American Elephants

International agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) run by the United Nations have become an international irrelevance. The failures of the Centers for Disease Control are disturbing, though they are supposed to be run by the government’s finest. Protocols supposedly put in place months ago were not observed, those exposed were “self monitoring” for symptoms. They weren’t supposed to be traveling on public transportation, and yet did. And it’s fairly clear that people possibly exposed were simply not taking quarantine seriously. Maybe seriously up until it was inconvenient, but then ignored.

There is a clear desire on the part of our government to prevent panic, but apparently little knowledge of how that is accomplished. Evidence that the agency has done their homework, and know what they are talking about is central. If people believe that you don’t know what you are talking about, your usefulness is over. Protocols that simply ask where people are coming from and take their temperature are, according to knowledgeable people, useless, since elevated temperatures are common and not diagnostic. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Since the 1990s, the WHO has gradually transformed itself from a disease fighter to what Dr. Chan calls “a normative agency” that makes international public health rules and promotes political goals like universal coverage. “That represented a very significant change over prior WHO policies,” says Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations, who calls the WHO’s response to the epidemic “just shameful.”

Doctors without borders (Médicins Sans Frontiéres), the international aid agency, is recommended as having set the gold standard for Ebola safety, yet 16 of their staff members who have risked their lives in West Africa are infected, and nine have died. The U.S is providing $142 million in aid to the organization.

Paul Sperry reports at Investors that Muslim burial rituals may be to blame for much of the spread of Ebola. The body of an Ebola victim can be more dangerous in death than in life. 73% of Sierra Leone’s and 85% of Guinea’s people are Muslim. Islam is practiced by more than 13% of Liberians.

When a Muslim dies, family members do not turn to a funeral home or crematorium to take care of the body. Relatives personally wash the corpses of loved ones from head to toe. Several family members may participate in this posthumous bathing ritual, known as Ghusl.

Before scrubbing the skin with soap and water, family members press down on the abdomen to excrete fluids still in the body. A mixture of camphor and water is used for a final washing. Then, family members dry off the body and shroud it in white linens.

Again, washing the bodies of the dead in this way is considered a collective duty for Muslims, especially in Muslim nations. Failure to do so is believed to leave the deceased “impure” and jeopardizes the faithful’s ascension into Paradise (unless he died in jihad; then no Ghusl is required). Before the body is buried, Muslims attending the funeral typically pass a common bowl for use in ablution or washing of the face, feet and hands, compounding the risk of infection.

Though these customs are prescribed by Sharia law, they’re extremely dangerous and should be suspended. Mosque leaders must step in to educate village Muslims about the dangers of interacting with corpses.

The practice has led to the spread of the disease. Families must be helped to understand why some practices cannot be done because they place others at risk.

Last month, Red Cross workers in Guinea were attacked by family members while trying to bury Ebola dead safely. In Sierra Leone, moreover, a family took Ebola-ridden bodies secured in body bags from the Red Cross, opened them up and exposed all members of the family to Ebola. They all contracted the disease.

The UN warns that the spread must be contained within 60 days or the infection rate can jump from 1,000 a week to 10,000 a week. Saudi Arabia, the center of Islam,  has banned pilgrims from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

President Obama argues that  ban on travel would do more harm than good, because travelers “might go underground.” Now he’s talking about sending National Guard troops in addition to the 4.000 U.S. Military already there. The military had better take very great care of our troops, and see that none get infected.