Ebola is all over the news — but most consumers and health care professionals aren't worried about getting sick with the exotic disease.
What consumers are more concerned about, a new survey from WebMd finds, is how well equipped and prepared the nation's health care system is should an epidemic exist.
Nearly three-quarters of American consumers and health care professionals say they're not worried about catching the disease. But 55 percent of health care professionals feel the country isn't prepared to respond to an Ebola outbreak. Doctors and nurses felt more confident in their ability to manage the disease: 63 percent felt that their practice, clinic, or hospital was prepared to treat a patient with Ebola symptoms
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"Despite a 24/7 news cycle about crises, outbreaks, travel bans and quarantines, the majority of Americans are aware that the risk to the general public of contracting Ebola in the United States is very low," says Michael Smith, WebMD chief medical editor.
Other key findings from the survey include:
• 84 percent of consumers and 89 percent of health care professionals support the screening of passengers arriving from areas affected by Ebola.
• 69 percent of consumers and 52 percent of health care professionals say it's reasonable to stop flights from affected areas from landing in the U.S. until Ebola outbreaks are under control.
• 57 percent of consumers and 56 percent of health care professionals are in favor of quarantining visitors from affected countries until certain they are not affected by Ebola.
Also read: Forget Ebola, let's talk about the flu
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