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Ebola Watch Florida: First Sarasota, then Miami, now Orlando

October 8, 2014/in Featured, Healthcare, News, Science/by Dr. Rich Swier

Since initially reporting on the first case of a person with “Ebola like symptoms” in Sarasota, FL on Friday, October 3rd, two more cases have appeared. One case is a teenager in Miami on Sunday and the third of a passenger at Orlando International Airport on Monday. The common factor with all three of these cases is they had all recently traveled to West Africa.

Each of these cases has been handled differently. The first case of Ebola like symptoms, reported in Sarasota, was handled by Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The patent was placed in isolation but not initially tested for the Ebola virus. The second patient, a teenager in Miami, was also placed in isolation but was tested for the Ebola virus.

In the third case Mark Lehman of WKMG Local Channel 6 Orlando reports, “A traveler at Orlando International Airport was isolated and removed from a flight after he demonstrated signs of illness… According to airport officials, the pilot notified the Centers for Disease Control when it was revealed that the man had traveled to West Africa at the end of August. After being examined by a medical team, it was determined that the passenger did not fit the criteria for Ebola or any other communicable disease. He was released, and airport operations were not affected.”

Florida Governor Rick Scott is not taking any chances with Ebola. On Monday, October 6th, Governor Scott released a statement saying he has partnered with Governor Rick Perry of Texas.

On October 8th, Governor Rick Scott released the following statement after his briefing with Florida health and emergency officials and an afternoon conference call with President Obama:

“We are still urging the President to fulfill our request for 30 testing kits the state has requested from the CDC and an additional 100 units of high-level protective gear. Florida still does not have any confirmed cases of Ebola, and we hope we never do, but we must continue to do everything possible to keep our citizens and our visitors safe.

“As to the discussion on international travel restrictions, I agree with Senator Bill Nelson and Governor Bobby Jindal that the White House needs to look at certain restrictions on travel from countries battling Ebola to keep Americans safe. This is not a partisan decision. It is a common sense decision. I assume the administration is doing everything they can to secure our country and combat the spread of this disease. That is what we are doing in Florida and I assume they are taking the same steps at the federal level.”

Currently Dallas, Texas is the only city with a confirmed case of a person with Ebola who voluntarily went to an emergency room for treatment. This patient has since died of Ebola. This does not include those intentionally brought to the United States with the Ebola virus with the approval of federal authorities. These patients are located in Nebraska, North Carolina and Georgia.

The following maps were created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and provides information on the spread of the Ebola virus. WHO will be updating these maps as more cases are discovered.

MAP 1: Geographic distribution of Ebola virus outbreaks in humans and animal:

Click on the map for a larger view.

MAP 2: Ebola or Marburg virus diagnostic testing laboratories:

Note the United States and Canada can only test for Ebola, not the Marburg virus. For a larger view click on the map.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Americans Believe They Have the Solution to U.S. Ebola Threat – But the White House Isn’t Doing It

150 People Enter U.S. Per Day from Ebola-Stricken Countries–or 4,500 Per Month

General: If Ebola Reaches Central America, ‘There Will Be Mass Migration into the U.S.’

Spanish Ebola Nurse Teresa Romero Ramos ‘Followed All Protocols’ and Has ‘No Idea’ How She Contracted Deadly Virus

CDC: Airborne Ebola possible but unlikely | TheHill

Pentagon does a Double-reverse on Ebola military mission

Governors Rick Scott and Rick Perry join forces to fight Ebola

October 7, 2014/in Featured, Healthcare, News, Policy, Regulation/by Dr. Rich Swier

Today, Governor Scott issued an update on Ebola preparedness activities throughout the state, following the news that the Miami patient tested for Ebola has tested negative in a preliminary test. Further testing will be completed later this week to rule out any possibility of Ebola.

Governor Rick Scott said, “We are glad to hear that the test for the Miami patient was indeed negative for Ebola and we are hopeful that further CDC and Department of Health analysis will back up this preliminary negative result later this week. While we have no confirmed cases of Ebola in Florida, we are continuing to take every step possible to best protect our citizens and our tourists.

