A patient with Ebola-like symptoms is being treated at Howard University Hospital, a hospital spokesperson confirms. The patient had traveled to Nigeria recently.I don't think we're at the panic stage yet here in the United States, but it may be time to examine our open borders position regarding West Africa.
The patient has been admitted to the hospital in stable condition, and is being isolated and tested.
"In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient," said hospital spokesperson Kerry-Ann Hamilton in a statement. "Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health."
UPDATE, from Ace: Experts: All It Takes to Get Past the Airport's Temperature-Screening is a Lie and a Handful of Ibuprofin
I can't help noticing that when the president doesn't want to take an action, like banning travel from infected countries, the media is eager to report his claim that ebola's spread in the US is "unlikely;" but then, after ebola does spread in the US, the same media rushes in to absolve him of blame, claiming ebola's spread to be "inevitable."
"Unlikely," "inevitable." Rather different words, aren't they?
Obama (and the political class) do not want to shut down travel from West Africa for the same reason abortion extremists insist that it's okay to perform post-birth abortions.
Because giving an inch on the extreme case -- even giving an inch on the most indefensible part of your agenda -- is thought to create some momentum against the more defensible parts of your agenda.
They don't want to give an inch on partial-birth abortions because they don't want to give an inch on non-partial-birth abortions.
In the case of a West Africa travel ban, this could create some small amount of political momentum, as Krikorian suggests, towards controlling our borders in other cases -- for example, controlling illegal immigration at our southern border.
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