Is anyone here petrified of Ebola?

[babylonsister]

I'm not. Should I be?

I just heard E. J. Dionne on Matthews' program say folks were/are petrified.

Perhaps if the media stopped scaremongering and got more facts, it would benefit us all.

Edit to add: maybe we need a Surgeon General???

[Dwayne Hicks]

1. Honestly

Ebola does not ever cross my mind, except when reading the fear mongering by the media. Its not going to be wide spread, and if you are seriously petrified about Ebola that is your problem.

my 2 cents.

[Nye Bevan]

19. Thousands dead in west Africa, and it "does not ever cross your mind"?

Your comment comes across as a little heartless and insular.

[kestrel91316]

59. +1

[MFM008]

66. except they said it would never come to America

and here it is and it seems to be spreading which will make it everybody's business. It was fine when it was found thousands of miles away in the little little African villages.
Now here it is in the USA, not Russia or Europe...yet

[Proud Liberal Dem]

72. Nobody ever made such a statement

[leftynyc]

74. Who said it would never come to the US?

I don't remember any administration official, any congressional person, any medical person making such a claim? Do you have a link?

[Tweedy]

98. Curiouser and curiouser

I keep reading that same statement. I never heard it either. I was hoping maybe we would pay more attention to MRSA because of this. It does not look likely.

[In_The_Wind]

2. Nope. Not me.

[scarystuffyo]

3. Ask the same question in 3 months from now.

You might get a different answer .

It's either going to stop with this 2nd nurse or the numbers will keep on growing

[NoGOPZone]

10. So the numbers will either increase or stay the same?

You're really going out on a limb there.

[morningfog]

26. It will likely increase to include some more of those who treated Duncan between Sept. 28-30.

But, no one in Duncan's family or the other 48 with contact with him prior to isolation have shown symptoms yet, and likely won't.

That is good.

I seriously doubt any will be infected by the two nurses.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. I'm very concerned.

I don' expect to be personally at risk, but the epidemic in West Africa, and the clusterfuck in Dallas has me concerned.

Does this make me a bad person?

[Jamastiene]

52. I don't think that makes you a bad person.

Those who are scolding the people who are worried, even in the slightest, should really quit doing that. I'm slightly concerned, but not panicking, at least not about Ebola, as of right now.

[Aerows]

56. Amen to that!

Asking questions isn't panicking, it's looking for information that protects you and your family.

[Jamastiene]

58. Exactly.

The more questions people ask and have answered by knowledgeable people, the better. It is better to learn and double check the information than to not learn at all.

[MFM008]

70. no, not at all

I am however concerned about crunchy frogs....ewwww.....

[treestar]

100. No, and I agree

I don't feel fear personally but do for the people in West Africa.

[Marrah_G]

104. I think it makes you a good person to be worried about those who may come in contact with it

My heart breaks for the people in West Africa who are dealing with it. Citizens, doctors, healthcare workers.. I hope it gets contained soon for their sake.

[deaniac21]

5. Or in the least

a Surgeon Sergeant.

[The Wielding Truth]

37. We truly need a Surgeon General right now. Congressional Republicans do your job!

[belzabubba333]

6. ebola doesnt kill people, people kill people

guns have killed more people than ebola, oops im sorry I mean people have killed more people than ebola.

Perhaps if the media stopped scaremongering and got more facts, it would benefit us all. but then where would the ratings come from, the facts?

[kestrel91316]

60. Gun deaths are not an infectious disease whose victims are doubling in

number every 20 days.

Really inept analogy on your part. I rate it D - .

[belzabubba333]

68. i can get a gun just about anywhere - i cant do that with ebola

[Chemisse]

7. I'm concerned.

But not petrified, and not even scared.

I wasn't even concerned a month ago, when I had a lot of confidence in the CDC. But I am uneasy with how this was handled. You'd think they'd put out their best effort when Ebola comes to town.

