Thursday, October 2nd 2014

The stock market got crushed yesterday by the huge sell-off of airline-related stocks. The theory is that the Ebola epidemic will negatively impact air travel. Maybe a temporary reduction in flights and heightened screening of passengers coming our way from the hot spots is a good thing. The experience of Thomas E. Duncan gives us little comfort.  The first confirmed Ebola patient in the USA flew from Liberia to Dallas. Here's the really bad news: Mr. Duncan was screened and determined to have no Ebola symptoms before he was allowed to board the flight to Dallas. He only became symptomatic after he arrived in the states. So the big question is whether he is the only sick person to arrive here from the Ebola-infected area. The NYT says that between April 2013 and March 2014, a total of 27,000 passengers flew here from West African hot spots Liberia and Sierra Leone. And that's just the passengers who flew on American carriers.
Yikes