Emily Smith:

Ebola is often called the disease of compassion by experts like Dr. Craig Spencer. It spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, which means it spreads when a family member tends to the sick, when a nurse stays at the bedside, or when a community gathers to bury their dead. In other words, it’s spread through acts of care.

But the phrase has been sitting differently lately because this outbreak is spreading not only through compassion but also through the global withdrawal of it.