Ebola Today: Poll Shows Many Americans Unclear on How Ebola Spreads
• 4:30 p.m. Many Americans still unclear as to how Ebola spreads: The results of a “nationally representative’’ poll of 1,004 adults conducted Oct. 8-12 by the Harvard School of Public Health show that 85 percent of Americans believe that someone would be likely to catch Ebola if they were sneezed or coughed on by a symptomatic person, with 59 percent believing it to be “highly likely.’’
That’s actually highly unlikely, according to medical experts.
Nintey-five percent of Americans do agree, however, that someone would be likely to catch Ebola if they came in contact with a symptomatic person’s bodily fluids.
More than half of Americans (52 percent) fear a large Ebola outbreak in the United States in the next year; more than a third (38 percent) are worried that they or someone in their family may become sick with the disease over the next year.
Eighty percent believe that someone in their community would be likely to survive the disease with immediate medical care, however.
• 11:35 a.m. Maine teacher put on leave after travelling to Dallas: A school board in Maine has placed an elementary school teacher on paid leave after learning that the teacher visited Dallas.
The 21-day leave was imposed after parents voiced their concern over the teacher’s possible exposure to Ebola, reported the Portland Press Herald.
The teacher was in Dallas to attend an educational conference, thought it is unclear when the trip took place. The 21-day figure corresponds with the maximum length of time it takes for Ebola symptoms to show.
There have been no reported cases of Ebola in Maine. In August, the plane carrying an American doctor who became infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa briefly stopped at Maine’s Bangor International Airport to refuel before continuing to Atlanta.
A man in Dallas on Oct. 8 became the first US Ebola patient to die, and two Dallas nurses have been diagnosed with the virus.
• 8:30 a.m. President Obama cautions against Ebola ‘hysteria’: “What we’re seeing now is not an ‘outbreak’ or an ‘epidemic’ of Ebola in America,’’ Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday. “This is a serious disease, but we can’t give in to hysteria or fear.’’
Obama also explained his unwillingness to place travel restrictions on flights from West Africa in spite of calls from politicians to do so.
“Trying to seal off an entire region of the world – if that were even possible – could actually make the situation worse,’’ Obama said. “Experience shows that it could also cause people in the affected region to change their travel, to evade screening, and make the disease even harder to track.’’
• 12:05 a.m. Liberian president apologizes for Ebola outbreak: Pres. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf reportedly called Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to apologize for the transfer of the Ebola virus from her country to the Texas city.
The Guardian reports that Rawlings did not accept the apology.
“He feels that this is a global community, and there was no fault by the Liberian people,’’ a former county medical director with knowledge of the call told the paper. “I think that was a good message.’’
Number of cases worldwide in the current outbreak: 9,216
Number of deaths: 4,555
Map of Ebola cases in the United States:
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