[2banon]

8. Well, they tried it with the Swine Flu, & some sort of Monkey flu, and remember the SARS outbreak?

somehow infected chickens or birds and then transferred to people, originating in China and "spreading as far as MICHIGAN !!!! (I think it was) and they didn't have enough inoculations, couldn't manufacture it fast enough, and it turned out that Donald Rumsfeld was part owner of the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the vaccine (while he was SoD)

And it seems like it always happens during a ramp up of war making. scratching head why.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[kestrel91316]

61. SARS was a very dangerous disease. Fortunately the Chinese were finally convinced

to stop catching, selling, and eating civets, and it came to a screeching halt.

[2banon]

89. Interesting. I had to google "Civets" . Media claimed Chickens at the time, never updated that meme

The story ran 24/7 (like Ebola) showing video of Chickens being exterminated in deeply dug pits etc etc and then one day we never heard anything more about it.

Your mention of Civets is the first I've heard any reference to the feline species.

Typical of the media to grossly miss-report the facts and/or to even follow up on the story as more and better information is learned.

[kestrel91316]

92. Civets are not felids of any kind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civet

Civet "cat" is an unfortunate misnomer. They are Viveridae, which IIRC is closely related to raccoons?

[kestrel91316]

94. one reference:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17848070

[Marrah_G]

107. Up close and personal contact with hunting/butchering ups the chances of a jump from species

Open air markets where wild and domestic fowl and bush meat are being slaughtered or sold live is where most of these originate. Influenza comes from fowl and SARS from Civets (which sort of resemble raccoons).

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. the media is petrified that we the people won't be petrified.

[Eleanors38]

11. I'm 66. Just another card in the file. nt

[bermudat]

12. No

[avebury]

13. I don't even give it a thought.

The MSM is forever fear mongering. If it is not ebola it is Isis/Isil, or it will be something else. It so reminds me of the Chicken Little story where he constantly ran around crying the sky is falling the sky is falling.

People need to get a grip. I refuse to live in a constant state of fear.

[bigwillq]

14. I'm not

But I do think it's a serious issue for those treating the patients, and it has potential to be dangerous if not contained properly.

[KMOD]

15. not petrified at all

but concerned about the handling. We are learning on the fly, there are bound to be problems.

[babylonsister]

16. Rachel Maddow has been laying out facts v. fiction.

Very well worth the watch. As usual.

[Hekate]

33. I keep recommending that people watch Rachel's broadcast. She's intelligent and well-informed.

Ebola's a scary disease, that is for sure.

But in this country 40,000 people per year die of drug-resistant bacterial infections, and most of those strains come from animal feedlots and slaughterhouses. (Frontline) Where's the panic over that?

[cwydro]

35. She did a fantastic job.

I watched that too.

She said a lot without putting it into words also. In regard to why the first nurse is not being transported to Atlanta.

Scary stuff.

[malaise]

17. Not scared in the least

Angry at the hysteria

[elias49]

18. No. 6,000,000,000 people in the world and around 4,500 casualties

pretty decent odds of survival.

[Nye Bevan]

20. Many of the responses here remind me of the Reagan administration's reaction

to the early reports of AIDs.

[NuclearDem]

30. Not being petrified of catching Ebola is not the same

as being indifferent or not caring about the people who do have it.

Nice try though.

[Nye Bevan]

40. "Does not ever cross my mind", when thousands are dead in Africa,

is reminiscent of those who didn't care about AIDs because of who it struck.

[treestar]

103. AIDS was in the US

and unknown at the time and 100% fatal at the time. It could be spread in a few distinct ways. It was and still is hard to get though.

In fact it is more dangerous in that people suffering from Ebola and showing symptoms aren't going to feel like having sex, whereas you could be feeling fine with AIDS and be able to spread it for a long time. In fact, they were thinking up to 20 years. In that sense, it was and is far more dangerous.

It's bad in Africa still, and will still be around when Ebola runs its course.

