Universities To Speakers Who've Visited West Africa: En Garde!

[KamaAina]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/10/18/356999766/universities-to-speakers-whove-visited-west-africa-en-garde

By now, it's well known that there are a limited number of ways you can contract Ebola: from the blood, sweat, saliva or other bodily fluids of someone who already is ill with the disease.

There are many more ways you can't get Ebola: by meeting someone who has recently spent time in West Africa, for example, or sitting through a lecture about Ebola. You can't even get Ebola if someone with Ebola happens to be near you. To become infected, you'd have to be exposed directly to their bodily fluids.

Yet in the past week, organizations have begun to crack down on events featuring West Africans or those who have returned from a trip to West Africa. The panic surrounding Ebola, a disease about which we actually know a fair amount, has led to some decisions that incorporate very little of that knowledge. Here are four:

Dakar, the capital of Senegal, was scheduled to host a men's sabre fencing World Cup event at the end of October, but the sport's governing body canceled the event on Wednesday. Why? Senegal borders Guinea, one of three West African countries hit hard by Ebola. Senegal saw just one Ebola case in August. Health officials contained the patient and those with whom he had contact, and no further cases were identified.

[Downwinder]

1. Herd mentality.

These are the institutions teaching youth critical thinking?