Four days ago I raised (to great criticism from some quarters) the possibility or risk of closed borders and quarantines. Todays UK Independent confirms that there are quarantine areas in four US airports and that passengers will be screened and possibly quarantined for Ebola (just the scenario I predicted); this AJE link confirms that the US is considering closing its borders to some countries. I am not saying that does not have a public health role; I am saying it can also be used politically. And with respect to my internet news outlet critics -- anyone who thinks that epidemics have never been taken advantage of to advance political goals has never ever read a history of Britain (see Contagious Diseases Acts, 1864-68, which had women arrested by the thousands and held for up to six months in lock hospitals ostensibly to stop STD transmissions but was also used as a means of social control); see smallpox and the conquest of Indian lands in the US West -- and see the British Empires treatment of infectious diseases as a way to politically manage local populations in areas controlled by Britain. It is tiresome to be asked to be in some kind of debate with people who dont bother to read history. america.aljazeera/articles/2014/10/10/experts-isolatingebolaaffectednationscouldworsenoutbreak.html
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 14:42:38 +0000
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