“Today, I spoke to Texas Governor Rick Perry about what their state has learned from responding to the confirmed Ebola patient in Dallas. We will stay in communication with Texas officials as their response and treatment efforts continue to develop. Florida state agencies also held conference calls with our state’s airport and port leaders today to share information on preparedness steps at each of their facilities. Supporting the preparedness efforts of our airports and our ports means we must have a tremendous partnership between the state, federal officials and local leaders on the ground. We will continue to communicate regularly with these leaders in the days ahead as Florida continues to hope for the best even while we prepare for the worst.”

JOINT INFORMATION CENTER AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA):

The Agency identified hospitals that have the proper treatment kits and isolation facilities suitable for the treatment Ebola cases.
The Agency distributed information on the identification, handling, and reporting of a potential Ebola case to staff members at Agency call centers/area offices and in the offices of Agency partners.
Agency staff members have been trained and placed on alert in the event that they should need to support hospitals in coordinating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) relative to pertinent waivers and related federal guidelines during the course of management of a declared emergency and commensurate diversion of facility resources.
Agency staff members have been trained and placed on alert in the event that they are required to provide expedited reviews of any requests from hospitals relative to protocols for identification and management of suspected Ebola viral disease; including those related to the patients, transport, and the physical plant of the facility, as necessary.

Florida Department of Health (DOH):

Additional patient screening and care guidance is being provided to all local Hospitals, Urgent Care Centers, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and all private providers of care to address the full range of issues posed by potential Ebola cases.
Distributed Ebola-related medical guidance to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) throughout the state to protect humanitarian volunteers who may travel to or from regions where the disease is present.

Ebola as a Weapon of Mass Destruction for Islamic Terrorist Groups (ITG)

October 6, 2014/in Must Read, National Security, News/by Dave Gaubatz

Ebola is a very dangerous and often deadly disease. How many people in Africa actually have Ebola? How many people in America actually have Ebola? How many illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border into America have Ebola? No one actually knows and we know who we can count on to deceive us and provide us a false sense of security.

Most counter-terrorism professionals and journalists particularly in America are not prepared to understand the depth of evil practitioners of Islam are capable of. Only within the last few weeks, since the beheadings of the British and American journalists by the Islamic State (ITG), has the world began raising serious eyebrows about the evils of ITG.

ITG have been conducting atrocities against innocent men, women, and children for centuries. The cutting off of a person’s head is nothing new in Islam. Their Prophet (Mohammed) carried out hundreds of beheadings in the name of Islam.

To understand and defeat the ideology of ITG, you first must never make excuses for them. You must understand ITG obtain their information from the Quran and from mosque leaders around the world. There are no moderate Muslims and there are no mosques that are moderate. The difference between mosques is that some are better at hiding the truth than others. Somehow we believe if the worshipers simply say they desire peace and love everyone that they must be telling the truth. You are wrong to think this way.

Throughout the history of Islam, Muslims have sought the weapons that can cause the most severe deaths of their enemies. The Islamic mindset is rather simple. Islamic terrorists do not think the way rational people do. They are constantly working to obtain a weapon that would annihilate the Jews and other non Muslims across the world.

You can be assured there are Islamic leaders who are working on ways to use the Ebola virus to their advantage. Can you imagine if 1,000 people entered America through illegal means (which is rather easy given our borders are not secure and millions enter illegally each year) and were carrying the Ebola virus?

These 1,000 Ebola carriers could be used as weapons and dispersed across America. They would infect hundreds and hundreds of thousands who in turn would unknowingly infect hundreds of thousands more. This plague could kill every American within a few months.

Do not for a minute think Muslim terrorists would not use Ebola as a weapon of mass destruction. The Islamic terror groups have thousands of Muslims ready to die in the name of Islam.

The chosen Muslim martyrs could intentionally be infected with the Ebola virus and sent into America to spread the disease. Most Muslim terrorists would do this for little or no pay, but to recruit a steady flow of Ebola carriers, the Islamic terror leaders may promise to provide for the families of martyrs.

Many who say this could never happen because we are on high alert for the signs of Ebola. Again remember our borders are virtually open. If the Islamic terror leaders send 5,000 across and only 1 in 5 make it, America will die a slow and agonizing death.

We must all remember there are approximately 4 million Muslims already living and working in America. Do we honestly believe there are not at least 1,000 Muslims waiting in line (in America) to be martyrs? This many could volunteer in New York City alone.

