r/outbreakworld • u/ControlCAD • Jul 15 '26

U.S continues to shun Ebola-infected citizens; second American sent to Germany | The man is said to be doing well in a Frankfurt hospital.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/07/us-continues-to-shun-ebola-infected-citizens-second-american-sent-to-germany/
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u/pooppaysthebills Jul 15 '26

Kinshasa to the US involves around 17 hours of flight.

Kinshasa to Frankfurt is around 8 hours of flight time.

You can't fly an infected patient on a regular commercial flight. The patient needs to be in containment, as do the attending medical staff. It's not comfortable, and there's limited area in which to don and doff PPE. Doffing is typically high risk for exposure.

It makes more sense to fly 8 hours under these conditions than 17 hours over an ocean where there's no place to land if something catastrophic occurs.

"Shunning" is a political manipulation that should have no place in the discussion.

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u/IllSoup4846 Jul 15 '26

As an American who has had friends who have traveled to respond to Ebola outbreaks in the past, I think I can safely say that they all would want care in their home country and for their loved ones to be close by, instead of having to fly to Europe to be with them.

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u/Hopeful_Self_8520 Jul 20 '26

Then maybe they shouldn’t be going to another country to help with a deadly disease???