Thread: Uproar over US troops' Ebola quarantine in Italy

US troops at the Vicenza base. Photo: Edward Braly/HO US Army/AFP

Uproar over US troops' Ebola quarantine in Italy

The Local
Published: 29 Oct 2014 11:48 GMT+01:00

The decision to put a dozen American soldiers returning from Liberia into quarantine for Ebola at their base near Venice rather than in the United States sparked controversy in Italy on Wednesday.

"They shouldn't have been sent here, they should do their quarantine for Ebola at home," said the president of the region's assembly, Luca Zaia, insisting "it would have been more respectful" of the United States to have "thought about the risks posed to local citizens".

The Messaggero daily spoke of fears among the local population, with a rise in the number of calls to the emergency services from worried citizens.

Soldiers from the base being given a wide berth in nearby pubs.

Zaia, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, was not the only one to object to the US decision to quarantine the soldiers in Italy.

"The government must send all the US soldiers back to Washington," the anti-establishment Five Star party said, according to media reports.

Not only was information about the current state of health of the soldiers "limited to general reassurances from the American authorities", but there were fears other soldiers on the base "may have been in contact" with those returning from west Africa, they said.

The San Bortolo hospital in Vicenza has prepared a special isolation unit within its department for infectious diseases, with five beds ready for eventual Ebola cases.

The commander of the US military mission in Liberia, Major General Darryl Williams, began 21 days of isolation at the base in Vicenza along with 11 other members of his staff after returning from west Africa this week. None of them currently shows Ebola symptoms.

Another 35 American soldiers are expected to return from west Africa on Wednesday to the northern Italian base, where they will be put in isolation as well.

West Africa is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak which has claimed the lives of nearly 5,000 people. The often deadly virus is spread only through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing symptoms such as fever or vomiting.

http://www.thelocal.it/20141029/us-s...y-sparks-alarm

Ok, the locals are afraid. Can't blame them. But at least we are doing the right thing by quarantining our soldiers, when they return from the source countries.

Come to think of it, if we can quarantine our soldiers for 21 days, what is the problem with quarantining travelers from the source countries when they arrive in the United States? I'm guessing that not quarantining them - or threatening a city such as New York for quarantining them - is just another example of 'Bamacrats thumbing their noses at ordinary Americans.
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'You're going to see a whole new kind of hell to pay if they catch it': Donald Trump says it's 'morally unfair' for Obama to send soldiers into Ebola hot zone

• Real estate tycoon says US shouldn't send its armies to western Africa unless China and Russia put their own troops at risk
• After a raft of mistakes, Trump says, 'Obama has become immune to "hell to pay"'
• Military men and women will be exposed to Ebola, he told MailOnline, and it's 'morally unfair to the soldiers, and to the soldiers' families'
• Dozens of the 4,000 military personnel deployed to western Africa are now subject to isolation in a quarantine ward on an Italian military base – including their commanding Major General
• The White House could soon be in the position of requiring quarantines for soldiers who had limited contact with Ebola while NOT requiring them for doctors and nurses who cared for patients

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor for MailOnline
Published: 20:19 EST, 28 October 2014 | Updated: 02:03 EST, 29 October 2014

Real estate tycoon Donald Trump blasted President Barack Obama on Tuesday for his handling of the Ebola crisis overseas, telling MailOnline that putting servicemen and women in close proximity to the deadly virus is 'morally unfair to the soldiers, and to the soldiers' families.'

The perennial Republican maybe-candidate said in an interview that exposure to Ebola is inevitable for the hundreds of U.S. military personnel serving in Liberia.

And it may be only a matter of time, he predicted, before men and women in uniform contract the disease – which kills between 50 and 70 per cent of its victims.

'You're going to see a whole new kind of "hell to pay" if they catch it,' Trump said.



FIGHTING WORDS: 'Obama has become immune to "hell to pay",' Donand Trump says, skewering the president for what he sees as a 'morally unfair' Ebola mission handed to servicemen and women



STOPPED: U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams (center), commander of U.S. Army Africa, cheered the groundbreaking of an Ebola treatment center in Liberia just two weeks ago – but he's enduring a 21-day quarantine before he can come back to the United States



SUPERVISION: Soldiers on the base in Vicenza, Italy are confined to a housing complex with barracks, a dining hall and a gym, but allowed no outside access – and they must not interact with other personnel at the site

But with a shrug in his voice, he said moral outrage that used to bother the president now seems to roll off his back.

'He has been hit from so many angles, for so many mistakes that he's made,' Trump explained. 'Obama has become immune to "hell to pay".'

Already a group of about 40 soldiers and army officers – including a major general – are languishing in quarantine on an Italian military base.

The army calls the situation 'controlled monitoring,' according to CNN, but it's a distinction without a difference.

There's been no indication from the Pentagon that any U.S. personnel are sick, but a plane carrying Army Major General Darryl Williams, the commander of U.S. Army Africa, was met on the base by medical staff in full hazmat gear.

'What's not being said,' Trump told MailOnline in a discussion about the situation on the ground, 'is they have to make sure they don't come back into this country if they have it. If our soldiers catch it, that would be absolutely – terrible. Just a disgrace.'

The Pentagon did not respond to questions about why this group of officers and enlisted personnel was being kept in quarantine. Defense Department policy dictates that 'as long as individuals remain asymptomatic, they may return to work and routine daily activities with family members' even after exposure to Ebola.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that the DOD 'has not issued a policy related to their workers that have spent time in West Africa.'
Speaking Tuesday before taking off for a political rally in Wisconsin, President Obama told reporters that military quarantines are handled differently from civilian situations 'because they are, first of all, not treating patients. Second of all, they are not there voluntarily, it’s part of their mission that's been assigned to them by their commanders and ultimately by me.'



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But regardless of what they're doing 4,600 miles away from the nation's capital, Trump says Obama shouldn't be the only world leader to order deployments.

'I don't think we should be sending our armies' to western Africa, he said. 'We're the only ones who send our soldiers, while we're $18 trillion in debt.'
While he allowed that it may be appropriate for American military engineers to build the kind of infrastructure needed to keep Ebola in check in the Third World, he still fixed his gaze on Africa's other side.

'Why are we the only ones doing it?' Trump asked. 'China's not doing it. And China takes a lot out of west Africa. You know, they take a lot! And Russia's not doing it. Nobody's doing it but us. It's unbelievable.'

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Mr. Trump's remarks. And the Obama administration hasn't addressed the thorny problems related to potentially quarantining the full complement of service personnel in western Africa – 4,000 in all.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel impose a mandatory 21-day quarantine for all servicemen and women, including National Guard troops, who return from the Ebola hot zone.

Army medics from 22 Field Hospital's leave to fight Ebola







COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF: Obama said Tuesday that soldiers are in a different situation from health care workers because 'they are not there voluntarily; it’s part of their mission that's been assigned to them'

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Earnest said Monday that the White House 'will let the Department of Defense make an announcement' on their own timetable.
Asked about the wisdom of sending thousands of troops to Africa without a set policy dictating how they might get home, he insisted that 'we’re going to let science drive that process.'
The administration, which is arguing against requiring quarantines for doctors and nurses upon their return from Liberia and other nearby nations, might soon be in the position of mandating them for men and women in uniform.
'It's so sad. So sad,' Trump said. 'They'll send 4 thousand soldiers over there, ill-trained, ill-equipped, never heard the word "Ebola" before this whole thing started a couple of months ago, and now nobody knows how they come back.'
'And nobody knows whether they come back sick!'
It's a very sad thing,' he said. 'And our soldiers should never have been sent over there.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3HbQCZAJ2