An official with the Shelby County Health System said today (Tuesday), residents of the County Can be confident in [the] hospital system, which has facilities and proper protective equipment and protocols in place for individuals who contract very contagious diseases.” Public Health Director, Calla Poldberg said in a news release, “Our hospitals and staff are well trained and ready for any public health threat, should the need arise.”

Poldberg says “It’s important to remember Ebola is not a virus spread through the air, and is only contagious if the infected person is having active symptoms. Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to objects such as needles that have been contaminated.
Shelby County Public Health has been and will continue to work closely with the Iowa Department of Public Health to ensure we are ready to respond should the need arise.”

The IDPH has been working with CDC and local public health agencies by:
• Enhancing surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in states to detect cases.
• Developing guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations.
• Providing recommendations for healthcare infection control and other measures to prevent disease spread.
• Disseminating up-to-date information to the general public, international travelers, and public health partners.
For the latest information on Ebola, visit www.cdc.gov.

Two members of Iowa’s congressional delegation say America needs to do more to seal off its borders to protect residents from the spread of Ebola. Senator Chuck Grassley says President Obama needs to “wise up and take action,” while Congressman Steve King says he’ll propose legislation next month that would bar all flights into the U-S from places like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.  “We need to stop the flights that are coming in from the Ebola parts of the world,” King says. “Let’s get a handle on this, let’s understand it before we make mistakes that cannot be resolved.”

Concerns are mounting after a nurse who cared for an Ebola patient in Texas was diagnosed with that potentially-deadly virus, even though all precautions were supposedly taken to prevent its spread. King says broader restrictions on travel may be warranted. King says, “Not only do we have flights coming in from places like Liberia, we also have people coming from Liberia into places like Central America, where they can travel up through Central America through Mexico and into the United States.”

King, a Republican, says Centers for Disease Control director Thomas Frieden is more concerned about politics than he is our nation’s health. “I have lost a lot of confidence in him,” King says. “When you have someone who is supposed to be giving us clear, concise, objective medical information and instead he gives us political answers. We don’t need PC out of the CDC.” Senator Grassley, also a Republican, says he would “absolutely” support King’s measure when Congress returns from recess, but he says it may not be necessary.

Grassley says, “I would hope that Congressman King doesn’t have to introduce his legislation, because I hope the president’s going to wise up and take action that he has the authority to do, the State Department, Homeland Security have the authority to do it.” An Omaha hospital is treating its second Ebola patient at a special bio-containment unit, one of only four in the country. The virus has killed more than four-thousand people during the latest outbreak, most of them in West Africa.

(Radio Iowa)

One person was critically injured in a single-vehicle accident this (Tuesday) morning, near Avoca. According to our sister station KNOD in Harlan, the crash occurred around 7:30-a.m. on Iowa Highway 83, near Avoca.

The injured person was taken to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, in extremely critical condition.   No further information is available at this time.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Monday of 33-year old Rosie Marie Peterson, of Afton. Peterson was taken into custody at the Union County Law Enforcement Center on a Union County warrant for theft in the third degree. She was later released on $1000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican Gov. Terry Branstad and Democratic challenger Jack Hatch will face off in their final debate in the race for Iowa governor. Branstad and Hatch will appear in Sioux City on Tuesday night at the Orpheum Theatre. This is last of three debates in the race.

Polls have shown Branstad, who is running for a sixth non-consecutive term, with a sizable lead in the race. He has touted his recent achievements, including a commercial property tax cut and new education spending, as reasons for re-election.

Hatch has argued that he would do more for middle-class families, pledging to raise the minimum wage and create jobs.