You know, Ebola isn't some new disease. It has been around for a long time. There have been sporadic outbreaks every year or 2 for many years. Up until now they have been isolated and relatively easy to contain. This time things were right for the outbreak to spread. So this time the Western World has become aware of it. So now people are panicking over things that can be contained without extreme measures. Here in Oklahoma we just had an episode. Somebody had just returned from West Africa. He/she was living at home and doing regular checks and reporting to the health department. Last week she/he reported a fever. He/she was immediately placed in isolation while tests were run. The first test confirmed that she/he had malaria and that the risks of Ebola were minimal. Now the Ebola tests have been returned from the CDC and confirmed that he/she did not have Ebola. That is a very good example of how things should be done.
The nurse in this flap had been tested to confirm that she did not have Ebola and is now cooperating in daily checks to make sure that she does not come down with Ebola. That should be more than sufficient for anybody who is not paralyzed with fear by the very thought of some horrible disease coming to kill them. If you want to worry about some horrible disease worry more about flu. You are much more likely to catch the flu and die from it than you are to catch Ebola and die from it.
At least this should wake up the Western World and give a kick start to actually developing an effective vaccine and treatment options. There wasn't all that much interest before, since it only affected a few people in Africa.
Bill Gill
