Africans March in US Against Fear, Discrimination in Wake of Ebola Fears

Over the weekend, members of Philadelphia's Liberian, Guinea and Sierra Leonean communites took to the streets in a march billed as the "Walk to Make a Difference: Operation Crush Ebola.”

The march aimed to alert people to what should be obvious - that being from an African country does not equate to having the virus - and to share information on Ebola and how it is spread.Local news reported several of the marchers saying they feel singled out, and hoped the march would advance public understanding about Ebola.

In the United States, the fear of the Ebola has reached fever pitch, dominating the media, even though only a handful of people have been infected.

A doctor is currently being treated in New York, after returning from caring for Ebola victims in Guinea, prompting new quarantine measures at airports.

Meanwhile, two American nurses who contracted Ebola while attending to a Liberian patient in Dallas have been declared virus-free. Their patient died October 8, after becoming the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

One of the nurses criticized her treatment under the mandatory 21 day quarantine policy, questioning whether all people suspected of Ebola will “be made to feel like criminals and prisoners?” 

Last week, the United States started enforcing rules that require those returning from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to enter only through airports that conduct strict Ebola screenings.