Dr. Craig Spencer, who was infected with Ebola and recovered from the disease, suggests that politicians and media over-sensationalized the incident.
The latest Ebola outbreak started in February 2014 in some West African countries. However, the deadly disease also reached the U.S. as some American doctors, nurses and more got infected with the disease while serving patients and returned back to the U.S.
Dr. Spencer, who was working with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea, also contracted the disease and did not know about it until he returned back to the U.S. Dr. Spencer dined outside and also rode in the New York subways after coming back from Guinea but before the symptoms started showing on him.
Dr. Spencer reveals that his movements in public places before the confirmation of Ebola were highly criticized by the media and some politicians. He was accused of putting the lives of many New Yorkers at risk and some people also labeled him as a fraud, hipster and a hero. However, in an essay, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Spencer claims that he is none of them.
"After my diagnosis, the media and politicians could have educated the public about Ebola. Instead, they spent hours retracing my steps through New York and debating whether Ebola can be transmitted through a bowling ball," says Dr. Spencer.
The Ebola survivor claims that he answered to the calls of hundreds of people in Guinea and went for their help. He also finds himself lucky enough to survive the fatal disease.
Dr. Spencer wrote in the essay that media hyped the incident. Media stopped the hype about Dr. Spencer's Ebola infection only after he was released from the hospital and confirmed Ebola-free.
Dr. Spencer also believes that politicians also took advantage of the incident and did not sound very supporting. He criticized Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey for their reaction to his illness. Both the governors imposed quarantines on health workers and others who were exposed to Ebola while treating patients in West Africa but did not show any symptoms.
Dr. Spencer reveals that instead being greeted and appreciated humanitarians, Americans who had helped in fighting Ebola in West Africa were treated like "pariahs" on their return to the U.S.
The Ebola crisis in West Africa is still severe and the disease has infected thousands of people and resulted in the deaths of over 14,000 people.