Can this tragedy be prevented? For the short time no. For the long term the answer is still no. The teachings of Islam are being enacted today across the world, it is a beastly ideology and the people it produces are worse than the wildest rabid animal.

I always like to leave people with a glimmer of hope. If Obama closed all mosques in America, made the adherence of Sharia illegal and deported any Muslim who does not pledge allegiance to America, then we could defeat this violent ideology. Do you believe Obama would ever do this? Prepare my friends.

NOTE: CAIR is a sponsor of Islamic based terrorism. They use all forms of Jihad. The materials inside CAIR National advocate the killing of anyone who is actively against the teachings of Islam. I have had many, many threats, and they are increasing. Do you think if CAIR leaders had the opportunity to have me beheaded they would have it carried out. Yes. Do you think they would you and your families could face the same fate?

RELATED ARTICLE: Time for a New Ellis Island?

Obama administration in 2010 scraped CDC airline regulations considered critical to protecting Americans from infectious diseases like Ebola

October 6, 2014/in Featured, Healthcare, National Security, News, Policy, Regulation/by Dr. Rich Swier

With a growing concern about the Ebola pandemic we now learn that in 2010 the Obama administration scrapped expanded airline regulations that would have allowed people with various diseases, including Ebola, to be detained and quarantined immediately at U.S. airports. The new regulations would have required airlines report ill passengers to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Air Transport Association (ATA) were against adding the ability of officials quarantining passengers for up to three days if suspected of having infectious diseases such as: pandemic flu, infectious tuberculosis, plague, cholera, SARS, smallpox, yellow fever, diphtheria or viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

In 2007, after an Atlanta man with drug-resistant tuberculosis drew international attention to the potential risks posed by infected air travelers, CDC Director Julie Gerberding testified before Congress that the proposed regulations would improve the agency’s ability to identify exposed passengers quickly.

Lt. Cmdr. Rendi Murphree Bacon, a quarantine public health officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, poses inside the isolation room at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast, AP.

USA Today’s Alison Young in 2010 reported:

The Obama administration has quietly scrapped plans to enact sweeping new federal quarantine regulations that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention touted four years ago as critical to protecting Americans from dangerous diseases spread by travelers.

The regulations, proposed in 2005 during the Bush administration amid fears of avian flu, would have given the federal government additional powers to detain sick airline passengers and those exposed to certain diseases. They also would have expanded requirements for airlines to report ill passengers to the CDC and mandated that airlines collect and maintain contact information for fliers in case they later needed to be traced as part of an investigation into an outbreak.

Airline and civil liberties groups, which had opposed the rules, praised their withdrawal.

The Air Transport Association had decried them as imposing “unprecedented” regulations on airlines at costs they couldn’t afford. “We think that the CDC was right to withdraw the proposed rule,” association spokeswoman Elizabeth Merida said Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union had objected to potential passenger privacy rights violations and the proposal’s “provisional quarantine” rule. That rule would have allowed the CDC to detain people involuntarily for three business days if the agency believed they had certain diseases: pandemic flu, infectious tuberculosis, plague, cholera, SARS, smallpox, yellow fever, diphtheria or viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

[Emphasis added]

President Ebola

October 5, 2014/in Commentary, Healthcare, National Security, News, Policy, Politics, Regulation, Science/by Alan Caruba

What does it tell you when Britain and France have stopped flights to and from the nations in Africa where Ebola has become a threat and the United States has not taken a similar measure?

What does it tell you when the President sends 3,000 U.S. troops on a “humanitarian” mission to West Africa? It tells me he has put the U.S. at risk if any or a portion of these troops return after having been infected.

As always history has lessons that cannot be ignored. In 1918 and 1919, there was a pandemic of the Spanish influenza that caught nations by surprise, infecting an estimated 500 million people and killing between 50 and a 100 million of them in three waves. It began in the U.S. in March 1918 at a crowded army camp, Fort Riley, Kansas.

As these troops, living in close proximity to one another, were transported between camps, the disease spread quickly even before they were assembled on East Coast ports on route to France. They in turn bought it to the trenches of war in Europe.

The second wave struck in 1918 at a naval facility in Boston and at the Camp Devens military base in Massachusetts. October 1918 was the most deadly month in which 195,000 Americans died. The Harvard University Open Library notes that the supply of health care workers, morticians, and grave diggers dwindled and mass graves were often dug to bury the dead. There were subsequent outbreaks in 1957 and 1968.

