--- title: Doctor Who Survived Ebola Fears For Coronavirus Patients description: Then-citizen Donald Trump was one of the loudest voices condemning Dr. Craig Spencer after his return to New York City from helping ebola patients in Africa canonical: https://time.com/5777541/coronavirus-craig-spencer-ebola-doctor/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-04T19:23:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:58.628Z article:section: Health og:title: Doctor Who Survived Ebola Fears For Coronavirus Patients og:description: Then-citizen Donald Trump was one of the loudest voices condemning Dr. Craig Spencer after his return to New York City from helping ebola patients in Africa og:url: https://time.com/5777541/coronavirus-craig-spencer-ebola-doctor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf902a023ca3d37d/698a09beb3fce3fb6d0c6486/craig-spencer-ebola-doctor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Doctor Craig Spencer Is Released From Bellevue After Being Declared Free Of Ebola og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Doctor Who Survived Ebola Fears For Coronavirus Patients twitter:description: Then-citizen Donald Trump was one of the loudest voices condemning Dr. Craig Spencer after his return to New York City from helping ebola patients in Africa twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf902a023ca3d37d/698a09beb3fce3fb6d0c6486/craig-spencer-ebola-doctor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Doctor Was Vilified After Contracting Ebola. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=cadfb839-9d32-4333-8137-05267d7ca669&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Virus Expert on the Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak: 'Don’t Be Complacent. We Must Treat It Extremely Seriously' [Watch (HLS stream): Virus Expert on the Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak: 'Don’t Be Complacent. We Must Treat It Extremely Seriously'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I5nUfZc1.m3u8) (1:38)  _Published 2020-01-24. Hong Kong infectious disease expert Yuen Kwok-yung discussed the situation of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak with TIME in an exclusive interview. He warns that the disease is very infectious and control measures must be followed._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 4, 2020 7:23 PM UTC  Dr. Craig Spencer, who was diagnosed with Ebola in New York City, is viewed at a news conference at New York's Bellevue Hospital after being declared free of the disease on November 11, 2014 in New York City. Dr. Craig Spencer, who was diagnosed with Ebola in New York City, is viewed at a news conference at New York's Bellevue Hospital after being declared free of the disease on November 11, 2014 in New York City. Getty Images—2014 Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 4, 2020 7:23 PM UTC Panic swept through New York City in fall 2014 when [Dr. Craig Spencer](https://time.com/3535902/craig-spencer-ebowla-jokes-lack-empathy/) became the first person in the giant metropolis to be diagnosed with Ebola. The physician had contracted the deadly disease while helping sick patients in the hard-hit West African country of Guinea as a volunteer. As Spencer’s liver was failing and his then-fiancée was quarantined in their apartment, the public vilified him, picking apart his previous destinations and activities, including riding the subway and going bowling. Now, amid another [public health emergency](https://time.com/5774747/coronavirus-who-public-health-emergency/) as the novel [coronavirus](https://time.com/5774265/wuhan-china-virus-advances/) outbreak spreads internationally, Spencer says the U.S. is less prepared for a pandemic now than at the end of the Ebola outbreak, and he fears racism and [xenophobia](https://time.com/5776279/pandemic-xenophobia-scapegoating/) will worsen the crisis. “It’s worrisome,” Spencer tells TIME, echoing experts who’ve [expressed concerns](https://time.com/5775289/trump-coronavirus-preparedness/) about the Trump administration’s ability, and willingness, to ensure there are enough financial and other resources available to fight a pandemic. “We’re in trouble.” _Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking_ [_on this link_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/coronavirus?source=article)_, and please send any tips, leads, and stories to_ [_virus@time.com_](mailto:virus@time.com)_._ Since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, last month, more than 11,000 people have tested positive for it in at least 18 countries, and more than 250 have died. There are at least 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has confirmed that person-to-person transmission has occurred. When the Trump administration [announced](https://time.com/5775633/us-public-health-emergency-coronavirus-china/) last week that it would temporarily deny U.S. entry to any foreign national who has been in China and “poses a risk” of transmitting the virus, Spencer had flashbacks of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, which [killed more than 11,000](https://time.com/5606544/ebola-outbreak-drc-uganda/) people in Africa. “For me, it brings up these reminders and memories of what we were doing to people, not only in the U.S. but in West Africa,” says Spencer, 38, the director of global health in emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. “The way we talked about and treated people during the Ebola outbreak, how we maligned anyone from Africa.” Spencer was the fourth person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. He was treated for about three weeks and released from Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City in November 2014. During the first few days of his hospitalization, Spencer was widely criticized as “selfish” and a “fraud” for walking amongst members of the public after coming back from West Africa—even though people are not contagious until they develop symptoms, and Spencer had been monitoring his temperature, following federal protocol. Then-citizen Donald Trump tweeted that Spencer “recklessly flew into New York from West Africa” and “should have known” better. Politicians and public figures pounced, Spencer says, taking advantage of the panic amid election season to impose stringent quarantine measures for health workers returning from Ebola-stricken countries. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/525635174877630464) > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/525431218910027776) It caused Spencer to feel depressed for the first time. “It’s impossible to explain kind of the isolation and the psychological impact of being separated from humans and human contact for an extended period of time,” says Spencer, who now has a 1-year-old daughter. “It really leaves you helpless.” “It’s just really, really horrible to not be included,” Spencer adds. “We do it with every outbreak.” Spencer—who studied in China, where he met his wife—fears racism and [xenophobia](https://time.com/5776279/pandemic-xenophobia-scapegoating/) toward the Chinese population will grow, making matters worse if they become less likely to seek care in an attempt to avoid public disdain and quarantine. “It’s important to never forget the people who are at the epicenter of these outbreaks, the impact it has on their families and their culture,” Spencer says. “These are things that are almost never considered. We very frequently overlook the personal stories of people in the middle of our panic.” Spencer stresses that influenza is far deadlier than the coronavirus. The flu has [killed](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html) up to 61,000 people annually since 2010, according to the CDC. But Spencer understands the grip fear can have on a person, because he’s experienced it himself. “It’s easy for us to focus on the unknown,” he says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5777541/coronavirus-craig-spencer-ebola-doctor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5777541/coronavirus-craig-spencer-ebola-doctor/"},"headline":"This Doctor Was Vilified After Contracting Ebola. 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