By , ,
Published October 27, 2015
Over the past decade, numerous infectious diseases have shown up in the United States including SARS in 2003, H1N1 or ‘swine flu’ in 2009, MERS and enterovirus D68, and now, the Ebola virus. For Ebola, the 2014 epidemic is the largest outbreak in history. With Ebola being an exotic disease, Americans never thought we would see much more of this disease other than what we’ve seen happening in the news in West Africa. But since Ebola has made its way to the states, we must take this as an opportunity to realize that the U.S. is not invincible to such infectious diseases. While the likelihood of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the U.S. is low, it is important to know that it remains a possibility because recent events have shown us how easily infectious disease can make its way into our country.
No reason for panic
The fear that men in hazmat suits will eventually be knocking on your door could do more harm to your health than the actual risk you face of contracting Ebola. In fact, for most Americans, your odds of even contracting Ebola are significantly lower than your odds of having heart disease, cancer, stroke, a motor vehicle accident, assault by firearm, or an air travel accident to name a few. Therefore, there is no reason for us to panic. Ebola actually represents a small percentage of the deadly infectious diseases around the world. According to Seattle BioMed, here is the Ebola epidemic put in to context:
According to the World Health Organization, since Ebola’s first outbreak in the 1970s through the most recent case in Texas, the total number of deaths from Ebola is approximately 5,000.
By the end of the 2014, deaths from this year’s Ebola outbreak will make up less than 0.02 percent of all deaths from infectious diseases.
Sixteen percent of all deaths worldwide are from infectious diseases – most of which are in developing countries and are a result of preventable and treatable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhea and tuberculosis.
Despite these statistics, it is important to understand that Ebola and many other deadly infectious diseases continue to run rampant in developing countries, such as West Africa, where poverty remains high.
In developing countries, it is difficult to limit and completely eliminate these diseases because of:
Therefore, low-cost treatments and vaccines are critical.
How to fight the risk of future outbreaks
Despite the low risk of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the U.S., it is still important to be aware of how easily an outbreak can happen. We can continue to increase the aggressiveness of screening at airports, create stricter guidelines regarding how to handle infectious disease at hospitals, and possibly even limit air travel to and from countries during an outbreak – but no matter how much the U.S. tries to isolate itself from infectious disease, these past couple of weeks have proven that we are not invincible to the health epidemics that less fortunate countries around us face. It is important that we work together to help ourselves and help each other fight the current battle.
Follow these steps to decrease your risk of exposing yourself or others to infectious disease:
By being responsible and staying educated on how to prevent and handle infectious disease, we will stay safe and make a difference.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/ebola-the-world-of-global-infectious-disease-is-getting-smaller