Speaker 1: Hey, the folks. That is Chuesday, May nineteenth, and they're
Speaker 1: a number of new, significant and concerning updates about the
Speaker 1: ebola outbreak. There has been a significant uptick in the
Speaker 1: number of deaths and cases. An American has now been
Speaker 1: confirmed to have the disease, and meanwhile, the United States
Speaker 1: is taking steps to keep people who've been to that
Speaker 1: region from coming to the country. And with that, welcome
Speaker 1: to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes where you
Speaker 1: want to start because as we got like you see
Speaker 1: a headline about numbers, you started reading more and more
Speaker 1: into this and you started quite frankly, freaking more and
Speaker 1: more out.
Speaker 2: Yes, because I actually, obviously we have seen that American test.
Speaker 2: An American tested positive, and I really thought that was
Speaker 2: going to be this episode just talking about who this
Speaker 2: doctor is and who's been exposed. And then I just
Speaker 2: started reading and reading and reading all of these concerns
Speaker 2: that World Health Organization leaders CDC leaders are saying, and
Speaker 2: it is frankly frightening to hear their level of concern. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that makes me concerned.
Speaker 1: And you know, certainly Haunta virus very recently they were
Speaker 1: went out of their way to say no risk here,
Speaker 1: there shouldn't be a risk to the international community, and
Speaker 1: so on forward. Initially with Ebola, I think it kind
Speaker 1: of started with some of that language, but Robes it
Speaker 1: became clear pretty quickly that they were behind this disease.
Speaker 1: By a week, two weeks so it had gotten going.
Speaker 1: And that is the problem now, and that is why Robes.
Speaker 1: In recent days we have seen death tolls. Now spike.
Speaker 1: You could argue, this is a spike now we're seeing in.
Speaker 2: Cases absolutely, and you know what, you make such a
Speaker 2: good point. I hadn't even realized that. That is probably
Speaker 2: the reason why today I felt deeply concerned, because we
Speaker 2: heard the exact opposite from health experts when it came
Speaker 2: to hauntavirus and hearing them kind of say, yeah, this
Speaker 2: isn't good, and that's not.
Speaker 3: What I want to hear. So here is the latest week.
Speaker 2: I guess let's start with the Americans, because we now
Speaker 2: know yes, one American doctor, he was the person who
Speaker 2: was listed as symptomatic. Well, he did in fact test
Speaker 2: positive for the bundabougio strain. So he has been transported
Speaker 2: to Germany for treatment. But when we say treatment, you'll
Speaker 2: recall if you've been keeping up with this there is
Speaker 2: no known treatment for this particular strain, so they're just
Speaker 2: probably keeping him comfortable monitoring him. But his name is
Speaker 2: doctor Peter Stafford. He's a doctor who has been working
Speaker 2: with the Christian missionary organization called Surge since twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: He was treating patients in Congo, and that is how
Speaker 2: he contracted the disease. And guess what, his wife, who's
Speaker 2: also a physician, doctor Rebecca Stafford, she also is now
Speaker 2: being basically quarantined. She's been flown to Germany, along with
Speaker 2: their four young children and another physician, doctor Patrick la Rochelle,
Speaker 2: who's also with SURGE.
Speaker 1: Okay, help me get the number. So seven Americans take
Speaker 1: it out.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yes, Doctor Stafford, along with six other Americans, including
Speaker 2: basically his entire family, are now all in Germany being monitored.
Speaker 1: All right, So only one at this point showing symptoms,
Speaker 1: and he is the one who's now tested positive. I
Speaker 1: haven't seen updates necessarily about his condition and how he's doing.
Speaker 1: But a reminder here, if bola does there is a
Speaker 1: vaccine for a particular strain of the disease. This ain't that.
Speaker 1: But Bundabougio, as you just said, is this strain of
Speaker 1: the virus that they do not have a vaccine for,
Speaker 1: and like I said, they don't even know what to
Speaker 1: pull off the shelf. There is no specific treatment for it.
