right or wrong?

[victor]

aircraft from Sierra Leone en route to OSLO with Norwegian infected with EBOLA ,refused permission to land for refueling in Portugal & Morocco

[Suff]

Wrong!

You can't catch Ebola from outside the skin of a sealed aircraft. This is exaclty what is wrong with the lack of knowledge and superstition around Ebola.

Nobody would have left the aircraft until Oslo where they would have been put through extensive special decontamination procedures. Refueling teams would not have had to enter the aircraft, if they were worried, simple harsh decontamination procedures would suffice on the fuel tank access points. There was 0% risk of any problem unless the plane were to crash on landing. If it did crash on landing they would know exactly what procedures to take.

This is not the same as some plane full of diseased refugees who are going to open the doors and bolt as soon as the plane has slowed enough. This was a medical emergency flight, organised by the international medical community. Both of these countries have signed international agreements on aid for medical emergencies.

[TheOstrich]

Here's another one based on the fear factor ....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... Ebola.html

Right or wrong?

Personally, I'd say right ..... I certainly wouldn't criticise the "ignorant" parents or dismiss the "misguided hysteria" .....

[victor]

situation now clarified somewhat .

originally request was landing to refuel here,was advised to go to Lisbon where better medical emergency teams would be available if needed.

Pilot chose to go to Las Palmas instead.

situation now is that Lisbon or Lajes in the Azores have been designated for any aircraft in a similar situation

[Suff]

Personally, I'd say right ..... I certainly wouldn't criticise the "ignorant" parents or dismiss the "misguided hysteria" .....

Difficult call Ossie. One child in a school and it could spread. but as was said in the article

'The reality is it’s a difficult disease to catch and much of its spread in Africa is to do with traditional burial practices when sufferers have died.

I'd say also the traditional practise of tending to one's own sick and not taking them to Hospital until they are well and truly infected. Thus putting everyone else in the family at risk.

Would you want to take the risk? Not sure. I don't think that his mother would have him in school if she had the slightest thought that he had Ebola. More like she'd be beating down the doors of A&E at the local hospital to get him tested and into treatment. She's clearly educated and knows a hell of a lot more about haemorrhagic fever than the parents in the school.

My inclination would be to talk to his mother first I think. Rather than try to exclude him. Hard to second guess what you would do when you don't know how the information has been put out there.

I see the sufferer in the US went downhill fast and died today. As normal, nothing they tried worked. I expect his fiancée is likely to be next if it has passed to her. We now have a 3 week waiting game to see how the US and Spain go. Then, perhaps, we'll all see how we react to the situation.