[Nye Bevan]

109. Well yes, but nurses who cared for AIDs victims did not usually get AIDs themselves.

My point is that new diseases should be taken seriously, contrary to the dismissive (and in some cases flippant) attitude of many DUers.

[treestar]

121. I think it should be taken seriously

But the average person might be a bit more likely to be affected by AIDS. At least with ebola, you know the person has it and have some control.

[FLPanhandle]

21. Not at all. I'd even fly to West Africa tomorrow without a concern

Most over hyped media ratings induced scare I've seen.

Eventually the public will tire of the story, ratings will drop and the media will move on to scare the public on a new topic.

[struggle4progress]

22. Right now, I'm scared shizz-less of Texas Presbyterian Hospital

Hey, Doc! We're got this guy in the ER just arrived from Ebola-Land who's feeling dog-sick!

Meh! Just give the dude some antibiotics and send him on his way!

Hey, Doc! He's back and it looks like he's got Ebola!

Hmmm ... Instruct the family to stay at home!

Hey, Doc! He's really sick! What should we tell the nurses?

Suggest everybody to take a calm relaxed attitude. Oh, and send out a memo asking the staff not to catch Ebola

Hey, Doc! He's dead! What now?

Everything's under control. The folk who were treating him should all grab a flight and take some downtime

Hey, Doc! Two of our nurses have Ebola

WTF!!! Didn't they get the memo?

[babylonsister]

25. I totally agree; not the time to laugh it off or get the scare on. Time

to learn. This is a new phenomena here; this too shall pass.

[KMOD]

27. It's not quite fair to blame

Texas Presbytarian. This could have happened anywhere, and the results could be the same. Every hospital needs to take lessons and learn from this.

[struggle4progress]

36. There was no excuse for sending the guy home since they knew he had just come from Liberia, where

over four hundred people are dying every day from this virus. There was no excuse whatsoever for the inadequate precautions that allowed two of Duncan's care-givers to contract the virus. And the inadequacy of the training provided to the nursing staff is unfortunately clear from the fact that one of those nurses didn't understand the possible public health consequences of travel and contact with a large number of people in the immediate aftermath of the death of one of her patients from a deadly epidemic disease, which has mortality rates ranging from 25-90%.

[KMOD]

42. Guess what

Our hospitals are not perfect and our doctors are not Gods. We are learning on the fly here.

[Crunchy Frog]

55. In fact, some of our hospitals and doctors are downright crappy.

[H2O Man]

23. No.

I'm not concerned about it, in the context of myself, family, and friends.

I am concerned for others, particularly in Africa.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

78. .

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. I blame a large part of the fear on the US Government.

I can't think of a single pronouncement made by the government concerning Ebola that hasn't been backtracked, amended, contradicted, or flat wrong from the get-go.

Not very confidence inspiring to say the least.

[Hekate]

28. Not yet. But then I don't listen to FOX and their ilk.

Yes, a Surgeon General would be a good idea. Any GOP listening?

[markpkessinger]

29. Just did a thorough check of myself . . .

. . . and so far, at least, no part of me has yet turned to stone. (But hey, you never know -- I hear that petrification can really sneak up on a person!)

[cwydro]

31. I'm not petrified that I will contract it.

But yes. I am horrified for the pandemic sweeping West Africa.

Apparently, many on DU do not care about this. But this is real. And in our mobile world, we are all at risk.

I don't consider myself likely to get this disease. But someone's mother, sister, brother, husband, son, daughter, or friend is either infected right now, or dying right now. Not in our country so much.

But in our world,

we're all neighbors.

[laundry_queen]

47. +1

That's how I see it.

[babylonsister]

49. Our world just woke up. nt

[sheshe2]

32. Lol~ Nope!

Trust me. I have far more pressing problems to worry about than Ebola.

And yes we need a Surgeon General!!!!!!!

bsis

[Recursion]

34. I'm much more worried about the next time influenza decides to pull a 1918 on us

That and dengue. I'm pretty worried about dengue.

