As the Ebola crisis spreads, the virus, much like the controversy surrounding the outbreak of HIV/AIDS more than a generation ago, has raised several serious concerns about how to contain it, who’s to blame for the epidemic and what exactly is the disease and its background and history.

There are no easy answers to any of these important questions, but the least we can do at this point is to cite the work of Dr. Peter Piot, who co-discovered the virus in 1976 and was the first director of UNAIDS. Piot, a Belgian microbiologist and physician, received two test tubes of blood from a dying nun sent to him by a colleague. After a series of investigations of the blood through an electron microscope, it was determined that the virus was totally new. It was named Ebola because the nun was in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo, near the Ebola River.

This may not put to rest the conspiracy theories about the virus, similar to what we heard so widely during the AIDS crisis, during which some claimed it was a product of a laboratory experiment gone haywire or a further indictment of the African continent. Nonetheless, it brings Piot into the discussion, and he blames the international health community for failing to act promptly. He points a special finger of accusation at the World Health Organization.

“Nearly everyone involved in the outbreak response failed to see some fairly plain writing on the wall,” Piot told reporters.

That writing on the wall extends to our shores, specifically to Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas, which turned away Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S.

The rush to judgment and to place blame for the outbreak is only exceeded by the rush to halt the spread of Ebola to make sure the proper protocols and preparation are ready—something that wasn’t there when it was necessary. Part of this new readiness includes a czar installed by President Barack Obama, as well as instituting temperature checks for West Africans arriving at Kennedy International here in New York City, Newark Liberty International, Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International, O’Hare International in Chicago and Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta.

Furthemore, beginning Monday, Nov. 27, all travelers returning from Ebola zones will be monitored for 21 days. In addition, all people coming to the United States from Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone will have their information collected, including their phone numbers, emails and physical addresses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Much more needs to be said and done on this matter, and as the forums of experts are assembled and various plans and procedures devised, we will do our best to keep you informed.