Jon Stewart wants you to calm down about the Ebola outbreak

(Image credit: Daily Show)

last updated 8 January 2015

Ebola is a terrifying virus with a frighteningly high fatality rate and no known cure, and we're in the middle of one of the worst outbreaks on record. Jon Stewart, after hearing those facts, started out Tuesday night's Daily Show panicking and donning a silly looking hazmat suit. But by the end of several fits and starts of feigned terror — the disease is only in Africa, there may be a case in New York, an experimental cure is being used on two Americans, and the virus can only be spread through direct body-fluid contact — Stewart ends up decidedly on the don't-panic side of the see-saw.

This is a pretty good primer on the current Ebola outbreak, but the best part is when Senior Health Correspondent Jessica Williams uses the Ebola scare for her own purposes. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.