Speaker 1: So that's the one we're dealing with, and that's the
Speaker 1: one that's causing the concern. But Robes concerned too the numbers.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think back when we first heard about
Speaker 1: the outbreak, what was the first death? That was it
Speaker 1: in the thirties.
Speaker 2: I don't recall what the first one was. I have
Speaker 2: yesterday's death and that's a big search. That is yesterday, Monday.
Speaker 2: The death toll was eighty eight eighty nine depending on
Speaker 2: where you read, and three hundred and thirty six folks
Speaker 2: are cases suspected cases. Today we now have one hundred
Speaker 2: thirty one suspected deaths and five hundred and thirteen cases.
Speaker 3: And that's just what they know of.
Speaker 2: This is an area where there may be and almost
Speaker 2: certainly are sickened people, probably even folks who have died
Speaker 2: that they just haven't been able to account for.
Speaker 1: And Robes that therein lies the problem this does have.
Speaker 1: We should remember a slower extuta, a shorter incubation period
Speaker 1: than Hanti virus talking about up to forty five days.
Speaker 1: That was a concern there the people could be out
Speaker 1: for the next month, month and a half somewhere and
Speaker 1: don't even realize they've been infected. This is a little different.
Speaker 1: Even though it's two to twenty one days robes, it's
Speaker 1: still they say, the sweet spot, if you will start
Speaker 1: to use that term, is somewhere about a week.
Speaker 2: Yes, they say the average the average incubation is anywhere
Speaker 2: from eight to ten days upon exposure.
Speaker 3: But that's still think about that.
Speaker 2: If you've been exposed to this virus, and certainly those
Speaker 2: six other Americans they have said very specifically, have absolutely
Speaker 2: been exposed by the doctor and certainly just by the environment.
Speaker 3: But it can it can take up to.
Speaker 2: Three weeks for you to actually develop symptoms, but almost
Speaker 2: certainly at least a week a week and a half,
Speaker 2: So that waiting time is frightening.
Speaker 1: We haven't gotten any indication yet. We would know, certainly
Speaker 1: rose at this point if somebody got sick somebodywhere else
Speaker 1: in the world. Again, we're talking about someone before we
Speaker 1: were aware of the outbreak. Somebody in that area could
Speaker 1: have gotten on a plane and flown absolutely those where
Speaker 1: and could be somewhere in the world sick right now.
Speaker 1: I assume we know about that.
Speaker 2: I don't assume anything because they might not be sick yet.
Speaker 2: When we just found out about this, and so did
Speaker 2: the World Health Organization, which was their big concern. We
Speaker 2: all just found out about this this weekend.
Speaker 3: It's Tuesday, okay, so yes, Roll, that's a good point.
Speaker 1: It's too soon. But even if they left several days ago,
Speaker 1: a week, if someone gets sick somewhere in the world,
Speaker 1: we should know about it right pretty quickly.
Speaker 3: Let's hope.
Speaker 2: So, But it just depends on where they went and
Speaker 2: what the level of communication is.
Speaker 3: That's how developed that area is. I mean, it's just
Speaker 3: very scary.
Speaker 2: You're in a very remote part of the world, or
Speaker 2: a part of the world that's highly densely populated in
Speaker 2: an urban like area, but they don't have the facilities
Speaker 2: and just the ability to contact, trace, to monitor, to treat,
Speaker 2: to be aware of, to count, to protect the borders
Speaker 2: all of them.
Speaker 3: That just is not an area where this is likely
Speaker 3: to have happened.
Speaker 2: Until now we've got folks coming in the CDC, people
Speaker 2: from all over the world sending in folks to help
Speaker 2: do all of that, but we're at least a week behind.
Speaker 1: So though, Yes, World Health Organization mobilized as quickly as
Speaker 1: they could. They are the ones who are I guess
Speaker 1: the lead here, Robes. But the lead is starting to
Speaker 1: use some language. The language is starting to get a
Speaker 1: little more learning.
