Clearly, there were mistakes, but I think one of the key things to notice here is that even after the hospital sent Duncan home with Ebola, the people he was living with didn't come down with the disease. That certainly says something about difficulty of transmission.


Question, have the events of the last 24-48 hours (case in NYC) given you cause to reconsider?

Certainly not about the difficulty of the transmission - without question, it's difficult to transmit. And as experts have said, even in the case of a highly infected person standing next to you and sneezing in your direction, there are physical respiratory barriers that still make it very unlikely.

But that doesn't change some key problems....

First, Dr. Spencer (certainly a courageous man who put his life on the line in Guinea) taking public transportation within the incubation period to go bowling....not what I would call responsible behavior and arguably not even demonstrating common sense. I'm going to speculate here, and you can disagree with me if you choose, but I have to wonder if this is pure arrogance/denial on the part of the doctor. Even the CDC states that those who are infected or believe they could be infected should not be taking public transportation.

Couple that with a totally asinine explanation of a transcription error for the temperature, and it's reasonable to conclude that if health professionals can't be disciplined enough in their procedures, those with less understanding probably won't be either.

Second, the NYC cops who sealed off Spencer's apartment were unaware of how to dispose of potential bio-hazardous material. There are verified pictures and videos of cops tossing gloves and masks into public trash cans instead of biohazard bags.

It's irrelevant if Spencer is the only case from this recent situation (and I certainly hope he is the only case from it). Mistakes continue to occur that contradict the CDC's own recommendations/policies. We've a level 4 Pathogen that is likely to show up as more data points here (CDC admitting that 100 to 150 people from Ebola infected areas are entering the U.S. daily)