Why Ebola scares us

It’s unlikely that either you or I will contract Ebola.   It’s also farfetched that any of us will be attacked by a shark, but that does not mean the thought of it isn’t terrifying.

As the New York Times reported yesterday, the real contagion that’s sweeping the country is the anxiety associated with the Ebola scare.

“So far, emergency rooms have not been overwhelmed with people afraid that they have caught the Ebola virus, and no one is hiding in the basement and hoarding food. But there is little doubt that the events of the past week have left the public increasingly worried,” the Times reported.

That’s because the officials who have been speaking about Ebola have not inspired confidence.   We’ve gone from being assured there’s virtually no chance of the virus reaching our shores to allowing a nurse who treated the Ebola patient in Dallas to get on a commercial flight—twice.

Members of a House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee rushed back to Washington, D.C. to grill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden and other health officials about Ebola.  You know we’re in scary territory when a congressman quizzes a health expert about the specifics of diarrhea.

As Fox News Digital Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt wrote, “Dr. Thomas Frieden has so bungled the public outreach and protocols for the current crisis that he is one more calamity away from being Shinsekied.” (That’s a reference to former Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who was forced out of office earlier this year because of the VA health care scandal.)

The CDC struggled with PR during West Virginia’s water crisis after the Freedom Industries spill last January.  The agency first said expectant mothers should stay away from the water, just as they should avoid sushi.  CDC officials later appeared at a news conference with West Virginia officials where everyone struggled with the one question everyone had at the time: Was it safe to drink the water?

Earlier this week I wrote about the emotion of fear that dominates the news these days, and the Ebola virus has fueled the uneasiness that’s simmering in the country.  24/7 cable news coverage and social media keep us informed, but they are also oxygen to the fire of discontent.

Images of people in hazmat suits are disconcerting.  They’re a necessary precaution for health care workers, of course, but to the rest of us they send a terrifying message.   They look like scenes from one of those movies where millions of people get wiped out by a fast-spreading virus.

Rationally we know that the odds are far greater of dying in this country by falling off your roof than contracting Ebola, but nobody makes movies about roof repairs.  “Jaws” still keeps people out of the water.

“Though Ebola’s dangers are real and terrifying, epidemiologists and other authorities say that, for now, its greatest mark could be on the psyche of the country when other threats are more perilous,” said the Washington Post yesterday.

Still, psyches can be delicate, and for a nation where many citizens have lost confidence in the ability of its institutions—especially government—to get it right, a clumsy response feels like impending doom.

 





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