As the worst Ebola outbreak in history unfolds in West Africa, The Post's Joel Achenbach explains how the deadly virus wreaks havoc on the human body. (Davin Coburn/The Washington Post) 
 
 A second American infected with the potentially deadly Ebola virus arrived at Emory University Hospital on Tuesday from Africa, following the first patient last weekend. Both were greeted by a team of highly trained physicians and nurses, a specialized isolation unit, extensive media coverage, and a storm of public reaction. People responded viscerally on social media, fearing that we risked spreading Ebola to the United States. 
 
 Those fears are unfounded and reflect a lack of knowledge about Ebola and our ability to safely manage and contain it. Emory University Hospital has a unit created specifically for these types of highly infectious patients, and our staff is thoroughly trained in infection control procedures and protocols. But beyond that, the public alarm overlooks the foundational mission of the U.S. medical system. The purpose of any hospital is to care for the ill and advance knowledge about human health. At Emory, our education, research, dedication and focus on quality — essentially everything we do — is in preparation to handle these types of cases. 
 
 Further, Americans stand to benefit from what we learn by treating these patients. (Bound by federal law, Emory cannot name the patients. The HIPAA Privacy Rule forbids health-care institutions from releasing identifiable health information.) Ebola won’t become a threat to the general public from their presence in our facility, but the insight we gain by caring for them will prepare us to better treat emergent diseases that may confront the United States in the future. We also can export our new knowledge to treat Ebola globally. This pathogen is part of our world, and if we want eradicate these types of potentially fatal diseases before they reach our shores uncontrolled, we have to contribute to the global research effort. Today, diseases do not stay contained to one city, country or even continent. 
 
 Most importantly, we are caring for these patients because it is the right thing to do. These Americans generously went to Africa on a humanitarian mission to help eradicate a disease that is especially deadly in countries without our health-care infrastructure. They deserve the same selflessness from us. To refuse to care for these professionals would raise enormous questions about the ethical foundation of our profession. They have a right to come home for their care when it can be done effectively and safely. 
 
 As health-care professionals, this is what we have trained for. People often ask why we would choose to care for such high-risk patients. For many of us, that is why we chose this occupation — to care for people in need. Every person involved in the treatment of these two patients volunteered for the assignment. At least two nurses canceled vacations to be a part of this team. They derive satisfaction from knowing that, after years of preparing for this type of case, they are able to help, to comfort and to do it safely. The gratitude they receive from the patients’ families drives their efforts. 
 
 As human beings, we all hope that if we were in need of superior health care, our country and its top doctors would help us get better. We can either let our actions be guided by misunderstandings, fear and self-interest, or we can lead by knowledge, science and compassion. We can fear, or we can care. 
 
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 GALLERY: The struggle to curtail the Ebola outbreak ||||| Atlanta public health officials are begging people to calm down and stop sending them nasty messages about their decision to treat two American relief workers who are suffering from Ebola. 
 
 The deadly virus, for which there is no vaccine or treatment other than caring for symptoms such as high fever, has claimed the lives of at least 887 people in West Africa. Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.), revealed that the agency was on the receiving end of “nasty e-mails” and phone calls about the decision to bring home two American relief workers stricken with the virus. 
 
 “I hope our understandable fear of the unfamiliar does not trump our compassion when ill Americans return to the U.S. for care,” Frieden said. 
 
 Bruce Ribner, the doctor who will be treating the patients at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital, also spoke publicly in an attempt to allay fears about the patients’ repatriation. “Nothing comes out of this unit until it is non-infectious,” Ribner said. “The bottom line is we have an inordinate amount of safety associated with the care of this patient. And we do not believe that any healthcare worker, any other patient or any visitor to our facility is in any way at risk of acquiring this infection.” 
 
 Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol, who are a doctor and missionary, respectively, are the two Americans returned to the States for treatment. Both have been reportedly given an experimental treatment never before tested on humans, and both are said to be recovering. 
 
 This outbreak is the deadliest in the history of the virus, so it’s understandable that Americans are worried about the risk of the disease spreading to the United States. But Ebola is unlikely to take off running in America. According to the World Health Organization, the virus spreads through “direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.” Burial ceremony and contact with infected wild animals (such as fruit bats) are other ways Ebola spreads. 
 
 A number of high-profile pontificators, who seemingly exist solely to torment the unknowing, contributed to domestic Ebola panic. Donald Trump has repeatedly tweeted in opposition to the idea of treating any Ebola patients in the United States, arguing, “People that go to far away places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences!” Appearing on Fox and Friends to discuss his tweet storm, Trump pushed for a ban on inbound flights from countries in West Africa, and compared Ebola to AIDS. 
 
 The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great-but must suffer the consequences! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2014 
 
 Such hysterics seemed close to coalescing into a widespread panic on Monday, when New York City’s Mt. Sinai Hospital revealed that it was testing a patient for Ebola. The man, who had recently visited West Africa and was suffering from a high fever, was placed in an isolated ward within seven minutes of arriving to the hospital. Later Monday, however, doctors said it was unlikely that Ebola was involved.
– As Emory University Hospital in Atlanta treats two patients with Ebola, health officials are taking flak for bringing the contagious disease to the US. The head nurse at Emory, however, thinks everybody should calm down. "Those fears are unfounded and reflect a lack of knowledge about Ebola and our ability to safely manage and contain it," writes Susan Grant in the Washington Post. But more than that, these critics seem to have forgotten the "foundational mission of the US medical system," she writes. Hospitals exist to care for the sick and to advance medical knowledge, and the Ebola cases hit both points, writes Grant. Should the US turn its back on two charity workers who selflessly helped others? To do so would be a breach of medical ethics. "We can either let our actions be guided by misunderstandings, fear, and self-interest, or we can lead by knowledge, science, and compassion," writes Grant. "We can fear, or we can care." Click to read her full column.