. I believe the government did a good job of trying to stop the spread of Ebola in the US. I just hope that the disease doesn't spread through out the US.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the government is making great effort in handling the virus in the U.S, but it seems not to be working. Since then there has been two other cases of Ebola and now it might have spread to other parts of the U.S. since one of the nurses infected was on a flight without knowing she had the disease. I agree that we shouldn't freak out about the issue but we do need to take it seriously.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Seneti, we should be informed about this disease so people are aware of the situation. If we are aware of the diseases we can learn how to avoid the disease. Also what are some ways people get ebola?
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