Facts Not Fear

As we noted yesterday the report by German physicians in NEJM has shown that the Ebola RNA remains active and well above measurable and most likely transferable levels well beyond 40 days after showing symptoms in sweat. At that point the blood and urine are unmeasurable. However transfer by sweat can be significant especially in for example the New York Subways.

In a Guardian piece the current president takes umbrage with the New York and New Jersey Governors who have mandated a quarantine. The paper says:

(the current president) urged Americans to base their response to domestic Ebola cases on “facts, not fear” on Saturday, as signs of a rift emerged between city and state officials over the handling of the diagnosis of the virus in a doctor from New York. In New Jersey, a health worker returning from west Africa, stopped at Newark airport under a new policy hurriedly put in place by that state and New York, remained in hospital quarantine on Saturday despite testing negative in a preliminary test. Civil liberties activists, meanwhile, raised concerns about the constitutionality of the new rules, warning they could discourage health workers from volunteering to fight Ebola in Africa.

Thus will all due respect the "facts" seem to indicate a significant and lasting effect. It is not just blood, urine, and feces that one worries about but sweat, a readily transferable body fluid. This is especially the case of New York and large metropolitan areas with mass transit. The Governors may very well be dealing with facts, whereas Washington seems to deal in its own brand of fiction.