Weekly Address: What You Need To Know About Ebola
Source: White House
In this weeks address, the President discussed what the United States is doing to respond to Ebola, both here at home and abroad, and the key facts Americans need to know. There is no country better prepared to confront the challenge Ebola poses than the U.S. and although even one case here at home is too many, the country is not facing an outbreak of the disease. Our medical professionals tell us Ebola is difficult to catch, and is only transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is showing symptoms.
The President made clear that he and his entire administration will continue to do everything possible to prevent further transmission of the disease domestically, and to contain and end the Ebola epidemic at its source in West Africa.
Read more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/10/18/weekly-address-what-you-need-know-about-ebola
Transcript
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/10/17/weekly-address-what-you-need-know-about-ebola
Today, I want to take a few minutes to speak with you-directly and clearly-about Ebola: what we're doing about it, and what you need to know. Because meeting a public health challenge like this isn't just a job for government. 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-because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science. We have to remember the basic facts.
First, what we're seeing now is not an "outbreak" or an "epidemic" of Ebola in America. We're a nation of more than 300 million people. To date, we've seen three cases of Ebola diagnosed here-the man who contracted the disease in Liberia, came here and sadly died; the two courageous nurses who were infected while they were treating him. Our thoughts and our prayers are with them, and we're doing everything we can to give them the best care possible. 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.
Second, 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. I've met and hugged some of the doctors and nurses who've treated Ebola patients. I've met with an Ebola patient who recovered, right in the Oval Office. And I'm fine.
Third, we know how to fight this disease. We know the protocols. And we know that when they're followed, they work. So far, five Americans who got infected with Ebola in West Africa have been brought back to the United States-and all five have been treated safely, without infecting healthcare workers.
And this week, at my direction, we're stepping up our efforts. Additional CDC personnel are on the scene in Dallas and Cleveland. We're working quickly to track and monitor anyone who may have been in close contact with someone showing symptoms. We're sharing lessons learned so other hospitals don't repeat the mistakes that happened in Dallas. The CDC's new Ebola rapid response teams will deploy quickly to help hospitals implement the right protocols. New screening measures are now in place at airports that receive nearly all passengers arriving from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. And we'll continue to constantly review our measures, and update them as needed, to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep Americans safe.
Finally, we can't just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging. Our medical experts tell us that the best way to stop this disease is to stop it at its source-before it spreads even wider and becomes even more difficult to contain. Trying to seal off an entire region of the world-if that were even possible-could actually make the situation worse. It would make it harder to move health workers and supplies back and forth. Experience shows that it could also cause people in the affected region to change their travel, to evade screening, and make the disease even harder to track.
So the United States will continue to help lead the global response in West Africa. Because if we want to protect Americans from Ebola here at home, we have to end it over there. And as our civilian and military personnel serve in the region, their safety and health will remain a top priority.
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BumRushDaShow
(127,317 posts)I listened this morning and you could hear the barely suppressed anger in his voice.
The one thing that stood out to me was his statement near the end that I just *had* to add to -
Thanks for your weekly posting!
Cha
(295,929 posts)BumRushDaShow
(127,317 posts)I just couldn't resist.
cal04
(41,505 posts)I work with
I told them, look in your bible at all the diseases and guess what, President Obama, even government, didn't exist.
They didn't know what to say
Cha
(295,929 posts)Cha
(295,929 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)of a virus have now been redefined by the media as an "epidemic".
We must be guided by the science, not the social or mass media.
I love OBAMA as much as I hate Fox.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)US workers' sick time situation + for-profit healthcare system = a disaster waiting to happen
Also, I think we demonstrated over the last week that we are not prepared at all.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)afraid, those folks should keep their fear seeking to the movie theatres.
candelista
(1,986 posts)That would be a good slogan for Obamacare. "Better than Liberia."
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)"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-because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science. We have to remember the basic facts."
I assume you disagree in Camp Hysteria?
candelista
(1,986 posts)I say what I think. If that seems "right wing" to you, so be it. I really don't care.