Ebola in America: Another form of Racism?

     Before, I start, I do realize the grave suggestive nature of my title, but I, at this point have no intention of going into the "propaganda" that might or might not be involved with the recent Ebola outbreak. I just want to try as best I can to put my thoughts on paper, as regards to the handling and death of Thomas Eric Duncan (RIP), the man with the first diagnosed case of the Ebola virus in the United States.

     A lot of opinions have being going around about the fishy nature of the death; and for good reason, "Why is the first black guy to get Ebola in the US dead, especially after two white Americans survived?" Very valid question, but one that requires more qualitative thinking before coming to any conclusion whatsoever. I'll try to walk though the situation as best I can based on what we know from the news and online media.

     American officials had said long before the death that the experimental drug "ZMapp," believed to have been instrumental in curing Kent Blantly, and Nancy Writebol, the U.S. citizens who contacted the virus while on Ebola aid in Liberia, was no more available. That story holds up well considering that the drug was in experimental stage when it was given to the U.S. citizens. ZMapp is in fact still in a research stage, and based on what is known, there is no more ZMapp available and it will take a lot of time before it is available again, even for experimentation.

     Something else to consider would be that, the Americans who survived Ebola were diagnosed very early into contraction of the virus, as opposed to Thomas Eric Duncan who was sent home for 3 more days after the symptoms started to manifest. The Americans were also quarantined and given the experimental drug straight from Liberia, flown in isolation to the US and then taken to hospitals that were already Ebola ready. Mr Duncan was in an entirely different situation because he made his trip to the U.S. when he could not be diagnosed for sure with the virus. The hospital he eventually checked in to was clearly blindsided with the discovery, they had no prior preparations and no strategies in place to contain the virus, the basically learned on the job.

     Additionally, after all that, the U.S. patients where admitted for 14 and 19 days respectively after they were flown in to the U.S. before they were confirmed Ebola free. Thomas Eric Duncan died after 11 days in the hospital, add the 3 days after he was sent home the first time, and maybe he might have survived the virus. If one also considers the fact that Mr. Duncan was given a different experimental drug "brincidofovir," long after he was admitted in the hospital, an assertion can be made that it was too late at that point, or even that this other experimental drug was just not as effective.

     Ultimately, it is an unfortunate situation, and there are a lot of questions to be answered, but before any questions are asked and answered; one must go through the facts of the situation and make reasonable assumptions to come up with a suitable theory. RIP Thomas Eric Duncan, may God keep and guide his family through this period. Amen.