Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal: Ban travel from Ebola nations

[Pathfinder]

Bobby Jindal: Ban travel from Ebola nations

Jindal is one of the most prominent voices calling for a travel ban.

By JONATHAN TOPAZ | 10/3/14 1:50 PM EDT

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Friday called on the Obama administration to impose a travel ban on flights coming to the U.S. from countries with Ebola outbreaks.

?We should stop accepting flights from countries that are Ebola stricken,? the Republican governor said in a statement.

?President Obama said it was ?unlikely? that Ebola would reach the U.S. Well, it has, and we need to protect our people,? he added. ?But the Obama administration keeps saying they won?t shut down flights. They instead say we should listen to ?the experts.? In fact, they said it would be counterproductive to stop these flights. That statement defies logic. How exactly would stopping the entry of people potentially carrying the Ebola virus be counterproductive? This seems to be an obvious step to protect public health in the United States.?

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/ebola-travel-bobby-jindal-comments-111592.html#ixzz3F6pfWWtl

 

[Dani]

Re: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal: Ban travel from Ebola nations

From the Politico article, above:

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday afternoon that the White House is not currently considering a travel ban, according to a pool report. The spokesman praised the “sophisticated multi-layer screening system” at airports in West Africa and said that on-board personnel have also been trained to identify potential symptoms.​

But then there's this, from a virologist based at Rocky Mountain Labs who just got back from Liberia:

I actually think passing through the airport on my way out was the highest risk. They are bringing hundreds of people into a very confined space with a lot of direct contact, so if you get a patient into that environment, you are going to have exposures. It is a ridiculous situation. Also, they are checking your temperature three times before you get into the airport, but if you look at the people that do this kind of work, they don't really know how to use the devices. They are writing down temperatures of 32°C, which everybody should know is impossible for a living person. All the checks they do are completely useless because they are done by people who are not well trained or overwhelmed by the number of passengers. It is just a disaster, and it needs to be fixed.​

http://news.sciencemag.org/africa/2014/09/confronting-ebola-virologist-liberias-hot-zone

I don't have any idea if a travel ban is even possible. It seems to me that the US would have to deny entry to anyone from the three highly affected countries, or allow entry with a 21 day quarantine as they did back in the day. But these two conflicting statements do not instill confidence that the government knows what's going on.

Hundreds of thousands of people from affected countries hold visas to the US. I do think that there will be many more cases of ill people leaving West Africa, perhaps unaware that they are infected, but perhaps they will leave deliberately, like Mr. Duncan. After all, we have a 100% survival rate at this point. Who wouldn't want to come? Is there a plan for that eventuality?