A panel of professors, health officials and students discussed the realities, myths and social implications of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. A group of about 150 students and faculty members attended the event Monday evening in the Witherspoon Campus Cinema.
The event, which was sponsored by the Africana studies program, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Multicultural Association of Students and Collegiate 100, addressed the political, cultural and health dimensions of the outbreak both in West Africa and in the United States.
Panelists ranged from NC State students and staff to members of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Liberia Crisis Center for Women and Children.
“This is not just an American problem, rather it is a world problem that has become a cause for concern,” said student panelist Brittany Brown, a senior studying Africana studies.
Peter Cowen, an associate professor in epidemiology and environmental health, addressed the background and symptoms of Ebola as well as the current state of the epidemic and measures he believed should be taken to combat the virus.
“This is a much bigger outbreak than we have seen in the past,” Cowen said. “We really need to start looking more closely at the risk categories of patients and start managing these individuals based on the symptoms that they are experiencing.”
Sheila Smith McKoy, the director of the Africana studies program, and Beverly Goll-Yekeson, the founder of the Liberia Crisis Center for Abused Women and Children, both stressed the importance of showing compassion toward the people living in the affected countries.
“We are all connected in one way or another,” Goll-Yekeson said. “I do not want us to leave from here and in 20 years say we didn’t handle this in the right way.”
McKoy addressed some of the major myths surrounding the Ebola virus, including that all people in Africa are at risk of having the deadly virus. The Ebola outbreak is almost entirely contained within the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
“You all need to understand that Ebola was not caused by unusual contact between humans and animals, that all Africans do not have the potential of having Ebola, that Ebola is highly unlikely to become infected and that this virus is not just an African issue, it’s a global one,” McKoy said.
James Kiwanuka-Tondo, an associate professor of communications, drew comparisons between Ebola and other health and social issues throughout the U.S. Kiwanuka-Tondo cited that only two people have contracted Ebola in the U.S., and both of them have been cured.
“Meanwhile, over 53,000 people die from the flu annually in the U.S., and over 50,000 individuals contract HIV in the U.S. each year,” Kiwanuka-Tondo said. “Yes, Ebola is indeed a mediated crisis, but the sky is not falling from the heavens. We shall overcome this.”
Leah Arnett, director of Student Health Services, and Dr. Carolyn Garrett-Piggott, a physician at the Student Health Center, said students, faculty and staff that have traveled to areas affected by Ebola are being monitored by the Student Health Center.
“We have staff members checking their temperatures regularly, and we continue to monitor their health for around 21 days after they have returned to the U.S.,” Garrett-Piggott said. “However, these are not quarantine procedures; we are only taking these measures to ensure that we will be aware in a situation is to arise.”
Arnett said that it is highly unlikely that the university with encounter a situation that will require an immediate, emergency reaction. However, the university is prepared if it does.
Additional panelists included Kiera McCarter, a senior studying Africana studies, Clifford Griffin, an associate professor of political science, as well as members from the NC Department of Health and Human Services.
