It's 0.001.

0.001.

That's the percentage of the Liberian population that has Ebola.  I feel like someone should start a campaign letting people know how absurd the hysteria over letting people from the region into the US or any country for that matter.  The likelihood that a person will NOT have Ebola is so much higher than the slight chance that they would have come into contact with someone who has the virus.

Literally less than one in a million.

0.001% of the population of Liberia has contracted Ebola.

Oddly enough this unprecedented spread can be credited more to individual behavior not the virulence of the virus alone.  Liberians are purveyors of a complex culture which has at it's core a deep distrust of government.  It is evident in the main message of the in-country awareness campaign "Ebola is real."  For months many people didn't believe it was real and refused to change their behaviors.

0.001.

This number came up in conversation with my mom.  I assured her that while there are 4665 probable/suspected/confirmed cases of Ebola in Liberia, more than in any one country, the population is 4.6 MILLION.

I did the math.

Yes, it is sometimes deadly but it is also rare and treatable, especially in the US. No matter what we say, we have a basic trust in government, especially when it comes to health messages.  Who will hear me when I say "An Ebola epidemic in the US is the least of it's worries."


0.001%.

The value of lives lost and transformed directly and indirectly by the virus can't be quantified.  This is a region in grief.

It's been painful to watch the media and a portion of the American public that the media chooses to represent expressing such misinformed and downright malicious perspectives.  This is truly a battle against fear and undue discrimination that is based on paranoid delusions of a violent epidemic, not on the facts.

While my fellow countrymen watch from across the ocean, sometimes condemning healthcare workers for their contributions, belittling their immense sacrifice while lobbying for increased travel restrictions, I look to the Lord.

May God to continue to comfort those from the young to the old who have lost so much.

May God bring healing to the hearts of those who are gripped and blinded by fear around the world.

May physical and emotional healing flow worldwide to those directly and indirectly affected by this crisis.