Speaker 2: Yes, the World Health Organization chief, the head of the
Speaker 2: World Health Organization said he is quote deeply concerned by
Speaker 2: the scale and speed of the epidemic. In fact, they
Speaker 2: are convening its emergency committee today to try and come
Speaker 2: up with plan of action, like just what they could
Speaker 2: be doing. And that wasn't comforting, bro, that was not
Speaker 2: comforting at all.
Speaker 3: And I mean some of what he said.
Speaker 2: He said, the death He put it in perspective like this,
Speaker 2: the deaths of healthcare workers, the high population mobility and
Speaker 2: the absence of vaccines or therapeutics for this strain creates
Speaker 2: a real fear of further spread and more deaths.
Speaker 3: That is ominous.
Speaker 1: Jezu least. And they really I haven't seen. They don't
Speaker 1: know how far behind they are on this thing. Did
Speaker 1: I see so?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: No, No, May fifth or fifteenth, if you remember which
Speaker 1: date was it that they first were alerted of some issue.
Speaker 3: I thought it was May fifteenth. We're talking this weekend.
Speaker 1: No, there was a previous I know there was something
Speaker 1: pre Again, there's so far behind. It was the first.
Speaker 1: I think it might have been May fifth, you know
Speaker 1: me and my dates. I think I got it right.
Speaker 1: But they were first alerted to an issue to where
Speaker 1: they were starting to mobilize and send somebody to check
Speaker 1: it out. They didn't know how big of a deal
Speaker 1: they had. So we were talking ten a week and
Speaker 1: a half ago, ten days, and then they start to
Speaker 1: piece together. And then on May fifteenth we started getting
Speaker 1: word but robes, we're talking. This thing was present and
Speaker 1: nobody was necessarily trying to contain it for the past
Speaker 1: week and a half.
Speaker 2: Was that the nurse that died, because I think that
Speaker 2: that was the first heads up. They had a healthcare worker,
Speaker 2: a nurse who tested positive and died for this disease,
Speaker 2: for this particular strain, and that's when they first thought, hmmm, well,
Speaker 2: if a nurse caught it, she obviously caught it from
Speaker 2: a patient. How many other people were exposed? And it
Speaker 2: went from And I do think it's interesting we talked
Speaker 2: about this, but the majority of the deaths and cases
Speaker 2: have been in people between the ages of twenty and
Speaker 2: thirty nine. So this is going after like basically the
Speaker 2: robust folks. I remember my dad, who's a microologist, was
Speaker 2: talking about certain strains and when you have a strain,
Speaker 2: go after your healthiest Basically these are twenty to thirty nine.
Speaker 2: You are in the prime of your life, your immune
Speaker 2: system is at its prime.
Speaker 3: When you get certain strains.
Speaker 2: It actually those are the ones they kill because your
Speaker 2: immune system is so robust, it overreacts to try and
Speaker 2: fight the virus and ends up killing you with your
Speaker 2: own fluids. And that sounds like what this Because when
Speaker 2: you have a strain that goes after that population twenty
Speaker 2: to thirty nine, those are typically your healthiest segment or
Speaker 2: age segment of the population.
Speaker 3: So that's really scary.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, because a lot of times you think, oh,
Speaker 2: it's the young and it's the old who are more susceptible.
Speaker 3: That's not the case with this. They're saying, it's that's
Speaker 3: who it's going after, that's who it's killing.
Speaker 1: Okay, we should get to add on, but my question
Speaker 1: is there, I did not know it's possible that there's
Speaker 1: a virus, a disease, something out there that if you're older,
Speaker 1: it's an advantage.
Speaker 2: Is that what the is because your own immune system
Speaker 2: ends up being your worst enemy.
Speaker 1: So your own immune system is the thing that's killing you.
