With the deadly virus spreading rapidly throughout west Africa and now being diagnosed in the U.S., it’s easy to see that people are starting to get a little frightened.

“I’m scared of ebola because its hard to distinguish if a person has it or if they don’t because it can seem like the flu,” sophomore Adam Leligdon said.

The overwhelming relevancy of this virus has created a wide population of people fearing what the future holds. Along with fear, many people have a mindset that the virus will disappear soon.

“I’m not afraid but concerned although I’m sure we [the United States] will be able to take care of it,” principal Steve Loe said.

There have already been thousands of people that have visited hospitals around the nation with the fear they may have ebola. Without many of them actually coming in contact with the people who have been diagnosed and while it does have horrific symptoms and a very high mortality rate (around 50 percent), it is actually really hard to get.

The virus is not airborne and can only be obtained through direct contact with somebody infected. The disease mainly spreads through body fluids (ex: blood, saliva, etc.) but it is also possible to obtain through contact of somebody who has died of the disease. The best way to prevent getting the disease is by frequently washing your hands and avoiding contact of people who are sick, ultimately making this virus less powerful and not much to get extremely worried about.