Ebola Fears Cause Hysteria In United States And Around The World

Since the time the U.S. has confirmed its first case of Ebola, fears of the virus spreading across the country have escalated. According to CNN, there are eight confirmed cases of Ebola in the country starting with Thomas Eric Duncan, who contracted the virus in Liberia and eventually died in the U.S. while being treated at a Dallas hospital. All the other cases of Ebola in the U.S. was due to the patient having contact with Duncan.

Despite health care experts' insistence that the chances of more people getting infected by Ebola are "miniscule", panic around the country including other nations with confirmed cases of the virus have disrupted schools, businesses and even airline operations. Some passenger flights were delayed over fears of Ebola. Travel agencies had to change their itineraries to avoid countries with Ebola cases.

Students and teachers across the U.S. chose to stay home over Ebola concerns. An elementary teacher was recently asked to go on a paid leave after parents complained she had travelled to Dallas where the first Ebola patient died. Last week, students from Shaker Heights and Solon, Ohio were asked to remain home. The Washington Post reported a school district in Oklahoma told parents it will pull out students who had travelled on a cruise ship with a hospital worker believed to have been exposed to Ebola.

Reports said the World Bank estimates that West Africa may lose tens of billions of dollars by the end of 2015 because of Ebola. Huffington Post reports a Liberian restaurant in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota is losing business since customers are afraid the staff has Ebola. A bridal shop in Ohio has closed due to rumoured reports of the Ebola-infected nurse having shopped there.

Elsewhere around the world, Ebola fears caused panic in an Air France Flight 1300 after a passenger had fallen sick with Ebola symptoms. The passenger from Lagos, Nigeria began shaking with fever during the flight as the plane landed at Barajas International Airport in Madrid. Authorities had eventually allowed the 156 passengers, two pilots and five crew members to leave the plane that came from Paris. They will all be monitored for symptoms, reports said.

False reports of possible Ebola cases had prompted Spanish authorities to call for calm amid the panic. Some public buildings in France were closed briefly after a scare. Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had visited a Madrid hospital where 44-year-old nurse Teresa Romero was treated for Ebola. Local news agencies reported she was still in a "stable but serious" condition.

Macedonia had placed people who had contact with the Briton who died from Ebola under quarantine. Australia screened 11 people last week including a nurse who worked with the Red Cross in Sierra Leone. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control had predicted Ebola cases to reach 1.4 million by January 2015 unless steps are taken to control the virus.