n. A strong and irrational fear of the Ebola virus.
2014
We are using public transportation, dining in restaurants, sending our kids to school and drinking city water right out of the tap.
We are not unhinged by Ebolaphobia.
We are not unhinged by Ebolaphobia.
2014
There is a new term used by doctors on the front line of the battle to control the worst Ebola outbreak the world has seen: Ebola phobia.
2014 (earliest)
The virus is fairly easy to contain compared to most others. It's not airborne like the flu; it is contagious only through contact with blood or other body fluids. You won't catch it by sitting next to somebody on a bus; you could even shake their hand and probably not pick it up.
This word (or, at least, my definition of this word) doesn't imply that it's irrational to fear Ebola. Quite the contrary: it's perfectly natural and rational to fear any deadly virus. However, it's also possible for that fear to become irrational, whether through ignorance or (increasingly these days) media sensationalism and misinformation. For example, if a person in North America today decided to no longer go out of the house because of a fear of "catching" Ebola, surely that fear could be described as irrational and the person's decision as a symptom of Ebolaphobia.