I never thought I would agree with a Republican about anything, but I strongly support a travel ban to and from the nations infected by Ebola ("NIH says Ebola nurse now virus free, will be discharged from Bethesda center," Oct. 24). This is, pure and simple, good public health policy. A quarantine has always been used in medicine to limit the spread of contagious diseases and is one of our most effective first line tools.
Yes, some people might sneak in with forged passports, but the vast majority of infected people (who are in the incubation phase which is 5 to 21 days after exposure) would not get to the United States and this would significantly reduce the chance of an epidemic here. Monitoring temperatures on incoming passengers from areas of the epidemic is not going to detect those in the incubation period who do not realize they are infected.
Anyone coming from these areas should be forced to submit to a strictly enforced quarantine for 21 days. It would be far easier to restrict all travel until the epidemic was under control. Isolation and quarantine is how hospitals treat people who have contagious diseases today. The concept is as old as medicine because it works!
Dr. Carla Janson, Towson