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Is Ebola a Safety Concern for GIVE Trips?
10/22/2014
As many of you are aware, there is currently a serious Ebola outbreak in West Africa. It poses a significant threat to the region and is deeply concerning, but is currently contained to West Africa, with the exception of a few isolated cases due to travel from West Africa to other countries. At this time, Ebola has not spread to East Africa, it is not in Tanzania, and there is no current risk to our volunteers, personnel, friends, or host communities in the country. The distance from the outbreak area to Tanzania is greater than the distance from the East Coast to the West Coast of the USA (around 3,600 miles). London is actually closer to the outbreak in West Africa than Tanzania. Furthermore, while the virus could spread via air travel (and has in limited cases), research suggests that Tanzania is at lower risk than many destinations throughout the world, including locations in the United States and Europe (NPR Article, Academic Research, Washington Post Article).
GIVE values participant safety above all else, and is closely monitoring the situation via numerous government resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leading news outlets, contacts on the ground, and our relationships with international travel experts. While we care greatly about West Africa and are deeply disturbed by their suffering and the outbreak itself, we remain optimistic that it will continue to have no impact on Tanzania, and still plan on running our 2015 trips. If anything changes, we will make an informed decision based on thorough research and consultation from numerous industry experts who we are affiliated with. Safety is, and will continue to be, our top priority. In the meantime, please remember:
1) We all can play a role containing the outbreak and eliminating suffering by contributing to leading relief agencies such as the CDC and Doctors Without Borders.
2) To be extra pre-cautious, check with your Travelers Insurance for Cancel for Any Reason coverage or cancellation details. USA residents have the option to Add-On Cancel for Any Reason insurance through CSA and help protect their investment.