"...
if our political leaders had shown more humility on describing the risk, and our ability to contain it, public confidence might not be so badly shaken.
"If only they had not been so absolute in declaring that there is zero risk of airborne transmission (when we know that there is a risk of ‘droplet’ spread).
"If only they had not been so outright in arguing that there is zero risk of transmission before someone gets a fever (we know some patients present with other symptoms first, even after they are viremic, and don’t mount high fevers).
"If only President Obama hadn’t taped a weird video for Liberians declaring that you can’t get Ebola by sitting next to an infected person on a bus; at the same time U.S. hazmat teams were wrapping a building in plastic over a suspected Ebola case.
"Enter CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden. And listen closely. His public comments in all of these regards, while too bold in hindsight, have been far more nuanced than other leaders’, including those of his boss, the President of the United States."
"If we don’t break the virus there, it will arrive on our shores with a vengeance."
"If that contagion continues, and grows, the virus will move to more populous nations like Nigeria, and then eventually emerging markets — where it may well become epidemic. India and Latin America are at grave risk in this circumstance.
If that happens, we will be battling here in the U.S. increasingly larger and more frequent outbreaks. We will be in this fight for a long time. Absent a drug or vaccine that can thwart Ebola, at that point the virus could literally change human history.
"The stakes are that high."
In The Ebola Fight A Defense Of Embattled CDC Chief Thomas Frieden - Forbes
if our political leaders had shown more humility on describing the risk, and our ability to contain it, public confidence might not be so badly shaken.
"If only they had not been so absolute in declaring that there is zero risk of airborne transmission (when we know that there is a risk of ‘droplet’ spread).
"If only they had not been so outright in arguing that there is zero risk of transmission before someone gets a fever (we know some patients present with other symptoms first, even after they are viremic, and don’t mount high fevers).
"If only President Obama hadn’t taped a weird video for Liberians declaring that you can’t get Ebola by sitting next to an infected person on a bus; at the same time U.S. hazmat teams were wrapping a building in plastic over a suspected Ebola case.
"Enter CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden. And listen closely. His public comments in all of these regards, while too bold in hindsight, have been far more nuanced than other leaders’, including those of his boss, the President of the United States."
"If we don’t break the virus there, it will arrive on our shores with a vengeance."
"If that contagion continues, and grows, the virus will move to more populous nations like Nigeria, and then eventually emerging markets — where it may well become epidemic. India and Latin America are at grave risk in this circumstance.
If that happens, we will be battling here in the U.S. increasingly larger and more frequent outbreaks. We will be in this fight for a long time. Absent a drug or vaccine that can thwart Ebola, at that point the virus could literally change human history.
"The stakes are that high."
In The Ebola Fight A Defense Of Embattled CDC Chief Thomas Frieden - Forbes
