When Nancy Writebol touches down on American soil Tuesday to be treated for Ebola, her ambulance ride from Dobbins Air Force Base through Atlanta to Emory should be uneventful, experts say.
“A lot of the hysteria is like when HIV was discovered,” said Michael Powell, an expert on infectious diseases who specialized in HIV research. “It is better to be safe than sorry. But I think the concerns that something will happen should be minimal.”
Amesh A. Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that while Ebola is “ferocious and mysterious, it doesn’t pose a risk to the general public, and the patients don’t pose a problem.
"If you were sitting on the bus, I would be more worried about an unvaccinated person with measles, because that is transmitted through the air. Ebola is not very contagious on that scale," Adalja said.
About the Author
