Health
Travelers head to Africa despite Ebola concerns
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By RUTH KRUG
Capital News Service
LANSING — For Michigan State University students and Lansing-area immigrants from West Africa planning to travel there, the Ebola virus raises a similar reaction: stay healthy and hopeful. With more than 3,400 deaths so far, the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern. Hardest hit are Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, with other cases reported in Nigeria and Senegal. How might the virus impact students who plan to study or research in Africa or community residents who plan to travel there? John Metzler, the assistant director for outreach and programming at the MSU African Studies Center, said, “The likelihood of an American getting malaria is more likely than Ebola, but the university is advising students to stay healthy, and have an emergency prevention plan.”
Ben Chamberlain, the university’s international health and safety analyst, said no university study abroad programs have been cancelled yet.