The thing that should worry us most about Ebola is the fear and hysteria it is engendering. Most Belizeans know that a person 20 days past exposure to a sealed vial of blood (for testing) in Dallas, and who was asymptomatic (you can only shed virus and thereby infect others when symptomatic) self-reported her exposure and self-quarantined, was refused entry for flight home in Belize and Mexico. This has been a source of online discussion among Belizeans and Belizean expats in other parts of the world. The degree of misunderstanding and misinformation, as well as outright fear-mongering and even conspiracy theories, is flashing back and forth in the digital world. And I am not talking about conspiracy theorists and internet trolls. One Belizean expat living in the US who is smart, well-educated, and usually thoughtful and rational, has been insisting that Ebola is as contagious as flu, easily transmissible, and presents a clear and present danger to everyone. The Prime Minister of Belize was completely correct in not allowing the Ebola “patient” to disembark in Belize. He must, as all leaders must, not only attend to the infection risks to his fellow citizens, but to the potential public effects: fear, panic, violence, and all the general risks of hysteria. There were, realistically, no risks of infection. But the ongoing discussions in Belize, epitomized by the Belizean expat’s inflammatory and wrong-headed assertions, is precisely the risk that the Prime Minister confronted. But there ARE going to be more cases, at least in the big countries. Mistakes will be made. Protocols will be violated. And in each case, the “all Ebola all the time” news coverage will do whatever will get more eyes on the screen and page, further promoting public madness. I had to leave the discussion thread because it was making me too angry and upset that such dangerous and ignorant tripe was being served up as something nourishing. We need to keep our heads, maybe turn off our cable news channels, and help officials and scientists guide us in a set of rational, reasoned, and effective strategies to deal with this public health crisis. Fear does nothing to help. Rational action does.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 23:40:52 +0000
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