Media Portrays Ebola to be Much Worse Than it is
The media has been covering the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa ever since the World Health Organization classified it as a major outbreak in March of 2014. However, do you actually understand the virus Ebola?
I would say that there is a certain hysteria that surrounds Ebola, but the reason for that hysteria is due to the media. The innumerable times you turn on the news and constantly see pictures of the virus.
Alicia Burge, a teacher at Urbana High School, said, “The excessive coverage puts unneeded fear in people’s mind. The average person is not in danger of contracting Ebola at this time and the likelihood of that is low. The way this particular strain of Ebola is transferred is through bodily fluid so you have to be in contact with that.”
Placing that picture of the virus does not actually help with people understanding more about Ebola. It just continues the cycle of fear and misunderstanding surrounding the virus.
The Ebola outbreak has become severe in West Africa due to the countries poor infrastructure for health care, and their inability to treat the victims that do have Ebola. In first world countries, such as the United States, the Ebola virus would have a much harder time gaining as much ground as the virus in West Africa was able to.
Burge said, “In the US, we have the means to treat Ebola much more than people in West Africa and your likelihood of survival is much higher when treated here. I believe there is no reason to live in fear of Ebola.”
This is due to our healthcare system, and our ability to treat and quarantine people that are diagnosed with Ebola.
With the late Thomas Eric Duncan, who was the first to contract the virus in the United States, healthcare officials were able to track down and are currently watching 18 people that Duncan came into contact with. At this point, that is not possible to do in West Africa with the multitudes that have Ebola.
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