I was glad to see the article “It’s highly unlikely that you’ll become infected with Ebola. So what are you so afraid of?” in The Washington Post on Sunday. I doubt I’m the only person who has been on Facebook or other social media sites and seen a friend’s post about being scared of contracting Ebola.
Ebola is scary and sounds terrible, but before freaking out about contracting the virus, understand that the only way to get it is by coming in contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s not airborne, and you’d have to be in direct contact with a person who has it to contract it.
There have only been five cases in the United States of people who have been officially diagnosed with Ebola, according to Time magazine, all of whom had visited West Africa. Three of these people were treated and released, now fine. Only one man, in Texas, is in critical condition; the fifth person has just begun treatment, according to The New York Times. About 50 people who were around the Texas man before he went to the hospital have been checked out by a doctor. None show any symptoms of contraction.
According to the Times, a main problem for why the virus has been hard to contain in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is because many villages don’t want the doctors’ help.
The Times reported, “Workers and officials, blamed by panicked populations for spreading the virus, have been threatened with knives, stones and machetes, their vehicles sometimes surrounded by hostile mobs.”
Doctors Without Borders wasn’t able to reach 12 villages in Guinea, according to the Times.
I can’t imagine how terrifying it is in all of the contaminated areas in West Africa that the virus is affecting. We’re very lucky we have the ability to contain the virus should more outbreaks occur.
It’s a completely different world in West Africa compared to here, where the CDC responded right away to the case of the man in Texas with the virus and immediately sought out anyone who came in contact with him.
The CDC’s website also says if a person isn’t experiencing symptoms of Ebola, they aren’t contagious. So, anyone in contact with him during his flight from West Africa is not at risk. He didn’t show symptoms until five days after returning to the U.S.
CDC Director Thomas Frieden has stated, “I am certain we will control this. We can do that because of two things: strong infection control that stops the spread of Ebola in health care; and strong core public health functions to trace contacts, track contacts, isolate them if they have any symptoms and stop the chain of transmission,” Frieden said.
There have been some politicians trying to make this a political issue, linking it to immigration. Those comments do nothing more than cause more misconceptions about the virus.
CBS News reported that Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia has suggested our borders are not closed off enough, which makes it possible for immigrants to bring Ebola into the U.S.
I don’t know where Rep. Gingrey thinks West Africa is, but the outbreak is definitely not in Mexico, and sentiments such as his are just further confusing people.
The Ebola epidemic is very serious in West Africa, not here. Don’t worry irrationally about getting the virus when there’s only been one case officially diagnosed and contained in Texas. If you’ve heard a rumor about the disease that sounds scary or doesn’t sound right, look into whether it’s true. If anything, worry about the flu right now and making sure you get a flu shot.