[SoCalDem]

46. as a child, I feared dengue (I lived in Panama)

and the fer de lance, and jaguars, leopards & boa contrictors and 8 ft tall "torture plants", and sharks and yellow fever, and any number of the thousands of things there that could kill me.. and yet I lived..


I do not "fear" ebola or ISIS, because I doubt either of them will actually kill me, but I do fear FOR the people elsewhere who do end up in their clutches

[jberryhill]

110. There is a promising vaccine for dengue

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/final-trial-confirms-efficacy-sanofis-050000579.html

The final study - conducted on 20,875 children aged 9-16 across five countries in Latin America - confirmed that the vaccine was safe, provided high protection against dengue haemorrhagic fever and cut by 80 percent the risk of hospitalization, the Paris-based company said on Wednesday.

[Warren DeMontague]

38. Petrified? No. Concerned? about a communicable virus with a lethality rate of around 70% that is

currently expanding exponentially?

Uh, you bet your ass I am.

[distantearlywarning]

39. I am not at all concerned about my own personal risk with regard to Ebola

However, I am VERY concerned about the lives of my fellow human beings in West Africa, and about the secondary human and economic consequences of letting the African epidemic go unchecked. I do not feel that the first world is taking the African Ebola epidemic nearly seriously enough, and that our lack of care will eventually come back to haunt us all (and I don't necessarily mean that Ebola will spread directly to the 1st world, although that is a future possibility, but that West African political and economic instability as a result of Ebola will eventually negatively affect 1st world interests in a substantial way). I actually feel that the West African Ebola epidemic is potentially a much more serious problem than is ISIS, or even Ukraine, in the short term, and I wish we were diverting more resources and money there right now.

[Lint Head]

41. No. No more than any of the other virus outbreaks I've

lived through during the last 6 decades. The Texas Presbyterian Hospital has care and training issues and the corporate media is making a lot of advertising money by incessantly pushing one fear button after the other. Rachel Maddow is doing a wonderful job of covering the truth regarding Ebola.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

43. I live beside DFW Airport, the same airport ebola is flying in and out of and I'm

not in the least bit petrified of ebola.

[kentuck]

44. I'm very concerned...

but I refuse to be panicked.

It is very disturbing that someone so close to the first patient was able to get on a plane and fly across the country. Just as it was disturbing that the Doctor on MSNBC went to a restaurant when she should have been in isolation. This is very serious and there has to be stringent rules for anyone that comes into contact with the virus. They must stay isolated and not be permitted to mix with other folks. This especially applies to the health workers.

[apples and oranges]

45. I'm more petrified of my face being plastered across the news,

my actions scrutinized, and my house and car torn apart by the CDC while another guy warns my neighbors that I have ebola... all after 3 to 21 days of isolation... all because I flew on the same plane as an infected person.

[kentuck]

48. I'm gonna bookmark and come back in a couple of weeks and check out the attitudes...

Hopefully they will not have changed?

[Union Scribe]

67. I truly hope the "nothing to see here" crowd is right.

For all our sakes. But I've noticed a very peculiar aloofness rising on DU regarding this issue. Posters are practically falling over each other to loudly declare how not concerned they are and mock anyone who is; even mocking people who didn't think it was a great idea for the CDC to tell an Ebola-exposed nurse with an emerging fever it was fine to get on a plane. I don't know if it's a self-soothing denial or attempt to seem above it all, but it's very strange to me.

[kentuck]

87. It is a strange attitude...

I would agree.

[Marrah_G]

108. It's a response to the media "omg we are all going to die" reporting.

I think the nurse should not have flown, should have been told not to fly until she was in the clear. Not because I fear her transmitting it on the plane, but because she could have ended up at a new hospital in a new state and we could have a repeat of Dallas.

