The Ebola virus hasn't landed in the Last Frontier, but Alaskans are feeling the psychological effects.
Last week, the Anchorage School District was the target of a Twitter hoax that claimed Ebola had made its way to a Anchorage high school. Phony news tips have been called in to local newsrooms (including Alaska Dispatch News). And when a Delta Airlines flight landed in Anchorage on Friday evening and a passenger who had been vomiting was removed from the plane by emergency medical personnel wearing protective clothing, others on the plane were rattled.
Health officials say concerns about Ebola in Alaska are rooted in whispers, rumors, social media and the human psyche.
"There is a little bit of hysteria," said Department of Health and Social Services spokesperson Jason Grenn.
That doesn't mean the state -- and other agencies -- dismiss such talk entirely.
"We don't take (Ebola rumors) lightly, but we would have been notified (if there were a threat)," Grenn said. "I don't think we are going to be the people that are notified third-hand. We are going to hear about it directly, but if you called and said 'We heard about this,' we would do our due diligence."
DHSS isn't the only organization that has followed up on Ebola-related reports. Alaska Dispatch News has investigated several Ebola rumors, each of which was quickly quashed by state health officials. The Anchorage Police Department's cyber crime unit began investigating the Twitter hoax, said APD spokesperson Jennifer Castro, who added the case has been suspended. Whoever started the hoax could be charged with terroristic threatening, a class B felony. At least one local emergency room has seen patients concerned about their own symptoms.
"Given the heightened awareness of Ebola, members of the community with questions and concerns have sought evaluation at Providence Alaska Medical Center's Emergency Department," wrote Providence spokesperson Mike Canfield. "As with every patient, we followed our screening protocol, evaluating recent travel history and symptoms. Ultimately, no patient has met the screening criteria for Ebola."
And U.S. Centers for Disease Control spokesperson Llewyn Grant confirmed that while the CDC did evaluate the ill passenger from the Delta flight, that person wasn't suspected to have Ebola. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport manager John Parrott said the only ill passenger he heard about in that timeframe was actually a diabetic with possible internal bleeding.
Grant said it is not uncommon for the CDC to be asked to evaluate ill passengers, especially in an airport where the agency has a regular presence -- as it does in Anchorage.
"Obviously, there is heightened attention and as a result there is more precaution that is being taken," Grant said in a phone interview. Parrott said the CDC has been set up in the north terminal of the airport for nearly a decade. He said its placement there was because the north terminal is the international terminal, where the fear of spreading deadly virus and disease is much greater.
Parrott added the Anchorage airport currently has no international passenger flights.
According to Grant, nationally the CDC has had a "number of requests" involving passengers who are presenting illness. The CDC announced Wednesday anyone who's traveled from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone will now be monitored by health officials, who'll be looking for Ebola-like symptoms, for 21 days upon their arrival in the U.S.
According to Grenn, the quarantine room at the Anchorage airport has been used to hold people with measles and tuberculosis. The CDC would not allow Alaska Dispatch News access to its airport center.
Grenn said it is always possible one of the deadly viruses could spread during air travel but reiterated the state has plans in place for any medical emergency of similar nature -- which could be Ebola or a disease such as measles or tuberculosis.
Grenn said if a passenger gets ill on a plane, the pilot has a "legal obligation" to communicate that to people on the ground. Upon arrival, the passenger would be evaluated. If the passenger seems as if he or she could be suffering the effects of any of those deadly medical issues, the state epidemiology office is notified, at which point, Grenn said, the state is ready to isolate and fight the illness.
UAA psychology professor John Petraitis has two ideas as to how, thousands of miles away from countries plagued by the deadly virus, Alaska is experiencing Ebola-caused worry.
The first, he suggested, is what is scientifically known as "availability heuristics," which is essentially people making decisions based on things that are uncertain and unknown.
"The rule of thumb is this: If you can think of an example really quickly or if my mind can conjure up a strong mental picture, this thing must be really common. If I say 'think about Ebola,' you get a mental image of a guy in a quarantine suit. It conjures up this strong mental image and an easy mental image because it is in the news. Because it makes for strong photojournalism, people overestimate the risk."
Petraitis said people also could also confusing "the likelihood of something with the consequences of something."
"Ebola may not be extremely likely here, but the consequences are terrible -- I mean, wow."
But Grenn said Alaskans should stay calm and trust the procedures set in place.
"We would be ready to isolate and defend against Ebola," said Grenn. "Right now, all of our work is to make sure we are prepared and to show our preparedness against Ebola and other things."