Panic and hysteria have become the worst enemies of the health workers struggling bravely in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to contain the deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus in history. Airlines are cancelling flights. A growing number of other African countries are severing air and sea links, and neighbours such as Senegal and Ivory Coast have closed their borders. Fearful that their employees could be locked in a death trap, international companies are evacuating expatriate staff. Shockingly, the Philippines has decided to recall its 115-strong contingent of troops stationed as part of UN peacekeeping in Liberia at the very moment they are most needed as a bulwark for national security forces.
恐慌和歇斯底里已成爲醫療工作者最可怕的敵人,這些醫療工作者正勇敢地在獅子山、賴比瑞亞和幾內亞努力工作,以遏制埃博拉(Ebola)病毒有史以來最致命的爆發。航空公司正在取消航班。越來越多的非洲國家正在切斷與這三國的海空聯繫,塞內加爾和象牙海岸等鄰國關閉了邊境。由於擔心員工可能被困在「死亡之地」,這三國境內的跨國公司正在撤走外籍員工。令人震驚的是,菲律賓決定召回派駐在賴比瑞亞的115名聯合國維和士兵,而現在恰恰是最需要他們來維護賴比瑞亞國家安全的時候。