I was walking to class last week when I overheard a group of people laughing over the prospect of them contracting the Ebola virus, which has found its way across U.S. borders over the last couple of weeks. Apparently the idea of catching a virus that currently carries a mortality rate of 70 percent throughout the world is just like a day at the park for these candid individuals. Their discussion of how coming down with Ebola “is less likely than finding Bigfoot in your backyard” brought a smile to my face but at the same time assured me of what I had been thinking for the past couple of weeks. People’s attitudes toward getting Ebola in this country are entirely too laid back, especially when you consider what could potentially occur.  

We didn’t have a cure for influenza until 1938, and it is estimated roughly 675,000 people died in the U.S. between 1918-19 alone during the deadly pandemic. Additionally, the Swine Flu virus killed 10,000 people in 2009 before a new vaccine finally got things under control.  The HIV virus, responsible for AIDS, has lead to as many as 25 million deaths worldwide, and while we can control the virus today, we still don’t have an actual cure for it. Just like Ebola, HIV cannot be transmitted through the air, and yet 35 million have still been diagnosed with it since 1985, so let’s be careful in saying, “since it’s not airborne, we are safe.” 

My point with all of this isn’t trying to make everyone paranoid, but rather just to make people aware there isn’t anything to worry about as long as the proper attitudes and steps are taken to assure us that this will pass just like the many other potential dangers we have faced in the past. This discussion isn’t just aimed at the everyday citizens, but also at the Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and Dallas Health Presbyterian Hospital. In terms of urgency and taking the proper steps in preventing an Ebola outbreak in this country over the past three weeks, they could have done much better.  

Upon Thomas Eric Duncan’s arrival at Dallas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Sept. 26, he told a nurse he had a fever and had just recently traveled to Liberia, the country hit the hardest with Ebola over the last seven to eight months. Instead of putting two and two together, Duncan was sent home with antibiotics and Tylenol. I repeat, antibiotics and Tylenol. Predictably, Duncan was rushed back to the hospital two days later in an ambulance and immediately isolated from the other patients. Two days later, the CDC was able to confirm Duncan did indeed have the Ebola virus. At this point the CDC, instead of transferring Duncan to one of the four hospitals in America that are trained to deal with such matters, including one at Emory University in Atlanta that has been very successful over the last couple of months in dealing with Ebola victims in particular, they instead decided to keep Duncan housed in Dallas.  

This ill-fated decision not only lead to the death of Duncan, but also resulted in two Dallas nurses catching Ebola after breaching some protocols in dealing with Duncan while he was cared for at the Dallas hospital. The second infected nurse, Amber Vinson, asked the CDC whether it would be all right to fly to Cleveland even though she had an elevated temperature of 99.5 and had been one of the nurses to have steady contact with Duncan while he was still alive. With one nurse already infected and her reported fever, Vinson was unbelievably granted permission to go on her trip home for the weekend. On her way home while on a plane, Vinson started feeling fatigued, her muscles ached and malaise was occurring, according to federal officials with knowledge of the case.  Two days later she found herself sitting in a hospital bed in Atlanta getting treated for Ebola, and at the same time officials in Cleveland began to brace for their first potential infection; schools canceled classes and nurses who were also on the flight with Vinson were given a paid leave of absence to be safe.       

It is easy to see where the breakdowns occurred, mainly due to not having enough foresight to stop potentially dangerous situations that could have led to more infections than they in fact did. Truth be told, with all of the missteps that occurred as of late, we are extremely lucky there are only a few people in the U.S. infected. The lack of competency displayed on the part of our national officials and public health care members has been mediocre at best, and they need to get their act together so we can stop this disease in its tracks.