Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Asks for Ban on Travel from West African Nations
After the news of the first Ebola patient in the U.S., those who believe the government should ban travel from West African nations have been increasingly vocal about the idea.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is one of those lawmakers, who on Friday called on President Barack Obama to ban flights to the affected countries, according to Politico.
"President Obama said it was 'unlikely' that Ebola would reach the U.S. Well, it has, and we need to protect our people," he said. "But the Obama administration keeps saying they won't shut down flights. They instead say we should listen to 'the experts.' In fact, they said it would be counterproductive to stop these flights. That statement defies logic. How exactly would stopping the entry of people potentially carrying the Ebola virus be counterproductive? This seems to be an obvious step to protect public health in the United States."
But many experts, including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), have said that Ebola is not a particularly contagious virus, since it is only transferred by contact with bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and saliva.
Contact with another person's sweat is more likely in West Africa because of the hot climate and is the reason why it is spreading so quickly, experts said.
NPR reported that one person with Ebola, on average, will infect two others. By comparison, a person with measles could infect 18 others.
"I have no doubt that we will control this importation, or case, of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country," CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said.
"Even if we tried to close the border, it wouldn't work. People have a right to return. People transiting through could come in. And it would backfire, because by isolating these countries, it'll make it harder to help them, it will spread more there and we'd be more likely to be exposed here, " Frieden told MSNBC, according to Politico.
Experts say that attacking the virus at its source -- in Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Senegal -- is the only way to control the spread.
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