Not too long ago, I spent six months living in Dallas. I found it to be a horrid place full of old-school, overt racists and liberal champions who threaten to fuck young journalists in the ass. That said, I have a contingent of homies there that I love with all my heart. I enjoy waking up, popping open my laptop, and seeing them in the lower left corner of my Gmail tab. I enjoy waking up knowing that they're alive and heathy and flourishing. I say all this to say, come the fuck on Dallas.
Let's back this up. As most of us know by now, Ebola is out here. It's not the apocalypse, and it's (probably) not an Obama plot to weaken America before waving ISIS through the Mexican border, but it's worth paying attention to. One man, Thomas Eric Duncan, flew in from Liberia to visit family in Dallas and started showing symptoms for the disease. He was the first Ebola patient on our shores, and he succumbed to the virus a week ago today.
Today, it's being reported by the Dallas Morning News that though Duncan began projectile vomiting and suffering explosive diarrhea on September 28, healthcare workers at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas declined to wear hazmat suits until a positive Ebola test turned up two days later. (Really, you'd think this would be a case where you'd err on the side of "maybe the guy has Ebola.") Ebola, which is only contagious when the patient is symptomatic, transfers through bodily fluids. Now, two of the nurses who treated Duncan have been diagnosed with Ebola.
One nurse, Nina Pham, was sick, but her condition seems to be improving. With any luck, she'll make it out the other side. The other, Amber Joy Vinson, was diagnosed with Ebola two days ago. Vinson was supposed to be self-monitoring for symptoms; instead, she got on a plane to Cleveland, chilled for a bit, and then, showing early warning signs of the disease, got on an airplane and flew back home to Dallas.
This may not be the end of world, but it is also not cool. It can, however, can be a teachable moment—if we have the right teacher. Luckily, we do.
What we have here is a song from Liberian artists F.A., Soul Fresh, and DenG. It's called "Ebola is Real."
"Ebola is Real" dropped two months ago, and save for a couple of very important Jaden Smith non sequiturs, we've been blasting it on repeat here at Deadspin since. No one at Deadspin will ever catch Ebola now, because we know how to deal. We now give this gift to you, and to all the health care professionals out there.
Be warned: It's a banger.
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