Ebola is a disease that typically occurs in the tropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease was notorious for its victims primarily residing in Africa.
With a 70% mortality rate, many assume that this disease would cause international alarm as infected individuals colored the continent red with their blood. However, this would not be the case until the disease reached the major powerhouse country, the United States.
This has caused both alarm and amusement as citizens throughout the country make Ebola jokes while secretly fearing for their own lives.
The disease was first confirmed in the United States on September 30th after Eric Duncan came back to Texas and showed symptoms, but was sent home from the hospital. The nurses in charge of treating Duncan were later found to test positive for the virus, a result that caused national alarm.
One of the nurses, Amber Vinson, caused further alarm when she flew on a commercial flight. In the enclosed area, the likeliness of contracting the disease was increased and has caused many false positive cases as paranoid Americans mistake their flu symptoms as signs of the deadly disease.
The additional unrelated case of a New York doctor also testing positive for Ebola has made the nation very aware of a possible widespread infection.
The range in which the disease will spread is unknown, but all reports are accounted for. This is especially the case of a Southwestern student claiming to be on the same flight as Amber Vinson.
The fear has grown stronger in the country, and the paranoid student caused major fright on the school campus. The Southwestern student supposedly showed flu like symptoms and missed class due to being at the hospital with her sister who showed the same symptoms and had flown on the same flight as the infected. The school, located in Chula Vista, took the student’s claim very seriously, and the building the student was located in was quarantined.
All 50 students in the building were held for several hours as police waited to hear from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The school has assured the public that those in the quarantine had access to food and water, as well as access to restrooms.
The result from this dilemma was a false alarm as the student later admitted that she had lied about the flight. This was further confirmed when the Public Health Services department claimed that no hospital in the county reported any persons being quarantined for the suspected disease.
It is unknown whether or not the student will be disciplined by the college or why she lied, but this has shown the extent of the fear in the country.
During this current outbreak, it is important to realize that those infected in the US have been cured, and that the disease is primarily transferred through bodily fluids of the infected.
The fear gripping Americans, especially those so close to our own homes, is unfounded, and they can rest assured that they are safe.