I am not terrified of Ebola. What does disturb me is the insanity of those who are! They are mysophobic, believing this is about preserving their very lives and the lives of their loved ones in what they view as a clear and present danger when it is nothing of the sort. It also concerns me that we now have some insight into what could actually happen if there were a situation where there might legitimately be a threat. Basically, it appears we might be facing something like neighbor-upon-neighbor...every man for himself. I do not like that exposed and unseemly edge of our otherwise polished veneer. Is this the reality of western refinement?
Mysophobia is, like anything ending in 'phobia', a word that deals with an irrational fear. Mysophobics are those terrified to the stage of panic about becoming infected with a disease. In my view, we are seeing that now and it comes as a result of both politics and the media. At the time of writing, there are precisely two cases of Ebola active in the United States, both of them in nurses who worked, under less than ideal conditions, with a man who had travelled from Liberia to Texas, was already infected, and died. There are no known cases in Canada as of today. And yet, leaders are carrying on as if North America were almost like West Africa. News media are leading their newscasts with Ebola and making it front page material 24/7. A helicopter video of a hazmat suit-wearing infected nurse walking to a special jet aircraft to carry her to an isolation unit is shown and shown again...but we get no decent coverage of the squalor and death of hundreds, indeed thousands, in Liberia or its near neighbours.
About 35 years ago, we began to hear about a (then) new plague that was labelled Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. Much like Ebola, it was a viral disease that had, apparently, made a species jump from animal to human somewhere in Africa. And, again, like Ebola, it was not something one could easily "catch". You had to actively engage in activities that might infect you...shared use of hypodermic needles and sexual contact were examples. AIDS never mutated into some dreaded airborne pandemic and, ultimately, treatment advances resulted in the lifting of a certain death sentence in a relatively short period and provided an extension of life covering very lengthy timeframes. But, in the early stages, many panicked and some developed irrational fears of particular subsets of society as the perpetrators and spreaders of some God-created scourge. Is something akin to that what we're experiencing again?
With Ebola, the mechanics of how the disease is spread are also clearcut. It is not airborne with no expectation it could become so. It requires exposure to body fluids...excrement, vomit, saliva, just to name a few. That is why there is an absolute requirement for those treating this awful illness to wear special gear that totally isolates them from any such potential contact. Despite knowing this, we hear everyday of people behaving in a panic-stricken manner; keeping their kids out of schools; not venturing into public places; being fearful of flying; carrying around giant bottles of disinfectant. Frankly, it is appalling that men and women with strong credibility and loud voices are not screaming from the mountaintops that this irrational personal terror must stop immediately. But they aren't...and the intermediaries who bring their messages to us are doing a pitiful job.
Let me be clear when I say that it is indeed the the job of governments to ensure that the public enjoys safety and security in daily life. It is not their job to inspire terror. My view is that this "insurance" work should continue...it seems they were caught flat-footed, initially. But now that they understand the scope of the significant Ebola outbreak affecting several countries in West Africa, their decisions should be focussed on containment there, travel precautions, and ensuring the availability of good treatment facilities and protocols to deal with any cases that might turn up in North America. Their very serious responsibility is to calm people who are both unskilled and uneducated in what this is and how it works - the vast majority of us, in other words. Given what I am seeing and hearing, my conclusion is that they are failing miserably at this so far.
There is now great haste to produce a vaccine...and there should be. Too bad it wasn't happening a year ago. Can our scientists do it? Of course they can. We know that it won't help those already stricken. We know that things African have always been subjects we westerners talk about and, with few exceptions, never address. But when Africa's exports include a potentially lethal threat, we get busy. It's not about the Africans...it's about us. Be honest with yourself when you digest that last line. So, money and speed on vaccine development are suddenly abundant. Meanwhile, best for all of us that our leaders put aside the politicking. At the same time, let them take steps to reassure all of us that containment is the first job in heavily affected countries; that travel controls are properly established; that reliable protocols are in place to deal with eventualities.
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