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[/media-credit]Although Ebola has not been found in Tennessee, Union University has developed a plan to deal with the virus if a case occurred on campus.
“The old adage, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ I think is appropriate,” said Ben Mitchell, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “I also think that one of the burdens … of the administration is to prepare to protect the population, so that’s what we want to do.”
Administrators and health professionals at Union looked at previous plans created to deal with other outbreaks, such as the H1N1 virus.
The difference between those plans and the plan for Ebola is that with outbreaks such as H1N1, a large number of students would have to be affected before Union would shut down classes.
With Ebola, the entire campus would have to be shut down for several weeks if a single case occurred, Mitchell said. Shutting the campus down would likely mean quarantining students in their dorms and faculty in their homes.
Faculty have been instructed to devise alternate means to continue classes if the campus were quarantined. This may mean using Moodle, Skype or another technology, Mitchell said.
“It would be awful not to be able to have classes for two weeks,” Mitchell said. “It would cripple the semester for students.”
The policy also asks that students, faculty and staff register their international travel online at https://uu-horizons.symplicity.com. This way, if someone returned from an infected area showing the symptoms of Ebola, the university could monitor their condition.
Paul Mayer, director of health services, said it is “very unlikely” for a case of Ebola to occur on campus.
Currently the virus is widespread in only three West African nations: Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Nov. 7, only four cases were found in the United States, none in Tennessee.
“Contingency plans are just that: Contingency plans,” Mayer said. “They’re set up for worst case scenarios so when the worst case does happen, you’re not caught off guard.”
Mayer follows the CDC, the World Health Organization and other services that give him updates from health organizations in different nations. This gives him an overview of what health concerns are in different parts of the world so he can counsel people traveling overseas. He also monitors reports from the Tennessee Department of Health so he can alert Bryan Carrier, vice president for student life and dean of students, if there is a concern in West Tennessee.
Mayer said creating a policy for something like Ebola “is just being good stewards and being responsible.”
“If Ebola were to be found in West Tennessee, in the Jackson area, we’re ready,” Mayer said. “That’s all. That’s all it means.”