And, at some point, 3,000 U.S. troops will be returning from West Africa to military facilities here at home.

Thus far we have been fortunate to have identified the case of the Ebola victim who had entered the nation from Liberia, but there are few guarantees that more will not be found or deterred. The Oct 4th Washington Post reports that “Since July, hospitals around the country have reported more than 100 cases involving Ebola-like symptoms to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Largely unknown is that 90,000 Americans die annually from preventable infections they acquire while in hospitals!

The concern about illnesses entering the U.S. is particularly true of our southern border which remains porous. Thank goodness Texas has taken measures to tighten its border security, but I am reminded that the Obama administration sued Arizona when it attempted to increase its security against the influx of illegal aliens.

Obama is the President who engineered an invasion of thousands of children and others from Latin America and then distributed them to various states without informing their governors or other authorities of who and where they were. Not surprisingly, in recent months cases of an enterovirus respiratory disease affecting school-age children have been reported around the nation.

Obama has no regard for the sovereignty of the nation or its immigration laws.

This is the same President who has made it clear that he intends to extend amnesty by executive order to an estimated eleven million illegal aliens, but not until after the midterm elections in November. I doubt that he has the constitutional power to do this. I hope the U.S. Congress has the means and the will to negate this.

The U.S. has a healthcare system that is the envy of the world, but the introduction of ObamaCare is already having negative effects on its administration and the former system of privately purchased healthcare insurance. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who had such insurance have lost it and those who signed up for ObamaCare are discovering it is far more expensive.

Perhaps the most under-reported story thus far regarding Ebola is the fact that in 2010, according to The Daily Caller, “the administration of President Barack Obama moved with virtually no fanfare to abandon a comprehensive set of regulations which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had called essential to preventing international travelers from spreading deadly diseases inside the United States.” Among the viral diseases of concern was Ebola.

I want to have confidence in the Centers for Disease Control, but after witnessing the failures of one government agency after another including the Secret Service, I wish I felt better about them.

I have no doubt its staff are seriously concerned and doing what they can to respond to the threat, but I also think they and the rest of us are at risk from a regime led by a man whose incompetence has written a new chapter in the history of the presidency.

I wish that I felt confident that the Obama administration will take such steps as are necessary to keep the Ebola threat from harming the health of the nation such as not issuing visas to those from the affected nations in Africa, but the record to date limits that confidence.

Ebola comes to Sarasota, Florida? Local hospital does not test patient for the virus! [+Video]

October 4, 2014/in Culture War, Featured, Healthcare, National Security, News, Policy, Science/by Dr. Rich Swier

Multiple media sources are reporting on the case of a man who was placed in isolation at Sarasota Memorial Hospital on Friday, October 3rd. ABC Action News Channel 7, in the below video, reports, “Doctors say a patient who arrived Friday at Sarasota Memorial Hospital [and who recently returned from a trip to West Africa] with symptoms similar to Ebola is ‘highly unlikely’ to have the deadly virus, according to a statement from the hospital.”

Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) states “[H]e does not meet the CDC criteria for Ebola testing.”

Question: Why wasn’t this patient tested for the Ebola virus?

None of the media has asked this simple but important question. Is it not better to be safe than sorry? Just because the patient does not meet the CDC criteria for Ebola testing does not mean that the test shouldn’t be given so both the patient and community can know for sure the results.

According to the Washington Post, “Since July, hospitals around the country have reported more than 100 cases involving Ebola-like symptoms to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials there said. Only one patient so far — Thomas Duncan in Dallas — has been diagnosed with Ebola.” Reuters reports, “Ten people deemed to have been at the highest risk of exposure to an Ebola patient in Dallas are now under isolation while they are being closely monitored, local officials said on Friday.”

We spoke with a former emergency room doctor and he said that “the CDC criteria are merely guidelines.” He belives the doctors at SMH can, and in his opinion, “should have immediately tested the man for Ebola.” The doctor said that “Ebola is airborne and that the public is being misinformed about the threat of the Ebola virus pandemic.” He points out that the Ebola case is Texas was badly mishandled with the patient initially not diagnosed with the virus. That patient subsequently was released by the local hospital and later returned and confirmed to have the Ebola virus.

