Homeless man who caused Ebola panic in Dallas now captured and quarantined

(NaturalNews) Here at Natural News, we have often sounded the alarm against what we perceive to be unconstitutional overreaches of power, especially when those overreaches occur during an emergency. The U.S. government, the Constitution notwithstanding, is no different from any other in the history of man or that currently exists: When it feels threatened, or when it can seize upon the fears of the people, it will become authoritarian.

So it is with the burgeoning Ebola outbreak in America: Dallas, where the first Ebola patient and his family have now been quarantined, has become ground zero for panic over the disease and a government's overzealous response to it.

Officials there have now forced a homeless man, Michael Lively, into quarantine against his will after he became the first patient to ride in an ambulance that was used to carry Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan to Presbyterian Hospital in the Big D. Duncan, you may recall, brought the disease back from West Africa, where he is from.

Health authorities say the quarantine is justified, because it is possible that Lively might have come into contact with some of Duncan's infected body fluids during the ride. Lively, who was under observation at the time, wandered off a couple of days ago, triggering a frantic search. He was eventually located by Dallas Police and placed in a psychiatric ward at Parkland Hospital while authorities seek a court order to hold him there indefinitely, and against his will if need be, Britain's Daily Mail reported.

'Zero chance' he spread infection

Police had been monitoring Lively the previous day, before he slipped away; they want to quarantine him now so they can monitor his temperature and ensure that he does not develop fever, which is an early symptom of Ebola infection. That said, public health officials in Dallas say they believe there is "zero chance" that Lively managed to spread Ebola to anyone else -- that is, if he is even infected.

Meanwhile, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sought to reassure a nervous public during a recent press conference. He said his agency is currently monitoring 48 people in Dallas because they, too, may have come in contact with Duncan after he became contagious with the disease.

The Daily Mail reported further:

Ebola can manifest in a patient any time up to 21 days after exposure. A patient is not contagious until symptoms begin to emerge.

Lively is rated as 'low risk' for infection by authorities, but officials were still desperate to monitor him.

"There's no doubt that we can stop Ebola in this country," Frieden said during his Oct. 5 press conference. Then again, this is a man who has said that restricting travel from West Africa until the disease is controlled would "backfire" and make Americans "more likely to be exposed."

'10 are considered to be at high risk'

Officials say they are concerned about Lively (and others in the Dallas area), because Ebola is transmitted by contact with the body fluids of an infected person. Duncan, when he was taken to Presbyterian, was reportedly sweating heavily and vomiting.

Prior to his departure from Liberia to the U.S., Duncan reportedly carried a pregnant woman with Ebola to her home; she later died there, U.S. officials have said.

"Four days after the Ebola diagnosis," the Daily Mail reported, "Duncan's girlfriend revealed that his sweat-stained sheets were still on his bed and that no one from the CDC or health department had been by to collect his belongings. It was not until [days later] that a cleaning crew finally arrived to remove the infectious items and clean the apartment."

Of the 48 people under observation and thought to be at risk of becoming infected with Ebola, just 10 are considered "high risk," Freiden said. Three of the 10 are family members whom Duncan stayed with in an apartment in Dallas; seven are healthcare workers who came in contact with him when he was contagious.

To learn more about how to prepare for a potential Ebola crisis here in the U.S., be sure to check out:
BioDefense.com.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.politico.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://science.naturalnews.com