It is no surprise that Ebola fear has struck our nation. After global frenzy following the2014 West African outbreak, the virus finallyreached the United States. In September, theCenter for Disease Control and Prevention announcedthat Thomas Duncan, a Liberian nationalcame to Texas for a family visit, had beendiagnosed with the Ebola virus. Duncan passedaway. Since then, two nurses who treatedDuncan have contracted Ebola and 120 peopleare now being monitored in Texas for Ebola.

Mass panic is rapidly growing in America.

One woman in Long Island went to the hospitalafter experiencing stomach pain, fearingthat she contracted Ebola. She turned out tobe positive for pregnancy, not Ebola. Therewere few glaring signs that she probably didnot have the Ebola virus. She had visited SouthAfrica, which is more than 3,400 miles awayfrom the three threatening West African countries.

Also, her trip ended 6 weeks prior whilethe incubation period of Ebola is 3 weeks. Thiswoman’ s case is just one of dozens of falseEbola scares throughout the nation. This wassimilar to the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 in whichemergency rooms experienced rapid increasesin patients. Some people just had a cold butwanted to be checked by a doctor anyway.

Doctors across America are saying thatpeople should be more concerned with otherdiseases right now, especially the flu. Influenzakills thousands of people per year according tothe CDC and is far more likely to contract thanEbola, which so far has a death toll of 4,500.

Measles is also another virus that is far morecontagious. According to data released by theCDC, 2014 has seen a jump in measles casesin the US compared to previous years. Unlessa person has gone to a West African countryor has been in direct contact with a sick Ebolapatient, there is pretty much no chance of gettingthis disease. Direct contact means that thevirus must enter a person’ s body through theeyes, mouth, or nose.

What does this show about America’ s culture?It reveals how fearful Americans are,especially of things that are strange and foreignto us. After all, there is no cure for Ebola at the moment and mass media has highlighted the gross symptoms that follow this disease. Public panic is the biggest threat to the nation, not Ebola.