In lieu of the recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa and isolated cases in the United States, a phone call meeting was held to share information about what is currently known about the disease with the institutions of the University of North Carolina education system.

Katrin Wesner, the Certified Administrator in Physician Practice Management (CAPPM) and Director of the Abrons Student Health Center, was present during the phone call meeting that discussed what is currently known about Ebola with members of the UNC Wilmington staff.

“We had a phone call of all the 16 UNC (University of North Carolina) schools where we had a chance to get an update from the State Health Department,” Wesner said. “There is a lot of information being shared so everyone is up to date.” The phone call also discussed what procedures would be taken if someone locally were to become sick from Ebola.

“It’s all about prevention and being prepared. I think the thing that should be reassuring to students, faculty, and staff [is] that there are a lot of people on campus that are making sure we are prepared.” Wesner said, mentioning that this included help from both the state and country as well.

Included in the call was the Emergency Management Coordinator at UNCW, Eric Griffin. Griffin oversees the procedures and safety measures on campus in case of any emergency. Ebola is one of the emergencies that UNCW now has to consider.

“The highest priority of this campus is to make sure our campus community is safe and in the event an emergency does occur, that the campus community is ready and able to respond to protect the lives of our students, faculty and staff,” Griffin said. The plan has to take into account if someone becomes sick with the disease or in case limited staff slows down campus operations.

While UNCW prepared for the worst case scenario, the likelihood of a full outbreak in the US still remains low according to Arthur Frampton, associate professor at UNCW with a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, and LA and a B. S. in cell biology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

“I would say that is a highly unlikely to have a major outbreak on the scale they are having in West Africa,” Frampton said. “For an outbreak to occur, what you would need with a viral pathogen is something highly transmissible and also highly virulent or capable of causing significant disease in humans.”

The Ebola virus has a high mortality rate, but it lacks the high risk of transmission causing the likelihood of an outbreak to be very low. Out of all possible things to catch this season, Frampton said there are other things that should be on people’s minds.

“I would be more concerned about the flu because the chances of getting the flu if you don’t’ have your flu shot is very high.”

Wesner expressed the same concerns saying, “On average, every year 20,000 people die of the flu. We don’t get this nervous about the flu.” While the flu may not be the star disease this year, it is more common for anyone to catch. Already this year, North Carolina has had its first flu death.

With flu season starting, those who haven’t gotten a flu shot should get one and practice healthy practices such as washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing.

 For anyone wishing to stay educated on Ebola, Wesner and Frampton suggest reliable sources than those heavy with opinion or without reliable information.

Current updates on Ebola and other diseases can be found on the World Health Organization website and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

 For anyone traveling, Wesner recommends checking each website for current health information and the state department website for any travel restrictions. Of course, any plans to travel to West Africa during this time should be reconsidered unless absolutely necessary.