Travelers to Tanzania and East Africa in general would have little cause for concern when planning a Safari because of Ebola disease. The Ebola outbreak has affected the Western Countries of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. These countries are very far from Tanzania, roughly 5,000 miles by vehicle and 3,500 miles by air. Geographically speaking, this is roughly the distance from Orlando, Fl. To Juneau, Alaska!

What is Ebola?

Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with a strain of Ebola virus. The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history, affecting ONLY multiple countries in West Africa. According to Center for Disease Control (CDC), Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood and body fluids of a person infected by and already showing symptoms of Ebola. Ebola is not spread through AIR, FOOD OR MOSQUITOS. Ebola poses no significant risk in the United States.

Hakuna Matata (No Worries!)

The Ebola epidemic has created havoc on African tourism industry. A lot of Safaris in Tanzania are running at 50 to 60 percent as of right now. Normally, these places are filled up years in advance. Potential Safari goers need not to worry about contracting the Ebola disease if they are to travel to Tanzania, based on the following facts:

The African continent is enormous, roughly the size of US, China, India, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, the UK and Eastern Europe. It is simply huge !(See map below)

Also check out www.cdc.gov if you want to monitor the global situation.

NPR news recently reported just how unlikely Ebola is to spread to East Africa by simply illustrating that

‘’ Cancelling a trip to Kenya is like cancelling a trip to Disney World

because of an Ebola outbreak in Alaska’’