As a public health physician, there are several things about this mess that REALLY piss me off:
- Public health professionals have been warning about exotic and emerging diseases such as Ebola for decades. But because these diseases primarily affect "them", no one has listened... until now. For those of us who were working during the early days of HIV/AIDS, "it's deja vu all over again".
- People are quick to criticize the CDC and the government. But check the record, and notice who has methodically gutted the CDC's budget. Check the record, and notice who keeps blocking funding for Ebola research even now.
- Recommendations for stricter travel related health screening have been on the table for years. I attended an international public health conference on this very topic some 20+ (TWENTY PLUS!) years ago. We drew up recommendations that were then taken back to the attendees' countries for dissemination. But very little has been done to date due to fear of inconveniencing travelers and supposed adverse impact on the travel industry.
- The fear mongering. The press, especially the right, but also the left, has been utterly shameless in their exploitation of this story. At a time when they have an opportunity to provide useful information about what is still a very limited outbreak, they instead focus on stirring the pot of fear.
There's certainly plenty of reason for concern, but let's take stock of the situation in Texas: 1 dead, and two health care workers who almost certainly committed isolation protocol errors infected. In comparison, there was one death and 8 other cases of meningitis during last winter's outbreak at Princeton. While there was plenty of hue and cry then, it hardly compares to this current foolishness.
I sincerely hope that no one else becomes ill or dies from this disease. But a little perspective is in order.