This week, two nurses who cared for deceased Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, tested positive for the virus and were flown to Maryland and Georgia hospitals for treatment. Meanwhile, President Obama announced that he would name Ron Klain to be the Ebola Response Coordinator. Klain would be acting in a role that is ordinarily the responsibility of the Surgeon General. However, Congress is on vacation, unable to act, and nearly a year ago blocked President Obama's nomination to appoint Dr. Vivek Murthy to that job.
Take a look msnbc community reactions to all that and more from the biggest Ebola headlines of the week.
President Obama will name Ron Klain the "Ebola Czar"
"Ebola may not be highly contagious but unreasoning fear fueled by self serving political calculation is."'
Den1953: "The President could bring the Congress and Senate back to Washington and vote on a appointed Surgeon General, then take the responsibility to write a bill that will restore funding back to the NIH [National Institute of Health] to find a vaccine to combat Ebola. But then again that would be the common sense way to deal with the disease, but then again it wouldn't be a thing to use as a political football for the GOP!"
Can'tblowmyhorntooloudbaby: "How about just confirming the Surgeon General who the president selected rather than to keep "Stonewalling" confirmations simply because you think you are doing some great service to Americans by not appointing one?"
sstx: "So now we have a Czar and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, neither of which have any medical or health background. How irresponsible!"
Ohio residents fear Ebola precautions could prompt panic
moom2: "This is ridiculous. If it was spread that easily, we'd all have it by now. This is probably good practice though because eventually there will be a killer virus that is air borne. Let's all hope that we get our act together before that happens."
Evelyn Connaway: "A question - why has the medical establishment so soon forgotten our many outbreaks of infectious and contagious diseases in our past? Remember the fear and panic of AIDS/HIV, and all the precautions the nation was told to take by the medical establishment?"
tellthetruth-8298145: "Wouldn't it be nice if someone who represents Ohio in Congress, would speak up and help calm the fears of their constituents? Speaker Boehner, please proceed. Speaker Boehner? Paging Speaker Boehner ... you need to do your job for Ohio, STAT!"
L78lancer: "She looked good and sounded strong. I'm hopeful for a speedy recovery for both nurses."
Rand Paul’s recklessness spins out of control
Jeff Young-5418539: "Ebola may not be highly contagious but unreasoning fear fueled by self-serving political calculation is."
A deadly virus is not an ‘October Surprise’
golack: "Maybe people will realize we don't have a national health care system. The CDC [Center for Disease Control] advises local hospitals. How the local hospitals deal with that is up to them. The NIH [National Institute of Health] mission focuses on research. The Surgeon General, if we had one, has a bully pulpit. In times of crises, they step up as best they can, calling on experts from across the country. But we don't have MASH type units to swoop in and take over from local hospitals. And a large slide in funding, especially the sequester, has cut in to our ability to respond. And how long did it take for Congress to vote for funding for a response to this outbreak???"
CDC chief finds an unlikely ally: Tommy Thompson
Sandy Young: "We need a Surgeon General not an Ebola Czar. Politicizing this situation is stupid and dangerous. If anyone should resign, it should be Congress. Politicians shouldn't be decreeing how to deal with Ebola and should let the CDC and NIH run the show."