Travel Ban for Ebola - Common Sense

I’m starting this off with my last sentence because otherwise it will be dismissed as politically incorrect. But I am not Ann Coulter, or Rush Limbaugh. I have no political ax to grind. And the slimy politicians who want to politicize this are, well, slimy politicians. I am more interested in the lack of common sense which has prevented a travel ban from being put in place to begin with. It’s a shame that we have come to the point where I must apologize in advance for our opinions; but since it’s my blog, here goes.

"Lastly; but most importantly, think of this; if we are busy fighting Ebola here in the United States; where we never had it before; then how we will be able to help those in Africa? Already tens of millions of dollars have been diverted from that front."

“Medical officials, aid workers and health experts have overwhelmingly condemned calls for a travel ban, not because it will hurt anyone’s self-esteem, but because they fear it will vastly hinder their efforts to contain the virus at the source of the outbreak, which they insist is the most effective way to prevent its spread worldwide. The more restrictions put in place on travel, they argue, the harder it is to get aid in and out of the afflicted countries and to stabilize already teetering governments on the front lines.”

This is a bunch of crap. All it takes to exempt humanitarian aid flights from a travel ban is the signature of the leaders who won’t allow a travel ban in the first place. And the media that report this type of bunk as fact are equally at fault for the lack of a travel ban. If the New York Times said that we should have a travel ban then the leaders of our country would jump through flaming hoops of fire to start one today.

I won’t speculate on the reason why a travel ban was not put into place at the outset of this whole affair. But I will tell you that I will be sticking to my guns on this issue. They said it couldn't happen here, but it is happening. And don’t tell me that there are 450,000 deaths from heart attacks and another however many hundred thousand die from drug overdoses, car accidents etc. The number of people who die from Ebola may be smaller, but the percentage is way higher. 

I have nothing but compassion for the people in Western Africa. We should be doing all that we can to alleviate their suffering. And that can be done with a travel ban. Remember the tsunami a few years back? No one was traveling there for fun at the time. As a matter of fact the only flights allowed in were humanitarian aid flights. Samaritan’ Purse; the United Nations; etc. were all able to fly in under exemptions.

Now, here’s a valid question; and please remember that the argument against a travel ban is incomplete without taking this into consideration. Lastly; but most importantly, think of this; if we are busy fighting Ebola here in the United States; where we have never had it before; then how we will be able to help those in Africa? Already tens of millions of dollars have been diverted from that front.

Note: Sometimes it is necessary to go back and read about the past outbreaks, going back to the first Marburg viruses of the 1960"s, which eventually became the Ebola we know today. For more information go to the Oxford Journal of Infectious Diseases at;

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/179/Supplement_1/S127.full