By: Jordan Hill

It takes a death of a U.S. citizen to motivate our government and the CDC to take action.

Five international airports are screening temperatures of passengers coming back from West Africa, where Ebola is believed to have started. This movement comes after a couple of Ebola diagnoses in the U.S. and one death.

Screening international passengers’ temperatures is a wonderful start to preventing the spreading of Ebola, but it’s going to take more than a thermometer to keep our country safe.

As of now, there are five U.S. citizens with Ebola, one being the Texas man that died recently.

The country was first told not to worry when two citizens were hospitalized in Atlanta for the disease. Fortunately, they were cured. However, weeks after their release, more citizens are being diagnosed and are dying from Ebola.

It has taken the death of an American to make our government realize that this disease is becoming an epidemic. Ebola is only spread by direct contact of a diagnosed person’s fluids or an infected syringe or needle.

Our nation must come to terms that this disease is prevalent. However, we must now focus on prevention of more diagnoses and a certifiable cure.

One way our government is preventing Ebola is by sending our soldiers to Africa. That is a great idea, considering that is the origin of Ebola and our U.S. citizens’ sickness. Helping others in need is what America thrives on, but to put our soldiers’ lives in danger, as well as other citizens, is ignorant.

While it is comparable to putting their lives in danger by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the soldiers are there helping sick Africans, not protecting our freedoms and rights.