Ebola is the trendy new disease that's catching the world by storm. Remember Swine Flu? Bird Flu? SARS? Before that, AIDS and Polio? Basically the western world loves to freak out over foreign diseases because they're scary and new and OMG PEOPLE ARE DYING IN SUCH HORRIBLE WAYS!
Well there's no question about that. But the amount of media-hype and fear pandering far exceeds the realistic expectation and outcome because that's how our society reacts to everything. We live in a very developed world with good medical facilities and exemplary biomedical research institutions, and have organizations trained to deal with containing and treating biological outbreaks such as this. The reason why Swine Flu, Bird Flu, and SARS came and left on the media hype train, instead of hovering over everyone as an omnipotent cloud of pathogenic death (like more prevalent illnesses, such as Malaria, Cancer, Heart Disease, and Explosive Diarrhea do), is because those illnesses could never overcome the response we mounted as a result. They're more hype than realistic fear to us, nothing more, nothing less.
That being said Liberia is having a heck of a time wit the response. The WHO lacks the manpower and international support to put the necessary amount of manpower in the field to actually combat the growing threat. On top of that, Liberia's social response is overwhelmingly hostile as well, with mobs ransacking clinics, medical services being stopped, and patients fleeing from treatments in fear. Those same mobs then loot the clinics and steal practically everything,
including Ebola contaminated materials, thus further the spread of the illness. Liberia is hardly as developed or as well-versed in medical knowledge as we are, and as a result Ebola will likely remain an ever-present specter for years to come.
1. Do you think the government might be lying about it only being transmitted through certain things, just to make sure everyone is calm?
The government can barely hide their own extra-marital affairs, much less biomedical information. If the government couldn't cover up the Iraqi WMD Failure and the Benghazi raid, I doubt they could cover up something like this. This isn't North Korea, and government transparency (while not perfect) is pretty good. Only tin-foil, Loose Change, "There was no second plane" conspiracy nuts believe that the government is more competent than it actually is.
What we should be worried about is what information is the government ignoring about Ebola?
2. Do you think it could turn into a world-wide plague?
Technically it already has reached Epidemic levels since the initial aid worker in Liberia was flown to Texas, thus crossing continents. I'm not too worried about the technicalities of it, though: in today's globalized age and unfair distribution of medical institutions, someone's going to be flown somewhere else for medical assistance. But in terms of a US outbreak? It can happen, but our professional response will handle it.
3. Do you think it is airborne? (Related to question 1)
No.
According to the WHO:
The Ebola virus is transmitted among humans through close and direct physical contact with infected bodily fluids, the most infectious being blood, faeces and vomit.
....
The Ebola virus can also be transmitted indirectly, by contact with previously contaminated surfaces and objects. The risk of transmission from these surfaces is low and can be reduced even further by appropriate cleaning and disinfection procedures.
Not an airborne virus
Ebola virus disease is not an airborne infection. Airborne spread among humans implies inhalation of an infectious dose of virus from a suspended cloud of small dried droplets.
And I trust the internationally recognized organization of medical professionals more than someone without a degree as prestigious nor labcoats as pristine white as theirs.
