Israel Matzav

Saturday, October 18, 2014

'Screening airline passengers for Ebola with infrared cameras a no-brainer...US is lagging behind'

An American-Israeli expert in infectious diseases has attacked the United States' failure to screen airline passengers by taking their temperatures using infrared cameras as a means of preventing passengers with Ebola from boarding planes.

According to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Professor Leslie Lobel, “the world has been asleep for 50 years regarding infectious diseases and Ebola is the wake-up call.”

Lobel is a world-recognized virologist who has studied the virus and others emanating from the African continent.

“Fifty years ago, we were dealing with eradicating polio, smallpox and yellow fever which had similarly high mortality rates. Today, most of the world seems to understand the need to screen passengers in airports using infrared cameras for elevated temperature as a simple precaution — the US is lagging behind,” said Dr. Lobel.

The American-Israeli professor has been researching a cure for hemorrhagic fever viruses, including Ebola, for a decade, the university said in a press release.

...

Earlier Friday, the World Health Organization admitted that it botched attempts to stop the now-spiraling Ebola outbreak in West Africa, blaming factors including incompetent staff and a lack of information.

“Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall,” WHO said in a draft internal document obtained by The Associated Press, noting that experts should have realized that traditional containment methods wouldn’t work in a region with porous borders and broken health systems.

Of course, if TSA ever started screening passengers for fevers, you can bet that (a) it would be done randomly rather than targeting people carrying the passports of affected countries and (b) it would cause long lines at the check-in counters.

As to WHO, anyone who depends on any UN agency to do anything reliably (other than hate Israel) is simply detached from reality.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Ebola, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, TSA, United Nations, United States, World Health Organization

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Will Israel screen travelers from the US too?

Shavua tov, u'Moadim l'Simcha, a good week and a good holiday to all of you.

The Netanyahu government decided on Sunday to screen travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for Ebola.

"Israel is prepared to prevent the entry of Ebola patients into our borders as part of the sustained effort we are making to protect the borders," Netanyahu said during the meeting, Walla! reported.

"This is a global epidemic and we are cooperating with other countries. If Ebola patients do arrive within our borders, we are taking a number of steps to isolate patients, and of course to take care of them through our health system. We hope there will be no need for it, but we are prepared for any eventuality."

Ben Gurion Airport manager Shmuel Zakai, who attended the hearing, said: "We are spreading a wide net at all border crossings to prevent the entry of passengers infected with Ebola."

Health Ministry Director, Prof. Arnon Afek, noted that the health care system is carefully watching the spread of Ebola and is in contact with others experts throughout the world. "We are constantly improving our health system and our level of preparedness to address anyone with Ebola who may enter Israel."

The internal meeting came just 24 hours after a meeting with the Palestinian Authority (PA) to discuss ways of battling the epidemic.

In the meantime, the United States is screening travelers (Hat Tip: Memeorandum) arriving at five airports for Ebola, none of which is Dallas-Fort Worth International where a second case of Ebola has just been confirmed (Hat Tip: Bad Blue). This is from the original link.

Five airports in the United States - Kennedy Airport in New York, Newark, Washington Dulles Airport, Atlanta Airport, and Chicago O'Hare - are now carrying out health inspections and ordering arriving passengers to fill out a medical questionnaire created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

I wonder whether Israel is going to have to screen travelers from the US, particularly once the 3,000 troops Obama sent to Liberia to 'fight' Ebola (more than he sent to Iraq and Syria combined) return to the US. And I'm beginning to fear the plane change I have next month in Dallas-Fort Worth (only about an hour and a half on the ground there - will try to avoid any contact with body fluids, God Forbid).

What could go wrong?

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Ebola, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone