Ebola Virus, the butt of the joke in 2014, is a disease that was discovered in Africa in 1976; however, 2014 met the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, infecting many countries in West Africa. Out of all of the infected countries in Africa, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone experienced the greatest number of Ebola cases, in addition to the greatest number of deaths from the virus.

The epidemic became so out of hand that President Barack Obama sent 3,000 doctors and social workers to West Africa in attempt to halt the spread of Ebola throughout the countries and aid those who were already infected. Along the way, the many flights in and out of the United States by those who were sent to assist in West Africa led to the small spread of Ebola within the United States. Three patients, two in Texas and one in New York, were tested positive for Ebola, sending the United States into panic. The patient in Dallas, Texas passed away just nine days after he was diagnosed with Ebola on October 8^th.

“Here’s the bottom line. Patients can beat this disease. And we can beat this disease. But we have to stay vigilant. We have to work together at every level — federal, state and local. And we have to keep leading the global response, because the best way to stop this disease, the best way to keep Americans safe, is to stop it at its source — in West Africa,” said President Barack Obama.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with other U.S. government agencies are taking active steps to prevent the further spread of Ebola within West Africa. The CDC has activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to assist disease control activities, and CDC experts have been deployed to non-infected border countries to Ebola-ridden nations in order to assess their Ebola preparedness.