So if the CDC (that is, the Centers for Disease Control) can totally drop the ball on a single case of open border foolishness ebola,  then perhaps we need a shakeup of their management….and perhaps a redefinition of their primary responsibility….maybe they oughta stop telling us about our (un)healthy lifestyles global warming and such and concentrate on, you know, DISEASE…since they apparently have forgotten their primary mission….See, I am not much for government agencies, and think most of our Federal government should be disbanded….but the CDC might just be one of the agencies that have merit….if they’d do their job.

Their response was, well, let us be kind and say it was suboptimal. I’m not a doctor (although I have played one, but that is another post) and I can easily see that they basically fucked up by the numbers. Both the CDC and Dallas and Texas Health departments. Yeah, once they got rolling and the news media got to reporting it, the authorities began (or maybe it simply took that long to get rolling) to act, but their response wasn’t timely at all….Thing is, we don’t have the ability to deal with this disease if and when it gains a foothold here. Yes, we have great healthcare. I got that. But not for something like this. We have neither the people nor the facilities with which to deal with a major epidemic….

Which is why our borders are our only real protection, and why failing to properly screen or quarantine people entering from ebola affected areas is so important and must be fixed.

(part of me wonders how many cases there have been in European countries which we haven’t heard about? If one could get here, it is just as easy, actually easier, to get to Europe, as most routes go from Africa to Europe to the US….)

Seriously…if this case in Dallas does not demonstrate WHY we need better Customs and Border Controls, then nothing will.

This one case may well spread to others….It may be contained, it may not. We shall know more in another 20+ days…if it is contained, then we, as a nation, will be lucky. If not, well, we shall see how bad it gets. Patient Zero (Dallas) may well have infected others on his route from Liberia through Brussels through Dulles, and then to Dallas…..Lots of people who had contact with him when he may or may not have been contagious. And contact with the airplane and airport furniture after he had been there and maybe contaminated those surfaces…… and if he is dying and in critical condition on 10/1 then he was sick enough to be contagious on the 9/22.

And if we end up with 20 cases, or a hundred, WE REALLY DON’T HAVE THE FACILITIES TO DEAL WITH THAT MANY PATIENTS .

Maybe we were lucky this time. Maybe. But keeping such people out of our country is the only way to prevent a worse “Next time”.

Everything is fine……The government has said so…

There, don’t you feel better?

If you don’t have preps…facemasks, gloves, faceshields, something to cover your exterior and to sterilize surfaces and hands with, then you might want to perhaps plan, SOON, on finding some….’cause your government is doing dick-all to keep you safe. I’m not saying that the time to panic is here, but if there is a second or third patient with ebola, you won’t find anything to use at all.

This weekend, Home Depot and Menards in my area ran out of N-95 facemasks and tyvek suits….They are up 4000% at Amazon…(I already had a stock of both in my preps) …Some folks think that there will be a need…..
Let us hope they are wrong.

So I am at work …..I hear this terrible crying from outside. Sounds like a kitten in distress.

I go outside. Sure enough there is a 4-8 week old kitten in the bushes. Frightened and when it sees me, it hisses and backs up into the corner.

Hmmm. Wonder where it came from???
No houses around..Maybe momma cat stashed it in the bushes. I decide to leave it for a while and see what happens.

2 hours later, kitty is still there and it is beginning to rain.

Hell….Dammit.

Ok, I reach into the bushes and grab kitty by the scruff of the neck.

Turns out it isn’t helpless and that it is faster than a striking snake…..It turns its little head and bites my thumb…. and again…. and again.
I almost dropped the ungrateful little thing.
But instead, I carried it inside and put it in the office bathroom. I ended up with11 bites. One in the meat of my thumb. I let all the punctures bleed for a few minutes until they begin to clot, then pour 70% isopropyl on them to clean and disinfect as best I can….I mean, I thought I might get a scratch, but not bites….certainly not 11. (yeah, I got my ass kicked by a 1 lb kitten…..)

“Rabies?” said I to myself? “Feral kitten…could be rabies.” Now the only test I know of for rabies is hard on the animal, as it requires samples of brain tissue….it is a destructive test, if you get my drift. Then again, I don’t want rabies. My understanding is that it is a bad way to go, although I hear the hallucinations are great just before you kick off….

So I call the local county animal control office. No help. Not even interested. Couldn’t care less and couldn’t have any less knowledge as to procedure…They will have someone call me back. Maybe….. Might even be today….Suggest I call Public Health Department.  I give them my name and number and hope that I will get a call back. I mean, you couldn’t find a less caring more incompetent bunch if you dragged people of the street….Patronage employment in Lake County Indiana has destroyed every government office. One might have thought that the ANIMAL CONTROL folks might have some idea as to what to do for an animal…..but no…  In the meantime, since I have a good 20 year relationship with my vet (I have 5.35 cats currently) I call them:

“Yeah, likely in a kitten you don’t have anything to worry about. But best to have it tested…” is the opinion….. I enquired about the method of testing and yes, it is hard on the cat. The alternative is 10 days of quarantine and an examination. Which runs about $260. How much is the brain type rabies test? I ask… $215.

