Ebola in perspective #2: No active cases now in the U. S.

While we were so preoccupied with the election and its aftermath last week, some significant milestones in the Ebola crisis -- at least here in the U.S. -- went almost unnoticed.   The nurse, who defied two governors who tried to quarantine her despite having been shown not to have the Ebola virus, passed the 21 day observation period without herself or anyone who came in contact with her getting sick.

Both of the Texas nurses, who did contact the virus from the Liberian man in the Texas hospital, have been released from treatment hospitals as completely virus free.  And no one caught it from them.

Now the only remaining active patient, Dr. Craig Spencer, who became ill after returning from his volunteer stint taking care of patients in Sierra Leone, has been released from Bellevue Hospital as well and virus free.

So:  there are as of now no active Ebola patients in the United States.

Whew !!   It feels like we dodged a bullet.   The medical scientists were right, and the fearful politicians should have listened to them.    At the same time, it's possible to understand the fear -- both fear of the disease and fear of the consequences of failing in your responsibility to protect your constituents.   And the tendency when you're scared is naturally to over-react in the direction of protection.

So let's all breathe a sigh of relief and let the lessons learned become encoded in sensible policies and safety procedures.

Ralph