The World Health Organization said Monday the Ebola outbreak is the "most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times."
In a statement issued at a health conference in Manila, Philippines, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan warned that the rampant fear of being infected is spreading much faster than the actual virus, USA Today reported.
"I have never before seen a health event attract such a high level of international media coverage, day after day after day," Chan said. "I have never seen a health event strike such fear and terror, well beyond the affected countries" of West Africa.
Chan said that 90 percent of money spent for any outbreak "come from irrational and disorganized efforts of the public to avoid infection."
However, money can be saved if the public is properly educated about Ebola to prevent rash decisions based on fear.
That would perhaps include knowledge on the way Ebola is spread. The virus is contracted through contact with bodily fluids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The disease is not airborne, a misconception one man took advantage of last week when he sneezed on a U.S. Airways flight and allegedly said, "I have Ebola. You're all screwed."
The passenger, who did not have Ebola, was escorted off the plane by a hazmat team after it landed in the Dominican Republic from Pennsylvania.
Others have demanded the U.S. close its borders to flights from West Africa, including Donald Trump. But government officials have ruled that out and instead stepped up screenings of passengers at airports.
According to the latest WHO figures, more than 4,000 people have died in the Ebola-stricken countries of West Africa, mainly Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Thousands more have been infected, with U.S. military officials scrambling to deliver supplies in West Africa and world health leaders constantly calling for more action.
