I first heard about Ebola in 2009 when I contracted swine flu. My friend was sitting with me in our hotel room and he casually said, “at least it’s not something bad like Ebola.”

It sparked my interest because at the time I couldn’t imagine what was worse than a 103-degree temperature and uncontrollable dizziness. So I did some digging for information and yeah, I can definitely say I don’t ever want to get Ebola.

Despite the outbreak in West Africa and knowing how interconnected our global population is, I’m still more worried about getting swine flu again or even catching that cold that’s sweeping across campus.

Unfortunately the Salem witch trials are happening again but instead of witchcraft, a worm-like virus is causing preposterous mass hysteria and the media is perpetuating it.

I’m constantly bombarded with photos and press releases about the virus: more people in Africa are dying, the CDC screwed up over letting an at-risk nurse fly on a plane and our protective gear might not be as good as we were led to believe. I see hardly anything about what the virus actually is, how population growth in Africa correlates to the new outbreaks and how one, in the most precise and accurate manner, contracts Ebola.

Ebola’s early symptoms mimic the common cold. But unlike the common cold, Ebola is caught from touching bodily fluids from someone who shows the symptoms.

At this point, I am pretty safe to say that no one on campus has manhandled a person that came from the affected areas of West Africa, let alone in Spokane.

Worry more about manhandling a friend’s coffee, because mononucleosis is just as horrible as the flu.

In fact, stressing out over Ebola is nonsense.

My aunt works in housekeeping at Sacred Heart Medical Center, she regularly sees her share of gore in those emergency rooms. I live with a person who deals with body fluids on a regular basis, yet I don’t think twice about this virus.

Of course I’m aware of it, but why live in fear?

If I follow this logic, then everyone should be detrimentally ill in fear over getting cancer. While the CDC estimates over 8,000 cases of Ebola in West Africa, the National Cancer Institute estimates over 1.5 million new cases of cancer in 2014 in the United States.

The last time I was terrified about getting the disease was when I was five years old and learned that my zodiac sign was Cancer.

Yet with cancer, the media focuses on research. What harm would it cause to focus on  research that’s happened since the 1970s for Ebola? People rely on hope and progress; I think in such a bleak situation, the media should stop mindlessly following Ebola victims like they’re stars of their own reality shows.

As of now, Ebola is the wicked witch. Society needs their Dorothy, because I’m tired of sitting and watching people freak out because someone sneezed.