In the meantime the County Board of Health calls me and wants to know what I am going to do…..Have to fill out a report…. HAVE to have the animal tested or owner verified. (I was tempted to tell them that I lost the cat and it ran away….). This is the help I got from the Animal Control folks…they called the Board of Health…Procedure, you know. The Health people’s only concern is that I could have rabies (and who suggested I look out for infection and maybe get a Tetanus shot….)

So, I went home, got a cat carrier (and leather welding gloves!), crated the kitty (who was not happy about the whole thing but couldn’t get through the gloves) and took the little spiteful feral kitten to the vet for quarantine. hey, what’s an extra fifty or so? The test now HAS to be done, as the County is now informed (I, foolishly, woke the beast). The County Health folks apparently did a reverse lookup and knew my home address from my cell phone number and will fine me if I don’t fill out a report. Not like they are helping with the cat either….Or the test…… Somehow I ended up being responsible for the frikkin test.  No owner, so I am the responsible party…and the fine is “not less than $250…I should have told ’em I lost the thing and taken my chances with rabies….

So…in 10 days we know if I have rabies…and now I gotta find a home for this little kitten (which is worth $260….)

Anybody need a cat? A feisty one?

And so far at a decent price….

Coveralls.

While they last and all that.

Remember, the whole thing about prepping is to PREP. Note the the root of the word…PRE, meaning BEFORE.

Just sayin’

If this whole Ebola in Dallas thing didn’t have some SERIOUS possible consequences it would be laughable.

The inept emergency room folks on the 26th

The inept handling of the situation by both Texas/Dallas Public health and the CDC. (what, exactly, are they doing with all the money we spend in them, if they cannot react well to a single instance of a communicable disease?)

The fact that only today, 5 days later, are they doing any sort of disinfecting of the areas where Mr. Duncan vomited in the public spaces outside of the apartment where he was visiting….

This whole thing reads like an implausible scenario of a 1970’s disaster.horror flick.

Except it isn’t one. It is real….and there are people in charge who are inept enough to let things happen like this..,. I mean, I realize they are government workers, but still, shouldn’t we expect them to have some idea what to do….? Isn’t thre someone in charge who knows something?

Scary…and angering that the folks who should have known better and have known what to do…..didn’t. They couldn’t even send someone out to the apartment sidewalks with some bleach water and a Hudson sprayer to disinfect….they let a work crew PRESSURE WASH the sidewalk….possibly aerosoliszing the infectious residue…

Like a bad book….First there was one…then 6, then 25, then…

The above illustrates the ineptness of the folks in Dallas.  Note: It isn’t a steam cleaner, but a pressure washer. 

Happy Birthday Jimmeh!

I never thouht that the DNC could find anyone incompetent enough to make YOU look good, but they did.

You should read this.

If true, then Duncan KNEW he was exposed to Ebola….and he willfully exposed others.

If there is a nightmare scenario for the spread of a disease, this is it. Read the link. It is scary that he KNEW he had been exposed and selfishly decided to come here….exposing others to a DEADLY disease in his travels

His actions are, IMO, criminal.

If others die from this, here is the US or from exposure to him in any of the planes or airports, he should be tried for murder.

The scary part is that if he could do what he did, then others may as well.

I would like to see travellers from Africa in general quarantined until the outbreak is contained.

to wok as an emergency room doctor in Hawaii…

unlike Dallas….

That if Kalifornia were to get rid of all the illegal immigrants that it provides sanctuary for, then they’d likely not have to enact water restrictions due to the 4 year drought.

How many illegals? Seriously. Do you think that those folks will pay any attention to the water restrictions? Obey the laws?

But simply getting rid of all those illegals would reduce the water usage by millions of gallons a day.

As anything you’ll watch today

HERE.

Be aware that it is only sorta SFW.

About 25 people had somewhat close contact with the Dude in Dallas who brought Ebola here. One person is in “close monitor” as are the three paramedics who transported Patient Zero. 

So. Far.

Apparently he had some kind of contact with about 20 others, including 5 or so school age kids.

Plus, of course, the folks on the airplane and in the airport.

Nuttin’ to see here folks….move along. Nothing to worry about.

If you are of a mind to prepare, buy safety glasses, alcohol and bleach and gloves. Trash bags too, so you can improvise protective gear for caregivers.

Facemasks.

Soap.

plus, of course, food and water and such. And your adult beverage of choice….

Doubt if it spreads too far, but since no one is monitoring the people who enter this country (legally or not….) then it can happen again.

And the Doctors in Dallas apparently weren’t too bright……Dude informed the emergency room folks on his FIRST visit that he HAD BEEN TO LIBERIA and was “sent home with antibiotics”…

Scary, isn’t it? Medical professionals dropped the ball that badly: “On September 26, he sought treatment at the hospital after
becoming ill but was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. Two
days later, he was admitted with more critical symptoms, after requiring
an ambulance ride to the hospital.”

And the ambulance “has been disinfected ” and is back in service. Howdja like to find out you’d been transported in that carriage?

We shall see how things progress. On the one hand, they claim that if you aren’t showing symptoms, you aren’t infectious…on the other had, everyone who was in contact with Patient Zero is supposed to stay home and out of contact with others for 21 days….Hmmm….why, if they aren’t infectious until symptomatic?

“There is nothing to fear about Ebola in the United States”.

Right.