
National news first caught wind of the epidemic as it spread
throughout South and Central America. Unfortunately, our fear of it spreading
to the US became a reality in 2016. Most of the cases identified today are
travel-associated cases, although several areas of Florida have reported several locally-acquired mosquito-borne cases. The CDC issued travel notices
for these areas in Florida, which totals approximately 5.5-square-miles.

Humans are not always as rational as the theory makes them
out to be. It is understandable that we do not all have time to take in every
piece of research and data that is available to us, in regards to the virus. Instead, we
use mental shortcuts called hueristics, to help guide our decision making. As
mentioned earlier, the Zika virus has been consuming the national news agenda.
We tend to direct our attention to bits and pieces of this information, and
make judgments on it accordingly. Many Americans believe they are more at risk
than they really are, because of the sheer amount of times they hear about it
in the news. This is the availability heuristic in action. Although the CDC’s
travel notice only covers a 5.5-square-mile radius in Florida, families have
begun canceling their trips down South, in fear that they will be at risk. We
can see base-rate-neglect bias at play here, as many have ignored statistical
information provided, by paying more attention to the general information
in the news, thinking that it is more relevant. The only state that has seen
locally acquired cases, has been Florida, yet families have misunderstood the
travel-associated case statistics of other States in the South.
I am by no means saying that Zika virus is not something
that we should be aware of, or taking precautions against. As a question of
interest though, what is better, being a highly rational human by evaluating
all of the information given to us, and only taking precaution when we know
that we will be in danger? Or acting non-rationally, resulting in
overly-cautious behavior?
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