I think that anyone who tests positive should be sent to one of the 4 hospitals most prepared to handle it. That would shut down future infections here pretty quickly. The people treated in Nebraska and Atlanta did not infect others. Only the ill-prepared (for this disease) hospital ended up spreading it to two healthcare workers.

Ebola doesn't scare me. It's not going to be the next pandemic. It is a very lethal, but easy to contain (with proper medical procedures) virus.

[Lyric]

50. Not petrified. Just heartbroken for the people suffering... n/t

[ZombieHorde]

51. Petrified people wouldn't be able to post,

so you even if you did get a "yes" reply, it would be false.

[Jamastiene]

53. Petrified? No. Slightly concerned? Yes. n/t

[lonestarnot]

54. I am always alarmed by stupid.

[Scootaloo]

57. Starting to get the nibblings of mild worry

There seems to have been a lot of chance for exposure, and little capability for handling it.

It worries me like the occasional measles case worries me, basically.

Wake me when Polio overcomes the salk vaccine, or smallpox rebounds. That will scare the shit out of me.

[Tarheel_Dem]

62. The media loves these stories, cuz they don't cost much, and they go on & on & on....

and folks who are easily alarmed can't turn away. Sadly, the folks paying the most attention to this fear-mongering are the least informed. Quelle Surprise.

Ebola poll: N.J. residents fear an outbreak in U.S., but aren't well-informed about disease


The poll turned up one oddity: Those who claim to be following the outbreak the most closely also have the most inaccurate information about it.

For example, people who are paying a lot of attention to Ebola are twice as likely to hold the erroneous belief there is effective medicine to treat it. They are also more likely to believe it is spread easily, even though the deadly fever is less contagious than the flu, said Redlawsk.

"Ebola is particularly scary, with no cure and a high death rate," said Redlawsk. "Believing it is easily spread feeds this fear," he said.

"The tone of the coverage seems to be increasing fear while not improving understanding," he said.

In general, women respondents were more likely to hold misconceptions about Ebola, with 73 percent believing it is easily spread, compared to 60 percent of men. Respondents under the age of 30 are also more likely to see the fever as highly contagious.

http://www.nj.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2014/10/ebola_poll_nj_fears_an_outbreak_here.html

I find it particularly interesting that the folks who are screaming the loudest about the CDC, have skipped right over all the layers of incompetence below them. I mean, we are talking about a state that openly ruminated about secession, and now they're whining for the big ol' bad US government to fix this shit.

[Kalidurga]

63. No, but some things about this bother me a great deal

the hyper focus on a disease where the odds of catching it were less than the odds of winning the PowerBall bothers me. But, that's small stuff. What really bothers me is that Duncan's family was quarantined in a potentially very infectious environment, it took several days to get a cleaning crew in. The person power washing appeared to have no protective gear on at all (probably safe if the sun killed the virus but still, I would want something just cuz vomit). Then there is the blame game, the CDC didn't do this or that, the hospital didn't do this or that (well not providing Hazmat suits really totally and completely bad), the nurse flying when she had a fever.

But, what really gets me are two things we have soldiers helping in Liberia and I think this is great. The people of Liberia love our people in uniform and I think that is great. The problem is I think that this is what we should be doing everywhere our military is, good will gestures and really helping people I think would do a lot more to ensure our peace and prosperity than guarding oil wells ever will.

[ffr]

64. For now, the best I can do is get swing voters to elect Democrats

I don't have control over anything else. 2.5 weeks to that goal.

GOTV 2014.

[Warpy]

65. I might be if I were still working in the trenches

and a case of suspected ebola rolled in.

As a civilian? No. It's just too hard to catch. Even Mr. Duncan's family seems to have escaped.

[Dorian Gray]

75. This is what's so perplexing to me

They were living in the same household. How did they escape infection while the two nurses got it. What happened there. You'd think that his sweat/vomit/bodily fluids would touch them more easily than a nurse who was taking precautions. Even if they weren't the full precautions that others take in better hospitals.