The doctor also noted that U. S. hospitals are seeing other diseases, like tuberculosis and polio, which have been previously eradicated. He attributes this rise of infected people to the lack of a proper screening of all illegals coming into the country particularly those from areas such as the Middle East and Africa.

The results of the test would have been back by now and if negative no further action is needed. But we don’t know what we don’t know. Not doing the test raises questions that do not need to be raised. If the test is positive then major issues need addressing such as: what flight was this man on, who did he come in contact with after his arrival and who may have been exposed while the man was at the SMH emergency room.

ABC News further reports:

As a precaution, officials say the hospital activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including placing the patient in isolation and reporting the case to Florida Department of Health officials. Supervisors at the health department confirmed the patient did not meet the risk criteria for Ebola testing.

The CDC website states the following about testing for Ebola:

Diagnosing Ebola in an person who has been infected for only a few days is difficult, because the early symptoms, such as fever, are nonspecific to Ebola infection and are seen often in patients with more commonly occurring diseases, such as malaria and typhoid fever.

However, if a person has the early symptoms of Ebola and has had contact with the blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola, contact with objects that have been contaminated with the blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola, or contact with infected animals, they should be isolated and public health professionals notified. Samples from the patient can then be collected and tested to confirm infection. [Emphasis added]

Read more.

CDC Questions and Answers on Ebola: How do I protect myself against Ebola?

UPDATE:

Governor Scott released the following statement today announcing further state preparedness actions while the Department of Health works with the CDC to test a patient for Ebola in Miami:

“Florida’s Department of Health is working with the federal CDC to test a patient at a local Miami hospital who was screened today for Ebola. It’s important to point out that this patient did not meet the CDC case definition for Ebola, but the test is being conducted out of an abundance of caution and health officials expect the test to rule out Ebola. We are in close communication with Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, and other local officials and health leaders in Miami-Dade.

“As we announced after our health briefing yesterday, Florida still does not have any confirmed cases of Ebola, and we hope we never do, but we are taking every preparedness step possible to keep our citizens and our visitors safe.

“We know from our experience in responding to hurricanes that we must prepare for the worst even as we hope for the best. As part of those preparedness efforts, Florida’s Department of Health today requested 30 additional Ebola testing kits from the CDC. This number of kits ensures that all of Florida’s 30 public hospitals have the ability to test patients who county health officials and the CDC believe need to be tested for Ebola. Additionally, the Department of Health requested 100 units of additional high-level personal protective equipment to ensure the state is ready to backfill any county whose medical personnel develop a future need for these supplies.

“We know Florida’s hospitals and county health offices are prepared to identify and treat patients who may have Ebola. While they are prepared on the local level, the state is requesting increased federal resources out of an abundance of caution for the unlikely event that we may have an extended response that warrants additional resources.

“In order to keep Floridians best informed about the Miami patient and any future developments, I have also asked the Division of Emergency Management to activate the state’s Joint Information Center tomorrow, Monday, at 9AM. Our first priority is to keep Florida’s residents and visitors safe and a big part of this effort will be to share accurate, timely information with the public.”

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Time for a New Ellis Island?

CDC Warning: Immigrant Children Could Be Spreading This New Mystery Virus In Public Schools

Deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever breaks out in Uganda – China.org.cn

UPDATE: Hospital Says Dallas Ebola Patient in Critical Condition

CDC Warning: Immigrant Children Could Be Spreading This New Mystery Virus In Public Schools

Ebola Going Viral? Two Patients with the Disease’s Symptoms are Hospitalized on East Coast

Thousands from Ebola Nations Allowed to Enter U.S. Without Additional Screening

EDITORS NOTE: The featured video is courtesy of ABC 7 News.

U.S. Officials in meltdown over Obama’s Ebola mission

September 18, 2014/in Uncategorized/by Joseph R. John

In the Middle East, for the past 3 years, Obama has avoided exercising traditional U.S. leadership in the world community to mobilize support for the prevention of the continued slaughter of Christians (by his inaction, by taking no action), he has signaled ISIL that it is safe to continue slaughtering Christians. Obama continues to state almost daily, that there will be no boots on the ground in the Middle East; ISIL has become emboldened by his telling them what he will not do..

