First: understanding your options
Please understand that The Haiv respects and supports your judgment. You have alternatives if you — or clients or colleagues — feel the risks of travel are perceived as too great for a successful in-person meeting. If you're a meeting owner or organizer, you represent The Haiv in offering choices to those whose attendance is crucial. Here's how:
Remote conferencing
For most locations, Technology Services can set up conferences that include not only audio but video along with screen and document sharing. Contact them at least a week before your meeting, if possible, so they can work ahead to meet heavy demand.
For cases where plans change quickly or the meeting is not at a Haiv office, managers are authorized to use their purchase accounts for services such as WebEx.
Travel adjustments
If you need to change or cancel travel plans, contact Travel Services right away. They have the tools to cut red tape and get the best outcome on fare refunds and transfers.
Next: weighing your risks
You have options, but it's important to base your judgment on the best information.
So where can you turn? You would think the vast body of mainstream media would help, but its frenzied approach tends to cloud the facts. You've probably heard that the risk of harm is far greater from more mundane diseases such as measles or even from car crashes. Let's break that down further and address your most likely worries as a traveler.
Will you encounter Ebola?
Let's take a look at the number of reported cases. At this writing, outside of West Africa, there have been 17 worldwide. Only three of those were contracted locally (two in Dallas, Texas, USA and the other in Madrid, Spain) — by medical staff intensively treating people who had caught the disease in West Africa. Based on just the numbers, you are very, very unlikely to encounter Ebola, even when traveling. Also: A person can spread the disease only when symptoms are evident — and someone that sick is both easily noticed and unlikely to feel up to traveling. In that way, Ebola is dramatically different from colds and flus.
Can you catch Ebola through the air?
The air inside a jetliner is recirculated and passengers may have connected from anywhere — so it's understandable to worry about exotic microbes from across the globe. However, it appears so far that the Ebola virus does not survive when remaining suspended in air. What's more, a leading virologist reports that in the 100-year history of virus study, none has been seen to change the way it transmits. (Yes, viruses mutate, but apparently not to that extent.)
Can you catch Ebola from someone nearby?
It's technically possible but not easy in first-world conditions. That person's body fluids would need to encounter a break in your skin, or meet mucus membranes such as those in your nose, throat or mouth. The precautions are so simple that you're probably taking them already.
- If you have skin breaks such as cuts and scrapes, keep them covered.
- Don't share food or drink with your seatmates.
- If you do encounter someone's body fluids, wash up with soap and water right away — especially before you touch your mouth or nose.
Then how is Ebola such a threat?
In many places within West Africa, things we consider basic — such as running water and effective soap — are hard to come by. In those places, it's much easier for Ebola to spread. The same places lack the people and facilities to adequately care for the sick, so the cycle is tough to break.
How did the three medical staffers get infected?
Keep in mind that in late-stage Ebola, the presence of copious body fluids is a certainty. Experts point to the tricky process of taking off virus-exposed gloves and suits. It takes practice to do it right, and it appears the three medical staffers may not have had much practice.
So there you have it
The facts suggest that the travel risk from Ebola is less than overwhelming. But the success of your meeting depends on others' assessment of risk, not just your own — so be sure to offer clients and colleagues alternatives to travel in any case. Meanwhile, you might preserve peace of mind by monitoring developments directly from sources such as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control rather than through the media frenzy.
One last thing: The Haiv is contributing to Doctors without Borders, an organization that provides care for those directly affected by the health crisis in West Africa. You can join in; see details on The Haiv Reaches Out intranet site.
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