Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Ebola - What's the real story?

I’m a bit perplexed. We’re told that Ebola can’t be contracted through casual contact yet the two missionaries in Africa who were flown back to the U.S. were wearing full hazmat suits when they contracted it and still got it. All of the health workers who assisted in their return to Atlanta were wearing hazmat suits.

We’re told you must come into contact with bodily fluids. It’s made to sound a lot like AIDS. No one treats AIDS victims in hazmat suits. What I’m learning is, yes, it’s transmitted through bodily fluids but, unlike AIDS, those bodily fluids include saliva and sweat. A simple handshake with someone infected with Ebola could spread the disease. That’s the very definition of casual contact!

The question now becomes why is the government not leveling with the American people? The very same CDC that tells
us Ebola is difficult to transmit is the same CDC that freaks out about the flu almost every year, urging everyone to take precautions and get a flu shot. Now one of the deadliest diseases on earth is loose and they tell us you can’t get it through casual contact. That, quite frankly, is a lie.

I was reading a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer and they quoted a doctor as saying, “It is a disease that is very serious and can be fatal, but it’s very difficult to transmit.” Difficult to transmit? Newsweek and other outlets have reported how the two missionaries got it even though they were wearing hazmat suits. It doesn’t sound too difficult to transmit to me. Later in that same Inquirer article they stated that Ebola could be spread “through sweat, breast milk, saliva.” None of this adds up.

So, why so secretive about the fact that Ebola is extremely deadly and so easily transmitted? I think there are two big reasons. First, they don’t want to cause a panic. That seems to be the concern in every disaster movie like this. Well, what’s the worst that can happen if people panic? They take extreme precautions not to get the disease which is exactly what the health officials should hope for.

The second reason I think the government is lying to us about Ebola is because of political correctness. Let’s face facts. This is a disease that’s now pretty much isolated to Africa. I believe government officials think if Americans knew how easy it was to get Ebola they would take it out on all black folks. I know that sounds silly but that’s how bureaucratic minds work.

Certainly I wouldn’t be more cautious around black people but I would avoid African people or anyone who had recently been to Africa. In fact, I don’t understand why we haven’t instituted some kind of waiting period or quarantine for people coming from these infected countries. Again, I fear political correctness is the reason.

Speaking of which, I was almost amused if it weren’t so serious. News reports said all eyes were on the airports to make sure people with symptoms of Ebola weren’t getting off planes from Africa. First of all, isn’t this the very profiling the left tells us is racist? And how about all of the folks streaming across our unguarded border? There’s a new report out from Customs and Border Protection that reveals 71 individuals from Ebola-infected countries have been caught sneaking across our border. That’s how many have been caught. No telling how many have actually made it.

Our porous border is a ticking time bomb. The government watches the front door while the back door is left wide open. 


Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.


1 comment:

  1. Slightly o.t:...but referring to your second last paragraph., I would just like to point out that all Africans are black. Take me for instance, I am white. When I was in the States a couple of years ago, residing near Washington, I had to show my passport to prove my origins.because "Only blacks live in Africa."

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