FARMINGTON — The escalating crisis caused by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is not the first, nor will it be the last, a professor at the University of Maine at Farmington told students and faculty at a round-table Friday.

There is so much work to be done, Linda Beck, UMF professor of political science, said. She and other UMF faculty addressed about 40 students and faculty.

Beck said people can “advocate for an American response with legislative leaders and donate resources.”

There are 20,000 reported case and the number is likely to rise to 1.4 million, she said. For every case that is reported, it is estimated another 2.5 cases are not. The infectious disease carries a 90 percent mortality rate, she said.

“The number of cases is astronomical, an estimated 500,000 by December, even with efforts to interrupt the transmission cycle,” Cathleen McAnneny, professor of geography, said. “The world has been slow to respond.”

Participating by Skype, UMF alumnus and Peace Corps worker Grady Schutt recently returned from Sierra Leone because of the outbreak. He said education is a large factor in the spread of the disease. Malaria is so prevalent and the symptoms of Ebola are similar to that, he said, and many mistake the disease as malaria.

With an incubation time of two to 21 days, a person can have Ebola and not know it until symptoms appear.

Nutrition and food availability are also factors. Most people in the effected area live on rice and fish and sometimes chicken, he said.  Some fruit is available but it’s expensive.

Without good health and proper nutrition it is difficult for a person to fight the disease, Beck said.

Other issues raised regarding the spread of the disease concerned cultural practices, including burial preparation, a more urban African population, open borders between countries and the availability of flights around the world.

Several people expressed concerns about not learning from past outbreaks of AIDS and SARS.

“Every disease brings new challenges,” Paul Frederic, a former UMF professor, said.

The plight of the West African people also raises an ethical question that perhaps borders on racism. Many may subconsciously not consider people in Africa as important, but they suffer anyway, Scott Erb, professor of political science, said.

After discussion of what led to the outbreak, a student asked if there was an attack plan.

The U.S. and France are beginning to provide the equipment to isolate victims in an effort to interrupt the transmission cycle, McAnneny said. The needs include getting people there to help treat the sick and financing that, she said.

abryant@sunjournal.com