Don't Worry, Ma

Lately, many people have been asking me about the ebola outbreaks. They're worried about the virus spreading to Zambia. While distance isn't any guarantee against the spread of this disease, I wanted to give some perspective.

Let's start with the fact that Africa is a continent. While the country of Zambia is only the size of Texas, Africa can comfortably contain the United States, China, Europe, India, and Japan. The United States can fit within the continent 3 times. Hopefully this gives you an idea of scale and size. Here's a commonly used graphic for you (courtesy of josipdasovic.wordpress.com).

Now, with this scale in mind, the Ebola outbreak is in west Africa in the countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. I'm in southern Africa. While our neighbors in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) have had outbreaks in the past, Zambia has never experienced one. Additionally, the government is contemplating steps to prevent the entrance of the disease.

While anything is possible, I wanted to reassure those of you who may be worried about the possibility of Ebola in Zambia that right now the reported cases are thousands of miles away and the Zambian government (and I'm sure Peace Corps) are  monitoring the situation.

To end, here's another graphic for you from a fellow PCV in Zambia.