--- title: Watch a Science Cop Take On the Ebola Fear Mongers description: The first appearance of an Ebola case in the United States does not mean we're headed for an epidemic canonical: https://time.com/3491579/science-cop-ebola-fear-mongers/ author: Michael Lester article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-13T11:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T11:37:24.139Z article:section: Health og:title: Watch a Science Cop Take On the Ebola Fear Mongers og:description: The first appearance of an Ebola case in the United States does not mean we're headed for an epidemic og:url: https://time.com/3491579/science-cop-ebola-fear-mongers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856b6025a2d9fafb/69876025a988cab1fb6a9be0/ep4-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Science Cop - fear mongers og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch a Science Cop Take On the Ebola Fear Mongers twitter:description: The first appearance of an Ebola case in the United States does not mean we're headed for an epidemic twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856b6025a2d9fafb/69876025a988cab1fb6a9be0/ep4-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch a Science Cop Take on the Ebola Fear Mongers by [Michael Lester](https://time.com/author/michael-lester/) and [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/) Oct 13, 2014 11:00 AM UTC  TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kulger takes on the media figures stirring up panic in the aftermath of the ebola outbreak. TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kulger takes on the media figures stirring up panic in the aftermath of the ebola outbreak.Getty (2 images) by [Michael Lester](https://time.com/author/michael-lester/) and [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/) Oct 13, 2014 11:00 AM UTC Yes, Ebola has close to a 50% death rate; and yes that death is a very ugly, very bloody one. But the first appearance of a case in the United States does not mean we’re headed for an epidemic anything like the one that is causing so much suffering in West Africa. The disease is not easy to catch and incubates for a relatively short time—which means that no one spends months or years as a symptom-free carrier. And proper isolation facilities in modern hospitals mean that if a person does fall ill here, the virus can be contained. But none of that is what you’ll hear from the fear mongers, who warn that a plague is among us and we must seal our borders to save ourselves from doom. A Science Cop tells you what you need to know. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3491579/science-cop-ebola-fear-mongers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3491579/science-cop-ebola-fear-mongers/"},"headline":"Watch a Science Cop Take on the Ebola Fear Mongers","datePublished":"2014-10-13T11:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:37:24.139Z","description":"You'd be crazy not to be afraid of Ebola—but it's equally crazy to be too afraid.","url":"https://time.com/3491579/science-cop-ebola-fear-mongers/","keywords":["ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856b6025a2d9fafb/69876025a988cab1fb6a9be0/ep4-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Lester","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-lester/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt856b6025a2d9fafb/69876025a988cab1fb6a9be0/ep4-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Science Cop - fear mongers","caption":"Science Cop - Ebola Fear Mongers","creditText":"Getty (2 images)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3491579/science-cop-ebola-fear-mongers/","name":"Watch a Science Cop Take on the Ebola Fear Mongers"}}]}] ```