When You've Seen Subway Rats, Ebola Seems Like Nothin'

Yesterday, public health officials announced that Ebola had been identified for the first time in both Mali, a country that neighbors Guinea, and New York City. The arrival of the virus in another West African country is a cause for concern. The World Health Organization has sent a team of health experts to manage contact tracing and infection control for the two-year-old patient.

The doctor diagnosed with Ebola in New York City is already in isolation; his fiancee and two friends are in quarantine. It seems highly unlikely that the disease will spread far from this one case, a message that has been reiterated by government officials. But the emphasis is hardly necessary, since it seems many New Yorkers are already over the fear-mongering and panic that we saw when Ebola surfaced in Dallas.