Direct flights from Liberia/Siera Leone/Guinea to USA, by the numbers....

[uppityperson]

Zero. None. No direct flights.

How many have traveled from those countries to the USA in recent months? Thousands.

How many have been stopped by the screenings preflight? Last month 17. All together, 77.

How many cases of ebola diagnosed from those thousands why traveled into the USA? One.

This does not mean be complacent, but calls to ban fights that do not exist? Ok. Let's also ban flights from Mars.

This article is about doing better screening, and touches on the need for more personnel and equuipment to be sent and used to fight ebola where it is and is a decent read, beyond addressing all those (non-existent)flights we need to ban or block.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-will-augment-ebola-screenings-for-airline-passengers-in-us-and-africa/2014/10/06/2e14a1c0-4d7d-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html

(clip)
“In recent months we’ve had thousands of travelers arriving here from West Africa,” he said, “and so far only one case of Ebola has been diagnosed in the United States, and that’s the patient in Dallas.”

(clip)

There are no direct flights by U.S. carriers from Sierra Leone, Guinea or Liberia. The vast majority of travelers from Africa to the United States fly through hub cities in Europe. Duncan flew from his native country to Brussels, where he boarded a flight to Washington Dulles International Airport, changed planes and continued on to Dallas.


(clip)

Public health officials have warned that a complete travel ban would cause economic harm, hinder the delivery of food and supplies and even limit the ability of doctors, nurses and humanitarian workers to travel into those areas.

Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said Sunday that the agency has increased exit screenings at airports in the Ebola-riddled countries, using a combination of thermometers, questionnaires and “visual inspection” of travelers. This screening has stopped 77 people from boarding planes, including 17 last month, he said. However, Duncan was able to make his way into the United States simply by filling out a questionnaire saying he had not had contact with anyone infected with Ebola. When Duncan left Liberia, he had no fever and had no symptoms associated with the virus.

[uppityperson]

1. kick

[Marrah_G]

2. Correct- no direct flights from the three countries

[BooScout]

3. No.....just a whole lot of indirect flights from Europe.....

Might as well spread it around.

[boston bean]

4. Air France, Brussels Airlines and British Airways

have already stopped many flights out of west Africa.

So, you are right. There aren't many anymore.

Does that make the airlines racist? I would really like to know, after all the comments directed at me for dare saying flights out of there and person who originated (ie travel origination) from the area, ... for the general public ought to stop. Other countries can and will make these decisions for themselves and the safety of their citizens.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11060487/Ebola-outbreak-Airlines-stop-flights-as-US-expert-warns-outbreak-will-worsen.html

[uppityperson]

5. Thousands of passengers, 77 stopped in screening, 1 case got to USA. There are NO direct flights,

not "aren't many" but are none, zero, zed, ziltch, 0.

Are calling for a blockade of the 3 countries, that no one be allowed to leave bu air, land or sea? How?

[boston bean]

6. No, I am not calling for a blockade.

WTH? Jessum Chrissum.

[uppityperson]

13. In which case how would banning flights work since people could walk or drive to the next

country and fly from there?

[boston bean]

14. I suggest reading carefully

What I wrote.

[Electric Monk]

15. Here's that earlier thread, for those who missed it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5632703

[uppityperson]

16. I did and am seeking clarification. I can continue to guess and you mock my inability to read your

mind, or we could make this faster and you simply clarify.

Up to you.

[customerserviceguy]

7. I'm not concerned

with those who would answer a questionnaire honestly.

I'm much more concerned about people who probably have to lie to their government on a daily basis in order to survive. Like this Duncan fellow.

[MohRokTah]

9. You might want to read up on the follow up on his case.

They (everybody connected with her) believed the Ebola patient he was exposed to had malaria, not Ebola.

He answered the questionnaire honestly to the best of his knowledge.

[customerserviceguy]

11. Whether it was deliberate or accidental

matters not. The way to deal with contageous disease is to contain and treat. The more you contain, the less you have to treat.

[MohRokTah]

12. Incorrect with Ebola

1) You cannot and will not be successful trying to ban anybody who was in a hot country from entering the US. It's impossible. Cannot be done.

2) The ONLY WAY you will contain the disease is to stop its spread in the hot zones.

The world ignored this starting this past Spring. Duncan is only the first consequence of ignoring the problem. Attempting to shut down travel from the hot zones is only further ignoring of the problem.

[uppityperson]

17. Thank you for both those points.

[customerserviceguy]

18. It's not ignoring the problem, it's acknowledging it

As for point number one, we can't stop terrorists from entering this country, either, but we can make it harder for them to do so. Same as with people who may be harboring this disease. We cannot prevent someone completely determined with vast means from coming here, but we can drastically reduce the numbers who do get through.

As for point number two, where have I ever said that we shouldn't do anything about the hot zones? Hazmat suits, fluids, medications, etc. should be shipped to West Africa as fast as possible in great quantities, if every American city tries to stockpile as much of this as it can, it will reduce the amount available to the hot zones.

Our approach needs to have both parts in order to work.

[ret5hd]

19. How many loads are you gonna be able to ship...

if every plane/boat/bicycle crew you send over you don't let back in?

[customerserviceguy]

20. Ok, rub two brain cells together

and distinguish between crews who drop stuff off at the airport (hopefully encountering nobody), and people who are much more likely to have been exposed because they LIVE THERE.

I don't favor stopping flight crews who have extremely minimal or zero contact with the locals from coming back, but I do strongly support not letting those who are citizens of the affected nations just stroll off the planes in areas where they deign to travel that don't have Ebola.

[MohRokTah]

8. K&R eom

[Tsiyu]

10. We'd save a lot more lives if we just banned Budweiser beer and McDonalds

seriously.

Thousands of people die every year because they don't have health insurance.

Can we fucking stop that plane?

[TorchTheWitch]

21. so what?

Mr. Duncan didn't take a direct flight here. He wasn't symptomatic when he left or when he got here, and he lied on the questionnaire about being in direct contact with an Ebola patient. Yet still he was infected and brought it here, was in contact with many other people while he was symptomatic, and anyone else can do the same.

And because of that there's a great big giant hole in the screening process that will continue to admit Ebola infected people into this country or any other by their being infected whether or not they are aware of it and not yet being symptomatic when they leave the outbreak areas.

What's your point?