Officials: Ebola coming to region is unlikely
While Ebola is admittedly a scary disease, local hospital officials say there is no need to panic about it spreading through the United States.
“Everybody is panicking, and really, it’s a terribly scary thing,” said Monongahela Valley Hospital communications specialist Mary Kaufman. “But it’s not as (contagious) as the measles or many other diseases.”
She referred to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows how contagious Ebola is compared to other diseases. On average, a person with Ebola spreads it to two people. A person with measles will likely spread it to 18 others.
Dr. David Weber, director of infectious diseases at the hospital, said this is because it spreads by direct contact with bodily fluids or mucus membranes, not through the air.
This, and the inability of the virus to spread before a person exhibits symptoms, makes Ebola different from other infectious diseases.
“It’s a little different than a lot of diseases we treat,” he said. “If someone is incubating Ebola, and they’re feeling well, there’s no chance of them spreading it.”
He said a person becomes contagious once they have a fever.
But this presents a challenge in keeping the disease contained. He said it is “entirely possible” that a person could board a plane in an infected country, feeling well, and exhibit symptoms in the United States.
Still, if a traveler returns infected, he said the United States is adept at tracking down people exposed to Ebola.
“I think the likelihood of it spreading here is fairly low,” he said.
But if it did come to the Washington area, he said his hospital is ready. Patients would be isolated and treated with experimental medications obtained from the CDC, which have been known to cure the virus.
Kaufman said people should be more focused on preventing the spread of the flu, and less concerned about contracting Ebola.
“We should be concerned about washing our hands and getting flu shots,” she said. “But instead we’re concerned about this big, scary thing.”