Has Ebola Danger been Underestimated?

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The spread of the deadly Ebola disease through western Africa has been rapid, and underestimated.  Often, families hide infected loved ones in their homes, or are in denial that their family members have Ebola and refuse to allow them to be cared for in an isolation ward, viewed as an incubator of the disease.  A confirmed diagnosis of Ebola, it is feared, will lead to a stigma and form of social rejection that come to patients and families when a diagnosis of Ebola is confirmed.

Liberia leads African nations in the statistic regarding new cases, and throughout western Africa new treatment centers are being overwhelmed by patients that were not previously identified.  The reality of the disease is that many cases remain unreported, which reveals that there is an invisible caseload of patients that remains currently unidentified.

Sierra Leone has recorded at least 910 cases and 392 deaths. The World Health Organization believes the hiding of Ebola patients in that country has contributed to a major underestimation of the current outbreak.

Laws are being passed to compel residents to cooperate with government officials, imposing prison terms to those that refuse to abide by the laws.

The Ivory Coast has closed land borders with neighboring Guinea and Liberia. Gabon, Senegal, South Africa and Cameroon have imposed restrictions on some or all of the four countries with confirmed Ebola cases.

Why hasn't the United States done the same?  Why haven't we rejected any air flights from that part of the world, and any flights from any other part of the world with passengers from western Africa on board?  Shockingly, the United Nations health agency does not recommend travel restrictions.

A British charity worker, the first Brit to be infected with Ebola, is being flown home in an effort to save his life.  Officials approved the transportation of the man to Britain, indicating they believed the repatriation of the British citizen would not trigger an Ebola outbreak in the United Kingdom.

Fears of an Ebola outbreak in Canada have been alleviated when a patient suspected of being infected with the deadly virus, who had arrived home from the African region where the virus is spreading rapidly, and showing symptoms similar to those that Ebola patients exhibit, was cleared as not having the disease.

In the United States, hospitals have reported 68 potential cases of Ebola in the last few weeks, but 90% have already been concluded to be false alarms, and the remaining two cases are simply awaiting the results of blood work.

Officials state that fears of an Ebola outbreak in the United States are primarily fueled by a lack of knowledge of the disease.  Ebola is not spread by casual contact, or as an airborne virus.  The spreading of the virus requires intimate contact, contact with bodily fluids or fecal waste, and is often spread during the burial of the infected body because of the contact made with the dead during the preparation for burial.

The message is that in western Africa, the Ebola danger has been underestimated because the population is hiding many of the cases, and there is a hidden batch of cases in a number of countries that officials are not aware of.  In the United States, so far, Ebola dangers have been minimal, and officials state that fears of an outbreak in the United States are unwarranted.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

'Underestimated' Ebola outbreak spreads... - USA Today

Sierra Leone makes hiding patients illegal... - Associated Press

British national tests positive... - U.K. Daily Mail

Patient in Montreal hospital in isolation over fears... - Toronto Sun

Ebola a major threat, but not in U.S. - Forbes