Response to Ebola in the US: misinformation, fear, and new opportunities

On 30 September 2014 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the diagnosis of Ebola virus disease in a man who had arrived in Dallas from Liberia, without symptoms, four days earlier. Two nurses who took care of him at a Dallas community hospital became infected with the virus shortly afterwards. Although the man died, both nurses recovered. And at the end of October, a physician who recently returned from Guinea had Ebola diagnosed in New York City. These four cases of Ebola in the US have led to overreaction and unjustified fear among politicians, the media, and the public that is driven by misinformation, lack of scientific evidence, and demagoguery.