We flew home from Puerto Rico last night. Knowing I was coming back to work there were several stories on my mind…But before I get to them I have to tell you about the flight…We were up in business class, Erica, Sol and I …about 24 people…and at least three of them were coughing and sneezing…Erica and I were sitting across the aisle from each other…and we grimaced at each other after every cough and wheeze…She had hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes and she kept swabbing Sol sitting next to her and handing me the wipes and sanitizer…but what I kept thinking about is how easy it is to transmit germs and viruses. And I have to tell you about the nightmare I had when I finally got home to sleep. It was about the Walking Dead, the wildly popular show about a post apocalyptic world ruled by zombies. This Ebola virus, especially now that Nina Pham, the 26-year old Dallas nurse has been infected, is scary stuff. The World Health Organization is saying two months from now there could be up to 10,000 new cases a week. You can’t stop it with travel bans or quarantines or other easy solutions. You have to stop it at its source in West Africa before millions are infected. We have to make finding a vaccine and a cure like the Race to the Moon, an urgent national priority that devotes the energy and manpower and leadership we need to beat this before we do become the Walking Dead. And who the hell is in charge here? The CDC? the Defense Department? Two weeks ago I urged the Surgeon General of the United States, Rear Admiral Boris Lushniak, take over. But you know I only realized when I got home and started reading about the spreading infection that we don’t have a permanent Surgeon General; Admiral Lushniak is only Acting S.G. Our dysfunctional Good-for-Nothing congress has been holding up President Obama’s nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to fill the Admiral’s spot because of objections from the NRA. Apparently the National Rifle Association doesnt like the fact Dr. Murthy considers guns a public health menace. So we dont have a permanent Surgeon General, but we do have Ebola.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:35:54 +0000
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