Ebola Letter to Parents for 4 Garland Students on Cleveland Flight

Parents with students in Garland ISD (part of Dallas County) received emails, text blasts, alerts, and an official letter from the Superintendent today informing them that 4 children on the Cleveland flight attend two schools in the Garland district. The intent was to inform and reassure parents.

This local news article has a picture of the same letter I received: www.myfoxdfw.com/story/26806227/schools-cleaned-some-clo sed-as-ebola-fear-spreads

I'm sharing this as a supplemental record of how the CDC is handling this case and for your scrutiny.

To Garland ISD Parents and Guardians:

It has been well publicized that a second healthcare worker was diagnosed with the Ebola virus and traveled on a flight from Cleveland to Dallas earlier this week. She was not showing any symptoms of the disease during her travel.

Today we learned the parents of four GISD students at two schools were aboard this plane with the healthcare worker. The campuses are North Garland High School and Schrade Middle School.

All parents have been in contact with the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Officials from the CDC have assured family members their seating location aboard the flight was in a no-risk area, no quarantine is necessary, and all students are not being withheld from school.

Both families are cooperating entirely with the organization. Administration at North Garland and Schrade are also communicating with the parents. Additionally, the district is working with CDC, Dallas County Health & Human Services (DCHHS), and city officials from Garland and Rowlett.

There are no other family members at any other GISD campus.

It is important to know individuals are not contagious until symptoms appear. GISD is taking proactive measures at both campuses - increased cleaning throughout the day, an intensive deep-clean this evening and an expert cleaning this weekend. Additional disinfectant measures are being performed at all GISD campuses.

The following information is available online:

www.cdc.gov
www.garlandisd.net/healthservices
These include frequently asked questions, how to talk to your child regarding Ebola, and timely updates. GISD is in ongoing communication with the Center for Disease Control and DCHHS. A hotline is also available for reporting concerns, 800-527-7140.

If another situation arises of a student who may have been exposed to an individual diagnosed with Ebola, the district will continue providing as much information as possible.

Thank you,

Bob Morrison
Superintendent of Schools

I tried to find an online copy of the letter, but I didn't see anything. I did find the pdf below on www.garlandisd.com/healthservices. It is a FAQ from Dallas County Health & Human Services. Watching this case unfold reminds me of George Orwell's double-speak in 1984.

www.garlandisd.net/healthservices/documents/CDCEbolaFAQ_101614_ English.pdf

Is it safe for my child to attend school?
Your child is not at risk for Ebola while attending school. There is a possible risk for Ebola only if you come into contact with a person ill with Ebola. The eight Dallas schoolchildren who may have had contact with the ill patient were not sick when they attended school. They are currently at their homes simply to facilitate close monitoring of symptoms for the remainder of 21 days.

Was the family placed under armed guard just to facilitate close monitoring of symptoms?

My heart goes out to all of the families around the world that have been affected.

I just can't imagine how stressed out the parents of those kids are right now...! I fear this virus/spreading is about to explode!

That would easily be a reason for me to bite the bullet and home-school my kids for a while...a reply to: compressedFusion

Good find. It is interesting to see what is being said to these people who were on the plane with that worker.

So what happens if Ebola is found in one of those kids in a couple of weeks. Can we as citizens of this country fire the CDC supervisor who authorized that letter?

a reply to: Meldionne1

Itd easy for people to to call you crazy, because this is "America" and not a third world country... BUt i too have that fear. I try to remain logical i mean we ONLY have 2 actual confirmed cases right now. THose being cases of actual transmission on US soil...BUt I just keep thinking the outbreak in W Africa only had 2 cases at some point too and now look... Its a virus that takes a while to get a foot hold and is slow to start but once it gets dug in, this particular strain seems to just really go at it. I think with the virus' ability to survive outside a host for so long, and its extreme virulence, we wouldnt need to see very many more cases before all hell breaks lose.

Not to mention until the crisis is stopped in W Africa the US aswell as many other countries will inevitably see more cases like duncan, its only a matter of time. I just, I make myself sick thinking about it. We may have a better healthcare system here but we also have a lot of other things. Specifically privledge. We can get in a car and stop at 20 different stores if we want to, we can pick up items at said stores-touch them- hold them-cough on them-and put them back. We can hop a flight and go just about anywhere. We arent really limited to the amount of people we could possibly come into direct or secondary contact with. IN W Africa if Ebola rages through a village it used to do jsut that. because the villages were remote and therefor contained. We have the privledge of not being contained, and i dont think any health system is really "prepared" for that.

Grapevine & Colleyville ISD put out a similar letter saying 2-3 of their kids were on the ebola flight. It was posted on fb by DFWSCANNER.

If I got that communication from my child's school. I would freak so hard I would exhibit the stereotypical Ebola symptoms. Screw the science behind the various risk levels. Everything seems to be spiraling from bad to worse despite assurances.

This is getting *BEYOND* surreal. And I'm *BEYOND* pissed.

I'm so sorry for those impacted by the collossal mismanagement of this crisis.

It doesn't really seem like the CDC is taking this seriously enough, either by lack of understanding and common sense - or by design.

All I can do is shake my head, and wonder why.

This should not be happening, and admitting it was 'mismanaged' a few months down the road will give little comfort.

originally posted by: rickymouse
So what happens if Ebola is found in one of those kids in a couple of weeks. Can we as citizens of this country fire the CDC supervisor who authorized that letter?

If that happens then what we believe about how this virus spreads would be wrong. It would also mean that our life would change so drastically that firing anybody within the CDC might be the least of our concerns.

originally posted by: nugget1
It doesn't really seem like the CDC is taking this seriously enough, either by lack of understanding and common sense - or by design.

All I can do is shake my head, and wonder why.

This should not be happening, and admitting it was 'mismanaged' a few months down the road will give little comfort.

I have been wondering the same thing. I would add one other option: hubris combined with economics. Consider the Dallas case for instance or read posts about various nurses that work in hospitals. Nobody wants to spend the money until they absolutely have to. Of course, the CDC has more than enough budget to properly handle one case. It's the mentality of not spending that worries me.

originally posted by: itswhatev
a reply to: Meldionne1

we ONLY have 2 actual confirmed cases right now. THose being cases of actual transmission on US soil...BUt I just keep thinking the outbreak in W Africa only had 2 cases at some point too and now look... Its a virus that takes a while to get a foot hold and is slow to start but once it gets dug in, this particular strain seems to just really go at it. I think with the virus' ability to survive outside a host for so long, and its extreme virulence, we wouldnt need to see very many more cases before all hell breaks lose.

I just said the same thing the other night....( not exact words...but close). And people looked at me like I was over paranoid. BUT the reality is, there is a "super -virus " spreading and it has reached the US now. We as Americans think this will never happen to us...but it is happening. And we don't know how to deal with it...clearly as the actions of the CDC so far, and the nurses in the hospitals . And only a few cases can spiral out of control, as we move around a lot as Americans,and anyone from other Countries that has the ability to travel freely! people are too casual about this virus. Especially the Dallas nurse who had just helped treat an Ebola patient, had a fever, and went and tried on wedding dress's ! I mean,.... come on....really? People here think it won't happen to us...But , it is.