What People Don’t Seem To Understand About Ebola

Hiccups are a real
symptom of Ebola.

Now that Ebola is in New York City, I think it’s time to reassess the threat of a global Ebola pandemic. Think of your odds of contracting Ebola like your odds of winning the Powerball lottery. Let’s say for the sake of argument your odds of getting Ebola were equal to winning the Powerball (which they probably aren’t, they’re probably much better odds). Now if this were the case you’d probably feel pretty confident about not getting Ebola. You’d be wondering what all the panic was about. The problem is, no matter how bad your individual odds of hitting the Powerball, someone usually wins eventually. It won’t be you, but SOMEONE wins. Now when it’s Ebola and not the lottery that’s a really bad thing. When someone new gets Ebola that means the virus is spreading which exponentially increases your odds of catching it. If Ebola was like the Powerball then every time someone won the lottery your odds would get better and better.

Another thing people should take into consideration is you need to actually pay to play the Powerball. You need to willingly become a participant in the game. With Ebola, you’ve got a ticket no matter what. You are entered into the race just by being alive on this planet and so is everyone else. So think of Ebola as a Powerball lotto where everyone alive has a chance to “win” and as weeks go by and more people hit the jackpot everyone’s odds collectively increase. That’s pretty scary. That’s how viruses work. That’s how pandemics occur. People with the CDC and the White House will say the threat is “Low” but they’re dealing with raw statistics. They’re not accounting for chaos which is ultimately the defining x-factor that leads to viruses spreading. It only takes one mistake or one dumbass to really start a huge problem. You personally may feel safe and be accounting for your own cleanliness and health, but it’s the people around you that you have to worry about. Your odds are only as good as theirs. That’s why people are scared of Ebola and they have a right to be.

What is the problem with being scared of Ebola? So what if I am? I’ll wash my hands and avoid sweaty people who look sick. That’s not a big deal. That’s basically how I live my life anyway I’m just more aware of this potentially fatal virus. That’s called basic survival consciousness. It’s the people who take it as a joke who should really be worried. And it’s the people who take it as a joke who are the weak links in preventing a pandemic. These are the dumbasses who can screw it up for everyone. Frankly, I’d rather be paranoid and alive than carefree and in an isolation tent bleeding out of my ass. So yeah your chances of getting Ebola are very low, but know that your status is completely dependent on the people around you and can literally change in seconds without you having any knowledge of it until it’s too late.

What can we do about Ebola? For one, how about don’t let doctors from New York City or large metropolitan areas go to West Africa to fight the virus? And if they do go, make them stay until they’ve beaten the problem or are proven to be clean. What is the point of being a doctor and going to fight Ebola in Africa for a little while before coming back home to the states? The whole point of going there in the first place is to be a hero and to sacrifice your own health for the wellness of others. Now when you decide to come back and potentially infect millions of people and put entire cities and a nation at risk, that’s when you cease being a hero. It really doesn’t matter how many people in Africa you cured if you’ve just helped spread the virus to a new continent. Either get involved fully to the bitter end or stay out of it and let the virus fizzle out in Africa as it has in the past. It’s dumb people like this that you have to worry about. Really what it boils down to is not a fear of Ebola, but fear of your fellow citizen. It’s about fear and mistrust of the carelessness and stupidity of the people around you. THAT is a fear and paranoia I think we can all get behind.

And lastly, people should be worried about Ebola if only for the simple fact that it’s coinciding with flu season. That means you’re going to have thousands of people getting sick and thinking they have Ebola. Worse yet, you’re going to have some people with Ebola thinking they just have the flu. The confusion this will cause should be very disturbing to see. Hospitals will be flooded with people sweating profusely, running fevers, leaving mucus everywhere, and vomiting all over the place. Hospitals regardless of whether or not they’re “equipped to handle Ebola” will likely have doctors and nurses contract the virus unknowingly thinking they’re dealing with flu patients and from there you’ve got a huge problem. Now I hope I’m wrong and this is just me being paranoid, if it is, WHO CARES? It’s like being paranoid of sharks. No one ever died of being paranoid of a Great White. It’s the dummies that jump in the water who have the problem. Right now I’m only figuratively sweating Ebola and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm not insanely paranoid, I’m just saying maybe people need to act a little more cautious than they seem to be.

Don't let this happen to your cells.