Instead of inserting boots on the ground with small Special Operations units in the Levant of what used to be Iraq, to coordinate command & control, U.S. air operations & strikes, and gathering of actionable intelligence, and instead of putting 3000 military boots on the ground along the southern border to stem the massive influx of Illegal Immigrants, drug smugglers, human smugglers, and terrorist flooding across the southern border, Obama is executing a very dangerous plan to deploy 3,000 US military personnel to the Ebola infected jungles of Liberia. Obama has placed the 3,000 military personnel under the command of the State Department not the Defense Department.

Helping contain Ebola is not the duty for the U.S. Armed Forces to perform, the US Military is not an organization that contain contagious and infectious diseases that have no cure. It is something the UN Health Organization together with the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention should be doing, it is not a military mission the military was properly trained to execute. U.S. Armed Forces personnel should be employed in combat operations; this is just another abuse of U.S. Military personnel by Obama. (please read the below listed article).

The Obama administration representatives could not answer some very basic questions: was there adequate protective and preventive medical equipment and health training procedures that they would provide to the 3000 military personnel, to make sure military personnel would not get infected with Ebola. The Obama administration had no answers to those question posed by the press. In recent days, health officials around the world have become alarmed by the prospect that the Ebola virus could mutate and go airborne, then the spread of infection would be virtually be impossible to contain.

Obama’s order to deploy 3,000 boots on the ground in West Africa to help contain Ebola is risking infecting the nation with a killer plague that has no medical cure. This latest unsound and flawed initiative by the occupant of the Oval Office, hazarding the lives of 3000 US military personnel with the possibility of being infected with Ebola, further displays a lack of cautious and intelligent leadership. The Speaker of the House endorsed Obama’s perilous policy, that risks the security of the nation and hazards the lives of children and the elderly in America.

Obama’s initiatives will be praised and celebrated by the left of center liberal media establishment. Obama’s very dangerous decision will be hazarding the entire nation, especially when the 3000 military personnel return—they should all be quarantined, off shore, for at least 2 months before they are allowed to set foot back on CONUS. This risky initiative, will result in more of the American people not trusting the judgment of the President or the Speaker of the House, since they are both supporting a policy, that is endangering the safety and security of the American people.

U.S. OFFICIALS IN MELTDOWN ON OBAMA’S EBOLA MISSION

Can’t answer questions posed at congressional hearing on crisis

By JEROME R. CORSI

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday on Ebola, government health workers were unable to answer specific questions posed by Republicans skeptical of President Obama’s decision to deploy 3,000 U.S. troops to Liberia to combat the disease.

None of the government health witnesses testifying were able to answer basic questions, including how many physicians and nurses would be among the 3,000 troops allocated or what type of protective equipment and training would be employed to prevent infection.

The witnesses explained the State Department was in charge of the military mission, not the Pentagon.

“Who do we call when there is a problem with the troops in Liberia?” asked Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, a physician and a guest on the committee.

“You call USAID,” replied Nancy Lindborg, assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID.

She explained the situation in Liberia is a medical emergency, and USAID is directing the Obama administration’s response in West Africa.

USAID reports to the State Department, not to the Department of Defense.

As WND reported, retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin has charged that sending American troops to combat Ebola in Liberia is “an absolute misuse of the U.S. military.”

Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., began the questioning by asking the government health witnesses whether or not the Obama administration has allocated sufficient funding to support the military mission in Liberia. Smith also asked what steps the administration plans to take to protect the health of the troops deployed there.

Unable to directly answer Smith’s questions, Lindborg stressed the U.S. wants to provide “command and control” in Liberia, coordinating international efforts to provide physicians and nurses.

Lindborg promised to deliver after the hearing a breakdown of the roles the 3,000 U.S. troops would play.

She explained the goal of the military mission is to establish a Joint Force Command headquartered in Liberia to serve as a regional command for U.S. military activities in the region. The plan is also to establish an Ebola “training boot camp” to train up to 500 local health care workers weekly and to set up a 25-bed hospital in Liberia open to all health care aid workers in West Africa who contract the disease.

“When will the 3,000 military be in theater?” Smith asked. “Can you also reassure the American people that the military deployed to Liberia will have adequate protective medical equipment and training to make sure our troops do not get infected with Ebola while in the region”

Lindborg was unable to provide Smith precise timelines for the arrival of U.S. troops nor was she able to detail the protective medical equipment and training the troops will be provided prior to arrival.

