CLEVELAND — TSA officers, often criticized for intimate and invasive “groping” of American citizens, may now have a new, potentially catastrophic challenge facing them.
It begins with Amber Vinson — the second nurse who contracted the Ebola virus after treating the now-deceased Thomas Duncan.
What disturbed the public about Amber Vinson’s case is the fact that she flew on commercial airlines shortly before the onset of her symptoms.
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Ebola becomes more contagious when the symptoms begin showing up, and Amber Vinson came into contact with several people at the airport and aboard her flights from Texas to Cleveland, Ohio.
But the most intimate contact she made was undoubtedly with a TSA officer at the airport, given the thorough nature of TSA pat downs.
The TSA officer was just following orders that day and patting down thousands of people while ushering them through body scanners.
One of those people was Amber Vinson.
According to a CNN report, the officer has been placed on leave just in case Ebola was contracted.
Following the officer’s leave, the TSA released a statement claiming that the officer was wearing “medical gloves” during the pat down of Amber’s body, and that because these gloves were worn there was “no direct” contact.
The statement in full reads as follows:
“A Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Transportation Security Administration Officer who conducted a routine pat-down of a traveler later reported to be infected with Ebola consulted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No Cleveland TSA officer came in direct contact with the infected traveler, as all pat downs are completed while employees are wearing disposable medical gloves.”
The officer is reported to be “self-monitoring” for any symptoms and is on paid leave.
If Ebola was in fact contracted during the pat down, it could take about 21 days for symptoms to manifest.
This recent case has many worried.
If a TSA officer were to become infected with Ebola and continue on the job while the virus is contagious, thousands of Americans each day would be forced to come into close, invasive contact with him.
Airports are currently one of the most sensitive areas for a potential Ebola outbreak, as infected carriers attempt to flee from Ebola hot spots in West Africa and make their way to the United States.
In virtue of closely handling so many people, TSA officers could be the first among those infected — a scenario that has many concerned that TSA pat downs could become super-charged hotbeds for an aggressive spread of the virus in the US.
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Do you feel that a TSA officer infected with Ebola would pose a greater risk of spreading the virus to thousands of Americans at airports? Give us your opinion in the comment section…