On September 16, 2014 Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee asked for and was granted permission to address t he United States Senate regarding the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
Ebola virus disease (EVD), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), or simply Ebola is a disease of humans and other primates caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches. Typically, vomiting, diarrhea and rash follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the body and externally.
No specific treatment for the disease is yet available. The disease has a high mortality (kill) rate: often between 50 percent and 90 percent.
“Mr. President, before discussing the legislation involving the National Labor Relations Board which the Republican leader mentioned, I wish to align myself with his comments on the Ebola epidemic. In my view, he is right to support the President’s effort for a more urgent response to this epidemic.
I am not given to making overstatements–I think that would be a fair reputation in this body–but I believe we should treat the Ebola epidemic as seriously as we treat the danger of ISIS. Why would I say that? Because the head of the Centers for Disease Control and our United Nations Ambassador, who is working with other countries to get them involved, say this: This is one of the most deadly, explosive epidemics in modern times. It moves rapidly. There is no vaccine, and there is no cure.
One sick person can fairly quickly infect 20 other persons within a family in these West African countries where it is now a problem. One can see how quickly this could spread and become hundreds of thousands of cases or even millions of cases.
This is a case where Samantha Power said to me: We should be running toward burning flames with our fireproof suits on. In other words, we know how to control it. We know how to identify sick people and isolate them and treat them. Even though half of them die, we know how to do that. But the rate of growth of this epidemic is so rapid that we need to have a response that is as urgent as the problem.
I congratulate the Republican leader for supporting the President’s effort today to call attention to this. So much is happening in the world, and there is a possibility that we would treat the Ebola epidemic as an important issue but not a major issue. As I said, I believe we must take the deadly, dangerous threat of Ebola as seriously as we take the threat of ISIS.
I support the administration’s recommendation to spend $30 million in the continuing resolution to upgrade the public health efforts there. I support the reprogramming of $500 million to involve the military in a way to deal with this. I support the effort to spend $58 million, which would be to fast track efforts to develop a treatment and cure, as well as vaccines to prevent it.”
Source: Congressional Record
Senator Alexander serves on the following committees and subcommittees:
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Children and Families
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
Subcommittee on Primary Aging and Health - Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education
Subcommittee on Defense
Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development - Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Sucomittee on Energy
Subcommittee on National Parks - Committee on Rules and Administration
Note: The blood serum from those who have survived an Ebola infection is currently being studied to see if it is an effective treatment.
Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-therapies-consultation/en/
Seven of eight people with Ebola survived after receiving a transfusion of blood donated by individuals who had previously survived the infection in an 1999 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3499825/
Note: Scary stuff
Can Ebola be Weaponized? The rush for a new bio weapon?
Why is the US military is taking an interest in fighting this epidemic? Is the the new face of biological warfare? I ran across a scary article that had me up for the last 2 days thinking about:
“Recalling that the Soviet Union stockpiled hemorrhagic fevers during the Cold War, a federal health official warned Tuesday the Ebola virus could be similarly wielded as a potential weapon of mass destruction. “Theoretically, you can manipulate almost any virus to change it in any way you want,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Anthony Fauci, told a Senate hearing, The Hill reports. “
Source: Newsmax.com http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsfront/ebola-virus-weapon-mass/2014/09/16/id/595069/#ixzz3Dci5CCsW
See video: Ebola Virus Could Be Weaponized For Terrorism — Iwu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tj7CUJWkJ4
See video: CIA Agent Baer Says “It’s VERY Easy” To Weaponize Ebola! Talking About “Laptop Of Doom” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJELyaa_ecE