"...meeting a public health challenge like this isn't just a job for government."
Have you noticed that nothing is ever "just a job for government" with this guy? He means it isn't just HIS job--and if the bird hits the air pump it's not HIS fault. No matter what it is he has to get a coalition of "partners" involved, to spread responsibility. He will not simply ACT.
"All of us-citizens, leaders, the media-have a responsibility and a role to play. This is a serious disease, but we can't give in to hysteria or fear..."
I, "citizen," blogger ("media"), I have failed the president because I have given in to hysteria. See? And because I and other citizens and pencils have failed the president he has named Ron Klaim asMinister of Propoganda Ebola Czar: to counter the hysteria, to get the "right" message out, which message is below, and to keep us "on message." See?
"We have to remember the basic facts."
Have you noticed that nothing is ever "just a job for government" with this guy? He means it isn't just HIS job--and if the bird hits the air pump it's not HIS fault. No matter what it is he has to get a coalition of "partners" involved, to spread responsibility. He will not simply ACT.
"All of us-citizens, leaders, the media-have a responsibility and a role to play. This is a serious disease, but we can't give in to hysteria or fear..."
I, "citizen," blogger ("media"), I have failed the president because I have given in to hysteria. See? And because I and other citizens and pencils have failed the president he has named Ron Klaim as
"We have to remember the basic facts."
Message:
"First, what we're seeing now is not an "outbreak" or an "epidemic..."
It doesn't seem this would be classified as an "epidemic," that seems to be true. It's not an "outbreak," though? It would seem this is an outbreak. But, even if it's not, the president doesn't say then what it IS. What would he call this? What do the experts call it?
"To date, we've seen three cases..."
Good point. Yes, three cases, only three cases. In under a month.
"Now,even one infection is too many. At the same time, we have to keep this in perspective. As our public health experts point out, every year thousands of Americans die from the flu."
Good point. According to CDC flu kills about 30,000 Americans on average each year http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5933a1.htm, and like Ebola influenza has no cure. Ebola has killed ONE in the U.S. but Ebola just got here. The "government" is as PREPARED for flu season as the state of the art allows it to be, and the government has prepared Americans, who are hyper-aware, hyper-prepared for flu, every drug store reminds us that "It's flu season" and "Get your shots!" The average flu death toll in the United States is as low as it reasonably can be at this stage of medical science.
How many people have died from Ebola worldwide in 2014? More than 4,500 but that is still 1/7th the flu death toll just in the United States.
What is the mortality rate for the two viruses? Wouldn't that be an important statistic also since Ebola just arrived in the U.S.? According to Wikipedia:
"The [Ebola] disease has a high risk of death, killing between 25% and 90% of those infected with the virus (average is 50%)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease.
And influenza's mortality rate in the U.S.? 6.15% according to the same CDC study cited above.
It doesn't seem this would be classified as an "epidemic," that seems to be true. It's not an "outbreak," though? It would seem this is an outbreak. But, even if it's not, the president doesn't say then what it IS. What would he call this? What do the experts call it?
"To date, we've seen three cases..."
Good point. Yes, three cases, only three cases. In under a month.
"Now,
Good point. According to CDC flu kills about 30,000 Americans on average each year http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5933a1.htm, and like Ebola influenza has no cure. Ebola has killed ONE in the U.S. but Ebola just got here. The "government" is as PREPARED for flu season as the state of the art allows it to be, and the government has prepared Americans, who are hyper-aware, hyper-prepared for flu, every drug store reminds us that "It's flu season" and "Get your shots!" The average flu death toll in the United States is as low as it reasonably can be at this stage of medical science.
How many people have died from Ebola worldwide in 2014? More than 4,500 but that is still 1/7th the flu death toll just in the United States.
What is the mortality rate for the two viruses? Wouldn't that be an important statistic also since Ebola just arrived in the U.S.? According to Wikipedia:
"The [Ebola] disease has a high risk of death, killing between 25% and 90% of those infected with the virus (average is 50%)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease.
And influenza's mortality rate in the U.S.? 6.15% according to the same CDC study cited above.
"...Ebola is actually a difficult disease to catch. It's not transmitted through the air like the flu. You cannot get it from just riding on a plane or a bus. The only way that a person can contract the disease is by coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of somebody who is already showing symptoms."
That's his message and he's sticking to it. That's the CDC's message also and it is close to the World Health Organization's message. This is what has bugged me all throughout this Ebola thing in the U.S.: Then why are you tracking all the airline passengers? All the cruise ship passengers? Unless Amber Vinson joined the "mile-high club" or spit into somebody's mouth on her Dallas-Cleveland round-trip nobody on those flights could have had "direct contact with her bodily fluids." The "government," Barack Obama's government, is speaking one way and acting another. That is why there is so much mistrust, that is why there is "hysteria."
That's his message and he's sticking to it. That's the CDC's message also and it is close to the World Health Organization's message. This is what has bugged me all throughout this Ebola thing in the U.S.: Then why are you tracking all the airline passengers? All the cruise ship passengers? Unless Amber Vinson joined the "mile-high club" or spit into somebody's mouth on her Dallas-Cleveland round-trip nobody on those flights could have had "direct contact with her bodily fluids." The "government," Barack Obama's government, is speaking one way and acting another. That is why there is so much mistrust, that is why there is "hysteria."