Coming to Limburg’s defense, Dr. Beth Bell, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Disease at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explained the CDC has prepared material regarding what medical personnel dispatched to West Africa to combat Ebola need to know before they arrive in the disease hot zone.

In her prepared opening statement, Bell appeared to minimize the risk presented by the current outbreak, stressing Ebola is “not a significant health threat to the United States.”

She argued Ebola is not easily transmitted and does not spread from people who are not ill She also noted cultural norms that contribute to the spread of the disease in Africa, such as burial customs, are not a factor in the U.S.

“There is a window of opportunity to tamp down the spread of this disease, but that window is closing,” Bell testified. “The best way to prevent the Ebola virus from reaching the United States is to contain the virus outbreak in West Africa now.”

She told the committee that the $600 million the United Nations believes will be needed to get supplies to West African countries to get the virus under control is “an underestimate.”

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained the NAAID has begun active human testing of various alternative therapies and experimental drugs to combat Ebola. The effort includes working with Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc. to develop MB-003, a combination of three antibodies that has successfully prevented Ebola from developing in monkeys when administered as late as 48 hours after exposure.

In combination with the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, NIAID is testing an experimental vaccine that uses a chimpanzee virus similar to the common cold virus, Chimp Adenovirus 3 (Cad3), as a carrier, or vector, to introduce the Ebola virus genes into the body, with the goal of stimulating an immune response.

Fauci, under questioning from the committee, argued that while it is possible the Ebola virus could mutate in Liberia to become airborne, it is unlikely.

“The American public should not lose sleep over the possibility Ebola will go airborne,” he said. “But we have to contain the virus right now, because the more the virus escalating, infecting additional people, the greater the chance the virus will mutate.”

ABOUT JEROME R. CORSI

Jerome R. Corsi, a Harvard Ph.D., is a WND senior staff reporter. He has authored many books, including No. 1 N.Y. Times best-sellers “The Obama Nation” and “Unfit for Command.” Corsi’s latest book is “Who Really Killed Kennedy?”

Obama sending 300 soldiers to fight the Islamic State & 3,000 to get infected with Ebola

September 17, 2014/in Featured, National Security, News, Policy, Politics/by Dr. Rich Swier

Daily it seems the foreign policy priorities of President Obama are misguided at the least and wrong headed at worst. It appears that President Obama is more concerned with fighting Ebola in Liberia than fighting the Islamic State in Iraq.

How do we know? By the number of our soldiers he is putting at risk to address each crisis.

Fighting Ebola is not a role for the U.S. Military. That is a role for the international health community and other non-governmental organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO website states, “It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.”

The role of the U.S. Military is to close with and destroy the enemy using all means available. Fighting a pandemic in Liberia is not part of our military’s mission nor is it an existential threat to the U.S. The best way to fight Ebola is quarantine. Do not allow those infected to come to the United States.

The Weekly Standards William Kristol asks, “Aren’t there other parts of the U.S government suited to carry on this fight? If not, shouldn’t there be? Max Boot suggested building such a non-military civilian ability in the pages of this magazine over a decade ago. Surely an administration committed to smart power would have developed the civilian capabilities to fight a virus without deploying 3,000 troops?”

What President Obama is doing is exposing our soldiers to the deadly Ebola virus. These soldiers will all be returning to the United States and some of them may become infected. There is a potential for all 3,000 to be infected, as they are neither trained nor equipped to deal with this Ebola crisis.

President Obama is sending 300 soldiers, boots on the ground, to take on the existential threat of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. This is too small of a force to make any substantial difference even with air superiority. The U.S. military experience fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan does not equate to the threat of the Islamic State. The two theaters of operation differ in terms of terrain, enemy strength, how IS is armed and funded.

President Obama is putting these 300 in the same situation as King Leonidas did when he led 300 Spartans to hold back the Persian Army of Xerxes. A potential massacre of our soldiers.

Neither decision makes any sense militarily. Neither decision makes sense from a foreign policy perspective. The only way these two decisions make sense is from a political perspective.

President Obama wants to be both the humanitarian and war fighter. Sadly the price for his faulty decisions will be paid by our soldiers who are being put into untenable situations.

It appears President Obama is focused on November 6, 2014 and not the long term national security of the United States.

