The Ebola hysteria has reached a ridiculous level. Yes, this epidemic is devastating. The hysteria generated in the United States is not nearly as warranted as the threat is immensely greater in Africa. With eight confirmed cases in the United States and one fatality, the amount of buzz this virus is getting on social media is astounding.
The sad fact is the total of confirmed cases of Ebola in Africa is approximately 9,000, “with the vast majority of these in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea” (The Huffington Post). Of these confirmed cases, the Ebola death toll has reached nearly 4,500.
The World Health Organization reports new cases of this terrible epidemic could potentially reach 10,000 a week by the month of December. This is 10 times the current rate. Anthony Banbury, the head of the new Ebola Emergency Response Mission made a statement from Accra, Ghana, the location where the mission was established in late September: “We are fighting for people who are alive and healthy today, but will become infected by Ebola and die if we do not put in place the necessary emergency response” (The New York Times).
The hysteria of the Ebola epidemic continues to rise in the United States, yet the lives of thousands have been lost and more are at risk in West Africa. Social media is not helping the situation as the inaccurate information on the Ebola virus continues to stream through every social media platform. The hysteria would not be a problem if the information on social media was accurate, but our country continues to worry more about the cases of Ebola closer to home and does not even consider the necessary emergency responses needed right now in Africa.
This seems to happen every couple years or so. Some disease comes along that scares the heck out of people and then it goes away just as fast as it came. Recently, there was the bird flu and before there was the swine flu. I do think, however, ebola is different. There weren't nearly as many casualties from swine and bird flu as there have already been for ebola recently. Plus, the fact that there really isn't any cure can make people a little hysteric. I'm sure the dreadful symptoms it has before you die and the somewhat overblown coverage by media outlets have added to this, but I do believe it is not something to take lightly by any stretch, and something that people should be cautious of if traveling abroad.
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