[Warpy]

82. They were two nurses dealing with torrents of vomiting and diarrhea

and trying to keep the patient clean and comfortable. He was in decent enough shape at the apartment that he was using the bathroom. He was too ill for that in the hospital.

Those paper gowns were just not enough.

That's the reality of nursing.

[Dorian Gray]

84. I guess I'm not aware of the realities of ebola.

I would think if the vomit was as you say, then they should have been quarantined (officially). That they weren't is a travesty and shows that we are not ready (nor our hospitals).

I don't blame the nurses for any of this.

[Marrah_G]

111. I can explain

In Africa, they have found that often many of the patients family who lived in the home, even while the patient was very ill, did not contract the disease. In every case it had been the people caring directly for the patient, especially during the end stages who ended up becoming infected themselves or prepared/touched the body for burial.

The family in Dallas were not caring for him when his symptoms became acute, the nurses were. The nurses were the ones at most risk of coming into contact with bodily fluids. Ebola also does not live outside the host for very long and is not transmitted through the air.

[Dorian Gray]

119. Thank you for the explanation

Marrah.... That makes sense, I suppose. I guess I thought with some sort of protection, healthcare workers would be safer than those at home with the patients. But it makes sense that they go to the hospital when they are very ill and that's when they are most contagious.

[Marrah_G]

120. Welcome :)

If I could go back in time I would have become an epidemiologist. I have a strange hobby of reading every book I can get my hands on about the topic.

[treestar]

105. Very true

Those individuals who went to W. Africa to help are brave people.

[B Calm]

69. I'm more afraid that republicans will keep screwing over the working class!

[eShirl]

71. What scares me is the mistakes made in the Texas cases.

And some of those mistakes are by the CDC.

In the suspected case in Maine (which has since tested negative for ebola), the hospital told the press they were following the WHO guidelines instead of CDC guidelines, and that WHO's guidelines were stricter.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/14/us-health-ebola-usa-maine-idUSKCN0I31MS20141014

"Maine Medical Center is using policies developed by the World Health Organization. Those policies exceed the policies of Center for Disease Control and represent the strictest of guidelines," Valenti said.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

73. Petrified? No

Concerned? Yes. Fortunately, so far, nobody other than healthcare workers have been diagnosed with it, however it is clear that hospitals need to bring themselves up to snuff in terms of safely dealing with Ebola and quickly. I will rest easier once they start rolling out some effective treatments and/or a vaccine for the illness and get things contained over in West Africa.

[merrily]

76. I am afraid for others around the world.

Not so much for myself. Physical things have been trying to kill me since I was about 5 years old. I've been on borrowed time almost all my life. So far, so good. If I worried about any of it more, the stress probably would have killed me years ago. So, I am used to not worrying and grateful that I don't worry.

[liberal N proud]

77. Concerned about the incompetence of those in charge of health care

Stupid decisions have been made all over the place and that is more troubling than anything.

[Blue Idaho]

97. ^^^^This ^^^^

Sending up smoke for the front line nurses and doctors.

[Adrahil]

79. No. But it is a serious issue and should be treated as one. NT

[seaglass]

80. I am reading Earth Abides - so maybe when I'm done. n/t

[CrispyQ]

81. I have no idea how bad it will get,

but I think it is already showing how woefully unprepared our medical system is to handle a serious crisis. I think we are about to discover an unexpected downside to our current 'everything-for-profit" model, from cutbacks in staff and training to people being afraid to question procedures because of fear of getting fired. CNN mentioned this last night - nurses who questioned procedures but wouldn't speak out for fear of their jobs. I won't even go into all the workers who have no sick pay or are afraid to take their sick pay.

There is another thread on DU about how retailers are telling the business community that income inequality is hurting their business and their stock price. I read that September was the warmest on record but we're supposedly in for another polar vortex. Most of the middle class are on the edge, economically & a lot of fear stems from that. Add a fear that makes people afraid of everyone, not just the others that they don't approve of, well, I don't know how much longer things will continue to simmer before erupting into a boil.


on edit: What I really fear is our incompetence. A lot of that, thanks to the corporate bottom line.

