UIndy Professor: Ebola No Threat to North America
An Indiana doctor says the chance of the Ebola outbreak spreading to North America is miniscule.
Dr. Shannon McMorrow is Interim Director of the Master of Public Health Program at the University of Indianapolis. McMorrow says the virus isn't easily contracted nor is it airborne. She says it's contracted through close personal contact and is spread via blood and bodily fluids ... usually through skin openings.
McMorrow says despite social media chatter and comments from some public officials, it's just not at all likely that Ebola could "leap over to this continent." She says it's always the goal of public health programs to be culturally competent and reduce public concerns about perceived health threats.
McMorrow spent three years in Uganda in east Africa during the Ebola outbreak there back in 2007. She says she was nowhere near the scene of that outbreak and the virus was very contained near the Congolese border. She says education about the virus was very high in that region.
McMorrow says with the current outbreak, the mortality rate is about 50%. She says there's no specific treatment, but doctors typically aid patients by keeping them hydrated, reducing pain and trying to keep fever in check along with isolating them.