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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the fact that only nurses who treated Duncan while he was very ill, and not the daughter who helped get him to the hospital, are the ones that have contracted Ebola is very telling that the disease is not contagious until the disease is underway.

Hopefully the disease in the US stops with these two nurses. I'm optimistic.

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Agreed.

The chances that everyone in Duncan's household was somehow immune to Ebola, seem very, very low (particularly considering that studies showing immunity were all conducted in remote villages, where bush meat is regularly consumed).  They just didn't catch it and seem unlikely to at this late date.  As experts have told us, a patient's viral load when they first become symptomatic is very low.  Ebola just isn't that contagious in the initial stages when people are likely to be walking around (or flying) out in the community.  I'll be extremely surprised if anyone is infected as a result of contact with Amber Vinson over the past two days.

Clearly, those who are at risk are the healthcare workers who deal directly with bodily fluids and care for patients as they become increasingly ill and their viral load increases.  We need to be sure those workers are well-trained and practiced with PPE.  Transferring patients to one of the 4 designated US treatment centers (as they did with nurse #2) seems like the best course of action, wherever possible.  Ebola is not an illness that hospitals are used to dealing with, so it really isn't surprising that Dallas Presbyterian struggled.  They made mistakes.  The CDC has made mistakes.  We are learning from those mistakes and our response will improve.

Despite the fact that this epidemic has been raging overseas for well over 6 months, we have unknowingly imported only ONE Ebola victim.  We may see one or two other patients like Duncan but the next time we will be better prepared, having learned from our experiences.  
Nigeria contained this epidemic and we will too.  
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