Speaker 2: Look, I just remember my father talking about viruses and
Speaker 2: strains of viruses, and that was something that really stood
Speaker 2: out to me. And I remember I was in that
Speaker 2: age group at that time, and it made me so nervous, like, oh, please,
Speaker 2: don't let one of those viruses be unleashed. But this
Speaker 2: is scary, and primarily so far, two thirds of.
Speaker 3: The deaths have been women.
Speaker 2: So you know, I don't know how they what they
Speaker 2: do with that information, but that is deeply, deeply concerning
Speaker 2: what that.
Speaker 1: Is or why that would be. Is that hospitals, Is
Speaker 1: that getting help in clinics.
Speaker 2: Yes, maybe the women are the caretakers of this community
Speaker 2: and they're the more likely ones to get the disease
Speaker 2: just because of the exposure and what they do and
Speaker 2: what they.
Speaker 3: Provide for their community.
Speaker 2: Is when we come back, we are going to tell
Speaker 2: you about a whole bunch of changes that are happening
Speaker 2: right now in the United States. The CDC getting heavily
Speaker 2: involved trying to make sure ebola doesn't come to the
Speaker 2: United States. But when you hear their language, I don't
Speaker 2: know how confident I feel that that is going to
Speaker 2: be able to be protected.
Speaker 3: We'll tell you what the CDC is saying when we
Speaker 3: come back and.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 2: We are talking about the growing concerns surrounding the Ebola outbreak.
Speaker 2: We now have one American who has tested positive. Six
Speaker 2: other Americans have been flown to Germany. They have been exposed.
Speaker 2: Many of them are members of doctor Stafford's family. Another
Speaker 2: physician involved as well, So they are monitoring that group
Speaker 2: of Americans, and they're also trying to get other Americans
Speaker 2: who may be in the area, the affected area out
Speaker 2: of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan. But back here at home,
Speaker 2: the CDC is issuing and has issued basically a ban
Speaker 2: on travelers for the next thirty days if you have
Speaker 2: traveled in Uganda, Congo, or South Sudan.
Speaker 3: But here's the deal.
Speaker 2: They're only they can only ban entry to this country
Speaker 2: for people who are non US passport holders. If you
Speaker 2: are an American citizen, they cannot ban you from returning
Speaker 2: to the United States.
Speaker 1: It's come home, yep.
Speaker 2: And that's scary because, as the CDC points out, with
Speaker 2: the incubation period being anywhere from two to twenty one days,
Speaker 2: it is highly possible that someone who is a US
Speaker 2: citizen who traveled to one of these countries comes in
Speaker 2: and yes, of course they're going to medically evaluate you
Speaker 2: before they let you back into the general population to
Speaker 2: go back home. But many of these folks may present
Speaker 2: zero symptoms and test negative for now, and come a
Speaker 2: week later, two weeks later, that could change. So that's
Speaker 2: where there is a massive scary loophole.
Speaker 1: But I, I mean, this is the right call, is
Speaker 1: it not. This is what you have to do. You
Speaker 1: cannot have this thing land within our borders, right we
Speaker 1: had it once? What happened? The guy came, God he
Speaker 1: died in Texas, but he ended up infecting two nurses
Speaker 1: I believe down there they survived. That was the only transmission.
Speaker 2: But which strain was that, Because because there are some
Speaker 2: strains that have treatment options, there are some strains that
Speaker 2: have vaccines, this one has neither of those.
Speaker 1: We'd have to guess rhobes. The one he had.
Speaker 3: Was the one they know more about za the zion.
Speaker 1: So the Bundabougio has it ever landed in the United States.
Speaker 2: Sound, I haven't seen that it has. And look, this
Speaker 2: is this is some scary stuff. So the CDC has
Speaker 2: enacted this Title forty two order, and with this order
Speaker 2: they're now coordinating with Airlines International partners Port of.
Speaker 3: Entry officials all the ways people.
Speaker 2: Can come into the United States to try and identify
Speaker 2: and then manage passengers who may have been exposed.
