The spread of Ebola in perspective . . . and a rebuke of Christie

On Tuesday night, MSNBC's "All in With Chris Hayes" had as a guest Sophie Delauney, the Executive Director of Doctors Without Borders, the humanitarian medical treatment group working with Ebola patients in West Africa.

Chris was particularly interested in her organization's experience with medical staff becoming infected.  These are the people who work with the sickest patients at the most contagious stages of the disease.    Yet, of 3,300 medical staff working for Doctors Without Borders in West Africa, only 23 have become infected.   That is 0.7%.

Of those 23, 21 were nationals who lived in these countries.   Investigations showed that all 21 became infected, not when they were working in the hospitals but after they returned to their home areas.  Thus, only 2 of the 3,300 actually became infected from working with patients in the medical setting with its proper protocols of protection.

So, actually, only 0.06% of those working with the sickest patients actually contracted the disease from them.

Ms. Delauney strongly opposed the idea of quarantine of international health care workers when they return to their home countries.  Active monitoring is far preferable and quite adequate, since it is well established that no one is contagious until they become symptomatic;  and the virus spreads only through body fluids.

All the hysteria about the doctor who returned to New York and rode the subway or went bowling before he began running fever is just irrational fear and political posturing.    The idea that he has exposed a lot of people or contaminated the subway cars and bowling alley is just false.   He was very responsible in following Doctors Without Borders guidelines, and he reported for treatment as soon as his temperature rose.

Elizabeth Warren had a great comeback to Chris Christie's insisting on stricter quarantine standards than recommended by the CDC or DWB.    She said, "Let him tell us about his medical experts who are advising him, because we want the policy to be determined by science, not by politics."

Ralph 

PS:   Cautious good news.   The World Health Organization reports signs that the Ebola outbreak in Liberia may be subsiding -- fewer new cases, fewer burials.   The caution is that apparently slowing has occurred before, only to resurge later.