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Local 'Preppers' Stock Up For Improbable U.S. Ebola Crisis

DEARBORN (WWJ) - While U.S. health officials say there's no cause for widespread concern over Ebola, some in metro Detroit are busy with survival preparations — just in case.

Garron Strickland, manager of Harry's Army Surplus in Dearborn, says "preppers" have been stocking up on package water, MRE meals, heaters, gas masks, and other items as they tend to do with outbreak or other concerns on the horizon.

Also popular, Strickland, said, are "bug-out bags" equipped with supplies to last someone a few days on the go.

"Preparing for anything — a natural disaster, you know; just being prepared and being able to survive in a situation where they have to, say, get out quickly or they have emergency medical supplies on them," Strickland said.

Later this month, the store is hosting a beginner's class for people interested in learning about survival gear and supplies.

Thus far, there have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in Michigan.

Officials with Spectrum Health and Kent County are denying the presence of a case there after a patient showed up at the hospital last week with suspected Ebola symptoms following a trip to West Africa.  WOOD TV reports it was later learned that the patient had traveled to an island off the coast of West Africa — an area not impacted by the outbreak of the Ebola virus.  It's suspected the patient may have had Dengue Fever, which is often confused with Ebola.

Meantime, cleanup continues on Monday at the Dallas apartment unit where Ebola patient Thomas Duncan stayed before he was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.  The cleanup process is said to be very extensive, including the removal of the unit's carpeting and basically everything except for the family's most personal items, like photographs and jewelry.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to stress that an Ebola outbreak will not happen in the United States as it has in parts of west Africa. President Barack Obama is scheduled to get a briefing from the CDC about the Ebola situation on Monday.

[More on this story from our sister site, CBS Dallas, HERE]

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