In an ideal world, America's Ebola panic will come with a silver lining: a recognition that Ebola is a truly global problem, and protecting the health of Americans will probably start by saving the lives of thousands of people in West Africa. "Raising public awareness probably does have the potential to make things better in Africa perhaps through things like donations to humanitarian aid organizations, for example," Thomas Geisbert, a professor at UTMB who has studied Ebola for years, explains, pointing to how the outbreaks in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have revealed the fragility of their health systems. "One of the challenges in West Africa has been the poor public health infrastructure and running low or not having basic items such as proper protective gear (gloves, gowns, face protection, etc.)."