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Open U.S. border being exploited by 75 countries – including those with Ebola

August 7, 2014/in Featured, Healthcare, National Security, News, Policy, Politics, Regulation/by Allen West

It’s a simple statement so terribly appropriate for our times: “In a universe of deceit, truth becomes a revolutionary act.” Regarding immigration, we are constantly told we need to be compassionate and are un-American if we do not care about the poor kids seeking to escape crime and violence in their respective countries. However, a leaked report from the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) shows we are being lied to. It’s not just about children, and it’s not just Central America.

According to an exclusive report from Breitbart.com, “A leaked intelligence analysis from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveals the numbers of illegal immigrants entering and attempting to enter the U.S. from more than 75 different countries. The report was obtained by a trusted source within the CBP agency who leaked the document and spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity.”

We should all be thankful there are individuals who will keep the American people aware of the threats. And I pray this individual will be safe — especially in this current administration.

Here are some highlights of the report, which you can read here:

The report shows that most of the human smuggling from Syria and Albania into the U.S. comes through Central America. Among the significant revelations are that individuals from nations currently suffering from the world’s largest Ebola outbreak have been caught attempting to sneak across the porous U.S. border into the interior of the United States. At least 71 individuals from the three nations affected by the current Ebola outbreak have either turned themselves in or been caught attempting to illegally enter the U.S. by U.S. authorities between January 2014 and July 2014.

As of July 20, 2014, 1,443 individuals from China were caught sneaking across the porous U.S. border this year alone, with another 1,803 individuals either turning themselves in to U.S. authorities at official ports of entry, or being caught attempting to illegally enter at the ports of entry. This comes amid a massive crackdown by Chinese authorities of Islamic terrorists in the Communist nation.

Twenty-eight individuals from Pakistan were caught attempting to sneak into the U.S. this year alone, with another 211 individuals either turning themselves in or being caught at official ports of entry. Thirteen Egyptians were caught trying to sneak into the U.S. this year alone, with another 168 either turning themselves in or being caught at official ports of entry.

Four individuals from Yemen were caught attempting to sneak into the U.S. by Border Patrol agents in 2014 alone, with another 34 individuals either turning themselves in or being caught attempting to sneak through official ports of entry. Four individuals from Somalia were caught trying to sneak into the U.S. by Border Patrol agents in 2014. Another 290 either turned themselves in or were caught attempting to sneak in at official ports of entry.

Of course I don’t need to remind you that Yemen and Somalia are bases of operations for Islamic terrorism.

But here are two other things to keep in mind. These figures do not include apprehensions from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – those figures would be in addition to what Breitbart reports. The other disturbing fact is Border Patrol agents admit they are not apprehending 100 percent of those crossing illegally. In this video we posted previously, former Border Patrol Agent Zack Taylor said as few as 10 percent are caught. Other estimates are more optimistic, but the fact is we do not know the precise number in any event – whether they are Islamic terrorists or bio-terror vectors carrying Ebola.

Sadly no one in the Obama administration is telling the American people the actual demographic breakdown of these illegal aliens. We keep seeing pictures and hearing about children but how many? How many are teenaged males? How many have MS-13 gang associations? These illegals are being secretly dispersed across America and the trend is that they do not appear for hearings.

President Obama, his mouthpiece Josh “Not So” Earnest, and Dan “Talking Points” Pfeiffer have stated that unilateral action will be taken by the end of summer. What does that mean? Does it mean the Obama administration will secure our border and begin deportations? Or will this president act against Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution?

This crisis is not “humanitarian,” it is a national security crisis. Our border must be secured and we should deploy National Guard troops to back up the U.S. Border Patrol. We need to patrol directly on the border and not offset some 50 miles.

We must open up federal lands for Border Patrol to monitor and not create gaps which are being exploited. Immediately we should be returning these illegal aliens back to their countries of origin and stop the dispersion into our country. Most importantly, we have to stop the taxpayer-funded benefits given to those here illegally, and stop the attempt to change terminology. They are illegal aliens by definition, not “undocumented workers.”

As we wrote here, this comes down to one simple premise: the rule of law. Either we are a sovereign nation of laws, a Constitutional Republic, or we are on the road to perdition. But we need to know the truth.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com. The featured image is courtesy of Front Page Magazine.