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Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Friday, June 26, 2009
A Plague of Secrecy
Pssssst. Did you hear about the guy a couple streets over who died of bubonic plague?
Probably not. Because in the eyes of state public health officials, you don't need to know that someone in your neighborhood or even your town has died of a communicable disease. They will tell you the county the case was in and call it good.
It's not. Because especially in a rural state like New Mexico, counties span vast areas. Santa Fe County, where there have been two confirmed cases and one death, covers almost 2,000 square miles.
And especially in populated areas, residents deserve enough information to take proper precautions for containment and treatment. Edgewood animal control and EMS personnel didn't know they were dealing with plague until after the fact.
It's fine for the Department of Health to want to protect patient privacy — but officials should be able to do that without putting others at risk.
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