THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

As anyone on the African plains can tell you, there are few things more frightening than an elephant stampede. And as we are finding out in the US, when the elephant party stampedes, spooked by their own vile propaganda, good people get hurt. And so it is with the unreasoning fear of Ebola causing unnecessary and disruptive quarantines in the US. The worst effect is on those working to stop Ebola at its source.

Mandatory quarantines imposed by some U.S. states on doctors and nurses returning from Ebola-ravaged countries have created a "chilling effect" on aid work in West Africa, the humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders (DWB) has warned.

The medical charity said restrictions imposed by several states have prompted it to discuss whether to shorten deployments.

It comes as one of its volunteer nurses, Kaci Hickox, continues to defy a quarantine imposed by Maine officials. She notes that keeping her isolated was unscientific, since she has been tested negative for Ebola and displays no signs of the disease. On Thursday she went on a bike ride with her boyfriend, directly challenging state officials to take her to court to impose restrictions, as officials have threatened they would.

The state of Maine responded Friday, asking a court to restrict Hickox's movements.

DWB has warned that such moves may deter other health care professionals from volunteering their services.

"There is rising anxiety and confusion among [DWB] staff members in the field over what they may face when they return home upon completion of their assignments in West Africa," Sophie Delaunay, the organization’s executive director in the United States, said in a statement.

DWB is one of the main aid groups working in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the worst Ebola outbreak on record has killed nearly 5,000 people.

Some DWB workers have been delaying their returns to the U.S. and are staying in Europe for 21 days, Ebola's maximum incubation period, "in order to avoid facing rising stigmatization at home and possible quarantine," Delaunay said.

As a result, DWB is discussing whether to shorten some Ebola assignments from their current duration of four to six weeks. Its workers typically begin and end their assignments in Brussels, the Belgian capital, a DWB spokesman said.

"Some people are being discouraged by their families from returning to the field," Delaunay said.

Is there a better way to promote the spread of Ebola than by hindering the fight against it? If so you can be sure the REpublicans would be trumpeting it on Fux Nooz now.