Ebola ‘Scare’ Not so Scary
The arrival of Georgia’s second Ebola victim on Tuesday sparked a media frenzy of both the news and social variety. Local news outlets followed the ambulance’s every move as it wound its way through traffic from Dobbins to Emory Hospital, and the press conference about Nancy Writebol’s condition and future care was streamed by dozens, (at least!) of worried viewers. The predictable word that Emory’s phones were getting bombarded by those who fear an Ebola outbreak just added fuel to the fire, as thousands of armchair warriors leaped into duty, making sure the worriers knew just how dumb they really were for sweating the fact that a deadly disease was inside the perimeter. As the dust settles, it’s hard to tell whether there is more buzz from the social media crusaders letting us know that you can’t really get Ebola unless you are right near someone who has it or from the legions of worried soccer moms who aren’t quite sure how this whole disease stuff works.
In any case, it’s a GOOD thing that our two patients are in Atlanta, in hospital rooms designed for just this very type of care, with the best equipped doctors in the world watching over them. It’s evidence of the way Atlanta is viewed as a city that the two most famous disease-ridden missionaries in the world were flown here, some 5,000 miles from Liberia, to receive treatment.
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