Doesn’t it seem to you that history repeats itself ?

Here it is a century since World War I began, and we’re already looking at an emerging global battle royal. Of course I am referring to the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus and its nearly inevitable escape from the confines of Africa. ‘Nearly inevitable’ because I think that it could have been stopped in its tracks had more been done to contain the virus when it re-emerged this past spring.

Those steps could have included more education about the virus — its cause(s) and effects, and more training on dealing with suspected or confirmed cases. Those would have been a good start. The governments, health organizations and citizens of the affected nations could have been in the vanguard of controlling the disease from spreading.

But there may be a combination of different reasons for an evidently poor response to the outbreak. Perhaps the virus burst on the scene too quickly and caught everyone by surprise. Maybe the infrastructure for health care is simply not equipped for such a severe outbreak of any disease. Then there’s the very human response to such a lethal disease: People panicked.

Panic, the metaphorical brother to Fear, can inspire even the most rational person to run away or, if trapped, act cruelly or even violently. In America, we saw this with the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s.

Just the other evening, two friends of mine were telling me their horror stories of watching people they knew being publicly shunned if they were even suspected of having either HIV or any symptoms of AIDS. Those friends are concerned that if Ebola finds a more secure place in this county, it will spark another such pattern of behavior. I pray they’re proved wrong.

In spite or because of the incident in Dallas, it seems to me that stateside hospitals and other health care organizations are becoming better equipped and working diligently to check the virus. You’ll recall this past weekend that Southampton Hospital announced it’s prepared, and I suppose the same could be said of Obici Hospital in Suffolk. Well, they’re prepared as they can hope to be for now. That’s also a worthy start.

I would like to see all countries of the world engage in aggressive battle mode to fight together and not merely contain the virus, but to find an effective vaccine that could eradicate Ebola.

The world did this with smallpox. I can’t see why we can’t win another such war.

STEPHEN H. COWLES is the staff writer for The Tidewater News. He can be contacted at either 562-3187 or stephen.cowles@tidewaternews.com.