A few days ago, an Ebola-infected patient from Guinea made his way to Senegal despite a travel ban imposed by the country to neighbors affected by the virus.
Health experts and aid agencies argue this proves the ban is ineffective in containing the epidemic. But governments are not listening and now there is concern some want to enforce even stricter travel restrictions in a desperate attempt to stem the spread of the disease across more countries in West Africa.
The issue can be seen as a communication failure but not because the message wasn’t loud and clear. Communication is a two-way process, but in the case of the Ebola epidemic, the receiver doesn’t always get the message nor the entire truth about it.