As a physician, a concerning story appeared recently on the news. An NBC news cameraman by the name Ashoka Mukpo recently tested positive for the Ebola virus. Traditionally, we have been taught from agencies such as the CDC that the virus is contracted ONLY through contact with the secretions or blood of an actively infected person. The disease then starts with flu-like symptoms on average of 2-3 weeks after contracting the disease. It then progresses to muscle aches, joint pains, fevers, chills, sore throat and a rash. Later and more progressive stages of the virus can cause confusion, coma, multi-organ failure and hemorrhage. Plus, with a mortality rate of 50-90%, the disease is extremely deadly.
However, one must wonder how a cameraman contracted the Ebola virus? Was he in direct contact with bodily fluids from an Ebola-infected person, or did he somehow contract the virus via a different method. Though purely speculative, one must now serious ask this question as Ashoka Mukpo is now being transported back to the USA for treatment.
Has he acquired a mutated form of the virus that is airborne? Has the virus in fact gone airborne? Are our 4,000 troops being sent to West Africa in dire danger if the virus has gone airborne? Will Ashoka Mukpo be bringing a highly contagious, airborne form of the Ebola virus back to the USA? Is our government telling us the full truth about the virus?
These are all realistic questions that must be asked. As the media fails to examine these hard hitting questions, it is up to us taxpaying American citizens to do so.
As the CDC confirms the first case of Ebola here in the USA, many concerns instantly arise with this revelation. First, why are we allowing ANY people flying from ANY Ebola pandemic areas return to or visit the USA? Are we looking for trouble? Is this not an insane policy? Plus, we are still not sure how contagious the virus actually is. Though the CDC claims that an infected person cannot transmit Ebola unless symptomatic, how did all those healthcare workers wearing biohazard suits contract the illness? Obviously, our knowledge of the virus is certainly lacking. Has the virus mutated? Has it become more easily transmittable?
Plus, why are all those on board the same plane as the Ebola patient NOT being notified that they are at a potential risk of having the disease? How about also telling those at the airport where the man landed they could also potentially be at risk? Is that not the right thing to do? Are all those this man came in contact with now spreading the Ebola virus across the globe? Where did all those people who flew over on the same plane as him, breathing the same recycled stale air, go? Did they fly across the country or even across the world?
Why is our government more concerned about bombing Syria than protecting American citizens? Are their flawed policies with regard to foreign travel not placing the entire country at risk of contracting Ebola? How many people must die before they do something? The answer is, we will soon find out.
With deadly viruses, bacteria and fungi already prevalent and mutating throughout the United States and world, the potential for a possible outbreak like the influenza pandemic of 1917 is always present. Plus, when you realize that certain diseases such as the MERS virus in the Middle East and the Ebola virus in Africa are already causing havoc in those regions, one must wonder if any of these known or potentially unknown deadly diseases could take hold in this country. Worse yet, there is something scarier to consider: could we accidentally release one of these deadly diseases into the USA?
Though it sounds like science fiction (in fact, it is the basis of my medical/political thriller The New Reality), this possibility may be closer to fact than fiction. A recent incident at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) near Atlanta piqued my concern. It is well known that the CDC stores, evaluates and experiments upon some of the most deadly diseases in the world. One of these diseases is Anthrax—and no, not the rock band. If infected with this bacteria, a person could have gastrointestinal, skin and pulmonary symptoms, ultimately leading to death in most cases.
While working with anthrax at the CDC, scientists thought they adequately inactivated the bacteria. However, after transporting it to a few other labs within the CDC, it was discovered that the bacteria was not only not dead, but it had also aerosolized its deadly spores. 75 scientists were potentially contaminated as a result and subsequently began treatment in case they were infected.
Fortunately, no one receiving this antibiotic treatment has yet to show any signs of infection. However, the threat of potential future human errors still remains.
