© APAccording to local reports in Liberia the sale of water buckets there has increased dramatically, because they are used by Liberian people to fill with disinfectant and to wash their hands to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
Dr. Alan Jamison of Morristown - a city about three-and-a-half hours east of Nashville - recently returned from West Africa where he was working with Medical Teams International to treat Ebola patients. He is staying in his house, avoiding contact with the outside world until he is sure he does not have the virus.
Medical Teams International, an Oregon-based organization that dispatches groups of volunteers across the world to combat medical disasters, has been working in areas affected by the Ebola outbreak for several months.
Jamison arrived in Liberia on July 7, according to MTI. He returned home July 25.
In a statement, he declined to be interviewed. "I have voluntarily confined myself out of caution, but want to assure everyone that I feel in excellent health and I am confident that I don't have the Ebola virus," he said.
Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University professor and an expert in infectious diseases, lauded Jamison for his self-imposed quarantine, even though Schaffner says Jamison is going well beyond what's required.
Because Jamison isn't reporting any symptoms, Schaffner said, he could go to church, mow the lawn and shake hands with friends at the grocery store without putting anyone at risk.
"We in public health and infectious diseases know he's not a source," Schaffner said of Jamison. "You only become hazardous to others when you become sick."
But, Schaffner said, Jamison is doing his part to put his neighbors at ease in the midst of the African outbreak that has captured worldwide attention.
"My hat's off to Dr. Jamison," Schaffner said.
Schaffner and other experts have been surprised by widespread concern about Ebola in the United States, given how hard it is to catch the virus.
"It's not influenza," he said. "This virus spreads slowly and with difficulty, and only through intimate contact with people who are already sick. ... You have to work at getting the virus."
Schaffner said medical officials treating Ebola patients in Africa should be well versed in the protections necessary to avoid spreading it. But the recent cases of two American aid workers who caught the virus in Africa make it clear that "there is some risk."
If someone were to develop symptoms for Ebola, they would need to alert a doctor immediately. Every major hospital in the country is prepared to treat the virus, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued an advisory that recaps official protocol.
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter