The Patriot Post® · Ebola Fear Factor

Linda Chavez: “Statistically, most of us have a far greater likelihood of dying of influenza this winter than Ebola. … Getting struck by lightning is likelier than catching Ebola. So far this year, 24 people have died from lightning strikes in the U.S.; one has died from Ebola. So why are we so afraid? Ironically, the very measures necessary to protect those in actual danger of contracting the disease frighten the rest of us. Photos of men and women covered in hazmat suits dominate the airwaves and front pages of newspapers. The streets of Dallas outside the patients’ apartments and the tarmac at the airport where patients are being transported look like scenes from a science fiction movie. … At one level, this phenomenon is nothing new. We saw it in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. We’ve seen it every time a new threat emerges – swine flu, bird flu, SARS, MRSA, even mad cow disease. People fear what they cannot see and do not understand. But worse, the media’s intense preoccupation with Ebola in the U.S. fuels fear. The attention focused on this story is simply disproportionate to its importance.”