MONROVIA, LIBERIA — Liberia’s newest national profession appears to be public health expertise — at least for this week.
What started as a routine health surveillance exercise at the airport quickly exploded into full-blown national panic after reports surfaced that travelers arriving from Ebola high-risk countries were being monitored by health authorities.
Within hours, Facebook epidemiologists, WhatsApp virologists, and community infectious disease consultants emerged from every corner of the country.
To many Liberians online, airport screening automatically meant only one thing: “Ebola has arrived!”
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Lawoubah Gbozee humorously captured the national mood in a social media post that has since generated widespread laughter and reactions.
“Monitoring and surveillance of travelers from Ebola high-risk country is a normal public health intervention,” Dr. Gbozee wrote. “Other countries are doing it with no noise. It reaches our turn, our people say it’s confirmed we have Ebola.”
The post playfully mocked how quickly ordinary Liberians transform into instant experts whenever a national issue trends online.
“This week, everyone in Liberia is a public health expert just how last week we were lawyers,” he joked.
“Moral lesson: Liberians are jacks of all trades and masters of none. Next week we will be engineers.”
The comments triggered thousands of reactions from social media users, many admitting that Liberians have developed an unmatched ability to become overnight specialists in virtually every field.
One week, social media timelines are flooded with constitutional lawyers debating jury tampering and Supreme Court motions. The next week, the same individuals are suddenly explaining Ebola transmission, airport surveillance protocols, and infectious disease management with astonishing confidence.
Political analysts, economists, football coaches, relationship counselors, and now epidemiologists all appear to coexist comfortably inside Liberia’s social media ecosystem.
Public health authorities, meanwhile, continue emphasizing that monitoring travelers from high-risk regions is standard international health practice and does not automatically indicate an Ebola outbreak.
Still, if Dr. Gbozee’s prediction proves accurate, Liberians may soon begin explaining bridge construction, road engineering, and building architecture by next week as President Boakai broke grounds for the commencement of the 86-km road from Voinjama to Mendikorma.
And judging from social media trends, the country is already halfway there. Hahahaha…
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