quote:
ATLANTA — As Thomas Eric Duncan's family mourns the USA's first Ebola death in Dallas, one question reverberates over a series of apparent missteps in the case: Who is in charge of the response to Ebola? The answer seems to be — there really isn't one person or agency. There is not a single national response.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has emerged as the standard-bearer — and sometimes the scapegoat — on Ebola. Public health is the purview of the states, and as the nation anticipates more Ebola cases, some experts say the way the United States handles public health is not up to the challenge.

"One of the things we have to understand is the federal, state and local public health relationships," says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "Public health is inherently a state issue. The state really is in charge of public health at the state and local level. It's a constitutional issue. The CDC can't just walk in on these cases. They have to be invited in."

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Posted by SpidermanTUba

my house

Member since May 2004

36128 posts

Posted on 10/13/14 at 5:58 am to TOKEN

quote:
Who is in charge of the response to Ebola?

The answer to that can only be known in hindsight.

If the Ebola virus is successfully contained in the U.S., that the states and local governments are in charge.

If the Ebola virus is not successfully contained and kills thousands of Americans (or worse) - well then you know who was in charge. I won't even say his name (ahem cough obammadummy ahem cough cough)

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Posted by EST

Investigating

Member since Oct 2003

17832 posts

Posted on 10/13/14 at 6:18 am to TOKEN

Are the people who want to take the blame off the Feds (the CDC)the same people who put the blame for Katrina on Bush and FEMA while ignoring Blanco and the mayor of NO?

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Posted by NC_Tigah

Carolinas

Member since Sep 2003

123929 posts

Posted on 10/13/14 at 7:00 am to TOKEN

quote:
Public health is inherently a state issue

In the same way that armed Mexican drug gangs flood across the southern borders of Texas and Arizona, yet citizens' safety is the states' responsibility.

Public health may or may not be a "state issue." Frankly that is a very shaky premise IMO.

What is indisputable though is border security being a Federal Issue.
Migration policy is a Federal Issue. International embarkation and debarkation are Federal Issues.

Make no mistake, the CDC had a large hand in recommendations to allow unfettered transit of Liberians into the country. That was a mistake. It was a mistake wrought from Federal policy. The CDC is no ""scapegoat"". It is wholly and completely at fault for disease transfer under that policy.

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