Governors Christie and Cuomo both decided to mandate a quarantine on people arriving from West Africa who had temperature elevations. Apparently neither felt the need to get input from their own state's health professionals. Nor did they want to follow CDC guidelines. Neither seemed to have much of a plan of their own regarding exactly what to do after they found someone who needed quarantined. The CDC already had guidelines in place for such an occasion, but again, these two decided to do some free wheeling.
Much of what happened next is part of (an embarrassing) history of these astute politicians and amateur medical practitioners.
More below the copulating shepherd's crook viruses.
When word of their proposal got out, and especially after a nurse returning from West Africa got snared in their political quarantine net, the scientific and medical community took them to task.
Some of the responses included these.
Thomas Freiden of the CDC said that their quarantine proposal was unnecessary and, ultimately, would be counterproductive in slowing the epidemic in the Ebola-stricken countries.
Commenting on the quarantine imposed by NY and NJ, Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Ebola Emergency Response Mission (UNMEER), said:
"Decisions (on quarantine) should be based on science and fact and not hype and hysteria and decisions should be taken in a way that will promote the most rapid, effective response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa possible."
Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General had a similar response, indicating that the quarantine was an overreaction.
The New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial today that blasted Cuomo and Christie's plans. They point out that, while recognizing that they may want to protect their constituents from Ebola, their plan is:
not scientifically based, is unfair and unwise, and will impede essential efforts to stop these awful outbreaks of Ebola disease at their source, which is the only satisfactory goal.
They continue:
At this point the public does need assurances that returning workers will have their temperatures and health status monitored according to a set, documented protocol. In the unlikely event that they become febrile, they can follow the example of Craig Spencer, the physician from New York who alerted public health officials of his fever. [. . . ] We should be guided by the science and not the tremendous fear that this virus evokes. [emphasis added]
Excellent and practical advice.
You can read the short and simply-written editorial here at the New England Journal of Medicine's website.
http://www.nejm.org/...
After volleys from the scientific and medical communities, and some political pressure, the two revised their plans, making them much less restrictive for these people who have only a minute chance of being infected.