Suppose several weeks have now passed by since the collapse. You, your family, and your rusted friends are now safe in your bug-out location. Suddenly, your cousin and his family show up at the gate, haggard, hungry, thirsty and despondent. One of his small daughters is very ill and is being carried by your cousin on a modified backpack. You had strongly recommended that your cousin join you weeks ago, immediately after the collapse, but he kept insisting the city would be able to turn the power and water back on in a few days. They never did. They took several days packing their belongings into two vehicles, which later on ran out of gas on their way to your location. Now, they were forced to cover over seventy miles on foot, which was no small chore with a sick child.

Simultaneously, you have heard radio reports of a world-wide pandemic of a new, deadly strain of Ebola. It started in West Africa and quickly spread to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. At first, doctors in the U.S. claimed to have contained the disease to a few isolated cases. However, it has now spread worldwide into a full-fledged pandemic. You also heard disturbing reports of many illegal aliens, now infected with Ebola and other diseases, continuing to stream across our southern border. All of these reports reminded you of the importance of maintaining not only normal OPSEC (operational security) but also now disease-relate OPSEC. The few refugees who showed up at your gate were not given the hose to refill their water bottles but were tossed a few disposable water bottles from a safe distance. However, you haven't let anyone in yet, and now your cousin is here, fully expecting you to open the gate. What do you do?