Tyler Taylor, Contributor
The Center for Disease Control has reported 14,098 cases of Ebola in 2014, which have caused 5,160 deaths worldwide including one in the United States.
As awareness for Ebola is growing in the United States, many institutions including Kennesaw State Univeristy has been preparing for the worst. KSU has posted an advisory page on its website. The page includes cautionary instructions for travelers leaving from and returning to KSU campus.
KSU’s Ebola Advisory webpage states that KSU will not approve any “educational or business-related travel to countries with a CDC Level 3 Warning.” These countries include Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The advisory also states that any KSU student or employee traveling to CDC Level one and two countries, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, must complete an extensive health evaluation as indicated in the “Physician’s Risk Exposure Assessment,” to include a 21 day health monitoring, before returning to normal activities at KSU.
The Associate Vice President of Operations, Maria Britt, is the chairman of the KSU Public Health Advisory Team. The Dean of Student Success, Dr. Michael Sanseviro, commented the Public Health Advisory Team. He said it is “comprised of experts from across campus representing various key departments and functions ensure the university is being proactive whenever any potential public health concern arises.”
After all KSU is just a short 45 minute drive to Hartsfield-Jackson International, the busiest airport in the world with over 94,000,000 passengers last year. Sanseviro states that there “is no reason to believe there is any serious threat to KSU” and says we should all “focus on facts, not fear.”
Sanseviro also went on say it is important for students to “personal health and wellness.” However, should any student or faculty member suspect infection they should immediately contact KSU Student Health Services at 470.578.6644.
In the end, there were only four confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States to date and of those four none of the cases reported were in Georgia or the surrounding states. In the past the fatality rate for Ebola has been as high as 90 percent, but the United States has suffered only one fatality.
