Fearing Ebola, Israel will not send medical teams to Africa

[oberliner]

Israel has rejected a special request by the US and UN to send IDF field hospitals to Ebola hit Liberia and Sierra Leone. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who rejected the request, cited the threat of infection to Israeli medical teams in explaining his decision.

The request was lodged by the UN and US, and was passed onto Israel though US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power and Ron Prosor, Israel's envoy.

The Foreign Ministry recommended the Defense Ministry respond positively to the American's request, even though it was a complex mission, which runs the risk of infection for medical crews, who would have been forced to wear full NBC suits.

The mission was further complicated by the need to provide security for each such encampment.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4577246,00.html

[Jefferson23]

1. I believe Australia said no too. This is going to be tough if more refuse. n/t

[DustyJoe]

2. smart move

Australia and Israel are smart in their decisions.

After receiving back sick Doctors to the US with all the safety procedures they followed, along with sickened medical personnel from other countries. It would be a questionable decision to send more medical teams to the hot zone, much less send thousands of non-medical professionals in there like say, 101st Airborne military. At some point a country sending their greatest and brightest into an area like that is doomed to run out of the greatest and brightest to care for those on its own shores.

There are some times that isolationism makes sense, this is one of them.

[whosinpower1]

3. disgusting.

Why don't you just bomb the place to flatten it - along with all those doomed people? (sarcasm)

[R.Quinn]

6. That response is a bit harsh.

Sending our people into the hot zone may end up spreading the disease even more in the long run, which wouldn't really be helping anyone. Isolationism is the best plan of action until it blows over. Not at all the same thing as bombing the hell out of someone.

In fact, I would support stopping all U.S. air travel to and from west Africa. It's just too dangerous right now.

[whosinpower1]

8. Isolationism

Is not the best solution. My post was meant to be harsh - and sarcastic.

The region does not need to be cut off. People coming out of that region may need to be quarantined for 3 weeks before being allowed to fly out. That seems much more reasonable than suggesting no one is allowed to go and help.

[Scootaloo]

9. Frankly, i can't fault Israel or Australia on this

We're looking at a disease with 90% mortality rate, with no vaccination, nothing but very experimental treatments, that has a week-long incubation.

It is a huge risk to send people into a hot zone like that. At least if you expect them to come back. And I frankly cannot find fault with a nation that does not want to take that sort of risk.

[whosinpower1]

12. Correction

The mortality rate according to WHO is around 50 percent.

For sure there is a risk-but not nearly to the degree you ascribe to.

This is the worst Ebola outbreak so far-there have been several in previous years.

Doing nothing-and allowing the outbreak to infect a million people( the current WHO prediction if nothing is done) is not an option in my opinion.

[R.Quinn]

13. Alright

How about this: you are allowed to GO to West Africa, but you aren't allowed to return to the U.S. until this outbreak is under control. Fair?

[Aerows]

4. Frankly, I don't blame them

I was opposed to us sending 3000 members of our military over there. It's clearly highly infectious if so many medical personnel are contracting it.

I understand wanting to help, but sometimes sanity has to prevail.

[azurnoir]

5. Medical personnel are contracting Ebola mainly due to the fact that they are

in very close physical contact with infected patients and in facilities where most modern protective equipment is unavailable or just plain non-existent

There are a couple of very good threads explaining this here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025608499

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025608119

there is way too much fear mongering about Ebola going -in a way it reminds me of the early days of HIV/AIDS

a to uppity person for the threads

[Jefferson23]

7. +1. thanks for the links. n/t

[Scootaloo]

10. Medical workers are the people most likely to be infected, really

They're the ones dealing with the blood, spit, vomit, and shit after all. Increased contact means increased chances for a failure of safety measures.

[Aerows]

11. When all of the medical workers

are decimated by Ebola, who helps those that get infected going forward?

[Carlos Rodrigez]

14. those selfish bastards.

What about the greater good? This is exactly what is wrong with the world. You got countries like this with no notion of duty or self sacrifice. There solution is to just let the rest of the world die. It reminds me of when the Catholic church and the rest of the world didn't complain much about Holocaust atrocities. The US would not even bother to bomb train tracks, which could have saved a few thousand Jews.

And you got people on this website falling all over themselves to praise Israel for this. These very same people one day complain about Israel killing Palestinians, and the next day say its good for Israel to let Africans die.