[LeftInTX]

83. We have a better chance of curing Ebola in Africa than...

controlling greedy warlord Republicans

[REP]

85. If my mother were still alive, she'd be pretty freaked out about it

She was odd that way; worried a lot about stuff she didn't have and totally denied having things she did.

[6000eliot]

86. Not in the least. In fact, I am eliminating all threads about it here

and all posts about it on Facebook.

[Katashi_itto]

88. It's not lethal enough.

[Avalux]

91. ? The mortality rate is 70%. How lethal is enough? n/t

[Katashi_itto]

112. Needs to be airborne with Rabies mixed in too.

[moriah]

118. I agree I'm more scared of rabies than any other disease.

I make sure my cat has his shot, and don't let him outside to hunt critters, but I won't approach a stray dog (especially if they're foaming at the mouth) and wouldn't let dogs chase after squirrels or rabbits.

And God forbid a bat ever gets in my house. I'll be outside screaming and calling Animal Control.

[Katashi_itto]

122. Well with Rabies we would get "28 Days Later"

[Avalux]

90. I'm not. I'm petrified of people not knowing basic common sense things about science and health.

I'm petrified of the mind-boggling hysteria and misinformation the media is spewing. I'm petrified of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

[Blue_In_AK]

93. I'm not petrified.

I'm not a health worker, and I very seldom go to doctors or hospitals. I'm more afraid of a Republican takeover of the Senate.

[RebelOne]

95. I am a bit worried but not petrified.

I live in the Atlanta area where Ebola patients are being sent to Emory.

[Raine]

96. No, I'm moderately concerned. nt

[treestar]

99. No. Still feeling like it couldn't possibly

infect anyone I know at this point, or many people.

[Marrah_G]

101. No- the media has everyone scared to death.

If I lived in Liberia I would be nervous.

[seveneyes]

102. No more than exponential math or logarithmic scales

Those not petrified are moving targets.

[valerief]

106. Not me. I think it's important world leaders get it under control, since

they've neglected to do that so far.

Ask me in 3 months.

Right now, I'm more afraid of taking a walking and being mauled by a loose pitbull.

[customerserviceguy]

113. If it showed up in the NYC area

you bet your sweet ass I would be. I work at the front window at my utility company, and while the vast majority of my customers are 'regulars', anybody can come up to that window. I'd seek to have it shut down, and have people do everything over the phone, like the rest of the call center.

And as for that Surgeon General thing, well that warning fifty years ago sure stopped smoking, didn't it? As far as I'm concerned, that post is mostly ceremonial. I doubt most people in the US could name any Surgeon General since Joycelyn Elders, and if she hadn't talked about masturbation, they wouldn't even be able to name her.

[Art_from_Ark]

114. The Surgeon General's warning hasn't stopped smoking

but it has led to a gradual but significant reduction in the overall smoking rate over the past 50 years:

"Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half from 1965 to 2006 falling from 42% to 20.8% of adults.[12] As of 2012, the number of American smokers is 18.1% according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[1"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_tobacco_consumption

[Iris]

115. No. I feel sadness and compassion towards the people in West Africa

The parents who can't touch or hug their dying children, the children who have lost one or both parents...so many sad stories.

[moriah]

116. If I were a health care worker, maybe I would be.

The ER I had to take a friend to had a big sign on it saying to report immediately and put on a mask if you've traveled from a certain list of countries in the last 21 days. If you report a suspect travel history, they're supposed to preemptively isolate you from other patients and interview you to see if your symptoms match Ebola, then start working on other possibilities when they don't.

If I was traveling to any of the countries on the list, I'd be scared, too.

Otherwise, I'm not afraid.

[Horse with no Name]

117. lol. No/ n/t