Nurse Kaci Hickox has been put under mandatory quarantine by the state of New Jersey after returning from helping Ebola patients in Africa.  New Jersey, New York and Illinois are forcing health workers returning from Africa to be isolated.  I think this is a gross over reaction and is a decision based on fear and not scientific facts.  It is like what they say about war:  The first casualty is truth.  The truth is that the nurse is not sick as Chris Christie claimed.  She is also not contagious  because she does not have symptoms nor fever.  She has been tested twice for Ebola and has been negative both times.  All these facts are ignored and she is being held against her will.

Chris Christie is not protecting the public by making false statements about a person he knows nothing about.  He is causing more fear and hysteria among the public with his order.  He is not a doctor, he has no right to make medical decisions against the advice of infectious disease experts.  These mandatory quarantines only fan more fear.  Already health care workers at Bellevue Hospital, where Dr. Craig Spencer is being treated, are being refused food service!  By the way, I think the only person who may have reason to worry about getting infected by Dr. Spencer would be his girl friend.  Again, this disease require extreme close contact with the patient or his body fluid.  Nobody at the bowling ally or subway is at risk.  Even Duncan, the patient who died, did not infect anyone from his family.  This is even after his treatment was long delayed.

The flu, pneumonia, meningitis, etc. all are way more likely to kill in this country than Ebola.  So let's get our appropriate vaccines and practice good hygiene.  That's the message politicians should get out.  They should not spread false rumors and fan fear.

After the Republicans demanded that Obama name an ebola czar, he named Ron Klain to the post.  Klain is not a doctor nor an infectious disease expert so the GOP is complaining about that.  The GOP does complain a lot about anything Obama does.  In this case they do have a point.  At times of crisis you need a voice that the public can have confidence in.  If the leader named to fight the spread of this disease has no medical background, it is hard for the public to feel confident about what he says.

It seems to me we don't need to create a new position to fight ebola.  The surgeon general should be the right person for this.  The problem is we do not have a permanent surgeon general right now.  Obama had nominted Vivek Murthy, an Indian American, to this post in 2013.  Murthy graduated from Yale medical school and is an internist.  He seems to have the academic qualification for the job.  The GOP claimed that he is too young (37 years old).  They do have a point there since most doctors don't get to the peak of their career till at least in their 40's.  But the real reason they would not confirm him is that he was a big supporter of Obama in his campaign and he had come out for ban on assault weapons.  The NRA  come out against him and there are few GOP senators who are not afraid of the NRA.  So his nomination is in limbo and Harry Reid won't bring up the vote unless he thinks he can win, which he cannot at this time.

So it is a hypocritical for the GOP to derail Murthy's nomination and then claim that Obama fails to have a surgeon general.  So Obama should not have nominate an ebola czar with no medical background.  He should have gone on the offensive and dare the Republicans to deny a well qualified physician the post that is so vital at this time.  If the nomination fails, he can call out the GOP during the midterm election.  Then he should name an ebola czar with medical background.

With the news that a nurse who took care of an ebola patient has contracted the disease in the U.S., there is more reason for concern.  We are supposed to have the necessary precautions in place to prevent the spread of the disease to health care workers here.  The two patients that were brought back to the U.S. were successfully treated and none of the caretakers contracted the disease.  So it is apparent the precautions in place worked.  But until we figure out what error or errors were committed in the latest case, it is a bit worrisome.  After all, humans make errors even if we are trained and are careful.

At least we know that the virus spread only by close contact when a patient has symptoms.  I think screening at airport is reasonable.  It shouldn't take too long to take the temperature of a passenger as he walks through customs.  This was done in Asia during the SARS epidemic.  It is not 100% effective but I think it at least give travelers a sense of assurance and stop people like Rand Paul who wants to limit traveling from certain areas of Africa to the U.S.

I think of more immediate concern is the spread of enterovirus D68.  Unlike ebola, D68 can be spread by air.  This is means that one can be several feet away and still catch it.  D68 is already in almost every state so we can't screen people by travel history like ebola.  The symptoms are flu like and we are in the flu season so it is difficult to differentiate it from the flu.  Hope people take their children to get the flu shot so that doctors know that it is less likely to be the flu when the kid comes in with flu like symptoms.  It is going to be tough winter for pediatricians and ER doctors!

On a light note, here in LA, the management of the Dodgers and Angels are under fire for losing in the first round of the playoff.  I am sure that is similar in Detroit.  There are mistakes by management to be sure.  But ultimately it is the players who win or lose.  I mean the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs seems most correlated with relief pitching.  That is almost impossible to predict before and even during the season.  Who knew before the season that Brian Wilson couldn't be a set up man?  Who knew that the pitchers of the Royals would be so good?  Last season the Red Sox beat the Tigers because of the bullpen.  This season the Red Sox relievers are terrible.  So I think if a GM can put together a team that win the division, it is hard to fault him for losing a short series playoff.

MSU is getting closer with the results over the weekend.  Too bad Baylor pulled it out.  How are the Red Wings going to be this season?

The chief executive of HK is putting tomorrow as the deadline for the demonstrators to move out of the streets.   Exactly what he would do if the demonstrators don't move is unknown.  But this is a fight that the protestors cannot win.  As I said before, there is no international pressure on China.  China can shut off the water supply to HK and blockade its port and that will bring HK to its knees.  Of course, China would not want to go this far.  But the average people in HK is not going to put up with the financial costs of the demonstrations either.  Already the demonstrations have cost millions to the economy and fights between people in HK have broken out.  So I think it is time to pull back.

Frankly I am disappointed in the silence from the UK.  Having negotiated the agreement with China to return HK to control of China, the UK can and should voice its displeasure over China going back on its word of letting HK govern itself.  I understand that since the UK was HK's colonial master, it is hard to complain about another country denying political freedom for HK.  But having negotiated the treaty on behalf of HK, the UK certainly can complain about China's deviation from the freedom that it promised to give HK for 50 years.

Bad week for Detroit sports.   The Tigers got swept by the Orioles even though they should have won 2 out 3 games.  The incompetent Lions lose to the terrible Bills at home after a 14-0 lead.  How do you explain sports.  The Angels, with the best record, got swept by KC.  Clayton Kershaw losing a 6-1 lead!  I guess sports is thrilling and heartbreaking.  I learned a long time ago not to get to involved since at the end only the fans of one team is totally happy!  That is a lesson I only learned as I got old.  It comes in handy especially after this weekend!