Refusing to succumb to panic is laudable and rational, and when the infection rate numbers in the single digits here in the United States, there's no reason to freak out.

But mainstream media organizations and the government are diminishing their already scant credibility when they downplay the threat from Ebola.

Since a Liberian man appeared at a Dallas hospital and subsequently succumbed to the disease on Oct. 8, public health officials and reporters have repeatedly stated that Ebola is difficult to catch. Echoing widely circulated information about HIV-AIDS, they've told the public that the only way Ebola can be transmitted is through direct contact with bodily fluids.