Although the Ebola virus has dominated the headlines in recent months, the truth is, the outbreak has been contained almost entirely in just a few countries in Africa. Despite this, some airlines and shipping suppliers have become so paranoid that they refuse to go anywhere near these areas. With tourism down, the economic and political consequences may prove to be even more devastating over time. Africa is a large continent and such fears may be overstated. As Anders Kelto of the NPR blog notes:
"...geographically speaking, canceling a trip to Kenya is like canceling a trip to Disney World because of an Ebola outbreak in Alaska."
Nonetheless, paranoia reigns supreme making an already bad situation worse. Without proper medical assistance and sanitation, the possibility of the virus spreading increases dramatically as these countries are left to their own devices. Air drops would help but hypodermic needles are not exactly something you want to send sailing in the wind.
Without containment, refugees will flee to neighboring countries and beyond. Even a single carrier can bring the virus to the western world. Today it is "their problem" but eventually an outbreak like Ebola may become pandemic. How the international community deals with these outbreaks is a reflection on us all. Maybe this time it will not be the big one, but an uninformed person in charge of decisions can do more damage to a sinking ship than the actual hole itself.
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