“If I had to wake up and worry about something, it’s probably not going to be about getting Ebola, especially in Hays, Kansas.”
Hays Med Chief Medical Officer Dr. Larry Watts

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Americans are much more likely to contract the flu virus than Ebola, according to officials at Hays Medical Center.

The flu virus is airborne, making it much easier to transmit. Ebola is transmitted only through contact with bodily fluids.

Hays Med Chief Medical Officer Dr. Larry Watts said the hospital is “prepared to provide safe patient care to individuals who have symptoms or diagnosed with Ebola.”

“As we get experience with it (in the U.S.), we’ll get better at treating it. The question is, will we even get it here to get experience? Right now, you basically have to go to Africa to get really get experience and training in treating Ebola,” he said. “The doctors and nurses who have gone over there to treat it aren’t dying. If (health care workers) follow good technique, the possibility of getting it is small.”

“If I had to wake up and worry about something, it’s probably not going to be about getting Ebola, especially in Hays, Kansas,” Watts added.

Just four Americans have been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States — none are in Kansas. One Dallas man died; the other three, all health care professionals, have recovered.

In contrast, the Centers for Disease Control estimates 6,309 Americans die of the flu each year.