Are you scared of the recent outbreak of Ebola? Are you scared that Ebola is going to get you? Are you scared that Ebola is going to destroy the United States of America? Well, you should be.

Ebola is a major epidemic in West Africa, and unless something is done now, you are not off the hook here either. Yes, it is thousands of miles away and completely in the middle of no where. But it still exists and therefore it still matters. Just three weeks ago Thomas Eric Duncan, Liberian national, fled to the Texas with the deadly disease. Investigators have estimated that he had come to contact with several people, not sure though if the disease had been spread.

After five days of intense treatment at Texas Presbyterian Hospital, Duncan sadly passed away. His nurse later was tested positive for Ebola in a preliminary blood test. Although she claims she had worn protective gear during her “extensive contact” with Duncan, she contracted the disease.

Investigators are looking more into the situation. According to press reports, Duncan’s family is currently pursuing legal action towards the hospital because they feel that his treatment was “incompetent” and “racially motivated.” If one guy can put a whole country in danger, imagine what could happen with a country full of people with that disease?

The Centers of Disease Control has sent out many assurances that they are handling the situation. And even the President of the United States has promised that Americans have nothing to fear.

Unless West African countries are quarantined and cleaned, like the CDC did in the late 1900s with smallpox, the Ebola epidemic will not be over. The CDC was successful in eradicating smallpox 40 years ago by successfully containing the disease early on. In addition to quarantines, they also created a vaccination to smallpox that was pretty successful.

Today there are no known vaccinations to Ebola as scientists find it hard to test on people. Currently, though, there are trial vaccinations in West African countries, with patients well-knowing that the vaccination is in no way proven to work. If trials work on these patients in Africa, treatment will surely be available in the United States soon.

If the CDC and WHO don’t start taking actions soon towards containing and eradicating Ebola, the infection may infect more in the United States. It cannot be as easy as just getting on a plane from Liberia to the United States of America and seeking treatment like Duncan did last month.

Eradicating Ebola will not be easy, as it will take a lot of cooperation from a lot of people. This endeavour will also cost a huge sum of money as it did with smallpox, which cost the United States government more than $160 million dollars. But the cost of safety and good health is priceless.