U.S Ebola quarantines cause ripple effect in W Africa

Health News

Harvard experts say that quarantining measures in some U.S. states may discourage health workers from returning to West Africa – as well as deter others from volunteering in the first place –, thus weakening the international response to the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. “By far and away what is needed most in West Africa are care providers who can help,” director of the Harvard School of Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program Paul Biddinger told a panel discussion on Tuesday. However, “because of a fear of stigma, of being involuntarily quarantined … people don’t want to necessarily subject themselves to this, and that is tragic.”

As a matter of fact, applications from health workers volunteering to work in West Africa dropped by 17% since late October when mandatory quarantines were enforced in New York and New Jersey, the United States Agency for International Development said last week. The mandatory quarantines were a result of Dr. Craig Spencer’s failure to isolate himself after returning from West Africa to New York City; however, they came under fire after Kaci Hickox – who came to be known as the Ebola nurse, though she hates that moniker as much as Darius Rucker hates to be called Hootie – waged a very public legal battle against what was called inhuman treatment fit for a criminal.

Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Michael Van Rooyen said that American public officials’ ability – or lack thereof – to communicate clearly about the virus and implement precautions that are based on science and not fear “directly impacts our ability to recruit volunteers.” Biddinger added that the United States’ massive medical resources make an outbreak of West African proportions a far-fetched scenario, which is why most cases of Ebola in the U.S. have been imported and only two of them have died. Monetary contributions have been readily available, thanks to pledges and campaigns from the Gates Foundation, Facebook, Google, and others. But people who are knee-deep in the epidemic agree that what’s needed is more manpower.

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U.S. quarantine moves hurting Ebola response in Africa: Harvard

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