I was wrong. Ever since the early days of Ebola in the USA, I've been a defender of what the CDC has been saying and doing. That is, until yesterday. As I was driving home from a meeting, I had the live press conference on with CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden, as he was discussing the newly diagnosed case of a health care worker in Dallas.
"The fact that we don't know about a breach in protocol is concerning, because, clearly, there was a breach in protocol," Frieden said, followed by, "Infections only occur when there's a breach in protocol." Really Dr. Frieden? This person already has Ebola, why not kick them when they're down and blame them they have Ebola.
Following this weekend, here's where I'm at with things:
- I Dare Dr. Tom Frieden To Visit This Infected Health Care Worker In Dallas: Why not show us the CDC protocols that you are talking about? Show us that you won't get Ebola, and that may start to get some credibility back to the CDC.
- Stop Flights From The Ebola Infected Areas in Africa: I know that people have been talking about this for weeks. But, with this 2nd infected case, shouldn't this be a sign to try to limit the problem to over there?
- Feels Like 1981 All Over Again: One thing that I actually agree with Dr. Frieden is that this time in history feels like the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the USA in 1981-82. There was a lot of uncertainty and fear out there. That was when I first started hearing terms like Pneumocustis Carinii, Kaposi Sarcoma, LAV virus, and HTLV-III virus.
If Dr. Frieden is accusing this person of "Breach In Protocol," I'm accusing the CDC of a "Breach In Preparedness" in getting this country ready for the known Ebola threat. I am finally agreeing with the people saying that the CDC is out there trying to calm the public. But, they are not doing a good job at this, especially when you blame the victim for getting Ebola. I mean, if those brave US troops get Ebola while trying to help the African nations, are we going to blame them for a "Breach In Protocol?"