It may be surprising to some if not most that Americans are not so worried about catching the Ebola disease. But. they do have other concerns about how the potential spread of the virus can take place in this country.
When it comes to Ebola, most Americans say they are concerned about the possibility of health care workers who have treated sick patients spreading the virus here, according to a new report on WebMD.
Most people asked in a survey also expressed support for quarantines for people arriving in the U.S. from affected countries, according to the WebMD/Medscape Ebola Survey.
Nearly 80% of people who answered the online survey said they were concerned about the infection risk posed by doctors and nurses who have cared for Ebola patients, while 57% said they thought it was reasonable to quarantine travelers arriving from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia until they are certain to be free of the disease.
"The Ebola risk to the general public is very low, and most people seem to be aware of that," says Michael W. Smith, MD, WebMD chief medical editor. But, he said, Ebola cases in several health care workers who have returned to the U.S. have raised public concerns. The majority of doctors who answered the survey -- 56% -- also support quarantines for people who have recently been to West Africa.