Speaker 3: And they go.
Speaker 2: Over the airports that people could have or will be
Speaker 2: traveling through and how they would get into the United
Speaker 2: States and how these are the airports they're targeting for monitoring.
Speaker 2: But it started to get scary when you started seeing
Speaker 2: these airports so overseas. Oftentimes, if you're coming from Congo,
Speaker 2: South Sudan or Uganda, you have to go through Addis Ababa.
Speaker 3: Sorry, I've been through that when I was in Tanzania.
Speaker 3: You have to go through that airport.
Speaker 2: Ethiopia, Nairobi, Doha, cutter Istambul Okay. Those are the connecting flights.
Speaker 2: But then they would be coming into JFK here in
Speaker 2: New York, of course, Dulles in DC, Hartsfield Jackson in Atlanta, Ohair, Chicago, O'Hair.
Speaker 1: And of course our big dogs are being monitored right now.
Speaker 1: I don't know. We don't want to be alarmists, right,
Speaker 1: but hantavirus oola, al jeez, Louise, this.
Speaker 2: Is okay, and you say that hauntavirus. Let's talk about
Speaker 2: our National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska. It is, by the way,
Speaker 2: this is the only federally funded quarantine facility in the
Speaker 2: United States, and right now, eighteen of its twenty beds
Speaker 2: are occupied by Haunta virus cruise ship passengers.
Speaker 3: What are the chances? What are the chances? Now?
Speaker 2: There are thirteen what they call Regional Emerging Special Pathogen
Speaker 2: Treatment Centers that are sprinkled across the country. So we
Speaker 2: do have some other facilities that are like regionally funded
Speaker 2: or state funded.
Speaker 1: It's ebola. We don't need the B team.
Speaker 2: Right, you want to be in Nebraska, But that's crazy.
Speaker 2: There are only two beds available because of another break.
Speaker 3: And I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 2: All those passengers, we didn't know if they would go home,
Speaker 2: and you were like, yeah, I would stay.
Speaker 3: Turns out they're all staying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that makes sense if you think you have
Speaker 2: a disease that has a fifty percent death rate and
Speaker 2: you want to go back and take your chances back
Speaker 2: home and hope that you'll get to a hospital and nah,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna stay where the experts are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they probably have like an emergency red button next
Speaker 1: to the I want to be able to push that.
Speaker 1: I'd be hitting that thing every three hours. Hey, you
Speaker 1: know what, I just sneezed. I just want to be
Speaker 1: checked out.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I would want to be tested twice a day,
Speaker 2: every day, just so I could know. Because the anxiety
Speaker 2: of waiting to see if symptoms develop for a very
Speaker 2: highly fatal disease, that is just a unbelievable, anxiety ridden
Speaker 2: mind game that I would never want to have to experience.
Speaker 1: What the majority of the audience listening right now can
Speaker 1: probably relate, wasn't that initially what happened with COVID. You
Speaker 1: find out you got COVID, You sit and wait, how
Speaker 1: sick am I going to get?
Speaker 2: In the early days when you started to see body
Speaker 2: bags piling up and in Italy, in that New York
Speaker 2: nursing home, you're just oh, my goodness, Yes, you had
Speaker 2: no idea how your body was going to react.
Speaker 3: So we have had absolutely a taste of it. But
Speaker 3: this is just.
Speaker 2: A it's not a pandemic yet, I don't know what
Speaker 2: the criteria is. I think they made a very clear
Speaker 2: point yesterday to say we're not at a pandemic level,
Speaker 2: We're not at a global pandemic level. But today the
Speaker 2: verbiage is very different, and who knows what we're going
Speaker 2: to hear tomorrow, the day after. This is deeply concerning,
Speaker 2: and of course we will continue to keep our eye
Speaker 2: on this situation. But in the meantime, as always, everyone,
Speaker 2: we appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Roboch alongside t. J.
Speaker 3: Holmes. We will definitely be talking soon.