Skepticism spreads over Ebola

COLUMBUS

On Monday, that Dallas nurse who was involved with that Texas Ebola case was on a plane from Cleveland back home after spending a few days in the Akron area.

On Tuesday, state health officials were conducting what they called a “table top exercise and preparedness seminar” with representatives of emergency responders, hospitals and others in the event that the virus was confirmed in Ohio.

During a midday conference call with reporters, they attempted to allay concerns, urging citizens to take appropriate precautions against infection but not to worry too much if they weren’t in contact with someone who’s been in West Africa, the Ebola epicenter of the moment.

“This is our message to the general public: The average Ohioan doesn’t need to be concerned about Ebola — only individuals who travel to and from West Africa where the Ebola outbreak is occurring or individuals in close contact with someone ill with Ebola,” Mary DiOrio, the state epidemiologist and interim head of the Ohio Department of Health’s Division of Prevention and Health Promotion, said at the time.

State’s position

Reporters across the state filed stories that afternoon and evening conveying the state’s position on Ebola — that is, don’t worry too much, the chance of infection for most Ohioans is pretty slim and state agencies are ready to respond.

On the one hand, the story made sense at the time. The Ohio Department of Health wanted to get facts about Ebola and its transmission into the hands of residents and to let the citizenry know that the state wasn’t sitting on its hands on the issue.

On the other hand, average citizens generally begin to worry when the government says not to worry. On the same day that press briefing on Ebola took place, that Dallas nurse who spent the weekend in Ohio was being diagnosed with the virus.

And that led to a strange situation — Wednesday headlines and stories with state health officials telling people not to be concerned combined with breaking news of the Texas’ nurse diagnosis and disclosure that she was in Ohio.

That’s when everything hit the fan.

The Ohio Department of Health quickly scheduled a conference call with reporters that ended up being an exercise in futility, with few answers to specific questions and too much background noise at times to hear what people were saying.

That agency and others rebounded quickly, however, and have been releasing as much information to the public as they can, launching a 24-hour hotline to answer questions (866-800-1404) and providing regular updates to reporters and others.

By Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health had increased the protocols for dealing with potential Ebola infections, urging anyone who had direct contact with the Texas nurse to quarantine themselves and others who might have been in proximity to watch for signs of infection over the next few weeks.

“It has become clear that we cannot be too careful in efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease,” DiOrio said in a released statement.

Which brings us to today, with a skeptical populace questioning just how ready government agencies and the health care community are to handle an Ebola outbreak and growing concern that the virus is going to spread in this country the way it has in West Africa.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Columbus correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.