Persuasive Essay On Ebola

Deadly diseases and viruses have plagued humans for thousands of years. There was the black plague, smallpox, polio, and many more. They can cause mass numbers of humans to die and greatly affect the globe. Today, another outbreak similar to those before could be on the horizon. A lethal virus is starting to emerge again in Africa, and it has potential to spread across the globe. This virus is Ebola, and it has already reached the United States, and could not stop there. How we react to this pandemic is a matter of controversy; some say we are overreacting, others say we aren’t reacting enough. Instead of fighting over this, we should act while we can. The world should be cautious and aware of the threat of an Ebola Pandemic, but should not panic. Ebola is a deadly virus that emerged in 1976 in 2 outbreaks, one in Sudan, and the other in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1); it gets its name from the Ebola River in Africa. It has

They’ve been contained almost entirely to three or so countries in Africa, until it recently spread to the U.S. with only one death there. There is the argument that there are much more deadly and important issues to worry about. This is shown in figure 1, a comic depicting how we are freaking out about a possible Ebola epidemic, but when it comes to an already existing obesity, tobacco, and alcohol epidemic, each with thousands of more deaths per year than Ebola, we feed the flames, not put them out (fig. 1). I agree that in a way we are overreacting to the threat of Ebola. There is only one confirmed death caused by Ebola outside of those African countries, and it hasn’t caused an epidemic in the country it occurred in. Also, there are many other issues that could cause us much more harm than a potential outbreak, even beyond those stated in the comic: global warming, cancer, and many more. Western Societies should be worried and prepared for an Ebola pandemic, but not go into full