The Centers For Disease Control has released a flyer which threatens Airline pilots with legal action if they do not report ill travelers. The document specifies that both International and Interstate passengers must be reported if they are ill. Obviously this action is an indication that either a pandemic is underway or one is expected, and that air travel will be how the pandemic spreads. (STAY OUT OF AIRCRAFT RESTROOMS)
As we have previously reported, The US government is showing major concern for a devastating 'zero day' pandemic exploit and is significantly increasing Federal Quarantine Station capacity/ capability. The CDC has also ordered its employees to prepare for a National / International disaster.
The obvious candidates for CDC's actions are MERS, EBOLA, H7N9 Bird Flu and H1N1 Swine Flu. Of these only EBOLA seems to be of any immediate (albeit fleeting) threat, and as such the Department of Defense has deployed EBOLA detection kits to National Guard units in all 50 states and to military units in South Korea.
Of the other threats, MERS and H7N9 are primarily adapted to their locations/cultures of origin/mass detection, and as such the threat of ongoing chain infection-transmission outside those locales/cultures seems low. Albeit, current MERS protocol involves quarantining all health care personnel who had initial contact with the infected person, meaning even a few cases could shut down the health care system. In regards to H1N1, the possibility of a more severe 2nd wave in the Fall should not be discounted.
UPDATE 5/27/14: CDC just created a job openings for a
"Public Health Advisor (Quarrantine Program)" sic
Job Title:Public Health Advisor (Quarrantine Program)
Department:Department Of Health And Human Services
Agency:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Job Announcement Number:HHS-CDC-D3-14-1125484
Sources:
This is probably for the camel-related Arabian disease going around ... but it could inadvertently document radiation sickness by flyers (public and airline workers).
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