It is a frightening story.  The the head of the CDC seemed to be trying to convince us that we shouldn't be as afraid as he assumed we would be.  It's probably a good assumption.

Yes, Ebola has finally passed through the preverbial microbiological Ellis Island and exposed itself here in the United States.  The first ever reported case has been documented down in Dallas.  It is a gentleman from Liberia who is here visiting friends.  Interestingly, when CDC director Tom Frieden was asked whether or not he was a citizen, he refused to answer directly, though re-stating that he was visiting family here in America seems to me to be obvious.  It isn't really that important, but it was interesting that the direct questions came from main stream news media other than Fox News.

It did occur to me at one point whether we should have limited access to certain countries facing the outbreak the way British Airlines did.  Although Mr. Frieden was very informative and reassuring that this is a minor outbreak that should be easily handled here in the U.S.  I don't suppose there is anything else he could have said, but I tended to believe him.

He indicated that the virus, while worthy of the significant fear it arouses, is actually not very infectious.  It cannot be transmitted before symptoms appear, and even in the early stages of the infection is only found in limited quantity in the host.  He said that it should be easily contained to the one patient, or several patients that he may have had direct contact with after being infected.  They real danger that the disease poses is in how difficult it is to treat and in the severe ramifications of contracting the disease.  It seems to have a fairly high casualty rate with those who contract the virus.

Perhaps it's much easier to be reassured when you and your loved ones are still several thousand miles away.

What do you say Gotham...are you nervous?